With the 2009 transition to digital TV coming ever closer, the FCC needs to decide what to do with bits of the spectrum vacated by broadcasters after the changeover. 60MHz of prime spectrum in the 700MHz range will be made available in some form of auction to take place at the end of this year, but that auction could proceed in many different ways. The established players would love to see the spectrum auctioned off to the highest bidder (the usual process) as the incumbents would likely end up with it. Because spectrum in that frequency range travels so far and easily penetrates walls, it's incredibly valuable to communications companies. But even if the incumbents have no plans to use the spectrum, snapping it up could make good business sense because it would keep competition from developing.

That new competition is exactly what Lawrence Lessig, Cory Doctorow, Craig Newmark, and plenty of others want to see. An ad-hoc coalition of interest groups submitted a letter to the FCC yesterday—the last allowable day for comments on the auction—calling on the agency to "ensure that a significant portion of the newly available airwaves go to new market competitors." The dream here is that wireless broadband will provide viable competition to cable and DSL. The nightmare is that incumbents get hold of the spectrum and squat on it.

The letter puts it this way: "If the FCC simply gives the highest bidder exclusive rights over the new airwaves, phone and cable companies could become permanent gatekeepers of the airwaves—continuing their record of keeping new competition and innovation out of the marketplace."

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