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8/7/2019 rysavy-spectrum-effects-301611

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/rysavy-spectrum-effects-301611 1/21

TheSpectrumImperative:

MobileBroadbandSpectrumandits

ImpactsforU.S.Consumersandthe

Economy

AnEngineeringAnalysis

March 16, 2011

Copyright©2011RysavyResearch,LLC.Allrightsreserved.

http://www.rysavy.com



2

Table of Contents

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ............................................................................................ 3

INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................................... 3

SPECTRUM AND CAPACITY ..................................................................................... 5

APPLICATION AND USER DEMANDS ....................................................................... 9

ADVERSE APPLICATION EFFECTS ......................................................................... 17

MARKET EFFECTS.................................................................................................. 20

CONCLUSION ........................................................................................................ 21

Rysavy Research provides this document and the information contained herein to you for informational

purposes only. Rysavy Research provides this information solely on the basis that you will take

responsibility for making your own assessments of the information.

Although Rysavy Research has exercised reasonable care in providing this information to you, Rysavy

Research does not warrant that the information is error-free. Rysavy Research disclaims and, in no event,

shall be liable for any losses or damages of any kind, whether direct, indirect, incidental, consequential, or

punitive arising out of or in any way related to the use of the information.



3

ExecutiveSummary

Thepurposeofthisreportistoanalyze,fromanengineeringperspective,theconsequencesoffailingto

makenewspectrumavailabletoconsumers,theeconomyandthewirelesssector.Thisreportdiscusses

howspectrumrelatestocapacity,howdifferenttypesofapplicationsanddevicescanconsumeavailable

capacity,andtheeffectsofinsufficientspectrum.

For consumers, these effects include unreliable service and performance and potentially higher

connectivity costs—adevelopmentthatwould placeanessentialmodern serviceout of thereachof

manyAmericans, includingthosewhostandto gain themostfromallthatmobileconnectivityhasto

offer.Totheextentthatserviceprovidersrespondtocapacityconstraintsbylimitingdemandthrough

usagecapsandsignificantlyhigherpricing,consumers’abilitytoaccesstheInternetmaybelimitedor

comeatahighercost.Theseeffectswillparticularlyharmthose,includingmanyminoritiesandlow-

incomeAmericans,whoprimarilyrelyontheirmobiledevicestoaccesstheInternet.Thisinturnrolls

back the promise of mobile connectivity and innovation, denying access to critical services and

opportunities.

Themarketconsequenceofsuchanenvironmentwillbelessincentiveforbusinessestoinvestinnew

applications, services anddevicesbecauseperformance,andthuscustomerenthusiasm,will likelybe

subpar.Thisjeopardizesthe2.4millionAmericanjobscurrentlysupportedbymobileinnovation.And,

theultimatepriceofthisdownwardspiralisalossofU.S.leadershipintheglobalinnovationeconomy.

Introduction

U.S. mobile innovation continues to surge forward, fueled by a combination of faster networks,

powerful next-generation wireless devices, including smartphones and tablets, and innovative

applications that take increasing advantage of our constant state of connectivity. Lifestyles areenhancedandworkismoreproductive,asthefullandgrowingvalueoftheInternetisincreasinglyever-

presentandaccessibleinthepalmsofourhands.

Compellingdataalreadyexiststoillustratetheimportantrolethatmobiletechnologyplaysinpowering

our innovation economy and empowering American consumers and businesses. And, we see clear

evidencetodaythatwirelessbroadbandishelpingtobridgethedigitaldivide,withminorityandlower-

incomeAmericansincreasinglyturningtomobileservicesastheirprimaryconnectiontotheInternet.

The number ofU.S. consumers with broadband access on theirmobile device has risen from three

millionin2006to73millionin2008.1Asearlyas2014,morepeoplemaygoonlineviamobiledevices

than PCs.2 And,within this decade an estimated 10 billion devices—from themedical tablet at the

1Source:“USBroadbandRanking:DoesitMatter?,” PCWORLD,June5,2009.

2Source:MobileInternetReport,MorganStanley ,December2009.



4

hospital, to thetextbookin yourchild’sschool to thethermostat inyourhome—will beperpetually

connectedthankstoubiquitouswirelessbroadbandtechnology.3

Mobile broadband is providing new business opportunities across vertical markets, including the

automotive,banking,consumerelectronics,transportation,andutilitiesindustries.Already,thereare

vehicleaccidentrecoveryapplications,mobilepaymentandonlinebankingapplications,remotehealthmonitoringdevices,smartutilitymeters,refrigerators,pictureframes,pillbottlecaps,trafficlights,and

parkingmetersthatusemobiletechnology.Mobile connectivity ispoisedto transformvirtually every

sector of the U.S. economy—from commerce to health care, education to energy efficiency. This

mobility-enhanced world, however, depends on a constant, reliable flow of bits between people,

devicesandtheInternet.Asmobiledevicesbecomemorepowerful,asdeviceresolutionincreases,as

usersemploymoreapplicationsandasconnectivityincreasinglyisembeddedinvirtuallyeverymanner

ofmachine,thisflowofbitsisincreasingatadramaticrate.

Theamountofbandwidthavailabletoeachuserdependsonmanyfactors.Butoneofthemostcritical

is the amount of radio spectrum available. As FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski has stated, “theexplosivedemandforwirelessinnovationistestingthelimitsofafundamentalresource:spectrum.Itis

theoxygenofthewirelessworld—fuelingeveryaspectofourmobilebroadbandecosystem.”4

Ciscorecentlyreportedthatin2010,globalmobiledatatrafficgrew2.6fold,nearlytriplingforthethird

year ina row.5Within three to fouryears,RysavyResearch estimates that ournation’sappetite for

wirelessconsumptioncouldoutstripexistingcapacity.Whilecarrierswillattempttoalleviatecongestion

in the short-term by offloading traffic using femtocells and picocells, mobile innovation will falter

without access to the substantial additional spectrum that American consumers and businesseswill

soonneed,andtheconsequencesofinactionforthenationareunacceptable.

Recognizingtheurgencyofthesituation,theObamaAdministrationandtheFCCplantomake300MHz

ofnewspectrumavailableoverthenext5yearsand500MHzoverthenext10years,6almostdouble

the547MHzofspectrumcurrentlylicensedformobilebroadband.7

3Source:Id .

4Source:TheHill ,“Spectrum:oxygenofwirelessworld,”JuliusGenachowski,September24,2009.

http://thehill.com/special-reports/technology-september-2009/60265-spectrum-oxygen-of-wireless-

world.

