Genachowski Pushes for Swift Movement on Spectrum During CTIA Show

Says not freeing up spectrum costs the economy each day and hurts global competitiveness

By John Eggerton -- Broadcasting & Cable, 3/22/2011 10:06:29 AM

FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski Tuesday brought his call for moving swiftly to free up more wireless spectrum home to a roomful of big fans, the International CTIA show in Orlando, the wireless companies who have been pushing the FCC hard to make that happen.

In his keynote speech, the chairman, using a tablet as a teleprompter, said it was like Tomorrowland had been moved from Disney World to the Orange County Convention Center. "Broadband is no longer a luxury," he said, and unleashing spectrum is a national priority. The broadband adoption rate is 67%, that is too low, he said, and the cost of the U.S.'s competitiveness could be severe.

He said there were four key reasons why spectrum was atop the FCC's agenda: American competitiveness, opportunity, dollars and the cost of delay.

He said the cost will be higher prices, dropped connections, slow or unreliable apps, thousands of jobs not created, and, if Congress does not approve incentive auctions to help move some broadcasters and others off their spectrum, more than $30 billion in auctions revenues, and measured by the consumer benefits in education and energy and health care of the new spectrum, the cost of not freeing it up could be ten times that.

Genachowski echoed his theme that spectrum is the oxygen of innovation, also echoing his intro by Sprint top executive Dan Hesse. He said Cisco has projected a 60 times increase in wireless need for spectrum by 2015, he said, explaining the "aggressive" FCC plan for freeing up spectrum, which he said began with the new network neutrality rules and included empowering consumers and promoting competition, spurring deployment and lowering costs of the wireless buildout, and freeing up spectrum.

Making a pitch for those new net neutrality rules, which are under attack primarily by Republicans in Congress, he said they recognized legitimate difference between wireless and wired technologies and also promoted competition and consumer empowerment.

Incentive auctions are the right idea at the right time, he said, and he has not heard an argument for why they shouldn't happen. "It is essential we move quickly." He called it "a smart idea whose time has come."