Obama Calls For Expanded High Speed Wireless

In President Barack Obama’s State of the Union speech to Congress, he called for making high speed wireless service available to the vast majority of the country.

Within the next five years, we will make it possible for business to deploy the next generation of high-speed wireless coverage to 98% of all Americans…This isn’t just about a faster Internet and fewer dropped calls. It’s about connecting every part of America to the digital age.

In order to achieve the President’s goal, two major roadblocks will need to be overcome. First of all, the service networks themselves will need to be expanded to cover more rural areas. According to the 2000 census (2010 data not completely compiled yet), only 79.2% of the US population lives in an urban area. Making high speed wireless service accessible to 98% of all Americans will require significant expansion into the more rural communities - something providers are not quick to do because of the high investment costs and low return.

Second, to free up the 500 megahertz of spectrum needed to meet projected mobile broadband demands, the television and radio broadcast companies will have to give up a portion of their airwaves, something the broadcast industry isn’t excited about doing.

The President has set a lofty goal. But if it succeeds, it will be a huge step forward into the digital age for the United States.