A new study initiated by advocacy group WifiForward has found that two pending Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Wi-Fi proposals would add at least US $183.44 billion to the US economy in the next 5 years.
The study was conducted by Dr. Raul Katz, a scholar of economics and telecommunications policy, on the FCC’s proposals to open the 5.9 GHz band and 6 GHz band to Wi-Fi.
According to an announcement in the WifiForward Site, the FCC’s proposals will create a wide array of economic benefits:
– Increase broadband speeds, accelerate deployment of the Internet of Things (IoT), and support the augmented reality/virtual reality (AR/VR) market — adding $106 billion to the US Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
– Allow producers to realise a producer surplus of $69 billion based on savings on enterprise wireless traffic and sales of Wi-Fi and AR/VR equipment.
– Produce $8 billion in consumer surplus from increased broadband speeds.
By spectrum band, the study concluded that by 2025:
– The FCC’s proposal to open the 5.9 GHz band to Wi-Fi would provide $28.14 billion in economic value
– The FCC’s proposal to open the 6 GHz band to Wi-Fi would generate $153.75 billion in economic value
Image credit: WifiForward
Click here to read the conclusions.