Las Vegas - Federal
Communications Commission chairman Julius Genachowski reiterated his
position that the U.S. faces a "spectrum crunch" and said that if the
agency gets the Congressional go-ahead it could reclaim wireless
spectrum from TV broadcasters and auction it within two years.
Genachowski,
in a speech at the Consumer Electronics Show here Friday, said mobile
broadband was critical to fueling the country's economic growth and
keeping it globally competitive.
"The consumer electronics
industry is going wireless... We need to free up more spectrum,"
Genachowski said. "Unleashing mobile spectrum is at the top of the FCC's
2011 agenda."
He added, "We could be in a position, if Congress
acts, to auction this spectrum in the next year or two and get that on
the market... Every day we have a delay we'll have a cost to the U.S. in
terms of our global competitiveness."
He called wireless spectrum
"the oxygen that sustains our mobile devices," adding, "This invisible
infrastructure is the backbone of a growing percentage of our economy
and our lives."
