Wi-Fi overused: In danger of running out of radio spectrum

The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, more commonly known as CSIRO, Australia's national science agency, is warning that we may need to change the way we connect and access essential services in the future.  

Director of CSIRO's Digital Productivity and Services Flagship Dr Ian Oppermann said wireless data volumes are have grown at "breakneck pace" around the world. "The data rates that people now expect from their mobile services are about a hundred times the amount we thought possible only two decades ago," Dr Oppermann said.

A CSIRO report, World Without Wires, points out that wireless communications relies on the availability of radio frequency spectrum. The spectrum has practical limits and more spectrum cannot be created, so we are faced with a finite resource and growing demands to use it.

Today's technologies and infrastructure will be hard pressed to support further increases in demand, both in terms of speed and volume, for wireless data and services over the coming decades.

Many global cities are fast approaching the point of "peak data", also called "spectrum crunch" - where user demand for wireless internet, telephony, and other services can no longer be fully accommodated by the available radio frequency spectrum.

"Currently the useable spectrum is divided up and allocated to various uses, such as TV/radio broadcast, emergency services, and mobile phone communications for example.

"In the future, how spectrum is allocated may change and we can expect innovation to find new ways to make it more efficient, but the underlying position is that spectrum is an increasingly rare resource," Dr Oppermann said.

"Some estimates suggest that spectrum demand will have almost tripled by 2020, and existing infrastructure will need to rapidly expand its currently available capacity if it's to meet this demand.

"With more and more essential services, including medical, education and government services, being delivered digitally and on mobile devices, finding a solution to 'peak data' will become ever more important into the future."

CSIRO's World Without Wires Report examines the role that ubiquitous access to high-speed wireless connectivity will play in enabling a range of future applications and social developments.
 
To access a copy of CSIRO's World Without Wires Report visit: www.csiro.au/wireless. Find out more about CSIRO's Digital Productivity and Services Flagship here.