Wireless Industry Likes Spectrum Sharing, but Still Wants More

Q&A with Chris Guttman-McCabe, vice president of regulatory affairs at CTIA, the trade association for the wireless industry.

Recently, the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) urged President Obama to adopt computer technologies so that better use is made of radio spectrum for wireless communications. The report says that newer radio technologies could help share spectrum among, say, government agencies and companies, and thereby increase capacity a thousand fold. In other words, the technologies would help carriers serve the exploding number of data-guzzling smartphones and tablets on the market. But the carriers in recent years have claimed they need to acquire additional spectrum, citing a looming “spectrum crisis.” Guttman-McCabe said that CTIA members were excited about the idea of spectrum sharing, but that giving the carriers more spectrum should still remain the government’s top priority.