At CES this year, I moderated a keynote panel featuring Ericsson CEO Hans Vestberg, Qualcomm CEO Dr. Paul Jacobs, and AT&T’s SVP of Network Operations John Donovan.
And the CES audience was pretty impressive too—including such luminaries as FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel. After the formal discussion, Rosenworcel was the first to ask the panelists a question.
“Do we have enough spectrum for mobile commercial use?” she asked. “And if we don’t, how can technologies like small cells help us use it more efficiently?”
“Spectrum is the life blood of the industry” Donovan said, and “the oxygen for commerce.” It’s critical for jobs too, and essential for innovative new business models, he said, in everything from kids’ education to home and car automation.
Vestberg agreed, suggesting that we need more spectrum. But we also need to invest in optimizing it, he explained. Because if we don’t, he warned, then the networks themselves will be limited.
