Expanding Broadband: Spectrum & Wireless

Today, over 95 percent of Americans have access to broadband Internet.  Yet, consumer demand for data continues to explode. On mobile devices like smartphones, laptops, and tablets, demand for data is growing at 250 percent per year, and we need more spectrum to keep up with it.  Below are some resources on broadband growth and how to get more spectrum.

Liberating Spectrum: Reforming Government Control of Spectrum to Expand Mobile Broadband (PDF)
A report from Digital Liberty that calls for incentive auctions to free up spectrum and outlines ways to force federal agencies to give up their spectrum stranglehold.

Increasing Spectrum for Broadband: What Are The Options?
A report by Thomas Leonard, Lawrence White, and James Riso from the Technology Policy Institute on further ways to free up spectrum for broadband usage.

The Need for Additional Spectrum for Wireless Broadband: The Economic Benefits and Costs of Reallocations 
Here, Coleman Bezelon of The Brattle Group outlines the demand for spectrum and estimates that spectrum held largely unused by broadcasters is worth up to $62 billion.

Plan and Timetable to Make Available 500 Megahertz of Spectrum for Wireless Broadband
The President has called for an additional 500 MHz of spectrum to go to the market.  This report and timetable from the U.S. Department of Commerce outlines how they plan to get there.

Connecting America: A National Broadband Plan
The Federal Communications Commission’s plan for expanding broadband.

Visual Networking Index: Global Mobile Data Traffic Forecast Update, 2010–2015
If you really want to get into the weeds, this report by Cisco outlines just how much data we’ll be consuming in the years to come.