5Source:Cisco,“CiscoVisualNetworkingIndex:GlobalMobileDataTrafficForecastUpdate,2010-2015,”

February1,2011.6Source:FCC,“ConnectingAmerica,TheNationalBroadbandPlan,”March2010;TheWhiteHouse,

PresidentialMemorandum:UnleashingtheWirelessBroadbandRevolution(June28,2010).

http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/presidential-memorandum-unleashing-wireless-

broadband-revolution.



5

Asconsumers race toembraceall thatwireless broadband connectivity hasto offer andU.S.mobile

innovationcontinuestoadvanceatanastoundingpace,thereisaclearandcompellingnationalinterest

inensuringadequatespectrumisavailabletocontinuethisprogress.Unfortunately,wecannotsimply

flipaswitchandmakemorebroadbandspectrumavailable;ittypicallytakesseveralyearsforspectrum

toberepurposedandreleasedintothemarketplace.8Andtheclockistickingwithrisingdemandrapidly

closingthegapwithexistingsupply.Theconsequencesof inactionaresevere,widespreadandwholly

negative forconsumersandtheU.S.economy.Equallytrue, thesesubstantialadverseimpactscanbe

avertedwithboldandtimelyleadershiptoday.

SpectrumandCapacity

Tounderstandwhyadditional spectrum is so crucial, onemustunderstandhowspectrum relatesto

capacity and how quickly users can consume what is available to them. This is especially true for

consumers who live in population-dense urban environments, where the upper limits of current

spectrumcapacityarelikelytofirstbereachedandtested.

Modernwirelessnetworksaredigital,meaningtheycommunicatebinarydata.Theamountofdatathat

aradiochannelcancarrydependsonthewidthoftheradiochannel,themodulationused,andhowthe

dataisencoded.Eachwirelesstechnologyusesradiochannelsofcertainwidth.Forexample,CDMA2000

(asusedbySprintandVerizon)radiochannelsareeach1.25megahertz(MHz)widewhereasHighSpeed

Packet Access (HSPA as used by AT&T and T-Mobile) radio channels are 5 MHz wide. Long Term

Evolution(LTE)radiochannelscanrangefrom1.4MHzinwidthto20MHz.

Toderivecapacity,wemustlookat thiswidthof theradiochannelandconsidertheaveragespectral

efficiencyof thetechnology intypicaldeployments.For this purpose, spectral efficiencyis definedas

howmanybitspersecondagivenamountofspectrumcancarryandismeasuredasbitspersecondper

Hzof spectrum. HSPA in typical deploymentshas a downlink (base station tomobile user) spectral

efficiency value of about 1.0 bps/Hz.9 This means a 5 MHz HSPA radio channel has an aggregate

downlinkcapacityof5millionHzmultipliedby1.0bps/Hz,whichequatesto5.0millionbitspersecond,

or5.0Mbps.10Thisisthetotalcapacityinacellsector

11forthatradiochannel,acapacitythatmustbe

7Source:FCC ,“ConnectingAmerica,TheNationalBroadbandPlan,”March2010,at85,Exhibit5-F.

8Source:Id .at70,Exhibit5-C.

9Foradetaileddiscussionofspectralefficiencyandspectralefficiencyvaluesofdifferenttechnologies,

refertopage51ofRysavyResearch,“Transitionto4G,”September,2010,http://www.rysavy.com/Articles/2010_09_HSPA_LTE_Advanced.pdf .1.0bps/Hzassumesahighlevelof

technologyenhancementandmostexistingHSPAnetworksoperateatspectralefficienciesonlyhalfor

twothirdsofthisvalue.10 In general, modernwireless technologies operatemore efficientlywith wider radio channels. This

effectisnottakenintoaccountinthecalculationsofcapacityinthispaper.



6

sharedbymultipleusers.The5MHzradiochannelactuallytranslatesto10MHzofspectrumusedsince

thereisaseparate5MHzradiochannelfortheuplink.

LTEhasahigherspectralefficiencyandcanoperateinwiderradiochannels.Forexample,anLTEradio

channel of 10 MHz has a downlink spectral efficiency value of 1.5 bps/Hz and would thus have a

downlink capacity of 15 Mbps. There is also an uplink channel of 10 MHz with a typical spectralefficiencyvalueof.65bps/Hz,equatingtoanuplinkcapacityof6.5Mbps.Together,theLTEdownlink

anduplinkchannelsconsume20MHzofspectrum.

The question then is how much total capacity an operator actually has for mobile broadband. This

dependsonhowmuchspectrumtheoperatorhasandthedistributionofcellsites.Morecellsitesmean

fewerpeoplehavetosharetheradiochannelsincethatradiochannelisservicinga smallerarea.But

therearelimitstohowmanycellsitescanbepracticallydeployed,withmostoftheeasiest-to-deploy

locationsalreadyinuse.

Inaddition,whenevaluatingthetotalcapacity, thespectrumanoperatorneedsto supportvoiceandlegacyservices,suchas2G,willreducethetotalamountofspectrumavailableformobilebroadband.

12

RysavyResearchestimatesthatforatypicaloperator,roughly20MHzisneededforvoiceserviceinany

coveragearea.Subtractingthisspectrumrequirementforvoicefromtotaltypicalamountsofspectrum

thatoperatorshave,mobile-broadbandtechnologiessuchasHSPAorLTEcouldbedeployedtosupport

mobilebroadbandserviceinabout30to80MHzofspectruminacoveragearea,assumingatypical

upperlimitofabout100MHzoftotalspectrumavailabletooperatorsinanymarket.Sixchannelsof

HSPA,each5MHzwide(usingseparatechannelsforthedownlinkanduplink),wouldrequireatotalof

60MHz.Alternatively,three10MHzLTEchannelswouldrequire60MHzandfour10MHzLTEchannels

wouldconsume80MHz.Note,however,thatanoperatoronlydeploysasmanyradiocarriersasneeded

tomeetcapacityrequirementsforthatcellsector.

Table 1 shows how cell sector capacity relates to different technology configurations, including the

numberof radiocarriersthatmightbedeployed.Forexample,anHSPAoperatorthathasdeployed2

HSPA radiocarriers in a cell sitewouldconsume 20MHz of spectrumand wouldhave 10Mbps of

aggregatedownlinkcapacityineachsectorand5Mbpsofuplinkcapacityineachsector.Notethatother

currently deployed broadband technologies such as EV-DO andWiMAX havea comparable spectral

efficiencytoHSPA.

