The phenomenal growth of both smartphones and tablets has offered brands a great way to connect with, and market to, their customers. However, this boom has potentially serious consequences for the broadband infrastructure in the U.S., as mobile devices are taxing the capacity of the existing wireless networks.

Have you or your customers ever experienced a dropped call? Or a painfully slow download to your smartphone or tablet? While you may occasionally move out of range of a cell tower, the real culprit behind these annoying problems is that there just isn’t enough wireless bandwidth to support the use of every wireless device.

Fortunately, the wireless industry and the government are very much aware of these bandwidth issues and are working together to get the most out of the existing spectrum the wireless carriers need. Last week, the U.S. Department of Defense offered to relocate some of its wireless spectrum so it can be sold in a spectrum auction. This decision was applauded by the CTIA and wireless carriers, although there are some skeptics of the plan, as well as much debate surrounding how the auctions should be run. Full article.