US Senators weigh in on LTE-U, Wi-Fi debate

Nieuws Mobiel Verenigde Staten 31 JUL 2015
US Senators weigh in on LTE-U, Wi-Fi debate
A group of US Senators have written to the FCC expressing concern that the roll-out of LTE-U could disrupt Wi-Fi services. The FCC has been holding a consultation on the use of LTE technology in the unlicensed spectrum bands used for Wi-Fi. Responses to date show that the industry is divided on whether the services can co-exist in the band. 

The group of six Senators said they are concerned "that without proper coordination and management, LTE-U may harm Wi-Fi operations". They want the FCC to take action before commercial deployments of LTE-U go ahead. The FCC could initiate a process that allows industry stakeholders to develop an effective sharing solution for the spectrum, as has been developed with other technologies in the past. This could include a series of meetings led by the FCC’s Office of Engineering and Technology to ensure that constructive dialogue between technical experts continues in an open and neutral forum and to promote continued work on effective spectrum sharing mechanisms, according to the letter. 

The groups WifiForward and the Wi-Fi Alliance welcomed the letter, saying more work was needed on developing sharing solutions before "rushing ahead" with mobile roll-outs. The mobile industry's lobby group CTIA said the letter was part of the cable industry’s "continued efforts to inhibit the roll out of new wireless services that could help deliver consumers better service and new Internet of Things offerings". It said there was no need for the FCC to intervene, as LTE-U will co-exist with other technologies. Furthermore, it is not up to the FCC to approve particular technologies for use in the unlicensed bands. 

Categories:

Mobiel,  Draadloos

Companies:

CTIA,  FCC

Countries:

Verenigde Staten

Tags:

Technology development, Wi-Fi, Devices, Regulations, Wholesale, 4G - LTE

Related Articles

WERELD 5 NOV 2015

Wi-Fi Alliance drafts guidelines on Wi-Fi, LTE-U coexistence

The Wi-Fi Alliance has released an initial set of LTE-U coexistence simulation and testing guidelines at a Coexistence Test Workshop on 4 November. The guidelines will ultimately provide a harmonised approach to characterising how well LTE-U devices co-exist with Wi-Fi. When completed, the Wi-Fi Alliance Coexistence Guidelines will provide a common foundation on which to determine fair sharing behaviours of all LTE-U devices, regardless of brand. The guidelines consider myriad use cases where Wi-Fi is used

VERENIGDE STATEN 29 SEP 2015

Carriers, equipment makers form LTE-U coalition Evolve

The Competitive Carriers Association, CTIA - The Wireless Association, Alcatel-Lucent, AT&T, Qualcomm, T-Mobile US and Verizon have formed the Evolve coalition to support their position that the FCC should reject calls to pre-emptively interfere with new technologies such as LTE-U and LAA that enhance utilisation of unlicensed spectrum and mobile innovation. Evolve will promote the consumer benefits of unlicensed spectrum through speaking engagements, dialogue with policymakers, and consumer education. As o

VERENIGDE STATEN 17 SEP 2015

FCC commissioners want enough 5.9 GHz for automotive safety

In a note on sharing the upper 5 GHz unlicensed band FCC commissioners O'Rielly and Rosenworcel write that they will press the FCC to start a proceeding to set testing parameters, evaluate results, and seek public comment on what is learned from interference tests. The FCC now has a framework for testing in the 5.9 GHz band to help ensure that unlicensed band sharing does not cause harmful interference to incumbents, including Dedicated Short Range Communications Service (DSRC), used for communications betw

VERENIGDE STATEN 11 SEP 2015

AT&T starts using WCS spectrum, plans LTE-U trial

AT&T has deployed its 2.3 GHz WCS spectrum for LTE services in "a couple" of markets, meeting its goal of going live on the spectrum by the end of the summer, its head of wireless network architecture, Tom Keathley told FierceWireless. In addition, he said the carrier will trial LTE-U technology later this year or early next year, but will wait until there is fair-use sharing with Wi-Fi before a commercial deployment. "There will be no devices until early next year anyway, so the timing is reasonable." He s

