Spectrum Transparency: Can the US catch up with France?

Richard Whitt has a good article, Taking stock of the nations airwaves, on the Google Public Policy Blog.  He focuses on the Radio Spectrum Inventory Act, a bill introduced in the US Senate by Senators John Kerry (D-MA) and Olivia Snowe (R-ME).

It's hard to argue spectrum policy if you can't actually determine who has what rights in which parts of the radio spectrum.  This bill is a start.

For a first cut at what we should aspire to, look at this site by the Autorité de Régulation des Communications électroniques et des Postes - the French equivalent of the US FCC.  Try typing in a frequency or a frequency range; then hit "Rechercher."

I haven't figured out how to determine who owns individual licenses to spectrum in France and, of course, that is critical.  The proposed US law, S.649, explicitly calls for such information to be gathered and made available to the public on a website.  Let's hope this passes.