Wireless companies say that smartphones are threatening to overwhelm their networks, and are asking the government for help. But some experts maintain technology already has the answers.
AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile and Sprint say they need more radio spectrum, the government-rationed slices of radio waves that carry phone calls and wireless data.
Martin Cooper, the inventor of the cellphone, says that claims by mobile carriers of a so-called spectrum crisis are largely exaggerated.
The wireless carriers say that in the next few years they may not have enough of it to meet the exploding demands for mobile data. The result, they ominously warn, may be slower or spotty connections on smartphones and tablets. They imply in carefully couched language that, given the laws of supply and demand, the price of cellphone service will soar.
Some scientists and engineers say the companies are playing a game that is more about protecting their businesses from competitors.
Cellphones are radios and their calls are carried on the electromagnetic radio spectrum just like an FM radio signal or a walkie-talkie. The F.C.C. divides up the spectrum by bands of frequency, under the theory that no one wants signals on certain frequencies interfering with one another.
The F.C.C. believes that a combination of adding new spectrum and using new technologies will be needed to help the wireless industry evolve.
