Qualcomm Calls Incentive Auctions Win-Win-Win-Win

Wireless technology company Qualcomm tells Congress that voluntary incentive auctions will be a win-win-win-win proposition.

According to written testimony for a House Communications Subcommittee hearing on incentive auctions, the winners will be broadcasters and other sellers, wireless companies who buy the spectrum and would not be able to get enough spectrum by negotiating with each broadcaster individually, the Federal Treasury which will get "significant revenues," and the American public, which wants mobile devices that work whenever and wherever they want them to. Qualcomm VP, government affairs, Dean Brenner, who is scheduled to deliver that testimony at the hearing, says that the private sector can help and is helping by deploying new technologies and address the spectrum crunch -- the FCC predicts 2014 mobile data traffic could be 35 times 2009 levels -- and that the government is working to free up under-utilized government spectrum. But he says there still need to be voluntary incentive auctions to get access to more licensed spectrum currently in broadcaster hands.