11Mostcellsitesaredividedintothreesectors,soeachcellsector(pie-sliceshape)representsonethird

ofthecoverageofacelltower.12Forexample,operatorswithHSPA,a3Gtechnology,alsoneedsomespectrumavailableforGSM,a2G

technology.



7

Table1:SpectrumUsedandSectorCapacityforDifferentConfigurations

Technology

RadioCarrier

Width(MHz) Carriers

TotalSpectrum

Used(MHz)

Downlink

Spectral

Efficiency

DownlinkSector

Capacity(Mbps)

UplinkSpectral

Efficiency

UplinkSector

Capacity(Mbps)

HSPA 5 1 10 1.0 5 0.5 3

2 20 10 5

3 30 15 8

4 40 20 10

5 50 25 13

6 60 30 15

LTE 10 1 20 1.5 15 0.65 7

2 40 30 13

3 60 45 20

4 80 60 26

Note:LTEcanbedeployed inradiochannelsrangingfrom1.4to20MHz.10MHzisatypicaliniti alconfigurationforsomeoperators.

Nowlet’sexaminemarketconditionswithrespecttospectrumintwoU.S.cities,PhiladelphiaandSan

Diego.Inthosetwomarkets,thereareatleastfivewirelesscarrierswith40MHzormoreofspectrum,

accordingtotheFCC’sSpectrumDashboard.13

InPhiladelphiaandSanDiego,AT&TandT-MobileofferGSMandHSPAservice.14Clearwireoffersa4G

WiMaxmobile servicein Philadelphiaandhas plans to launch4Gservicein SanDiego this year.15In

Philadelphia,SprintNextel,throughitsrelationshipwithClearwire,hasa3GCDMAEV-DOandWiMAX

service offering and offers 3G service in San Diego.16 Verizon launched its 4G LTE service this past

DecemberandalsooffersCDMAEV-DOserviceinbothmarkets.17

UsingthemobilewirelesspenetrationratedeterminedbytheFCCinitslatestcompetitionreportforthe

PhiladelphiaandSanDiegoEconomicAreasagainsttheU.S.CensusBureau’slatestpopulationdata,the

13TheSpectrumDashboardmaynotfullyreflectallofthespectrumandownershipelementsinthetwo

marketsbutprovidesausefulproxyforthisanalysis.Source:FCC ,“SpectrumDashboard,”

http://reboot.fcc.gov/spectrumdashboard/searchMap.seam(lastvisitedonMar.9,2011);Morgan

Stanley ,“TheMobileInternetReport,”2009.14Source:AT&T,http://www.wireless.att.com/learn/why/network/index.jsp?wtSlotClick=1-00245D-0-

1&WT.svl=calltoaction(lastvisitedJan.27,2011);T-Mobile, http://t-mobile-coverage.t-mobile.com/4g-

wireless-technology?uid=Coverage_2 (lastvisitedJan.27,2011).15Source:Clearwire,http://www.clear.com/coverage(lastvisitedJan.27,2011);CraigHowie,“Tech

Trends:ClearMobileDeviceLetsYouTake4G(or3G)InternetAccesswithYou,” L.A.T IMES,Nov.29,

2010,http://articles.latimes.com/2010/nov/29/business/la-fi-clear-4g-20101130 .16Source:SprintNextel,http://coverage.sprintpcs.com/IMPACT.jsp?INTNAV=ATG:HE:Cov (lastvisited

Jan.27,2011).17Source:VerizonWireless,“VerizonWirelessLaunchesTheWorld’sLargest4GLTEWirelessNetwork

OnDec.5”(Dec.4,2010),http://news.vzw.com/news/2010/12/pr2010-11-30a.html ;VerizonWireless,

http://aboutus.vzw.com/bestnetwork/network_facts.html(lastvisitedJan.27,2011).



8

estimatednumberofmobilewirelesssubscribersinPhiladelphiaisabout1.45millionandinSanDiego,

about1.3million.18Thereareanestimated1,450cellsitesinPhiladelphiaand1,200sitesinSanDiego,

witheachsitecoveringabout1,100subscribers.19Withthreesectorscommonlyusedatcellsites,we

will assume there areabout 360 subscriberspercell sector. In Philadelphia, there arean estimated

660,000adultsthataccesstheInternetwirelesslyandmorethan570,000inSanDiego.20

Thedemographicmakeupofthesetwocitiesisasfollows:

• Ofthemorethan1.5millionresidentsinPhiladelphia,53.2%arefemale;43.5%white;42.7%

blackorAfricanAmerican;11%HispanicorLatino;5.5%Asian;76%are18yearsandolderand

12.7%are65yearsandolder.21ThemedianhouseholdincomeinPhiladelphia is$36,669,and

thepercentageoffamiliesandindividualsthatarebelowthepovertylevelare19.2%and24.2%,

respectively.

• Of San Diego’s 1.3 million residents, 49.7% are female; 66.7%white; 6.8% black or African

American;27.3%HispanicorLatino;14.8%Asian;77.6%are18yearsandolderand10.7%are65yearsandolder.

22Themedianhouseholdincomeis$61,962,andthepercentageoffamilies

andindividualsthatarebelowthepovertylevelare8.8%and13.1%,respectively.

18Source:AnnualReportandAnalysisofCompetitiveMarketConditionsWithRespecttoMobile

Wireless,IncludingCommercialMobileServices,WTDocketNo.09-66,FourteenthReport,25FCCRcd

11407,11644TableC-3(2010);USCensusBureau, http://factfinder.census.gov (searchusing

“Philadelphia”and“SanDiego”)(lastvisitedJan.27,2011).Noteweareusingestimatesbasedon

generallyavailablenumbers.19Source:Dr.RobertF.Roche&LesleyO’Neill,CTIA,“CTIA’sWirelessIndustryIndices,”161,November

2010,at161(providingmid-year2010resultsandcalculating1,111subscriberspercellsite).Cellsite

estimatesbasedontheestimatednumberofsubscribersinPhiladelphiaandSanDiegoagainstthe

averagenumberofsubscriberspercellsite.Source: Id .at8.20EstimatesbasedonpercentageofAmericanadultsthathaveawirelessconnectionandusealaptop

orcellphonetoaccesstheInternetasdeterminedbythePewInternetandAmericanLifeProject(Pew

Internet),i.e.,57%,comparedtotheestimatedpopulationofpeopleinPhiladelphiaandSanDiegothat

are18yearsorolder.Source:SusannahFox,“MobileHealth2010,”PewInternet(Oct.19,2010),

http://www.pewinternet.org/Reports/2010/Mobile-Health-2010.aspx ;U.S.CensusBureau,

http://factfinder.census.gov (searchusing“Philadelphia”and“SanDiego”).21Source:USCensusBureau, http://factfinder.census.gov (searchusing“Philadelphia”)(lastvisitedJan.

