Investment in 4G networks could help create a whole bunch of new jobs during a time the U.S. sorely needs them.
New research from Deloitte shows that investment in 4G networks will be critical not only to maintain the mobile broadband lead America achieved with 3G, but also to help with the country’s economic recovery. The accounting and consulting firm predicts that 771,000 jobs could be created with aggressive 4G network investment over the next five years. The dollar value attached to it: $53 billion through 2016. And 4G investment could account for up to $151 billion in GDP growth over the same time period. But that’s only if the U.S. government avoids a “business as usual" approach, which could result in only half that many jobs being created and a GDP increase of only $73 million.
Spectrum will be the key. The study says 3G success in the U.S. has been thanks to an “entrepreneurial innovation ecosystem" where government auctioned large amounts of spectrum and private enterprise ran with it. Limiting spectrum caps will be crucial moving forward, the report says, particularly since “U.S. mobile broadband use is pressing against the limits of available spectrum, and other countries are on track to exceed U.S. spectrum supply." Competition with the rest of the world will be fierce.
