Even if the recent International Telecommunications Union World Radiocommunications Conference did not approve global use of 28-GHz spectrum to support mobile broadband, at least one U.S. Federal Communications Commission member thinks the United States simply has to move ahead on its own. Verizon, AT&T and others support opening up the 28-GHz band for that purpose.
Not coincidentally, AT&T has supported mobile and satellite sharing of the 28 GHz band on a co-primary basis. In other words, AT&T supports spectrum sharing in the 28-GHz band.
The FCC has issued a notice of proposed rulemaking pertaining to flexible use of new 28 GHz, 37 GHz, 39 GHz, and 64 GHz to 71 GHz “millimeter wave” bands to support fifth generation (5G) mobile and satellite communications.
In principle, releasing large amounts of spectrum is a necessity because spectrum equals capacity. And since 5G design specifications call for networks literally able to support 1 Gbps to 10 Gbps for every attached device, orders of magnitude more spectrum is required.
But there are other angles as well. If enough capacity is available, and if devices are smart enough, then peer to peer protocols might actually extend network access beyond carrier cells and small cells, beyond Wi-Fi hotspots, and actually enable communications directly from device to device.
In its proposed 5G tests in 2016, AT&T will test a number of frequency bands, including use of 28-GHz spectrum to support fixed wireless, an obviously-important technology for AT&T in the fixed network services arena, not just mobile services.
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