27,2011).22Source:USCensusBureau, http://factfinder.census.gov (searchusing“SanDiego”)(lastvisitedJan.27,

2011).



9

Accordingto arecentreportreleasedby thePewResearchCenter’sInternet&AmericanLifeProject,

minoritygroupsaretheleadingdemographicsegmenttoadoptmobileservices.Pewfoundthat63%of

Hispanics and 64% of African Americans access the Internet wirelessly,more thanwhites at 57%.23

Lower-incomepeople,independentofrace,alsoareincreasinglylikelytoaccesstheInternetwirelessly,

accordingtoPew.24ANationalHealthInterviewSurveyshowedmorethan26%ofhomesarewireless-

onlyanddonothavealandlinetelephone,withadultslivingatornearpovertymorelikelythanhigher-

incomeadultstoliveinwireless-onlyhouseholds.25Moreover,Hispanicadultsat34.7%andblackadults

at 28.5% were more likely than white adults at 22.7% to be living in a wireless-only household.26

Assumingthesetrendsholdtrue,thereisahigherpercentageofresidentsinPhiladelphia,andahigher

percentageofHispanicsandLatinoslivinginSanDiego,whorelyonmobilebroadbandastheirprimary

connectionthanthenationalaverageduetothedemographicsofthesemarkets.27

Aswewillseein thenextsection,arelativelysmallpercentageof thesubscribersinPhiladelphiaand

SanDiego,and/orseeminglysmallshiftsinthekindsofdevicesand/orapplicationscommonlyused,can

easilyoverwhelmtheavailablecapacityofagivencellsiteantennasectorbasedoncurrentlyavailable

spectrum.

ApplicationandUserDemands

InmarketslikePhiladelphiaandSanDiegoandaroundthecountry,evermoresophisticatedapplications

presentfast-growingdemandsonthenetwork.Wherease-mailandwebbrowsingofrelativelystatic

contentpresent aminimal load, streaming applications, such as the PandoramusicorNetflixvideo

applications, can consume large amounts of available bandwidth because this more data-intensive

content has to be continually and reliably delivered. Over the last four years, consumers have

increasinglycometorelyontheirwirelessbroadbanddevicesforhigh-bandwidthapplications.Evena

seeminglysubtleshiftintimeandconsumptionhabits—orevenupgradingadevice—candriveupdata

usagebyseveralordersofmagnitude.

23Source:AaronSmith,“MobileAccess2010,” PewResearchCenter’sInternet&AmericanLifeProject ,

3,9(July7,2010),http://www.pewinternet.org/Reports/2010/Mobile-Access-2010.aspx (“Mobile

Access2010).24Source:MobileAccess2010at9.

25Source:StephenJ.BlumbergandJulianV.Luke,“WirelessSubstitution:EarlyReleaseofEstimates

fromtheNationalHealthInterviewSurvey,January-June2010,”NationalCenterforHealthStatistics,

CDC ,at1,3,Dec.21,2010,http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nhis/earlyrelease/wireless201012.htm .

26Source:Id .27ThepopulationpercentageofblacksandAfricanAmericansandHispanicsandLatinosfortheentire

U.S.is12.1%and15.1%,respectively,comparedto42.7%and11%inPhiladelphiaand6.8%and27.3%

inSanDiego.FamiliesandindividualsbelowthepovertylevelfortheentireU.S.are9.9%and13.5%,

respectively,comparedto19.2%and24.2%inPhiladelphia.Source:USCensusBureau,

http://factfinder.census.gov (searchusing“Philadelphia”).



10

Table2showsthetypicalthroughputrequirementsofvariousstreamingapplicationsthatmightinclude

increasingly popular applications for telemedicine, education, social networking, entertainment, field

service, business collaboration, andso forth.Thetable includestheamountofdata eachapplication

consumesperhourmeasuredinmegabytes,andhowmanygigabyteseachindividualapplicationwould

consumeina30-daymonthbasedondailyconsumptionamountsof.5hours,1hour,2hoursand4

hours.

Table2:DataConsumptionofTypicalApplications

Application Throughput(Mbps) MByte/hour Hrs./day GB/month

Audioormusic 0.1 58 0.5 0.9

1.0 1.7

2.0 3.5

4.0 6.9

Smallscreenvideo 0.2 90 0.5 1.4

1.0 2.7

2.0 5.4

4.0 10.8

Mediumdefinition 1.0 450 0.5 6.8

video 1.0 13.5

2.0 27.0

4.0 54.0

Higherdefinitionvideo 2.0 900 0.5 13.5

1.0 27.0

2.0 54.0

4.0 108.0

Highdefinition, 4.0 1800 0.5 27.0

fullscreenvideo 1.0 54.0

2.0 108.0

4.0 216.0

Videoapplications:telemedicine,education,socialnetworking,entertainment.

Thetabledemonstrateshow relativelydiscrete usepatterns canquicklyresultin largemonthlydata

usagetotals.Forexample,anhourofaudioadayaddsupto1.7gigabytes(GB)overamonth.And,30

minutesadayofmedium-definitionvideoconsumes6.8GB.

Actual amounts of data being consumed in the marketplace validate these estimates. Clearwireindicatedin2010thatsubscriberswerealreadyconsuming7GBpermonth.

28TeliasonerainFinland,the

28Source:FierceWireless,“Clearwireupgradesnetworkmanagementsystemtobetterthrottlespeeds,”

October11,2010,http://www.fiercewireless.com/story/clearwire-says-it-will-throttle-data-speeds-

during-high-usage/2010-10-11.



11

firstLTEoperator,reportedLTEdata-cardsubscribersusing14GBto15GBpermonth,threetimestheir

3Gdata-cardusers.29Thismonthlyamountisconsistentwithaveragefixedbroadbandconsumptionof

14.9GBpermonth,asreportedbyCisco.30Ifmobilebroadbandnetworksexistedinisolation,operators

mightbeabletomanageperformanceexpectations.Butwirelinenetworkswithmuchhighercapacities

often setuser expectations, resulting inusers frequentlywishing todo thesame thingsovermobile

networksastheydooverwirelinenetworks.Withpolicymakersworkingtoextendbroadbandtoalarger

percentageofthepopulationwhileatthesametimepromotingbroadbandcompetition,itiscrucialthat

mobile broadband be a competitive and viable alternative. This is particularly important if mobile

broadbandistoplayanimportantroleinsectorssuchashealthcare,educationandenergy.

