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Concerned about the current crunch on spectrum, the Federal Communications Commission claims the allocation of 500MHz of new spectrum for mobile broadband will stimulate $120 billion in near-term value and hundreds of billions of dollars for the U.S. economy over time.
Spectrum is leveraged by wireless communication devices, including smartphones and tablet computers. Data consumption on these mobile devices has seen a major rise in adoption; more people are using them to surf the Web, send text messages, play video games and shoot video.
Data use on these devices and applications has triggered a dearth in spectrum the FCC would like to see addressed sooner rather than later because it takes anywhere from six to 13 years to provision.
“The explosive growth in mobile communications is outpacing our ability to keep up,” claimed FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski.
“If we don’t act to update our spectrum policies for the 21st century, we’re going to run into a wall—a spectrum crunch—that will stifle American innovation and economic growth and cost us the opportunity to lead the world in mobile communications.”
To wit, the FCC’s National Broadband Plan calls for 500MHz of new spectrum for mobile broadband within 10 years.
That includes 300MHz allocated for mobile use within five years. The FCC believes the country will be operating at a spectrum deficit of 300MHz over that time if this call to action goes unmet.
This proposal has the support of President Barack Obama, who in June called for 500MHz of new spectrum to be allocated for fixed and mobile broadband use.
Related articles
- FCC: Wireless Spectrum Shortage Coming (pcworld.com)
- FCC: Wireless Spectrum Shortage Coming (nytimes.com)
