Wireless carriers beg FCC for spectrum, blame smartphones

Mobile carriers in the US have been telling the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) for months that they're in a bad way—450MHz of total spectrum just isn't enough to keep up with consumer demand for wireless services. As the companies explained in various FCC filings over the summer, the current strain on their networks is caused by a veritable data tsunami that has swept the country in the last few years, and they want the government to make more spectrum available to solve the problem. The big driver of mobile data use has been smartphones. Put an iPhone, Pre, BlackBerry, or Android handset in the hands of someone who previously made only voice calls and sent a few text messages, and data use skyrockets. According to T-Mobile, users of its G1 Android-powered phone use 50 times the data of average T-Mobile customers. The Wireless Communications Association International (WCAI) says that smartphone users consume 30 times the data of a "traditional" handheld device. And AT&T told the FCC that its wireless network has seen a "5,000 percent growth in data usage" over the last three years, thanks in large part to the iPhone. AT&T says it is rolling out 2,000 additional cell towers in 2009 to meet demand.