PCCA Journal|1
st
Quarter 2011
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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
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News Briefs continued on page 18