Spectrum Crisis Overview

New and valuable resources have always defined and shaped the future. Spectrum, the range over which electrical energy travels wirelessly, is the resource of wireless communications. In the New York Times article "Spectrum, Spectrum" William Safire explains spectrum as "the most valuable natural resource of the Information age."

Spectrum is a limited resource in the sense that there are only so many frequencies capable of transmitting data and these frequencies cannot be created, only better managed. In the Time article "Black Gold" Colombia professor and FCC Senior Policy Advisor Tim Wu stated, "When you have a scarce resource…and a population that can't get enough, you have all the ingredients for the first new resource crisis of the millennium."

The recent boom in mobile technology, starting with the 2007 launch of the iPhone, has put a tremendous strain on the networks. Smartphones use 10 times the amount of network space as a regular cell phone. The use of smartphones is also on the rise, with 35% of the U.S. now connecting through smartphones. The next generation of mobile broadband devices has already emerged, tablets such as the iPad. Tablets use 100 times more data than smartphones. Laptops, an industry necessity, use 1,300 times more data than smartphones. According to the FCC, demand for mobile broadband will rise 35 times by year 2014.

The consequence of overloading the network are slower data speeds are more dropped calls. It is predicted that by 2013, the entire available spectrum will be filled to capacity. At that point in time, smartphones would be rendered useless. One of the fastest growing pieces of technology would no longer have the needed element that makes them so useful.

The demand could not be higher for a solution if the nation's appetite for mobile wireless devices is to be met. Tim Wu states, "the most serious problems – the real bandwidth shortages – will be in wireless, where demand is growing and supply is weak." Without a viable solution, information and technology will fall victim to what the FCC has recognized as the "Spectrum Crisis."