The Hill News

Few proposals lawmakers have been considering in recent weeks aimed at restoring our fiscal discipline have the immediate ability to generate revenue for the Treasury, stimulate direct domestic investment, spur innovation, and create jobs than spectrum auctions.

At the moment, spectrum is in short supply.  Currently in use for “over the air” television delivery, which is consumed by fewer than 10 percent of American households, this underutilized spectrum could be reallocated for mobile broadband usage. Cisco estimates the volume of mobile data in the United States will double every year through 2014, increasing 39 times between 2009 and 2014, for a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 108 percent.

Industry studies have determined there are currently more than 276 million wireless subscribers in the United States, which represents a penetration rate of 89 percent. The number of subscribers increased by 40 percent between June 2005 and June 2! 009 while the number of wireless-only households nearly tripled.

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