Blog | News & Information on Wireless Services & Telecommunications
Posted: 08/22/11 by Mobile Future Team
Today, Deloitte released a new study that outlines how investing in 4G technology would foster job creation and spur the nations GDP. The report estimates that in the next five years, if telecom companies invest $25-$53 billion in 4G wireless networks, our nations GDP would grow $73-$151 billion and between 371,000-771,000 jobs would be created. Also, Deloitte’s study notes that this investment would spur competitiveness in the U.S. wireless space and bring new technologies such as cloud computing to market.
As Deloitte’s Vice Chairman and U.S. media and telecommunications sector leader Phil Asmundson stated in TechJournal South:
“Investment in such a powerful form of communication contributes to the economic recovery and provides a job-creating engine for the future. The key to harnessing the potential benefits of 4G technology lies in America’s market-driven wireless sector, which encourages the emergence of innovative applications that spur productivity and could produce the same surge of innovation and demand we experienced during the 3G era.”
To learn more, click here.
Posted: 02/10/11 by Mobile Future Team
President Obama today announced a new Expanded Wireless Access Initiative intended to help achieve his goal of increasing high speed wireless coverage to 98% of Americans. Mobile Future Chairman Jonathan Spalter responded to the Initiative, stating:
“President Obama’s Expanded Wireless Access Initiative is a testament to the tremendous role mobile technology plays when it comes to achieving the Administration’s goals of “out-innovating, out-educating, and out-building the rest of the world.”
“We appreciate President Obama’s leadership in creating an unprecedented Administration-wide focus on expanding access to high speed broadband for Americans. The wireless sector is already evolving at an astounding pace and this initiative sets the course for the next wave of mobile opportunities with even more economic growth and continued job creation. While today’s announcement is yet another big step in the right direction, it’s critical that the President and his Administration do all they can to maintain an environment that encourages investment and innovation in today’s highly competitive wireless eco-system."
To read the full statement, click here.
Posted: 02/02/11 by Mobile Future Team
In 2010, mobile data traffic around the world was three times the size of the entire global Internet in 2000 according to a new report out this week.
Cisco released their Global Mobile Data Traffic Forecast Update, a comprehensive analysis of the growth in mobile data over the past year and a look ahead for future development in the wireless space.
Some key findings from the report include:
- In 2010, mobile network connections got faster…
o The average mobile network connection speed for smartphones grew from 625 kbps in 2009 to 1040 kbps and the average mobile network downstream speed grew from 101 kbps in 2009 to 215 kilobits per second.
- In 2015, tablets will generate as much traffic as the entire global mobile network of 2010…
o 3 million tablets were connected to the mobile network in 2010 and mobile data traffic was five times higher on the tablet compared to the average smartphone.
- The average amount of traffic per smartphone doubled in 2010
o Smartphone usage grew from 35 MB per month in 2009 to 79 MB.
- 788 million people will access the Internet by smartphone only in 2015
The growth of the U.S. mobile marketplace over the course of the past year is clear in the vast array of devices, services and applications widely available to consumers on various platforms. But the wireless space has grown in terms that aren’t always obvious but are equally, if not more, important to understanding the mobile landscape.
For the third year in a row global mobile data traffic nearly tripled, growing 159% over the course of the year. What accounted for this growth?
Smartphone adoption.
New data from research firm In-Stat forecasts that by 2015 there will be 850 million unit shipments of smartphones and more than half of all mobile handsets shipped in the U.S. will be smartphones by next year.
This week, The Nielsen Company released new data showing minorities remain in the lead for smartphone adoption with Hispanics and Asian/Pacific Islanders at 45%, African Americans at 33% and White mobile users at 27%. And smartphone adoption is on the rise with all groups increasingly choosing smartphones when selecting a new device.
Lots of good wireless stats this week that all point to a bright mobile future.
Posted: 02/02/11 by Jonathan Spalter
Winning the future, the theme of the State of the Union address, called for "out-innovating, out-educating, and out-building the rest of the world." President Obama rightly emphasized wireless broadband as a crucial building block for a winning economy.
After declaring this our country's "Sputnik moment," the president went on to declare a bold and ambitious goal that "within the next five years, we'll make it possible for businesses to deploy the next generation of high-speed wireless coverage to 98 percent of all Americans. This isn't just about faster Internet or fewer dropped calls. It's about connecting every part of America to the digital age." Given the transformative power of mobile broadband, this is a timely goal.
Leading up to the State of the Union, the president recognized the widespread discontent from the private sector regarding overregulation, as well as the urgency for elected officials to help get Americans working again in a 21st century economy that preserves America's place at the forefront of innovation and ingenuity. In his recent op ed published in the Wall Street Journal, President Obama said the key to generating more jobs will be striking the right balance between protecting consumers and nurturing business growth.
The President walked the walk last week, signing an executive order mandating federal agencies to identify and remove outdated regulations that may be "placing unreasonable burdens on business -- burdens that have stifled innovation and have had a chilling effect on growth and jobs."
