Today, NCTA President & CEO Cory Gardner delivered keynote remarks at the 14th Americas Spectrum Management Conference, calling for a balanced national approach to spectrum policy that supports innovation and ensures America’s continued leadership in connectivity.
“America needs it all – with multiple avenues of access to spectrum to meet demand,” Gardner said. “Good spectrum policy has become essential—both to the connectivity providers I represent and to the nation.”
Gardner highlighted Wi-Fi’s central role in connecting Americans, noting that it carries the vast majority of household and mobile data traffic and remains a critical advantage in global technology competition. “Wi-Fi is America’s greatest wireless advantage in the competition with China,” he said. “We must ensure we don’t lock out Wi-Fi’s future.”
Gardner also highlighted the need to find new spectrum that can support commercial use, pointing to the success of the Citizens Broadband Radio Service (CBRS) systems that harmoniously operate alongside the U.S. Navy today.
“The reality is that there are a lot of competing needs for spectrum today. We can’t afford to look only backwards to the way we handled spectrum yesterday, and CBRS and government sharing is a model for efficient and effective spectrum use for the complicated bands and use cases we face now and in the future.”
He emphasized that a strong, forward-looking spectrum strategy—one that values both licensed and unlicensed access—is essential to meet growing consumer demand and fuel the next generation of broadband and AI innovation.
Read Gardner’s full remarks here.
