Ep. 12 - The Lifeblood of Satellites: Spectrum and How It's Governed

Wed, 03/17/2021

Host(s)

• Gus Hurwitz (Gus Hurwitz's Website, Gus Hurwitz's Email) ,
• Matthew Schaefer (Matthew Schaefer's Website)

We’re discussing spectrum: what it is, how the government decides who can use it, and why maybe that process needs to change - from the battle for spectrum between 5G and satellites, to forecasting the policies of the new administration. Spectrum refers to the invisible radio frequencies that signals travel over. Those signals are what enable us to use our mobile devices, but wireless uses are only a portion of what spectrum is used for. Our guest is Jennifer Manner, the senior vice president of regulatory affairs at Echostar Hughes and this episode is co-hosted by the founding Director of the Space, Cyber, and Telecommunications Law program at Nebraska Law and one of the center’s faculty fellows, Matt Schaefer.

Guests

• Jennifer Manner (Jennifer Manner's Website)

Credits

Music by Collin McCarthy
Tech Assistance Kaci Richter
Executive Producer Elsbeth Magilton
Assistant Producer Lysandra Marquez

Episode Notes

When Wire Was King: The Transformation of Telecommunications

Manner, Thursday Morning Conversation with Mark Holmes, Via Satellite (March 11, 2020) available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p2vZxkeQyd0

 Manner, A Call for Spectrum Reform: An Issue We Can All Get Behind (October 13, 2020), available at https://www.hughes.com/resources/blog/call-spectrum-reform-issue-we-can-all-stand-behind

 Manner, Increasing Broadband Connectivity in the United States in the Wake of the Pandemic: Lessons Learned (SIA Newsletter July 2020) available at https://sia.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Pres-Report20-Trends-for-July-Newsletter-FINAL.pdf?fbclid=IwAR10pNC-xFz5MXiBsnXVoivk7h0ytCpxcGyORuvKhMlShBCiRKRVrVKRFZE.  

 NTIA CSMAC Working Group 1 Report, Spectrum Governance,  (July 30, 2020), available at https://www.ntia.doc.gov/other-publication/2020/csmac-working-group-1-final-report-07302020. 

 Manner, Bridging the Digital Divide Requires Technology Neutral Solution, Global Telecommunications Policy Research Network  (July 6, 2020), available at https://gtprn.org/2020/07/06/bridging-the-digital-divide-requires-technology-neutral-solutions/?fbclid=IwAR3Lf34WrY2-TTUdcD11M-Hlc8iN7ypRsrsJvQwFWSIwATZ4_aKyjCHsjZw.

 Wiley and GVF,  WRC 2019: Enabling 5G Connectivity (Via Wiley Connected Podcast, May 1, 2020) available at https://soundcloud.com/wileyconnected/wrc-2019-enabling-5g-connectivity.