Datausageacrossalldevicetypesisgrowingquickly.Forinstance,RysavyResearchprojectssmartphone

dataconsumption increasing fromabout0.3GBpermonthtoalmost10times this amountwithin5

years,asshowninFigure1.31

29Source:Gigaom,“OperatorSaysLTESubscribersUsing15GBPerMonth!,”November15,2010,

http://gigaom.com/2010/11/15/wireless-vs-wired-broadband/ .

30Source:Cisco,“CiscoVisualNetworkingIndex:Usage,”October25,2010,

http://www.cisco.com/en/US/solutions/collateral/ns341/ns525/ns537/ns705/Cisco_VNI_Usage_WP.ht

ml.

31Source:RysavyResearch,“MobileBroadbandCapacityConstraintsandtheNeedforOptimization,”

February24,2010,

http://www.rysavy.com/Articles/2010_02_Rysavy_Mobile_Broadband_Capacity_Constraints.pdf .



12

Figure1:SmartphoneDataProjection

0.0

1.0

2.0

3.0

4.0

5.0

6.0

7.0

8.0

2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

MonthlyGigabytesPerSubscriber

Year

Smartphones

RysavyResearch 2010

Consumersareincreasinglyusingmobilefortelemedicine,distancelearning,andsocialnetworking.In

addition, there is a growingdemand for mobile business applications byenterprise users. With the

expectedrapidgrowthinusageofnew,data-heavyservicesandapplications,itiscriticaltomakemore

spectrumcommerciallyavailable toaccommodategrowingconsumerdemand.Itis importantto note

thatemergingwirelessapplicationssuchasmachine-to-machinecommunicationsandtabletcomputing

couldresultinfargreaterdemandforcapacitythanamountsanticipatedbysimplyextrapolationsof

currentusages.

Avarietyof factorsare fuelingcontinuedgrowth inusage,including: fasternetworks,morenetwork-

enableddevices,increasingcomputingspeedsthatenablemorecomplexdata-consumingapplications,

gaming,largerdisplays,andhigherscreenresolution.

Takingjustoneofthesefactors,screen resolution,Table3showshow increasingresolutionresultsin

highervideoencodingratesandincreasedbroadbandcapacityconsumption.Assumingtypicaladvanced

videoencodingandfull-screenvideo,going fromtheiPhone3toiPhone4quadruplesthevideodata

consumption rate. Thethird rowpresents a high-definitionstream forcomparison. Thepoint is that

even though devicesare relatively small, increasing video resolution forces them to consume larger

amountsofdata.Thus,evenifaconsumer’susageofmobilevideostayedconstant–whichishighlyunlikely–bandwidthdemandswouldskyrocketsimplybecauseoftheshiftinscreenresolution.



13

Table3:TypicalVideoUsageRateBasedonTypeofDevice

De vice Vertical Horizontal Me gapixe ls TypicalVide oRate (Mbps)

iPhone3 320 480 0.2 0.4

iPhone4 640 960 0.6 1.6

1080pHD 1080 1920 2.1 5.4

To put theseusage rates into a wireless-networking perspective, Figure 2 below takes the network

capacitiespresentedinTable1andshowswhatdownlinkthroughputratesareavailable,basedonthe

number of simultaneous users, assuming an operator is using 20 MHz for mobile broadband, e.g.,

Verizonuses20MHzforLTE.

Figure2:AvailableThroughputPerUserBasedonNetworkLoading

0.0

2.0

4.0

6.0

8.0

10.0

12.0

14.0

16.0

1 2 5 10 20 50DownlinkT

hroughputPerUser(Mbps)

SimultaneousUsersinCellSector

ThroughputBasedonLoading(20MHz)

2HSPACarriers

LTECarrier

RysavyResearh2011

Thefactisthatifusersareengagedin1Mbpsor2Mbpsstreamsordownloads,ittakesarelatively

smallnumberofuserstoconsumesectorcapacity.ForLTE,ittakesonlyabouteightuserswitha2Mbps

streamtoreachthe15Mbpssectorcapacitythatoneoperatormayhavedeployed.Asnotedearlierin

thisreport,thereisanestimatedaverageofabout360subscriberspercellsectorperoperator.Denser

cellsitesincities,likePhiladelphiaandSanDiego,couldhavetwoorthreetimesasmanysubscribers.Toputthisintoperspective,cell-sitespacinginanurbanareacouldbe1,000feetbetweencellsites,with

eachcellsitecoveringabout10cityblocks.Sinceeachsitecomprisesthreesectors,thismeansasector

hastocoveraboutthreecityblocks.Thissectorcapacityhastobesharedacrossalltheusersinthis

area. Operators will augment capacity with additional radio channels, but doubling the amount of



14

spectrumto40MHzusingLTEwouldstillonlyaccommodate16simultaneoususersconsuming2Mbps

streams.

Evenifanoperatorwith100MHzoftotalspectrumholdingshad80MHzofspectrumallocatedtoLTE,

thiswouldstillrepresentonlyabout60Mbpsofaggregatedownlinkcapacityinacellsectorforthose

threecityblocks,accommodating30simultaneoususersconsuming2Mbpsstreamsinagivensector.However,unlessmorespectrumismadeavailable,itishighlyunlikelythatevenfourproviderscould

reachthesespectrumholdingsinagivenmarketlikePhiladelphiaorSanDiego.

TheFCCstatesthatthereis547MHzofspectrumcurrentlylicensedthatcanbeusedtoprovidemobile

broadband.32 In Philadelphia, this licensed spectrum is divided up among more than 20 different

spectrum holderswithno oneentityholding100MHz.33 Threemajor providers inPhiladelphiahave

between75and99MHzandthenext4havebetween10and50MHz.InSanDiego,therearemore

than30spectrumholders.34ThetopfourprovidersinSanDiegohavebetween70and104MHz;andthe

nexttwohavebetween30and40MHz.35Unlessmorespectrumismadeavailable,therewouldneedto

besignificantconsolidationinthePhiladelphiaandSanDiegospectrummarketplacefortheretobeatleastfourproviderswithsufficientspectrumtoreachthe60Mbpsofcapacitynecessarytosupport30

simultaneoususersofhigherdefinitionvideointhethreecityblockscoveredbyagivenantennasector.

Incontrast,asinglecable-modemusercanreadilyobtain15to50Mbpsofdedicatedservice.

