President Obama signed a memorandum Monday that would double the current amount of airwaves available for wireless devices over the next 10 years, a move intended to create jobs and boost investment in the mobile phone market.

The availability of more wireless spectrum will allow faster delivery of data and video onto smart phones and other next-generation devices.

The memorandum calls for 500 megahertz of government and commercial spectrum to be made available over the next 10 years. The Federal Communications Commission made the same recommendation in its National Broadband Plan released in March. In the nation’s largest cities, such as New York and Los Angeles, local TV stations use only about 150 MHz, according to the FCC’s National Broadband Plan.

‘The initiatives endorsed today will spur economic growth, promote private investment and drive U.S. global leadership in broadband innovation,’ FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski said. ‘Spectrum is the oxygen of wireless, and the future of our mobile economy depends on spectrum recovery and smart spectrum policies.’

Rep. Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) said Monday that he would introduce a bill to make the 500 MHz available.

Wireless telecommunications companies will be able to acquire some of this public spectrum in a government auction. Some of the […]