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PCCA Journal|1

st

Quarter 2011

17

web, check email, and watch video on

mobile devices.

The FCC said its forecast demonstrates

that the amount of mobile data demand-

ed by American consumers is likely to

exceed capacity of the wireless networks

in the near-term and that meeting this

demand by making additional spectrum

available is likely to create significant

value for the mobile economy. New

mobile broadband spectrum will also

support innovation in other important

areas, such as online learning, remote

health care diagnostics, and the smart

grid, the commission said.

Key findings in the white paper,

“Mobile Broadband: The Benefits of Ad-

ditional Spectrum,” include:

Within the next five years, the spec-

trum deficit is likely to approach 300

MHz.

This spectrum crunch will be driven

by significant growth of mobile broad-

band traffic, on the order of 35 times

recent levels.

Mobile broadband growth is likely to

outpace the ability of technology and

network improvements to keep up by

an estimated factor of three.

Meeting this need may create $120 bil-

lion in spectrum value, with hundreds

of billions more in total value to the

economy.

Commerce Department

Report Shows

Broadband Adoption

Rises While Gap Persists

T

he Department of Com-

merce’s Economics and

Statistics Administration

(ESA) and National Telecom-

munications and Information Admin-

istration (NTIA) recently released a

report, “Digital Nation II,” that analyzes

broadband internet access and adoption

across the United States. The study—

which the department calls the most

comprehensive of its kind—finds that

socio-economic factors such as income

and education levels, although strongly

associated with broadband internet use,

are not the sole determinants of use;

even after accounting for socioeconomic

differences, significant gaps persist along

racial, ethnic, and geographic lines.

The report analyzes data collected

through an Internet Usage Survey of

54,000 households conducted by the

U.S. Census Bureau in October 2009.

Earlier this year, NTIA released initial

1-888-633-1243

News Briefs continued on page 18