RysavyResearchprojectsevenanoperatorwith100MHzofspectrumand60Mbpsofaggregatesector

capacitywillnotbeable,absentadditionalspectrum,tomeetthedatademandsofconsumersinthree

tofouryearsifconsumersusetheapplicationstheydesire.36

Ofcourse,notallusersarenecessarilysimultaneouslyengaginginhigh-bandwidthstreamingactivities.

Users doing e-mail or browsingWeb pageswith relatively static content consume far less data. So

operators can accommodate larger numbers of those kinds of users. The point, however, is that

broadbandusers ingeneralare increasingtheirdataconsumptionat asteadyrate.Atthesametime,

thepercentageofsubscriberswithdevicesthatcanconsumelargeamountsofdataisgrowingsteadily.

Forexample,theNielsenCompanyfoundthat31%ofAmericanmobileconsumersownedsmartphones

32Source:FCC,“ConnectingAmerica,TheNationalBroadbandPlan,”March2010,at85.

33Source:FCC ,“SpectrumDashboard,”http://reboot.fcc.gov/reform/systems/spectrum-dashboard (last

visitedonMar.9,2011).ManyofthespectrumholdersinPhiladelphiaandSanDiegoareEducational

BroadbandService(EBS) licensees.Commercialoperatorsareallowedto leaseexcesscapacityonEBS

systemsbutarenoteligibletoholdEBSlicenses.34ThesespectrumamountsareroughestimatesbasedontheFCC’sSpectrumDashboard.Source: Id .

35Source:Id .

36Source:RysavyResearch,“MobileBroadbandCapacityConstraintsandtheNeedforOptimization,”

February24,2010,

http://www.rysavy.com/Articles/2010_02_Rysavy_Mobile_Broadband_Capacity_Constraints.pdf .



15

asofDecember2010andmoreconsumerswillownsmartphonesthanbasicfeaturephonesbytheend

of2011.37Alreadytoday,thesenimbletoolsgenerate30timesthedatatrafficofbasic-featurephones.

38

It is the combination of bandwidth-consuming devices and increasing penetration that is placing so

muchstressonmobilebroadbandcapacity.Thistrendisnowclearlyacceleratingwiththearrivalofnew

device categories, such as tablets,which are being enthusiastically embraced by consumers – 10.3

milliontabletssoldalreadywithsalesexpectedtoexceedlaptopsby2015. 39

To accommodate rapidly rising volumes of data-rich traffic, operators will need to employ multiple

approaches. One is to continue deploying more advanced wireless technologies as they become

available.40 Another is tooffload data traffic onto alternate networks such asWi-Fi and femtocells,

whichhaveinherentlygreatercapacityduetotheirmuchhigherfrequencyreuse.Theothertactic,of

crucial importance, is todeploy greater capacity inmore spectrum, though this isonly anoption if

spectrumisavailabletothem.

Figure3showshowthethroughputperusercandramaticallyincreasethroughacombinationofoffload

andmorespectrum.

37Source:DonKellogg,“AmongMobilePhoneUsers,Hispanics,AsiansareMost-LikelySmartphone

OwnersintheU.S.”,NielsenWire,Feb.2,2011,http://blog.nielsen.com/nielsenwire/consumer/among-

mobile-phone-users-hispanics-asians-are-most-likely-smartphone-owners-in-the-u-s/# ;RogerEntner,

“SmartphonestoOvertakeFeaturePhonesinU.S.by2011,” NielsenWire,Mar.26,2010,

http://blog.nielsen.com/nielsenwire

/consumer/smartphones-to-overtake-feature-phones-in-u-s-by-2011/# .38CiscoReport ,2009.

39

Source:“TabletstoSurpassLaptopSalesIn2015,OneThirdOfUSConsumersWillOwnOne,”MobileMarketingWatch,Jan.5,2011, http://www.mobilemarketingwatch.com/tablets-to-surpass-

laptop-sales-in-2015-one-third-of-us-consumers-will-own-one-12356/ .40Forexample,theevolutionofLTE(throughLTEAdvanced)employscontinuallymoreadvancedforms

of smart antennas. Rysavy Research projections for required spectrum takes these advances into

account.



16

Figure3:GreaterCapacityThroughMoreSpectrumandOffload41

0.0

10.0

20.0

30.0

40.0

50.0

60.0

70.0

1 2 5 10 20 50

ThroughputPerUser(Mbps)


ImprovedThroughputswithMoreSpectrumandOffload

LTECarrier(20MHz)

LTECarrier(20MHz),

Offload

2LTECarriers(40MHz),

MoreOffload

RysavyResearch2011

Additionalspectrumwillplayapivotalroleamongproviders:

• Existingserviceproviderswithrelativelylargeamountsofspectrumhavehugesubscriberbases

already generating tremendous broadband demand. Thisdemandwill only increaseand can

onlybeaccommodatedwithmorespectrum.

• Serviceproviderswithsmalleramountsofspectrumhavesubscriberbasesthatareincreasingly

generatingdata traffic in addition tohigh, legacy voice demand.Networkcapacity based on

these smaller spectrum amountswill be rapidly exhausted as these providers increase their

subscriberbaseandastheirsubscribersconsumemoredata.Forexample,thereareatleast

threemajor commercialwireless broadband providers inPhiladelphia,and two inSanDiego,

withlessthan50MHz.42Allproviderswillneedmorespectrumtooffercompetitivewireless

broadbandservices.

• Iftherearetobenewentrantsintheindustry,theywillalsoneedspectrum.

Theneed fornew spectrum isnodifferentwhen lookingat individualoperatorsor theindustry asa

whole.Onewaytoassessthebenefitofnewspectrumistocomparethetotaldemandforspectrum

acrosstheindustryrelativetocapacity,asshowninFigure4,whichnormalizescapacityandspectrumto

avalueof 1in 2010. In2010,thefigureshows demand atabouthalfof capacity. The figure depicts

41Assumption:asmuchdataoffloadedascarriedontheLTEnetwork.

42Source:FCC,“SpectrumDashboard,” http://reboot.fcc.gov/spectrumdashboard/searchMap.seam .



17

demandincreasingatafairlyrapidratethrough2017thenslowingdownthereafter.Ifnonewspectrum

becomesavailable,demandwilllikelyexceedcapacitywithinfouryearsinhigh-trafficmarkets.“Partially

increased”spectrumisbasedona50%increaseofspectrumrelativetocurrentlyavailableamountsby

2020.Butinthisscenario,demandstillexceedscapacitywithinthisdecade.Fullyincreasedspectrumis

based on an approximate 100% increase in spectrum by 2020, as intended by the FCC’s National

Broadband Plan and the President’s Memorandum. It is only through this aggressive allocation of

spectrum that demand can possibly bemet. Even with this substantial added spectrum, the figure

assumesthatoperatorsdeployaggressiveoffloadandsmall-cellarchitectures,suchasfemtocellsand

picocells.

