In a Wednesday announcement, the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) said that it is working on improving Wi-Fi speeds, as well as reducing congestion in high-traffic areas, by freeing up 195 megahertz (MHz) of wireless spectrum in the 5 gigahertz (GHz) band.

Discussing the FCC's new plan at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, the commission's Chairman Julius Genachowski said that the new spectrum allocation will be the biggest block of unlicensed spectrum which has been made available for Wi-Fi expansion since 2003.

According to Genachowski, the spectrum expansion plan will likely bring about a 35 percent increase in Wi-Fi speeds. In addition, the move will also be helpful in alleviating Wi-Fi congestion at key hubs, like airports, huge conference gatherings, and convention centers.

The planned spectrum-expansion effort by FCC - which has been making attempts in the past few years to free up additional wireless spectrum for wireless broadband use - will spell great benefits for home users too, especially since an increasing number of people now have more devices which make use of unlicensed Wi-Fi spectrum for connecting to high-definition video and other such services.

Highlighting the fact that the "frustration of Wi-Fi congestion" is evident in high traffic areas like conferences and airports, Genachowski said in a statement: "The FCC is moving to bring increased speed and capacity to Wi-Fi networks by increasing the amount of unlicensed spectrum for Wi-Fi."