Wireless industry wants FCC help
 

[June 30, 2015]  By Josh Peterson / June 30, 2015
 
 
 WASHINGTON, D.C. — Mobile data traffic is expected to increase by six times its current rate over the next four years, and the wireless industry is asking the Federal Communications Commission to help meet the demand.

At issue are the strains consumer demand for mobile data services is placing on the wireless industry’s supply of available spectrum – the radio frequencies used to transmit TV and radio signals over the air, GPS signals from space, and cable broadband signals over fiber.

“As a nation, we still have a long way to go to satisfy currently projected demand,” said CTIA-The Wireless Association said in a recently published white paper.

“The challenge is heightened because after the upcoming broadcast incentive auction, there is no meaningful spectrum in the pipeline for future auctions,” said the wireless industry’s trade association.

Since spectrum is a finite and valuable natural resource, companies obtain licenses from the federal government to use specific frequencies. Congress put the FCC in charge of designing and holding auctions over the spectrum licenses in order to help ensure efficient use of the spectrum.
 

The Brattle Group, an economic consulting firm, released two studies – one in May and another in June – commissioned by CTIA to make the case that they will need more spectrum to meet future demands for their services.

The most recent study, for example, found that without the availability of new spectrum from the FCC, the use of new technologies by carriers could help to meet only some of the demand.

“More cell sites and carrier deployment of new technologies will help address the mobile data demand in coming years, and wireless carriers invested almost $150 billion in them over the last five years, but even with the use of conservative traffic projections, this report illustrates that policymakers must act quickly to free up more licensed spectrum,” said Coleman Bazelon, Principal of The Brattle Group, in a statement.

The study argued that in order to meet future demand, the existing supply of licensed spectrum would need to increase by over 50 percent.

“Since the FCC released its spectrum plan five years ago to meet the escalating demand for mobile broadband, American consumers fully embraced a connected life,” said Meredith Attwell Baker, president and CEO of CTIA, in a statement.

“As today’s report shows, we now need to execute on a new five year plan to identify and re-allocate over 350 MHz of new spectrum for licensed mobile broadband services to ensure that the U.S. will continue its global leadership in wireless,“ said Attwell Baker.

The first study released in May highlighted the economic benefits of licensed spectrum: for example, 6.5 people find a job every one person employed by the wireless industry.