Figure4:DemandVersusDifferentSpectrumScenarios

0

0.5

1

1.5

2

2.5

DemandVersusSpectrum(Normalized)

NoNewSpectrum

PartiallyIncreased

Spectrum

Fullyincreased

Spectrum

Demand

RysavyResearch2011

Clearly, additional spectrum contributes directly to increasing capacity. But what does it mean for

consumersandU.S.innovationifthisspectrumisnotmadeavailable?

AdverseApplicationEffects

The effects of insufficient spectrumare multiple and all negative. One immediate effect is network

congestion.Toomanyuserscompetingfortoofewnetworkresourcescausecongestion.Thisleadstoa

varietyofsignificantadverseeffectsintermsofthefunctionalityofthemobileInternetforconsumers,

including:

• Sluggishbehavior(e.g.,slow-loadingWebpages)

• Stalls(e.g.,failuresofstreamingvideolikeremotehealthmonitoring)

• Completefailure(applicationorcomputersystemhastoberestarted)

• Communicationsprotocolsbehaveerratically(e.g.,undeliveredpacketsofdata)

• Unpredictableapplicationbehavior(e.g.workssometimesandnotothers)



18

Sluggishbehavioris easytounderstandby takingsome typicalnetworkconfigurationsand lookingat

differentnumbersofuserssimultaneouslyloadingWebpages.AtypicalWebpagetodayisover1MBin

size. Assuming a 1MB size, Figure 5 shows how page load time increases with higher numbers of

simultaneoususers.Apageloadtimeofgreaterthan10secondsrepresents“sluggish”behavior.For

example, this occurs with about 15 users simultaneously accessing Web pages in a 2-HSPA carrier

scenarioandwithabout20usersinanLTEscenario.DoctorsinSanDiegomightbeintheofficewith

theirwireless tablet trying to access a patient’s vital statistics ormedical history using the Medical

Information Anytime Anywhere application developed by Palomar Pomerado Health officials.43 In

Philadelphia, practitioners might be earning continuing medical education credits through their

MedPageTodayMobile application,which containsarticles peer-reviewed under thedirection of the

UniversityofPennsylvaniaSchoolofMedicine.44StudentsattheUniversityofCalifornia,SanDiegomay

beaccessing informationabout courses or listening topodcastsof prior lectures using the school’s

iPhoneapp.45APhilliesfanmightbetryingtoorderfoodanddrinksatCitizensBankParkusingtheAt

Bat2010application.46Slowpageupdatetimeswillfrustratetheseusers,anddrivethemawayfrom

theseapplicationsandotherinnovativeofferings.

Greatercapacitywillminimizesuchsluggishperformance.Thisisnot,however,aone-timeadjustment.

Operatorswillneedtocontinuallyaugmentcapacitytoaddressescalatingdemand.

43Source:JanetLavelle,“WirelessApplicationWouldGiveDoctorsAccesstoReal-timeRecords,”S AN

DIEGOUNION-T RIBUNE ,Feb.20,2011,http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2011/feb/20/wireless-

device-would-give-doctors-access-real-tim/# .44Source:MedPageToday.com,http://www.medpagetoday.com/iPhone_promo.cfm(lastvisitedJan.

27,2011).

45Source:DianSchaffhauser,“UCSanDiegoOffersFreeiPhoneApp,” C AMPUST ECH.,June25,2009,

http://campustechnology.com/articles/2009/06/25/uc-san-diego-offers-free-iphone-app.aspx .46Source:MLB.com,“MLBAM,PhiladelphiaPhillies&AramarkjointodebutMobileFoodOrderingApp

atCitizensBankPark”(Sept.23,2010),

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/press_releases/press_release.jsp?ymd=20100923&content_id=14992180&vk

ey=pr_mlbcom&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb.



19

Figure5:WebPageLoadTimesforTypicalWebPages

0.0

5.0

10.0

15.0

20.0

25.0

30.0

35.0

40.0

45.0

1 2 5 10 20 50

PageLoadTime(Seconds)


WebPageLoadTimeBasedonLoading

2HSPACarriers

LTECarrier

RysavyResearch2011

Beyondsluggishperformance,thereisalsotheriskthatnetworksthathaveinsufficientcapacity(dueto

insufficientspectrum)haveto significantly delay orultimatelydrop packets. Packetsarriveata base

stationorotherradio-accessnetworkinfrastructurenodeoverahighspeedconnectionsuchas fiber.

Thebasestationthentransmitsthepacketsovertheslowerradioconnection.Iftherearetoomany

incomingpacketstheresultwillbepacketsbeingdroppedorsignificantlydelayed.Thisisaninevitable

consequencewhenthereisgreaterdemandthancapacity.Itistheequivalentofacloggedfreewayon-

rampduringrushhour.Itdoesnotreflectanyimproperdesignormanagementbytheoperatorbuta

simpleoverwhelmingofthesystemasitexiststoday.

Inadditionto slowerperformance,outrightapplicationfailureswouldbecomemorewidespreadand

commonplace. Most communications protocols implement timeouts on their operations, including

Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) itself, the fundamental packet-transport protocol used in the

Internet.Withlargedelaysordroppedpackets,communicationsprotocolswillattempttodeliverdata

reliably.Butatsomestageofcongestion,theycannolongercopeproperly.Atthatpoint,applications

willeitherindicateafailure,orworse,terminatetheapplicationandrequireafull-systemrestart.This

meansausercouldbeinthemidstofbookingaflightandsuddenlytheylosetheirentiresession.Or

studentscouldbetakingexamsandlosealloftheirdata.

Theworstproblemwithcongestionisthatitisunpredictable.Alightlyloadednetworkwillfunctionfine,

butwithmoreusersgettingonthenetwork,applicationswillbecomeunreliable.This“on-again,off-

again”modeofoperationis frustratingforusers,whowouldgrowdissatisfiedwiththeservice.When

peopledependonservice,theyfinditstressfulwhentheycannotrelyonitandmaywellabandonthe

serviceifitprovesunstable.



