emergency preparedness, all governments allocate spectrum for particular uses. Portions of the public airwaves and frequencies are allocated for satellite, broadcast TV, or fourth-generation mobile service. Prior to 1993, the United States government authorized the FCC to make some spectrum available at no charge. Thus, television broadcasters received free spec- trum over which they broadcast TV signals. Early cellular providers also received free spectrum in the 1980s for analog cellular service. In exchange for free spectrum, broadcasters agreed to provide air time for certain public service announcements and programming. The allocation process changed in 1993, when Congress passed legislation enabling the FCC to auction off spectrum. The first auction was held in 1994 when the FCC auctioned off spectrum to the highest bidders for digital mobile cellular services. Later, auctions were held for additional spectrum for prefourth and fourth-generation data networks. Governments often provide spectrum at no charge when they believe it is in the national interest to foster development of new services. This happened in some Asian countries such as Japan where the government felt it was in the national interest to foster construction of higher-capacity wireless networks. The Ramifications of Reallocating Spectrum: A Political Issue Rules about spectrum allocations are argued about in the courts, before the FCC, and in Congress. The rights to these blocks are strategic assets that enable carriers to offer new, competitive services. Experts predict that a worldwide shortage of spectrum might hamper growth of data services for mobile devices. For example, a shortage of spectrum might hinder implementation of fourth-generation, high-capacity wireless because in many countries some of these bands are used for analog television. In 2010, the FCC issued a National Broadband Plan in which it was predicted that the United States will require 500MHz of additional spectrum over the next ten Finite Spectrum for Wireless Networks