FCC Sticks with 30-MHz Spectrum Reserve for 600-MHz Auctions

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler has decided to keep the original 30-MHz set aside for “smaller carriers” when crafting rules for the 600-MHz spectrum auction, despite lobbying by some, including especially T-Mobile US, for a bigger set-aside.

“The draft revised rules I circulated to the other Commissioners today would provide greater flexibility for qualified small businesses so that they can better compete,” said Wheeler.

For example, in today’s mature mobile business, scale matters. “Facilities-based wireless service is no longer a viable business plan for small enterprises, yet that’s what our rules require in order for small businesses to qualify for bidding credits,” Wheeler said.

The remedy is a change. The new rules create a new rural business bidding credit to provide new incentives for rural service providers.

The new proposed rules also will attempt to clamp down on “gaming” of the system, an apparent remedy for a tactic used by Dish Network in the recent auctions for AWS-3 spectrum.

The Commission plans to establish the first-ever cap on the total value of bidding credits, minimizing an incentive for major corporations to try to take advantage of the program.

The FCC also plans to better verify that small businesses receiving credits are exercising independent decision-making authority, and are not simply stalking horses for major carriers.

The Commission earlier voted to create a spectrumreserve of up to 30 megahertz of spectrum per market in the “Incentive Auction” for bidders that do not currently hold significant amounts of low-band spectrum.

“With more than 70 percent of low-band spectrum in the hands of just two providers, one of the Commission’s priorities is to ensure that multiple providers have a meaningful opportunity to acquire these valuable airwaves,” said Wheeler.

Wheeler will encourage the Commission not to expand the size of the reserve.

Unlicensed Spectrum Increasingly Core for Mobile Operators

When the fifth generation mobile network standards (IMT-2020) are finalized, it will be abundantly clear that unlicensed spectrum has become a core part of the mobile access network. 

There being three fundamental ways mobile networks can provide more effective bandwidth (additional spectrum, network architecture, air interface), TV broadcasters and satellite operators--among others--often say mobile operators would take all available new spectrum, if they could. 

It's a fair statement of desire, perhaps. But the debates over the next several years are likely to center on use of unlicensed bands, which represent the largest block of new spectrum to be made available. 

The primary present concerns are over protocols that would allow Long Term Evolution networks to bond Wi-Fi channels at 5 GHz to LTE. Interference is the chief concern, as is "fair" access to channels by LTE and other devices seeking to use Wi-Fi channels at 5 GHz. 

O3b Booking Revenue Faster than Expected; OneWeb Secures $500 Million

The fact that SES, an investor in O3b, might become majority owner of MEO constellation provider O3b in 2016, reflects a couple developments, both of which are positive for O3b, and might be indicative of the potential future opportunity for emerging LEO constellations. 

Satellite fleet operator SES has noted that demand for capacity from the O3b Networks constellation of medium Earth orbit Ka-band broadband satellites is accelerating “faster than expected. 

That, in turn, would lead SES to become a majority shareholder before the end of 2016. SES CEO Karim Michel Sabbagh said ownership of more than 50 percent of O3b always has been contingent on O3b’s early success. 

In that regard, O3b apparently is booking customer orders at a faster clip than expected. O3b has more than 40 customers, mostly telecom companies that use O3b for trunking or backhaul. That is a significant fact. 

O3b and coming low earth orbit satellite constellations will mostly compete with other backhaul and long haul trunking solutions, not retail Internet access solutions. 

It is clear O3b primarily sees itself, and is seen by many mobile operators, as a supplier of long haul trunking, functionally equivalent to use of subsea fibers for backhaul or trunking. 

O3b emphasizes that its earth terminals support 4G, 3G, 2G and Wi-Fi end user devices and networks, for example. That indicates the role O3b transport now plays, backhauling traffic to and from mobile data centers and switching offices and cell towers. 

Separately, O3b competitor OneWeb has raised $500 million of funding from Airbus Group, Bharti Enterprises, Hughes Network Systems, a subsidiary of EchoStar Corp., Intelsat, Qualcomm Incorporated, The Coca-Cola Company, the Virgin Group, and Totalplay, a Grupo Salinas Company, owned by Ricardo B. Salinas. 

The OneWeb user terminals are optionally solar powered, and support Long Term Evolution 4G, 3G, 2G and Wi-Fi access, suggesting the business model for OneWeb’s new fleet of low earth orbit satellites, namely trunking to mobile operator cell towers, with end user access using either Wi-Fi or mobile network protocols. 

The network will also provide service to ships, planes, trains and oil platforms and interoperability with Intelsat’s fleet of Ku-band satellites. 

