A White House report to Congress emphasized the...

A White House report to Congress emphasized the importance of broadband stimulus investment. “The Economic Report of the President,” as it’s titled, said one trend “that presents a major opportunity for long-term growth is the rapid advance in telecommunications technology, particularly in fast and widely available wired and wireless broadband networks, and in their capacity to allow mobile devices to take advantage of cloud computing,” it said (http://1.usa.gov/OdLAdJ). “From 2009 to 2012, annual investment in U.S. wireless networks grew more than 40 percent from $21 billion to $30 billion, and the United States now leads the world in the availability of advanced 4G wireless broadband Internet services. This infrastructure is at the center of a vibrant ecosystem that includes smartphone design, mobile app development, and the deployment of these technologies in sectors like business, health care, education, public safety, entertainment, and more.” It pointed to broadband stimulus grants that yielded more than 110,000 miles of infrastructure added or improved as well as high-speed connections made available to 20,000 community anchor institutions. The report emphasized the role of spectrum and called for “new advances in the sharing of spectrum between different users, particularly between government and private users.” It also emphasized the importance of the White House’s ConnectED initiative and attention to patents.