Innovation by definition is the development of new products, services and methods that affect people on a daily basis and aim to improve quality of life. With innovation at its core, the mobile ecosystem has defied norms and expectations during a time of economic recovery. Last year, mobile trends revealed that consumers did not tighten their purse strings when it came to their pursuit of wireless devices. In fact, mobile had its best year ever, with an explosion in consumer usage across a dizzying array of applications, services and social media platforms. Mobile companies returned the love by continuing to invest more than $20 billion annually despite the economic downturn.
Today's mobile revolution (i.e., that smartphone you can't put down) is largely rooted in Congress' 1993 decision to embrace a pro-innovation framework that favored competition over regulation. Even through revolving Democratic and Republican majorities in Washington, mobile has thrived due to constructive, bipartisan policies that showed rare regulatory restraint and allowed consumers and innovators to shape and direct its progress. As a result, mobile innovation accounts for 2.4 million U.S. jobs and contributes $100 billion annually to U.S. GDP.
In the State of the Union, President Obama reminded us that "the rules have changed." Thirty years ago, we couldn't know that the Internet would spark an economic revolution, nor could we have known just a few years ago that mobile technology would transform the very nature of American innovation.
Mobile entrepreneurs are pushing the envelope every day to develop new products and services that keep pace with consumer demand. But these leading-edge technologies of tomorrow won't make their way to consumers without more wireless capacity. The federal government's ability to identify and bring additional spectrum to the market is a key policy issue that both techies and policymakers are tracking closely.
When we envision winning the future, mobile broadband is leading the way. It is revolutionizing how we do business, socialize, educate and interact as a democracy. As President Obama pointed out,
"It's about a rural community in Iowa or Alabama where farmers and small business owners will be able to sell their products all over the world. It's about a firefighter who can download the design of a burning building onto a handheld device; a student who can take classes with a digital textbook; or a patient who can have face-to-face video chats with her doctor."
Now more than ever, we need policies that preserve and advance the investment and innovation that keep all of this progress flowing to consumers and throughout our society.
If we look to history as our guide, the message is clear: Innovation is what drives our economy and our society to new heights. President Obama should be commended for calling the nation to the cause on Tuesday night. And, I do believe, we will rise to the occasion. Sputnik, after all, may have won the race to space. But it was American ingenuity and ambition that put a man on the moon.
This article was originally published on Huffington Post.
Posted: 01/26/11 by Mobile Future Team
In his State of the Union address last night, President Obama committed to setting policies that promote mobile investment and innovation, stating “within the next five years, we will make it possible for business to deploy the next generation of high-speed wireless coverage to 98% of all Americans.” More details are still to come, but this is a great recognition of the key role that wireless plays in connecting the nation and spurring economic growth.
Here are the president’s comments on wireless from the speech:
“Within the next five years, we will make it possible for business to deploy the next generation of high-speed wireless coverage to 98% of all Americans. This isn’t just about a faster internet and fewer dropped calls. It’s about connecting every part of America to the digital age. It’s about a rural community in Iowa or Alabama where farmers and small business owners will be able to sell their products all over the world. It’s about a firefighter who can download the design of a burning building onto a handheld device; a student who can take classes with a digital textbook; or a patient who can have face-to-face video chats with her doctor.”
Posted: 11/18/10 by Mobile Future Team
Today, the White House’s Chief Technology Officer Aneesh Chopra, members of Congress, and representatives from top tech companies including Google and Dell gathered for Politico’s “What’s Next for Technology: How Washington Will Act on Key Policy Issues in 2011.” Discussions focused on the cross section of ideas and innovation in technology- and what we can expect to see policy-wise from the 112th congress.
Broadband played a key role in many of the discussions- among the White House’s top initiatives for next year is spectrum policy, namely solidifying a voluntary process for incentive auctions, according to Chopra. Members from both chambers of Congress had similar outlooks on the importance of broadband; Senator John Ensign (R-NV) explained that we should let the internet continue to flourish and stressed the importance of USF reform. Senator Mark Warner (D-VA) stated that as mobile broadband growth continues to accelerate, we need to conduct spectrum inventory and evaluate opportunities to make more spectrum available to meet growing demand.
Click here to read more coverage.
Posted: 10/21/10 by Mobile Future Team
Today, the FCC held a Spectrum Summit aimed at addressing the looming spectrum crunch by discussing novel approaches to meet the ever-growing demand for capacity across wireless networks. Key issues at the summit included formulating a spectrum inventory, incentive auctions, and the need for more robust spectrum management and flexibility. To read more information about the Spectrum Summit and to read the FCC’s recently released report, “Mobile Broadband: The Benefits of Additional Spectrum,” click here.
