FCC seeks more frequencies for wireless broadband

Federal regulators expect to find more frequencies for wireless broadband services by reallocating some that were used for television signals and other services.

Under the terms of a long-awaited proposal, outlined on Wednesday by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC, for its acronym in English), companies that own television and radio spectrum would surrender voluntarily part of this and would share the profits in government auctions , to give those frequencies to the cellular companies.

Wireless operators have asked for more spectrum in a time when consumers check their email, update their Facebook social network and watch videos from your cell phone. The broadband services are already suffering from a bottleneck in some markets, and options for further strain next generation wireless networks.
"While the potential of mobile broadband is unlimited, it is not their supply of oxygen," said the chairman of the FCC, Julius Genachowski, in a speech to the New America Foundation in Washington. "The spectrum, our frequencies, it really is the oxygen of the mobile broadband service. If there is not enough, mobile broadband will lack the power it needs to thrive."

Finding more wireless spectrum will also be an important part of the FCC plan to bring affordable connections and high speed Internet to all Americans, particularly in rural areas of the country, Genachowski said. That plan, ordered by the economic stimulus initiative last year, come to Congress next month.

Genachowski said the broadband plan would include a proposal to finance wireless networks using the Federal Universal Service Fund, which subsidizes telephone service in poor and rural areas, thanks to a charge on long distance calls.
The FCC plan would set a goal to release 500 megahertz of wireless spectrum in the next decade. This would include the spectrum license issued by companies through government auctions.

It also would offer not subject to license spectrum for all, as the frequencies used for Wi-Fi wireless networks. The wireless industry is currently about 600 megahertz of spectrum available for use subject to license.
Genachowski said that the spectrum used for TV broadcasts is particularly attractive to broadband, because these frequencies have not been used efficiently, but have "potentially worth billions of dollars." The broadcasters have about 300 megahertz of spectrum, but mainly used to meet 10% of U.S. households that still rely only on the open-signal TV.