The FCC has authorised the first devices for LTE in the unlicensed 5 GHz band. The US regulator's Office of Engineering and Technology authorized use of such devices after agreeing with industry terms for limiting interference on Wi-Fi services using the same band.
LTE-U and Wi-Fi stakeholders worked under the auspices of the Wi-Fi Alliance to develop co-existence guidelines and an evaluation test plan that was released last autumn. In addition to meeting the FCC's radio rules, the approved LTE-U devices also were evaluated successfully under the co-existence test plan.
T-Mobile was the first operator to say it plans to launch LTE-U in the coming months, using the equipment from partners Nokia and Ericsson authorised by the FCC. Starting this spring, T-Mobile customers will be able to tap into the first 20 MHz of unlicensed spectrum on the 5GHz band and use it for additional LTE capacity.T-Mobile started testing LTE-U equipment in field trials in December. AT&T and Verizon have also said they're planning trials of the new technology.
