FCC seeking more wireless spectrum for broadband

WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal regulators are hoping to find more wireless spectrum for mobile broadband services by reallocating some airwaves now assigned to television broadcasters and others.

Under a long-awaited proposal outlined today by the Federal Communications Commission, broadcasters and other current spectrum holders would voluntarily give back some spectrum and share in proceeds raised by government auctions of those airwaves to wireless companies.

Wireless carriers have been clamoring for more spectrum as their customers increasingly check e-mail, update Facebook and watch video on the go. Broadband services are already choking in some markets, and next-generation services will tax wireless networks even more.

"Although the potential of mobile broadband is limitless, its oxygen supply is not," FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski said in a speech at the New America Foundation in Washington. "Spectrum — our airwaves — really is the oxygen of mobile broadband service. Without sufficient spectrum, we will starve mobile broadband of the nourishment it needs to thrive."

Finding more wireless spectrum also will be an important piece of the FCC's plan to bring affordable high-speed Internet connections to all Americans, particularly in rural America, Genachowski said. That plan, mandated by last year's stimulus bill, is due to Congress next month.