Washington, D.C.-based think tank NDN released an economic study showing that the evolution of wireless networks from 2G technologies to 3G technologies created 1.585 million new jobs in the United States between April 2007 and June 2011.
The report, “The Employment Effects of Advances in Internet and Wireless Infrastructure: Evaluating the Transitions from 2G to 3G and from 3G to 4G,” also noted that the current evolution to 4G technologies could create more than 231,000 additional jobs within a year.
“The technical advances from 2G to 3G wireless broadband and the spread of these more advanced technologies led directly to the creation of more than 1.5 million new jobs over four years, during a period when overall private-sector employment declined by 5.3 million jobs,” explained co-author Robert Shapiro, who is also chairman of the Globalization Initiative at NDN and former U.S. Under Secretary of Commerce for Economic Affairs “The private investments that spurred the build-out of 3G broadband networks, with all of their innovations, happened in a highly-competitive wireless market in the United States. The same competitive forces are now driving the additional investments and innovations in the current transition from 3G to 4G wireless networks.”
The report cited information from a Nielsen Mobile Insight survey on the ownership of mobile devices running on various network technologies as well as state-by-state employment data. That information led the report to conclude that every 10 percentage point increase in the penetration of a new technology generation of mobile device and network resulted in a .07 percentage point increase in jobs the next quarter and continued gains in subsequent quarters.
“In the 21st century global economy, advanced wireless networks are a foundation on which much global economic activity takes place,” added Shapiro. “[Third generation] and 4G networks and the technologies associated with them provide that foundation, moving entire economies. For America to stay competitive and prosperous, it is imperative that private-sector investment and upgrades in these technologies continue to advance, so our businesses and workers can meet demand from consumers and firms on a national and global scale.”
The Rural Cellular Association released a report last year showing two of its pet projects, data roaming and 700 MHz interoperability, would result in the creation of nearly 117,000 jobs due to the expansion of mobile broadband services to rural markets currently underserved by the technology.
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