House GOP sees jobs in wireless broadband

House Republicans mulling how to apportion pieces of the airwaves believe that making spectrum available for mobile broadband is a key way to create jobs.

This tenet already had general bipartisan backing and is embraced by the Obama administration and the Federal Communications Commission. House Republicans who have hardly been singular in their views on spectrum policy strongly backed the notion that freeing up airwaves will create jobs in a staff memo circulated ahead of a House Energy and Commerce subcommittee hearing on Wednesday. 

"Additional spectrum for wireless broadband will produce needed jobs in America. The buildout of wireless networks requires workers from a wide range o education and skill levels. Construction and maintenance of wireless networks is a capital-intensive venture," the memo said.

The memo cites the large sums wireless companies have invested in infrastructure, placing the figure at $310 billion over the last 25 years. 

"From the high-tech design and production of the network, to the building of towers, and installation of equipment, American workers at all levels of the economy are beneficiaries of increased investment in wireless networks," it said. "There is also, of course, the less tangible but no less real economic benefits from increased productivity, as well as the creation ofentirely new and innovative businesses," the memo said. 

The administration and the FCC see incentive spectrum auctions—in which TV broadcasters are offered money to give up their airwaves—as an important lever for promoting mobile broadband.