“The FCC is opening up the 5 GHz spectrum band to unlicensed LTE use in a move that will boost spectrum sharing and wireless broadband,” John Eggerton reports for MultiChannel News. “‘This is a significant advance in wireless innovation and a big win for wireless consumers,'” said FCC Chairman Ajit Pai.”
LTE-U allows wireless providers to deliver mobile data traffic using unlicensed spectrum while sharing the road, so to speak, with Wi-Fi. The excellent staff of the FCC’s Office of Engineering and Technology has certified that the LTE-U devices being approved today are in compliance with FCC rules. And voluntary industry testing has demonstrated that both these devices and Wi-Fi operations can co-exist in the 5 GHz band. This heralds a technical breakthrough in the many shared uses of this spectrum. — FCC Chairman Ajit Pai
“The FCC certified LTE-U equipment from Ericsson and Nokia, T-Mobile said, which means the carrier can start deploying the technology in its network, which it will start doing this spring. T-Mobile says tapping into 20 MHz of 5 GHz spectrum — the ‘U’ in LTE-U stands for unlicensed — will help it deliver gigabit LTE to more areas of the country,” Eggerton reports. “‘As demand for bandwidth continues to skyrocket, LTE-U will enable our customers to benefit from more data at faster speeds where they live work, live, and play. This is an example of yet another great innovation using unlicensed spectrum,’ [said Verizon SVP Will Johnson].”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: We bet that Apple’s next-next-gen iPhone – 2018’s “iPhone 9” – will support LTE-U!
Who appointed this guy?
oh, I know who!
Your ignorance is beyond belief. This is in no way a win for consumers. If you mix LTE into wifi, you will pollute the WiFi sectrum. At the frequencies they’re discussing, you will be affected too, moron.
I don’t know if ‘pollute’ is the applicable term. But there will most definitely be a lot more competition for bandwidth in the 5 GHz band. That translates into having to change the settings on our Wi-Fi routers to use a different band or fiddling around with different channels within the band in order to avoid collision.
No Bot. It’s not any ‘guy’. It’s the FCC Office of Engineering and Technology completing a project that likely began in 2015 if not earlier.
Head-OUT-Of-Ass please. Then give it a good washing. You’ll be glad you did.
uh, Vacillating Weasel™, FCC Chairman Ajit Pai was appointed by OBP in January.
Qualcomm’s fingerprints are all over this. Apple isn’t likely to adopt this specification in their next iPhone, not if it means paying even more to a greedy, vindictive giant who was already soaking them and now is stiffing them, and who they’re battling in court.
Well… to comfort your soul.. word is Apple may drop Qualcomm totally and go with Intel’s 1Gbit modems.
Indeed, this is Qualcomm tech. From the Wikipedia link about LTE-U I provided up the thread:
LTE in unlicensed spectrum (LTE-U) is a proposal, originally developed by Qualcomm, for the use of the 4G LTE radio communications technology in unlicensed spectrum, such as the 5 GHz band used by dual-band Wi-Fi equipment.[1][2] It would serve as an alternative to carrier-owned Wi-Fi hotspots.
We’ll have to see how the various Qualcomm lawsuits play out. Qualcomm’s accused dirty deeds doesn’t mean they’ll remain a villain for all time. Apple still orders and buys stuff from Samsung, and that lawsuit is still washing around in the courts.
Sorry, the LTE-U Wikipedia link is down below 👇
This guy is going to kill off net neutrality. He views the consumer as a cash cow needing to be milked, constantly.
“……” views the consumer as a cash cow needing to be milked, constantly.”
And how are u convinced of this?
Laissez-faire
I assume you’re talking about the Corporatocracy that feeds and puppets the Trump administration. Parasitism of the customer is an ancient practice. Such is humanity, sick and sad to say. But most certainly, the ascendancy of the Corporatocrats into the White House does bode poorly for We The People, aka We The Cash Cows.
‘Turn the milking machine to 11 ! ! !’
…FCC certified LTE-U equipment from Ericsson and Nokia
Ericsson and Nokia still live? It’s interesting that these two moribund companies are the ones reaching for new bandwidth.
Now, how about nationwide LTE-Advanced? (AKA real 4G). The iPhone has been able to use it for a year and a half! So where can anyone use it in the USA? (Well, besides Chicago).
IOW: I’m not expecting any industry wide rush to implement LTE-U. 🙁
Reading assignment:
LTE in unlicensed spectrum @Wikipedia
7 of 14 posts are yours…
The Vacillating Weasel™ doth protest too much, methinks.