Popular Mechanics reports that “America’s infrastructure—its highways, bridges, airports—has been in some state of degradation for decades. But there is another “highway” few people talk about that’s vital to our way of life. You likely use it every single day, but you’ve never even seen it.”

“We’re talking about spectrum, the information superhighway that carries voice, video, and data to our smartphones and televisions. It’s a part of the electromagnetic spectrum (hence the name) once dominated by radio communication and broadcast users. Now certain spectrum bands have been overwhelmed by billions of new wireless devices over the past decade, and they need more room to breathe.”

The post continues: “The continued sale of spectrum is forcing the military to move to different frequencies—or else share existing bands with commercial users. This electronic mass migration will begin this February and go on for as long as a decade. The cost of this whole operation will be more than $3 billion. The Feds have also set aside $500 million for research and development to ease the transition.”