The New America Foundation’s Open Technology Institute is no fan of the new Evolve coalition of mobile wireless carriers pushing for the rollout of LTE-U, a wireless technology using unlicensed spectrum to compete with cable Wi-Fi and improve wireless’ speeds and rural reach.
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In a separate statement, CTIA Senior Vice President and Chief Technology Officer Tom Sawanobori said that LTE-U and LAA will substantially increase data speeds.
Carriers, which expect to roll out LTE-U and LAA technologies next year, have said that they need to expand services due to increasing consumer appetite for broadband services to stream videos and surf the web, The Wall Street Journal reported in August.
In June, OTI joined with Public Knowledge, Free Press, and Common Cause to warn the FCC that LTE-U could degrade existing Wi-Fi, sayins “mobile carriers will have both the ability and strong incentives to use LTE-U and LAA to engage in anti-competitive behavior harmful to consumers”, while for the first time charging them for use of the unlicensed spectrum. The LTE-U Forum includes Alcatel-Lucent, Ericsson, Qualcomm and Samsung, and the companies put together a series of technical documents on the technology and its workability with Wi-Fi.
The Federal Communications Commission has looked into the debate with a call for public comments, and given the lobbying power of the mobile operator and cable industries, it could end up sparking a battle in Congress. Spectrum is a long-term investment that requires a great deal of resources not only to purchase but then to deploy for customers through network equipment and mobile devices that support the new bands.
Evolve set forward seven founding principles as it launched, including that “permission-less innovation” in unlicensed spectrum should be encouraged, particularly as the “Internet of Things” continues to evolve; that new, unlicensed frequencies should be freed up by the government; and that Wi-Fi is a “critical component of wireless networks” and “new technologies using unlicensed spectrum need to work cooperatively with Wi-Fi today, tomorrow and into the future”. That could be threatened by the carriers use of LTE-U and LAA. The Evolve companies want to avoid FCC regulation at all costs and, in launching their coalition, stressed that the FCC has designated that unlicensed spectrum be available to all.
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“There’s a demand now, we should be getting technology out and meeting that demand”, said Steve Sharkey, a T-Mobile executive. “EVOLVE and its members are working together to preserve unlicensed spectrum as an open platform, including all spectrum blocks for mobile innovation for the benefit consumers”.
