The Federal Communications Commission issued final rules for channel sharing. The rules are the result of the recently passed Jobs Act that provides for voluntary incentive auctions of broadcast spectrum.

The FCC stressed that channel sharing is voluntary and that broadcasters and other licensees of spectrum will determine whether they want to enter into sharing arrangements. The FCC expects channel sharing to free up spectrum for wireless broadband providers.

Channel sharing doesn’t mean that an over-the-air broadcaster’s only option is to give up its entire spectrum and go out of business. Broadcasters should be able to retain just enough spectrum for one standard definition program stream, while sharing the rest of its 6MHz channel.

Overall, sounds like a non-intrusive policy for freeing up some spectrum for the mobile types while keeping the over-the-air broadcasters operational.

We are in the silly season of American politics. The presumptive nominee for the Republican nomination, former Massachusetts Governor Willard Romney may be facing incumbent President Barack Obama in the November general election. Mr. Romney comes from the tech-prevalent state of Massachusetts, yet has failed to leverage in his campaign any experience he has with the benefits of technology in his home state.

It’s a missed opportunity. According to the CTIA, wireless data traffic has increased 123% over last year. In 2010 there were 62 million mobile-to-mobile devices worldwide. By 2020, that number, according to data cited by CTIA, is expected to top 16 billion.

CTIA also addressed the economy, concluding that for every dollar invested in wireless broadband, $7-$10 dollars would be added to our gross domestic product. Along with growth in GDP would come an additional 771,000 jobs added for the purpose of deploying 4G networks. These jobs would pay on average 50% more than jobs in other production industries.

Talking economic growth without mentioning the nation’s biggest influence on economic growth is like bringing a gun to a gun fight without any bullets.

The House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology Sub-Committee on Technology and Innovation meets tomorrow to discuss the “flexible and innovative utilization of spectrum while ensuring the continued growth of the wireless economy.”

Richard Bennett, Senior Research Fellow at the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation promised a lively debate in a blog post earlier today.

I expect at a minimum that Democrats will talk about ensuring competition in the wireless markets by making sure the big wireless carriers are not able to squeeze out smaller regional carriers from the spectrum pool.

Republicans should counter with the light touch regulation and letting the market decide where best to allocate resources including spectrum.

I would have to side with the Republicans should they offer up that argument. Regulators should focus on getting spectrum into the hands of carriers who aren’t going to sit on it and are willing to pay a premium for it. The type of mindset is focused on a return on investment which means getting service into the hands of customers.

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski shared the following yesterday:

Today, the FCC issued a Public Notice seeking comment on concerns and issues related to intentional
interruptions of wireless service by government authorities for the purpose of ensuring public safety.

FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski said:

“Our democracy, our society, and our safety all require communications networks that are available and
open. Any interruption of wireless services raises serious legal and policy issues, and must meet a very
high bar. The FCC, as the agency with oversight of our communications networks, is committed to
preserving their availability and openness, and to harnessing communications technologies to protect the public.”

I’m replaying a PBS NewsHour video where Howard Kurtz of CNN’s Reliable Sources and Lauren Ashburn of The Daily Download are discussing political warfare in cyberspace. Check out the video here. I guess we can think of social media as behind the lines guerilla warfare with the advertising and debates we see on television as the traditional front lines.

I love it. One of the great things about wireless mobile access to broadband is the access to the political discussion going on minute-by-minute. I think Ms. Ashburn put well when she says it’s almost like debating. I would say real debating; unbridled, unscripted, unregulated.

Watch those hashtags!