Increasing the available amount of broadband spectrum is a necessary step for the U.S. to remain competitive in the thriving mobile wireless space and is the Federal Communications Commission's number one priority, Chairman Julius Genachowski said on Wednesday, according to Reuters.
During a discussion at the Brookings Institute, the FCC's top exec said that consumers' insatiable demand for wireless technologies like bandwidth-hungry smartphones and tablet devices will soon leave the U.S. without an available supply of airwaves. Genachowski issued a similar statement at last week's Consumer Electronics Show, and seems poised to head to Congress with a list of demands.
"If we don't tackle the spectrum crunch now, network congestion will grow, and consumer frustration will grow with it," he told a packed crowd of listeners. "We have to move, and we have to move faster than our global competitors."
Genachowski added that the future of the U.S. wireless electronics industry, which is currently booming, depends heavily on finding a solution to the spectrum drought.
To start, Genachowski is recommending that the FCC repurpose several hundred MHz of spectrum from television broadcasters that aren't currently using it.
The FCC chairman said that 300 MHz of prime spectrum is being allotted to U.S. broadcasters, and that the percentage of viewers who watch TV through legacy broadcast programming has fallen from 100 percent to 10 percent over the last few decades. The rest of the nation now accesses television programming through cable and satellite providers, meaning much of the spectrum that is allocated to broadcasters is essentially wasted.
To remedy this issue, Genachowski is pushing an incentive auction program where broadcasters would hand over a portion of their allotted spectrum in exchange for monetary compensation. In essence, TV broadcasters would be leasing airwaves to entities that need them more.
Genachowski said that the plan "would unlock substantial value that's now untapped because of outdated policies."
For the FCC to make the proposal a reality, it would first need to get the go-ahead from Congress. Genachowski indicated that he was "hopeful but not certain" that the legislation would pass.
Beecher Tuttle is a MobilityTechzone contributor. He has extensive experience writing and editing for print publications and online news websites. He has specialized in a variety of industries, including health care technology, politics and education. To read more of his articles, please visit his columnist page.
Edited by Stefanie Mosca
QUICK LINKS 
