Report Estimates Annual Economic Value of Devices Using Unlicensed Spectrum

On February 1, the Consumer Technology Association (CTA) released a report titled "Unlicensed Spectrum and the U.S. Economy." This interesting report focuses on the economic value of sales of devices using unlicensed spectrum. According to CTA's estimate, the incremental sales value (ISV) of unlicensed devices at retail is $95.8 billion per year, or $79.8 billion at wholesale.

CTA defines ISV as the value attributable to the unlicensed spectrum access capability of devices. For some devices, CTA assigns 100% of their value to those devices' unlicensed spectrum capability. But for other devices, CTA assigns only a portion of their value the unlicensed aspect. For instance, CTA attributes 30% of the value of smartphones to unlicensed spectrum capability, so it determined that the $63 billion in revenues generated by smartphone sales in the U.S. in 2020 amounted to almost $19 billion for smartphone ISV for that year. In its report, CTA identified the top six categories of devices generating significant revenues on account of unlicensed spectrum capability as smartphones, laptops, wireless earbuds, smart TVs, and tablets. 

CTA's report acknowledges that the indirect benefits of unlicensed spectrum to the U.S. economy are much greater still. Yet the report helpfully brings into focus the variety of devices that utilize unlicensed spectrum. 

Free State Foundation scholars have emphasized the importance of making spectrum available for commercial and other personal uses on both unlicensed and licensed terms. For a recent publication on spectrum policy see the December 2021 Perspectives from FSF Scholars by President Randolph May and I titled "Constitutional Considerations for Proper Spectrum Policy: A Preference for Private Property Rights and Market Competition."