Report

A 2017 Assessment of the Current & Future Economic Value of Unlicensed Spectrum in the United States (Full Report)

WifiForward research in 2018 found the value of unlicensed spectrum to the U.S. economy has grown by 129% since 2013 and is expected to reach $834.48 billion by 2020. This is the third in a series of studies which analyze the economic contributions of Wi-Fi and a subset of other technologies that depend on unlicensed spectrum bands to function. The study author estimates that the current economic surplus of unlicensed spectrum in the United States from a selected set of unlicensed application amounts to, at least, $496.13 billion today, while also contributing $29.06 billion to the nation’s GDP (a total of $525.19 billion).