VERENIGDE STATEN 10 SEP 2015

LTE-U, Wi-Fi camps must cooperate, avoid intervention - FCC

FCC chairman Tom Wheeler told an audience of mobile phone company executives at the CTIA Super Mobility conference that LTE-Unlicensed (LTE-U) proponents and those worried about sharing the new technology with unlicensed Wi-Fi must agree on broad-based standards for the deployment of LTE-U to ensure there is no interference with unlicensed Wi-Fi, reports Multichannel News. LTE supporters such as Verizon and Qualcomm have been at odds with the cable Wi-Fi backers over opening up spectrum now used by cable fo

VERENIGDE STATEN 1 JUL 2015

Qualcomm tests show no interference between LTE-U, Wi-Fi

Qualcomm has submitted an FCC filing stating that its own tests have shown that LTE Unlicensed (LTE-U) technology does not cause interference with other technologies such as Wi-Fi, reports Fierce Cable. The National Cable & Telecommunications Association, whose members use Wi-Fi to offer internet access to mobile devices, and others have expressed concern that LTE-U and Licence Assisted Access (LAA) could affect devices that use Wi-Fi and even those that do not, such as baby monitors. Qualcomm wrote in its

VERENIGDE STATEN 5 MAY 2015

FCC starts consultation on LTE in unlicensed bands

The FCC has opened a public consultation on the development of LTE in unlicensed bands such as 3.5 and 5 GHz, to date used mainly for Wi-Fi services. Operators such as T-Mobile and Verizon have announced plans to test LTE Unlicensed, also known as Licensed Assisted Access. They're working with equipment suppliers such as Ericsson and Nokia Networks, who claim LTE can operate in the 5 GHz band without impacting Wi-Fi services. Bodies such as 3GPP and IEEE are working on standards for LTE-U/LAA, but coordinat

WERELD 23 FEB 2015

Nokia to demonstrate LTE in unlicensed 5GHz band at MWC

Nokia Networks announced it will demonstrate at MWC a small cell using licensed assisted access technology for LTE in the 5GHz band, normally used for Wi-Fi. The company said it's developing the technology, which has yet to be standardised, with T-Mobile. The mobile operator announced earlier it was trialling LAA already with Ericsson in the US. At Mobile World Congress, Nokia Networks will demonstrate the capabilities of LAA, using its Nokia Flexi Zone small cells technology, already deployed by T-Mobile o

WERELD 10 FEB 2015

Ericsson, Qualcomm test LAA technology in time for MWC

Ericsson has announced that it has achieved a peak rate of 450 Mbps in live tests of License Assisted Access (LAA) technology conducted at its labs in Canada and Sweden. LAA, or LTE-U as it is sometimes known, works by co-opting unlicensed spectrum in the 5 GHz band to provide complementary access for the LTE operator network, enhancing indoor coverage above all. The company said it worked together with Qualcomm Technologies to combine 20 MHz on licensed and 40 MHz on 5 GHz unlicensed spectrum on small cell

VERENIGDE STATEN 5 JAN 2015

T-Mobile to test Ericsson LTE small cell in 5 GHz band

Ericsson announced plans to use unlicensed spectrum to help boost indoor mobile phone coverage. The company said it aims to be the first to offer License Assisted Access (LAA) small cells, expected to hit the market in Q4 2015. T-Mobile US plans to start testing the small cells this year already. LAA is an LTE-Advanced technology that enables carrier aggregation of licensed spectrum with unlicensed bands to enhance network coverage and capacity. Using only 4 percent of the 5 GHz band, LAA can provide up to

Just In

16:42

SLT-Mobitel launches 5G network in Sri Lanka

16:19

Dialog Axiata launches 5G network, connects 1.5 million subscribers

15:56

UK govt to ban AI-enabled nudification apps to protect women, girls

15:42

3 UK launches last-minute Christmas sale

Commentary

13:56

Video market set for slower growth ahead

11:38

Netflix buys Warner Bros to deepen content catalogue

11:11

KPN's mixed performance in Q3 raises questions for strategy day

15:26

Stock markets breaking records but what happened to Odido's IPO plans?

Background

01:04

The week in telecom: Wi-Fi bolt-ons take off to boost broadband growth, video market works on consolidation

01:39

The week in telecom: Netflix wins bidding for Warner Bros, Apple poaches new execs, Samsung debuts trifold

13:51

Proximus vs. Telenet: Proximus performs better in Q3 while Telenet uses up cash

14:16

Proximus Domestic still struggling with low margins

Complete profile

Before downloading the whitepaper, we would like to ask you to complete your profile with company and position. After confirming you will receive the white paper.