Senate Digs Into Wireless Deployment

In an almost two-and-a-half-hour hearing, the Senate Commerce Committee on Oct 7 looked at ways to speed the deployment of wireless broadband. It was a busy day on the wireless front, with the House Communications Subcommittee holding a simultaneous hearing on freeing up government spectrum for wireless broadband.

Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John Thune (R-SD) said that he was committed to crafting broadband deployment legislation in this Congress and said he believed it was among "the most important work that can be done by the committee," particularly a pressing need in rural areas for some of the benefits, including for agriculture. He said that without infrastructure, smartphones are just "expensive paperweights." Ranking Member Bill Nelson (R-FL) said everyone was there because of the demand for, and reliance on, wireless broadband. He said the need for additional spectrum always seemed to capture the lion's share of attention, but that it was crucial to look at the infrastructure side of the equation.