Mr. President, I rise today, along with Senator Warner, to reintroduce pro-consumer wireless legislation, which will improve wireless coverage indoors. Specifically, the Federal Wi-Net Act would require the installation of small wireless base stations, such as femtocells or similar technologies, and Wi-Fi hot-spots in all publicly accessible Federal buildings to improve wireless coverage and network capacity. Over the past several years, there has been growing concern about a looming spectrum crisis given the significant growth in the wireless industry. Currently, there are more than 331 million wireless subscribers in the U.S., and American consumers used more than 2.3 trillion minutes in 2010--that is more than 6.4 billion minutes per day. And while the foundation for wireless services has been voice communication, more subscribers are utilizing it for broadband. According to Cisco, global mobile data traffic grew 159 percent in 2010, nearly tripling for the third year in a row. That growth is only expected to continue--there is expected to be over seven billion mobile devices globally by 2015 producing more than six exabytes per month. To put it in context, all the words ever spoken by human beings would equate to five exabytes worth of data. To meet this growing demand, a multi-faceted solution is required that includes fostering technological advancement and more robust spectrum management.…
On the recordJuly 25, 2012
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