The Federal Communications Commission said Wednesday that it is seeking ways to reassign additional wireless spectrum to foster mobile broadband adoption in the U.S. According to its study released Tuesday, 93 million Americans, representing one-third of the nation’s population, do not have high-speed Internet connections in their homes.
The FCC is slated to submit a national broadband plan to Congress on March 17 that will detail a strategy for connecting more of the country to affordable, world-class broadband. To meet that goal, the FCC plans to recover and reallocate spectrum as well as update spectrum policies to reflect 21st century technologies and opportunities, FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski said.
“Spectrum really is the oxygen of mobile broadband service,” Genachowski said. “Without sufficient spectrum, we will starve mobile broadband of the nourishment it needs to thrive as a platform for innovation, job creation, and economic growth.”
Targeting the Broadcast Spectrum
Changing the nation’s spectrum allocation is essential if the U.S. is to keep pace with an estimated thirtyfold increase in mobile communications traffic in the years ahead. Among other things, the FCC is eyeing frequencies now used by the nation’s broadcasters as a possible source of additional mobile spectrum.
One reason for targeting the broadcast spectrum is that the VHF and UHF frequencies have characteristics that make them particularly suitable for mobile broadband. Under the FCC’s proposed Mobile Future Auction, however, any move to reallocate broadcast spectrum would take place as part of a voluntary program under which broadcasters “would be able to continue to serve their communities with free over-the-air local news, information and entertainment, and they would be able to experiment [with] mobile TV,” Genachowski said.
Still, broadcasters are prepared to tenaciously defend their turf. “We look forward to working with policy-makers to help expand the rollout of broadband without threatening…