Congress' rare bipartisan move to auction broadcast spectrum to create more wireless Internet systems overlooks one important fact. The reallocated spectrum most likely will be used by dominant mobile operators like Apple, rather than entrepreneurs and innovators.

The fledgling mobile transactions market, which some experts expect to reach $1 trillion globally by 2015, is about to get a hyper-boost from Facebook, Twitter, Square and other social media players that consider e-sales the new end game.

The appeal of traditional television to Google and Apple is apparent in the changing economics of the business: Subscription revenues growth is accelerating, advertising is holding its own and video is becoming the streaming gold of an exploding mobile ecosystem.

Simply pursuing a bigger chunk of the $70 billion global advertising market won't cut it. Facebook must invent new forms of sharing and transacting that encourage users to trade their privacy concerns for convenience and relevance.