Thursday, February 9, 2012

Genachowski: No Easy Fix for Spectrum Crisis

November 23, 2009

Just how dire is the looming spectrum shortage for mobile broadband devices such as smart phones and laptops? Interviewed this weekend on C-SPAN, FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski described the situation this way: while the agency has taken steps to free up three times the amount of wireless airwaves now available, it needs thirty times the current level to avert a crisis. The commission is rushing to identify more frequencies before it presents a national broadband plan to Congress in February that is expected to call for extensive deployment of wireless high-speed Internet technology. "The challenge is that when you look at the demand charts that predict mobile broadband usage based on smart phones and mobile Internet, it's a thirty-time increase in capacity that we can expect in the years ahead," he said during an interview on the Communicators series. "There are no easy pickings on the spectrum chart and hard choices to make," he said, adding that the agency also will encourage more spectrum efficiency.

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Juliana Gruenwald

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Juliana Gruenwald has been covering tech and telecom issues for more than a decade for National Journal, Interactive Week, BNA and Congressional Quarterly. This is her second stint with National Journal. She was recruited by NJ in 1998 to help launch its first tech policy publication, Technology Daily. She left in 2000 to cover international tech and telecom issues for Ziff Davis Media's Interactive Week magazine. She started her career at United Press International as the wire service's first Helen Thomas Intern. She has a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Minnesota. A Minneapolis native, she misses the lakes but not the cold.


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Josh Smith covers technology policy as a staff reporter for National Journal. He previously interned at National Journal Daily, a Senate press office, and the Deseret News in Salt Lake City where he covered the state legislature, courts, and crime. In 2009 he graduated with honors from Southern Utah University after managing an award-winning student newspaper as editor-in-chief. Josh has received state, regional and national awards for his political and policy reporting, including first place in CapitolBeat’s 2009 Best of Statehouse Reporting college competition. A native of drop-dead-gorgeous Utah, Josh lives in Virginia with his wife, Amber.