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Apr. 11, 2010

During the past several days, the Federal Communications Commission and Verizon Wireless' CEO Ivan Seidenberg have argued extensively over the agency's plan to reclaim spectrum from broadcasters.

Seidenberg said that the FCC shouldn't ask broadcasters to give up their spectrum for the wireless industry.

Seidenberg also said that the FCC's broadband plan overestimated the industry's need for wireless spectrum and that market forces and technological advancements would most likely solve potential shortages of spectrum.

Seidenberg's views are not 100 percent clear to everybody, however, given the fact that the wireless carrier isn't involved in any way with any broadcaster.

He also questioned why the FCC wanted to reclaim spectrum from broadcasters instead of cable companies.

He added "overall, cable TV companies have acquired wireless spectrum over the last 10 to 15 years that's been lying idle. Now the FCC is out running around looking for new sources of spectrum, and we've got probably 150 megahertz of spectrum sitting out there that some companies own and that aren't even being used at all at this time."

Seidenberg's comments were made during a talk this week with the Council on Foreign Relations. "Confiscating the spectrum and repurposing for other things, I'm not sure I buy into the idea that that's a good thing to do," Seidenberg added.

FCC Chief of Staff Ed Lazarus fired back harshly at Seidenberg in a post on the agency's official blog, calling Seidenberg's comments "unfounded and unjustified."

In October 2009, Julius Genachowski, chairman of the FCC warned the U.S. government of a looming wireless spectrum crisis if the government fails to find better ways to come up with more bandwidth for mobile devices.

The FCC then asked wireless industry executives to imagine a scenario when the number of computers with mobile broadband quadruples, or when every mobile phone user upgrades to an iPhone, Palm Pre, BlackBerry or other bandwidth-hungry device.

Genachowski also promised "a full-throated, strategic look" at how to close that gap between demand and supply, declaring it one of the FCC's highest priorities. The review will consider reallocating existing wireless spectrum now used for other purposes, and encouraging development of new technologies that use spectrum more efficiently.

Genachowski said the government is tripling the amount of spectrum available for commercial uses.

The issue is that many industry experts predict wireless traffic will increase more than thirty times because of online video and other bandwidth-heavy applications.

He also added that the FCC is open to ideas.

"I believe that the biggest threat to the future of mobile in America is the looming spectrum crisis," he said in a prepared speech to industry trade group CTIA - The Wireless Association.

Neither Verizon Wireless nor the FCC returned requests for comment by press time.

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Source: Verizon Wireless.