On the recordMarch 2, 2011
I rise today, along with Senator Kerry, to re-introduce comprehensive spectrum reform legislation to modernize our nation's radio spectrum planning, management, and coordination activities. Taking this corrective action will allow us to meet the future telecommunications needs of all spectrum users. For consumers, these fixes will lead to additional choices, greater innovation, lower prices, and more reliable services. Over the past year, there has been growing concern about a looming radio spectrum crisis. It is not without reason--growth and innovation within spectrum-based services have exploded over the past decade. In particular, the cellular industry has been a prominent driver of this expansion. Currently, there are more than 290 million wireless subscribers in the U.S., and American consumers use more than 6.4 billion minutes of air time per day. While the foundation for wireless services has been voice communication, more subscribers are utilizing it for broadband through the use of smartphones and netbooks--smartphones actually outsold personal computers in the last quarter of 2010. According to the Pew Research Center, 56 percent of adult Americans have accessed the Internet via a wireless device. ABI Research forecasts there will be 150 million mobile broadband subscribers by 2014--a 2,900 percent increase from 2007.
