Instant Alert: THE SPECTRUM CRISIS: If Nothing Is Done, Your iPhone Will Be Useless By 2013

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		TECH MEDIA WALL STREET MARKETS STRATEGY SPORTS LIFESTYLE POLITICS VIDEO May 09, 2011 THE SPECTRUM CRISIS: If Nothing Is Done, Your iPhone Will Be Useless By 2013 by Henry Blodget on May 9, 2011, 5:05 PM According to the FCC, the United States is facing an imminent spectrum crisis, in which exploding demand from smartphones will soon overwhelm the nation's wireless capacity. The problem, the FCC says, is the lack of new spectrum being made available to wireless data carriers. Smartphone data traffic is growing so fast, the FCC says, that--if nothing is done--we will use up our available spectrum by 2013. (Fortunately, the FCC has a plan--see below). Here are the charts:     See? By 2013, we're screwed. By 2014, we're really screwed. So, what's the FCC's plan to fix this? Something called "Incentive Auctions," in which the owners of old, under-used spectrum--TV and radio broadcast spectrum, for example--put the spectrum up for auction and get a portion of the proceeds. This plan, FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski says, will encourage companies to part with unused spectrum, create more spectrum that can be used by wireless data providers, and narrow our massive budget deficit--because the bulk of the proceeds will go to the Treasury. What do we think? Just government scaremongering? Good plan? Weigh in below. FCC Chair Julius Genachowski will present and defend this plan at our Startup 2011 conference on May 10, 2011 in NYC. We'll let you know how he does! For the latest tech news, visit SAI: Silicon Alley Insider. Follow us on Twitter and Facebook. The email address for your subscription is: marketing@newsnews.org Manage Email Preference | Unsubscribe | Subscribe | Subscribe to Business Insider RSS Feed Business Insider. 257 Park Avenue South, New York, NY 10010 Terms of Service | Privacy Policy