ESSAY - Spectrum Synergy: Policy Opportunities to Promote Communications and Information Flow in Wireless Networks

Will consumers and democracy benefit or lose from future mobile policy? In this essay that introduces the “Spectrum for Democracy” special issue of Journal of Information Policy, Dr. Riley argues that the key question is whether national and international policy will facilitate or frustrate the opportunities that wireless presents. To address the biggest challenges, he advocates emphasis on “Super Wi-Fi,” increased competition, spectrum standardization, interoperable architectures, mobile broadband universal service, and resistance to state censorship. In the long-term, Riley says, spectrum management should move away from the current model to a completely opportunistic, software-defined cognitive radio technology.