Posted: 04/15/10 by Molly Kocour
Congress is making progress on important legislation that is near and dear to Mobile Future's heart - the Radio Spectrum Inventory Act. This week, the House passed the bill, which is co-sponsored by Rep. Rick Boucher (D-Va.), and charges the Federal Communications Commission and the National Telecommunications & Information Administration to account how and where private stakeholders are using spectrum. It is expected to be passed by the Senate and signed into law soon. Mobile Future Chairman Jonathan Spalter issued the following statement in response to the bill's passage:
“We applaud the passage of the Radio Spectrum Inventory Act in the House. With wireless Internet usage projected to grow at 100 times the rate of wireless voice traffic over the next 10 years, spectrum is a precious resource. The passage of this bill helps pave the way to make more spectrum available quickly and responsibly to keep pace with consumer demand and enable the next wave of mobile innovation and economic opportunities.”
You can read more about spectrum here.
Posted: 04/15/10 by Mobile Future Team
FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski issued a statement last Thursday outlining the Commission’s ongoing efforts to achieve the much-applauded National Broadband Plan (NBP).
"We are putting the National Broadband Plan into action," said FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski. "The Commission's Bureaus and Offices have already begun executing on the strategy the National Broadband Plan lays out to connect all Americans to broadband, unleash innovation and investment, enable job creation, and ensure a bright future of economic opportunity and prosperity."
And to ensure these goals — employment, continued innovation and investment, the FCC must tread carefully among potential regulation landmines. We want to nurture the broadband sector, which has been a tremendous boon to our country and economy — not stifle it with unnecessary roadblocks.
Posted: 03/16/10 by Jonathan Spalter
Cross-posted from Huffington Post
Heading into the mid-term elections, these are divisive times in the nation's capital. But today Washington witnessed a rare moment of comity, as the Federal Communications Commission released its much-anticipated National Broadband Plan. All five commissioners signed a joint statement embracing the broad objectives of the plan.
It will take days, if not weeks, for the various stakeholders to fully digest a blueprint of this ambition and scope. But before the detail-oriented debates ensue -- and the inevitable divisions emerge -- it's worth taking a moment to step back and offer an appreciation of the process that got us to this potentially historic day.
President Obama was elected on the promise of inclusive and connected government. In crafting this plan, the FCC offered a compelling model of how that gets done. The efforts of Chairman Genachowski and his broadband team have been exceptionally open. The three dozen policy workshops on topics ranging from civic engagement to connected health were webcast live and archived online, allowing ample opportunity for citizen engagement. Several dealt exclusively with the potential of mobile broadband, ranging from thoughtful debates on spectrum to discussions of bleeding-edge applications and wireless deployment. Commissioners also reached outside the beltway, holding nine field hearings throughout the country to bring diverse perspectives into the conversation.
As for the product itself, I am heartened that the Commission recognizes the critical role wireless technology can play to spur global competitiveness, innovation and sustainable job creation. Profoundly significant to mobile consumers and innovators alike is the vow to free up 500 megahertz of wireless spectrum. This is essential progress to support the boom in connected devices -- from the iPhone to the Kindle to mobile medical tablets, digital textbooks and future innovations yet to be imagined.
Other regulatory proceedings that may flow out of the plan could be more polarizing. The depth of division and passion on both sides of the net neutrality regulatory debate is well-known. And, the rumors of an attempt to overturn the Supreme Court's landmark Brand X decision, which essentially upheld the privatized nature of U.S. broadband networks, would likely make the net neutrality debate look like a walk in the park.
Likewise, narrower proposals to create new rules -- whether to impose wholesaling requirements or mandate the provision of "free" broadband services -- would affect many aspects of the already intensively competitive and innovative wireless market and could actually undermine the very laudable objectives of the national broadband plan. The FCC must resist these extreme calls and tread carefully to avoid disrupting an American industry that leads the world and is working extremely well today.
Among the cornerstones of the plan is a 'shoot for the moon' goal of connecting 100 million U.S. households to 100 megabits per second broadband service over the next decade. Goals of this ambition require an unshakeable policy foundation that is unequivocally supportive of investment. This means the many rulemakings that likely flow out of this plan must be cohesive in nature -- pulling in the same constructive and unifying direction and staying true to the Chairman's early and firm commitment to fact-based, data-driven decisions.
As we look to the future, I hope the Chairman remains steadfast in his commitment to encouraging a wireless ecosystem that can fundamentally transform our society and our economy. As we begin the long and hard process of translating bold ideas into concrete, attainable and constructive actions, the hard work is yet ahead. It is my hope that we stay true to this open and participatory process and keep in sight the larger goals of advancing deployment, accelerating investment and promoting genuine competition.
History will judge this plan on its effectiveness. If it does so favorably, a nod is due to the process that got us to this day. It's a famous old adage in Washington that you don't want to see the sausage being made. But thanks to the very innovation we unite today to celebrate and advance, a new era of openness and participatory government has arrived.
Jonathan Spalter, chairman of Mobile Future, has been founding CEO of leading technology, media, and research companies, including Public Insight, Snocap, and Atmedica Worldwide. He served as an advisor to and spokesperson for Vice President Al Gore during the Clinton administration. www.mobilefuture.org.
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