20

MarketEffects

Manyserviceproviders,likethoseinPhiladelphiaandSanDiego,lackthespectrumcapacitytomeetthe

risingdatademandandwill increasinglybecomecapacityconstrainedasmoreandmoreusersadopt

mobilebroadbanddevices.Theresultingeffectsofcongestionwillnotbeisolatedtospecificindustries;

rather they will have widely felt adverse effects across finance, telemedicine, education, socialnetworking,research,machine-to-machine connectivity, online gamingand entertainment.

47Without

additional spectrum, anoperator’s response tocongestioncaneitherbe toallow it tohappen or to

implementpricingorotherschemesthatlimitdemand.48Forexample,usagecapscanlimithowmuch

datausersconsume.Intoday’smarket,userscanconsumeamodestamountofstreamingcontent,but

theymaybe reluctant tousea mobile-broadband connectionas a substitute fora fixed connection.

Userswho find the limits tobe insufficient to conduct the tasks they wantwill become frustrated.

Highermonthlybillscouldcauseconsumerstogrowdissatisfiedandpotentiallystopusingtheservice.

Moreover, when usage limits are so restrictive that usersare uncertain aboutwhat they can door

cannotdo,theytypicallyopttodonothing.Allofthisgreatlydiminishesthevalueandappealofmobile

connectivity.

Ultimately,congestionwillhavea significantlynegativeeffecton thewirelessmarket.Consumerswill

use theservice less.49Minorities and lower income groups that increasingly rely onlyonwireless to

accesstheInternetwillbeparticularlyaffectedbyapproachesthatcouldlimitdemandincludingusage

caps, higherpricingand other tools that place a heavy emphasison dataoffload,which requires an

47Source:ColemanBazelon,“TheNeedforAdditionalSpectrumforWirelessBroadband:TheEconomic

BenefitsandCostsofReallocations,”Oct.23,2009,at22(“Broadbandconnectivityhasmeasurable

impactsonoutputoftheentireeconomy,wellbeyondthetelecommunicationssector.”).48Source:SwarupMandal,DebashisSaha,&MainakChatterjee,DynamicPriceDiscoveringModelsfor

DifferentiatedWirelessServices,1J.COMM.50(2006)(“[S]erviceprovidersusepricingasatoolto

resolvethisconstraintonthebandwidth.”);AndrewSeybold,“DataCongestionandNewPricing

Models,”AndrewSeybold.com(June10,2010)(statingthatwhilecarriersaremakingtechnological

improvementstoincreasebandwidthcapacity,theystillneedto“useallofthetechnologytoolsthatare

availablealongwithmanagementtoolsincludingpricing.”),http://andrewseybold.com/1635-data-

congestion-and-new-pricing-models ;AaronBlazar,“AT&TWirelessDataPricingChangesAnalysis,”

Atlantic-ACM(June11,2010)(“Althoughtrafficmanagementeffortshaveloggedsomesuccess,the

continuedgrowthofusage,andincreasedpenetrationofsmartphonedevices,isdrivingcarriersto

reevaluatedataplanpricingineffortstoreshapeend-userbehavior.”), http://www.atlantic-

acm.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=534:d

ataline-06-10-10&catid=7:datalines&Itemid=5.49Source:FCC,“ConnectingAmerica,TheNationalBroadbandPlan,”March2010,at77(“[S]carcityof

mobilebroadbandcouldmeanhigherprices,poorservicequality,aninabilityfortheU.S.tocompete

internationally,depresseddemandand,ultimately,adragoninnovation.”).



21

underlyingwirelinebroadbandsubscription.50Thiswillbeespeciallytrueinurbanareaswherethereare

ahigherpercentageofminoritiesandpeoplelivingbelowthepovertylevelthanthenationalaverage.

Lowerusagealsowilldetractfromtheinvestmentcaseacrossthewirelesssector,curbingthegrowth

potentialofapplicationdevelopers,mobiledevicevendors,serviceprovidersandoperators.51

ConclusionWithexponentiallyincreasingconsumerdemand,today’smobilebroadbandmarket issurgingahead.

But the progress is advancing so rapidly that it threatens to quickly exceed the capacity of today’s

wirelessnetworks.Operatorshaveseveralmethods available toaugmentcapacity, suchasincreasing

thenumber of cell sites, offloading onto other networksanddeploying more efficient technologies.

Thesemeasures,however,arenotsufficienttomeetgrowingmarketdemand.Theonlyviablesolution

istoallocatemorespectrumfortheseservices.Morespectrumwillallowoperatorstocontinuetomeet

explodingconsumerdemand,enablenewservices,andbringevenmorecompetitiontothemarket.

Withoutadditional spectrum, technical andmarketeffectswillbe calamitous.Networks incities,like

PhiladelphiaandSanDiego,willbecomecongestedwithapplicationsbehavingunreliablyanderratically.

Operatorsmay have nochoicebut totry tolimit demand.Asa result, promising advances, like the

innovative mobile applications already available to consumers, may not reach the marketplace,

investmentlevelswilldrop,andthemarketwillnotrealizeitsfullpotential.TheU.S.willfacethereal

possibilityoflosingitsgloballeadershippositioninthiscruciallyimportantsegmentoftheeconomy.

Mobile broadband is not amarket unto itself. Rather, it is the intersection of the leading edgesof

computing,Internettechnologyandcommunicationstechnology.Mobileinnovationinthiscountryhas

thrivedin anenvironmentofminimalgovernmentintervention.But,today,governmentleadershipis

urgentlyneededtomakeadditionalspectrumavailabletopowerthenextwaveofconnectedinnovation

andgrowth.Nurturingandexpandingthisdynamicsectorisofvital,strategicimportancetothisnation.

50BothfemtocellsandWi-Fioffloadassumeafixed-Internetconnectionfortransportingdatatothe

Internet.51Source:GeraldR.Faulhaber&DavidJ.Farber, InnovationintheWirelessEcosystem:ACustomer-

CentricFramework ,4INT’LJ.COMM.73,82(2010)(“CustomersdemandaccesstotheInternetandother

dataservices,soInternetapplicationsaredeveloped,devicesbecomeInternet-enabled,andcore

networksensurethatcapacityisavailableforhighspeeddatathroughspectralefficiencyinnovation.All

ofthisinnovationisdrivenbycustomerdemand;itiscustomer-centricinnovation.”);FairviewCapital,

“WirelessInnovation:BridgingtheMobilityGap;IndustryOverviewfromaVentureCapitalPerspective,”

(notingthatconsumerdemandformobilewirelessisdrivinginvestmentinnewdevices,applications,

advertising,mobilepaymentservices,gaming,andinfrastructuredevelopment),

http://www.fairviewcapital.com/images/IndustryReport_Wireless.jpg.

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