President Obama Launches National Wireless Initiative

Speaking at Northern Michigan University in Marquette (MI), President Barack Obama addressed the country's need to invest in innovation, education and infrastructure.

"New companies," he said, "are going to seek out the fastest, most reliable ways to move people, goods and information, whether they are in Shanghai or in Chicago. So if we want new jobs and businesses here in America, we've got to have the best transportation system and the best communication network in the world."

The goal, he said, is to make it possible for businesses to put fourth-generation (4G) high-speed wireless services in reach of virtually every American. "This isn't just about faster Internet or being able to find a friend on Facebook," the President said. "It’s about connecting every corner of America to the digital age. It’s about a rural community in Iowa or Alabama where farmers can monitor weather across the state and market across the globe. It’s about an entrepreneur on Main Street with a great idea she hopes to sell to the big city. It’s about every young person who no longer has to leave his hometown to seek new opportunity -- because opportunity is right there at his or her fingertips."

The plan for making this happen is ambitious and complicated and relies heavily on the participation of cautious television broadcasters who are loath to easily give up their greatest asset -- spectrum, experts say. Specifically, $10.7 billion would go toward building an interoperable public safety network so first responders can communicate, send video files and e-mails during disasters and national security threats. The Administration also plans a one-time allotment of $5 billion from a federal phone subsidy to be used for wireless broadband expansion in rural areas. About $3 billion would go to a government research and development program for ways to use mobile Internet access for emerging technologies and applications in health, education and energy.