Public Interest-The Problem

Public Interest-The Problem
The fourth and final element of traditional spectrum policy is the public interest standard. The phrase
"public interest, convenience, or necessity" was a part of the Radio Act of 1927 and likely came from
other utility regulation statutes. The standard was largely a response to the interference and scarcity
concerns that were created in the absence of such a discretionary standard in the 1912 Act. The phrase
"public interest, convenience, and necessity" became a standard by which to judge between competing
applicants for a scarce resource and a tool for ensuring that interference did not occur. The public interest
under the command and control model often decided which companies or government entities would
have access to the spectrum resource. At that time, spectrum was not largely a consumer resource; it
was accessed by a relatively select few. However, Congress wisely did not create a static public interest
standard for spectrum allocation and management.