Spectrum Resource Center
Spectrum carries the wireless signals that connect our mobile devices- and we’re filling up the airwaves fast. U.S. mobile networks currently are operating at 80 percent of capacity with consumer demand for wireless connectivity sharply on the rise. This increased demand will add even more traffic to our wireless networks, potentially causing unpredictable network service and unreliable performance for consumers. If we don’t allocate more spectrum for mobile, our nation’s appetite for wireless will out-strip capacity as early as 2014.
Economic benefits from reallocating spectrum for mobile
- Reassigning an additional 300 MHz of spectrum to mobile broadband over five years, will spur $75 billion in new capital spending, creating more than 300,000 jobs and $230 billion in additional GDP.
- The release of an additional 200 MHz of new spectrum after five years will create an additional 200,000 jobs and increase GDP by an additional $155 billion.
- Every dollar invested in wireless adds $10 to U.S. GDP.
Rapid growth and increasing consumer demand
- Cisco recently reported that in 2010, global mobile data traffic grew 2.6 fold, nearly tripling for the third year in a row.
- Cisco estimates that wireless Internet traffic in North America will grow more than 20-fold from 2010 to 2015.
- In 2011, for the first time, more mobile devices were sold than personal computers and the number of wireless subscriptions in our nation exceeded the U.S. population.
- Within five years, smartphone data consumption is forecasted to increase almost 10 times.
- A smartphone uses 24x more spectrum than a feature phone. An iPad uses 120x more.
- Americans consume, on average, 50% more on their wireless devices than populations anywhere else in the world.
- By 2014, 70% of all consumer electronics will be wirelessly connected to the Internet.
Spectrum resources:
Radio Spectrum for a Hungry Wireless World
Spectrum Imperative: Mobile Broadband Spectrum and its Impacts for U.S. Consumers and the Economy
Private Sector Investment and Employment Impacts of Reassigning Spectrum to Mobile Broadband
Spectrum: Fueling the Mobile Future [video]
Mobile Data Growth and What it Means for You [infographic]
This infographic offers a snapshot of the sharply increasing mobile device usage by Americans and explains why government must move immediately to make more spectrum available both to meet consumer demand and keep our economy competitive and growing.
For more information on spectrum demand, go here.
