Our Weekly Spectrum Briefing usually talks about a current policy issue but recently we have been going back to basics, reconsidering some fundamental questions. The first being what is spectrum management?

Surprisingly, national regulators rarely give definitions, so we are suggesting our own. We argue that spectrum management is controlling the airwaves for the benefit of society.

This raises as many questions as it answers:

• Do we need to control spectrum?
• If so, why?
• What are these benefits?
• Why might they not be realised?

Our first article considers these issues. It’s part of a six-section Spectrum 101, the others are listed below.

Big questions like these are always debatable, so please feel free to comment. Or if you are a newcomer to the subject, we hope it will be a useful introduction.

The PolicyTracker Spectrum 101

1. Why is spectrum management important?
2. What are the key events which have shaped the evolution of spectrum policy?
3. The evolution of spectrum auctions
4. 5G spectrum
5. 5G verticals
6. A guide to WRC-23