AT&T's de la Vega sounds call to free up more spectrum

LAS VEGAS--AT&T Mobility President and CEO Ralph de la Vega said the U.S. wireless industry must expand its spectrum resources, accelerate network efficiencies and exploit complementary technologies if it hopes to maintain its global lead in mobile broadband services. "I believe we're on the threshold of a revolution--not just for our industry, but for our society," de la Vega said during his opening keynote here at CTIA Wireless 2010, stating that the U.S. market currently boasts about 117 million 3G subscribers, roughly 18 percent of the world's total 3G subs. "We're facing unprecedented demand for services enabled by mobile broadband and next-generation technologies."

De la Vega implored the FCC to move quickly to free up additional spectrum to support advanced mobile services. He added that the rollout of LTE networks--which he said are roughly 2.5 times more spectrally efficient that HSPA--can also help solve some bandwidth challenges. De la Vega also called on the mobile industry to make more effective use of technologies like WiFi and femtocells: "The industry should ensure seamless connectivity for the best available network," he said.

In addition, de la Vega asked industry executives to work together as an ecosystem to ensure network efficiency. "We need to work with app developers and device makers to make the most of the natural resource we all use, which is spectrum," he said. "It should be a national imperative." De la Vega noted that AT&T recently tested network consumption among various email provider partners, and found some services gobbled up as much as eight times the bandwidth as others.

AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson followed de la Vega and reiterated his colleague's call for more spectrum, which he called "the backbone of our industry." Stephenson also touted the growth potential of the U.S. mobile broadband market, but warned: "Our future leadership is not a birthright. The challenge is not just to maintain U.S. leadership, but to extend U.S. leadership. We can't afford to mess this up."

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