Wireless Access For All

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President Obama, well into the latter half of his first term, is pressing forward with the goals he introduced in his latest State of the Union address. Mr. Obama is striving to bring high-speed wireless coverage to most Americans before the end of his potential second term. During his visit to Northern Michigan University in Marquette, Mr. Obama presented his appeal for linking and developing the infrastructure of the country using wireless broadband access. His plan calls for a $5 billion investment that would net $22.8 billion in the next ten years and reduce the deficit by almost $10 billion.

The framework of the plan is based on increasing the spectrum to make mobile broadband more available. The wireless spectrum is not unlimited and most frequencies have already been licensed to private and public broadcasters by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). What is left of the spectrum is used by wireless companies. This is why your phone may not get service in some places and wireless internet access isn’t available everywhere. To get some of the spectrum back, the government is banking ...
... on participation in an auction that would entice licensees to give back some of the spectrum in exchange for incentives. The spectrum acquired during the auction would then be sold to different wireless companies and enable millions of Americans to connect via wireless internet.

Mr. Obama seeks to bring the country closer to economic recovery by making information more easily accessible, not matter where you are. The most rural areas will be able to communicate with and determine what is going on in the rest of the country. Linking the country is the best way to build opportunity and respond in times of crisis. The Obama administration wants to build a national broadband network.

This could be a daunting challenge for a president who faces staunch opposition that wants to limit federal spending. Right now, Republicans may not be as interested in spending billions on technological infrastructure. I’m sure that Republicans will attempt to alter or thwart this plan, or maybe even earmark some of the auction proceeds for GOP-friendly initiatives, if the plan makes it that far. Only time will tell. I think that this ambitious goal sounds great in a speech, but won’t have the practical numbers to back it up. After all, this entire plan is based on the voluntary action of broadcasters to hand over the spectrum. Who knows to what extent they will do so.

Lofty goals are nothing new for this President, whose astonishing political ascension is considered by the world to be nothing short of extraordinary. Mr. Obama has not polled very well recently, and is just now seeing a surge in popularity. With the reelection campaign in full effect, the Obama administration must prove that their plans, new and old, have a real chance of working and building the economy. I think that investing in technological infrastructure will surely increase economic recovery and create jobs, but I’m not sure it will be significantly recognizable within the time frame suggested.