With the exploding popularity of smartphones, wireless laptops, and if Steve Jobs has his way, tablet computers, it's fast becoming a wireless world. But the breakneck growth of all things wireless is threatening to cause a traffic jam — of the airwaves that deliver calls, Web searches and video to those data-hungry devices.

Left unchecked, that could eventually mean more dropped calls, slower service and a lot of frustrated customers. Recent complaints of dropped calls and slow connections by iPhone users on AT&T's networks in San Francisco and New York foreshadow a potentially widespread problem.

Now federal regulators are working to head off what they call a "looming spectrum crisis" — a severe shortage of the wireless frequencies that deliver data and allow smartphones to perform all the tasks people expect. A proposal from the Federal Communications Commission is expected next month.

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