CTIA-The Wireless Association® Responds to NAB on Spectrum

WASHINGTON, Jan. 31, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- In response to NAB President and CEO Gordon Smith's letter to Congress on spectrum, CTIA-The Wireless Association President and CEO Steve Largent released the following statement: 

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"The President, FCC, Congress, NTIA and other policymakers have made it clear that mobile broadband is vital to improving our economy because it will directly impact everything from jobs to education to health care. Wireless Internet access provides broadband to the person at anytime and anywhere. The ability to access the Internet, regardless of your location, is the great equalizer. That is why it's baffling that the NAB chooses to challenge a voluntary incentive spectrum auction. Considering the U.S. has a wireless penetration rate of 93 percent versus the broadcasters who only serve about 10 percent of the U.S. population over the air, we see this as a great opportunity for broadcasters who are literally sitting on more than 100 megahertz of unused spectrum to contribute their spectrum and get compensated. It's truly a win-win for their members and industry. More importantly, it is a huge win for consumers.

"In order for us to continue to meet the demands of the almost 293 million U.S. wireless consumers for everything from voice to data to Internet access, we must get more spectrum. This is why policymakers have been such great advocates for our industry on this issue. We want to get more spectrum so we can purchase it and give the U.S. Treasury billions of dollars. Then, we'll use the spectrum to keep innovating and fueling the 'virtuous cycle' for our customers. Remember that over the last five years, in addition to the more than $100 billion invested by wireless carriers in upgrading their networks, they also paid more than $33 billion to the U.S. Treasury for access to spectrum. We are not asking for anything for free. Those spectrum bands have become the foundation for the launch of our industry's next generation networks, which have fueled and will continue to fuel, the rapid changes in the wireless ecosystem. We are not asking for anything for free. Rather, we are willing to spend tens of billions of dollars more to the government so that we make sure that we can continue to lead the wireless revolution.

"We look forward to continuing to work with all parties to identify unused spectrum so our members can purchase and use it to expand wireless broadband to all." 

CTIA-The Wireless Association® (www.ctia.org) is an international organization representing the wireless communications industry. Membership in the association includes wireless carriers and their suppliers, as well as providers and manufacturers of wireless data services and products. CTIA advocates on behalf of its members at all levels of government. The association also coordinates the industry's voluntary best practices and initiatives, and sponsors the industry's leading wireless tradeshows. CTIA was founded in 1984 and is based in Washington, DC.

SOURCE CTIA-The Wireless Association

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