The need for unlicensed spectrum continues to soar — and no one is more aware of that than Alan Davidson. The assistant secretary of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration spoke last week at a panel discussion for Network:On, a new public service campaign dedicated to celebrating the connections brought about by America’s broadband networks, commenting on the burgeoning network demands of new and future devices entering the market. The panel focused on the importance of broadband to our economy — something in which unlicensed spectrum plays a pivotal role.
Alan Davidson speaking at Network:On’s event on June 28.
“We know there will be new technologies that are going to place new demands on our network,” Davidson remarked. “The story of the last 20 or 25 years, in some ways, is that the unimaginable has become inevitable, right? Like [we have] these uses that we never thought would be possible. ‘Who’s going to need multiple video streams on their home internet connection, that’s crazy?’ Well now, who doesn’t need that? You’ve got to have that.”
Alan Davidson at Network:On’s in-person event on June 28.
Streaming services are just one of the many ways internet access has become vital to modern society. More advancements are coming in the future, and Davidson envisioned developments such as AR/VR technology, higher definition video and even “things that we haven’t even thought of or imagined today.” Regardless of how far-fetched an idea might seem, the backbone of these technologies is unlicensed spectrum access. In order for them to work in the future, spectrum access must be expanded in the present.
Network:On’s panel discussion featuring (from left) Veneeth Iyengar (ConnectLA), Alan Davidson (NTIA), Caroline Kitchens (Shopify), Dr. Raul Katz (Telecom Advisory Services LLC), Ashley Durkin-Rixey (Glen Echo Group).
“We cannot go back to Congress five years from now, 10 years from now, and say, ‘Oh, we need more money to build higher-speed networks because we didn’t do it right this time.’ This is our shot. It’s what we’re doing at NTIA, what the states are doing, other federal agencies, this is our shot. And I think we’ve really got to keep looking to the future and understand that we’re building networks that are going to have to meet that demand.”