Nation’s wireless leadership threatened by spectrum shortage

Wireless spectrum is obviously an important element to the commercial mobile communications market, as it is the medium in which consumers can walk-and-talk unimpeded by cables. As such, the need for wireless providers to continually gain access to more spectrum in order to feed an insatiable appetite for mobile communications is a requirement for the industry to continue to prosper.
RCR Wireless News spoke with Kevin Thompson, director of Deloitte’s National Telecommunications Practice, about the growing need for more spectrum to be made available to domestic operators in order to maintain a high-level of service quality, as well as to maintain the country’s position as a world leader in wireless broadband communication services and innovation.
Thompson noted that the federal government was falling behind in freeing up much-needed spectrum assets, noting the current shortfall in releasing the 500 megahertz of spectrum pledged as part of the National Broadband Plan. Thompson explained that not only was this spectrum necessary to bolster service levels of mobile broadband networks, but that the United States’ long-standing position as a leader in the space was in jeopardy.
Some of that concern could be alleviated through upcoming spectrum auctions, including the AWS-3 auction set for later this year and the 600 MHz incentive auction set for mid-2015, but those efforts are expected to only meet current needs and not prepare the market for future demand.

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