The Washington Post recently profiled the top tech trends of 2012. The list read as you would expect, focusing on big data, wireless devices and the cloud. But the story that the list really tells is about the astonishing amounts of information consumers want access to, instantly, wherever they are. The business community has stepped up to deliver. From app developers to the largest corporations around the world, innovators are striving to bring innovative technologies to market. Seems simple enough, right?
It should be. However, many don’t realize that it takes mighty, advanced Internet Protocol (IP) based infrastructure to support this data intense wireless world. Our economic success will greatly depend on access to high-speed IP-based networks, which are capable of carrying greater data loads than the older, antiquated networks of the 20th Century. It takes billions to keep the networks current, secure and able to support rapidly changing market forces. Private corporate investment is a big piece of this story.
In 2011 the wireless industry invested $27 billion and supported 2.4 million U.S. jobs. Texas is doing its part with Dallas-based AT&T’s announcement of an additional $14 billion a year investment, for a total investment of $22 billion per year over the next three years, to expand its advanced IP-based wireless and wire line broadband networks. Investment in infrastructure of this magnitude is the key to giving consumers what they want, supporting job creation and driving economic growth.
Beyond the role of big business, government has a part to play as well. It is the role of government not to legislate and overregulate, but rather to lay an even and fair foundation so that businesses large and small can quickly react and produce the products and services that consumers demand. Public policy has to allow for a smooth transition to next generation IP-based networks that will encourage and support continued innovation and investment.
We should also continue to pay close attention to discussions about spectrum, the airwaves that carry wireless data traffic. The federal government allocates spectrum, meaning that it decides who gets to use spectrum and for what purposes, and commercial wireless providers need more of it to keep up with consumer mobile demand. The information “revolution” is just the beginning, and we need to be ready for what’s coming.
We need policymakers to embrace policies that encourage investment and support innovation. The future of big data, wireless devices and cloud technology depends on access to IP-based networks that require tremendous private investment, encouraged by a federal regulatory environment that respects the role of free enterprise in ensuring world-class technology.
This post originally appeared at Texans for Economic Progress.
[Image via Ministerio TIC Colombia]
Texans for Economic Progress (TEP) is a statewide non-profit advocacy group driven by a core belief that greater access to technology and infrastructure investment is critical to job creation and prosperity for the State of Texas.
