Spectrum Airwaves: A Natural Resource Tribes Must Leverage

Spectrum has become a vital and important natural resource because it is finite and has economic and public use, purpose, and benefit. Similar to other natural resources such as water, timber, minerals, and precious metals, the use of radio frequencies (spectrum) has become integrated into everyday life. However, unlike other natural resources, the spectrum frequencies used to wirelessly transmit digital television, radio, and voice and data communications (e.g. the internet) are not visible to the human eye without the use of technological instruments. Because spectrum is not a tangible resource it can be difficult to understand how telecommunications and the internet are transmitted wirelessly using spectrum frequencies and the importance of having access to spectrum licenses.