Shared Access Eventually Will Come to Many Licensed and Unlicensed Bands: Get Ready for New Potential Business Models

In principle, eventually, it might be possible to reuse many different types of licensed and unlicensed spectrum, not just Wi-Fi but also licensed spectrum, including even licensed mobile spectrum

Though much attention now is paid to potential use of licensed assisted access to allow Long Term Evolution devices to seamlessly bond Wi-Fi (at 5 GHz, most likely), the mobile industry also is looking at ways to enable third parties to share access to  mobile licensed spectrum, when license holders are not using that spectrum, in much the same way that TV white spaces or LTE-LAA work.

So you can see where the principle of dynamic, shared access is headed. No matter what the licensing model, communications spectrum--licensed or unlicensed--might increasingly in the future be opened up for sharing, vastly increasing the efficiency of communications spectrum, across many frequency bands, and despite the original purposes for which licensed or unlicensed spectrum originally was approved.

That will mean new ways to lower the cost and effectiveness of mobile virtual network operator business plans, enable rival networks and business plans, and lower the potential cost of most Internet-related apps and services.

Moore’s Law makes it possible and affordable. Abundance is coming.