Sunil Bharti Mittal, Founder and Chairman of Bharti Enterprises and Tom Enders, CEO of Airbus Group will be joining Sir Richard Branson, founder of the Virgin Group, Dr. Paul Jacobs, Executive Chairman of Qualcomm Incorporated, and Greg Wyler, founder of OneWeb, on the Board of Directors. 

OneWeb also said it has placed an order for more than 65 rockets including 21 Soyuz launch orders from Arianespace and 39 launches from Virgin Galactic’s LauncherOne. 

The funding and equipment deals to follow are an important milestone towards actual launch of the constellation. The new satellite constellations matter because, by 2050, Asia will account for 53 percent of global GDP, with China and India accounting for a substantial part of that weight. 

That will be accompanied by growth in use of the Internet and more demand for Internet access, backhaul and trunking, across the region.

Thalland 4G Auction Will be Shaped by New Spectrum Cap

Thailand’s  National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) has instituted a spectrum cap  limiting all mobile operators to a maximum of 60 megahertz of total spectrum, a move that will shape bidding for Long Term Evolution 4G spectrum in upcoming auctions.

In the upcoming auction, four 4G licenses are available, two licenses of 12.5 MHz of bandwidth in the 1800-MHz band, and two of 10 MHz each on the 900-MHz band.

The 1800-MHz auction presently is scheduled to begin Nov 11, 2015, while  the 900-MHz auction will commence on Dec 15, 2015.

The cap means Total Access Communication (DTAC), owned by Telenor, the second-biggest Thai mobile operator, would be unable to bid for Long Term Evolution 4G spectrum.

DTAC already has licenses to use about 75 MHz of spectrum.

PLDT Smartphone Accounts to Double in 2015

By the end of 2015, around 50 percent of Philippines mobile subscribers will own a smartphone, up sharply from about 20 percent in 2014, some predict. Even if adoption reaches only 40 percent, smartphone usage will have doubled in just about a year.

Currently Philippines has the lowest smartphone penetration in Southeast Asia, with only roughly 20 percent of the population owning a smartphone. The comparable figures for Malaysia and Thailand were  80 percent and 49 percent, respectively, in 2014.

PLDT executives think they will reach 40 percent smartphone adoption by the end of 2015.

PLDT should see 40 percent smartphone penetration at the end of 2015 or early in 2016, said Polly Nazareno, PLDT CEO.

20 Gbps 5G?

Will the new International Telecommunications Union IMT-2020 standard, likely to be known by consumers as 5G, will be extensible to 20 Gbps?

Maybe, eventually. For the moment, even though initial thinking was a peak rate of 10 Gbps, some expect that, “under certain conditions and scenarios,” IMT-2020 would support up to 20 Gbit/s peak data rate. I

ITU-R Study Group 5 will meet on July 21, 2015 to approve a recommendation, which will then become available during the Radiocommunication Assembly in October.”

Vodafone Portugal First to Use LTE FDD/TDD Carrier Aggregation

Vodafone will be first mobile service to use carrier aggregation across Long Term Evolution 4G FDD/TDD networks, starting with the Vodafone network in Portugal.

The technology is powered by Ericsson and Qualcomm Technologies.

Adding TDD to the already installed FDD network significantly enhances the total downlink data capacity. In addition, FDD/TDD carrier aggregation extends the app coverage of the TDD layer by up to 230 percent.

Greater capacity and coverage will be needed in the short term as mobile traffic demand is expected to grow nine times by 2020, according to Ericsson Mobility Report projections (June, 2015).

Using only a software update to Ericsson baseband hardware already operating in the network, Ericsson's Networks Software 15B release enables simultaneous operation of LTE FDD and TDD.

Vodafone's current deployment for the trial in its commercial network in Portugal uses 15 MHz of band 3 (FDD 1800) and 20 MHz of band 38 (TDD 2600) and tests are supported by the Qualcomm®Snapdragon(TM) 810 processor with X10 LTE running in a device.

Thailand Ponders Spectrum Cap: Could Affect 4G LTE Auctions

The Thailand National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) plans to institute a new spectrum cap that would limit the total amount of mobile spectrum any mobile operator can have at 60 megahertz.

Significantly, the cap includes the 4G frequencies to be auctioned this year.

Should the cap be adopted, it would mean Total Access Communication (DTAC), owned by Telenor, the second-biggest Thai mobile operator, would be unable to bid for only small portions of the Long Term Evolution 4G spectrum.

DTAC, for example, already has licenses to use about 75 MHz, including 50 MHz of bandwidth in the 1800 MHz band, 25 Mhz of which is unused.

Operators with more than 60MHz of spectrum would be able to participate in the auctions but would need to return any amount over the limit to the regulator, the NBTC said.

The complication is that DTAC spectrum actually is not held by DTAC directly, but under a concession with state-owned CAT Telecom. DTAC naturally argues it should not be considered a license holder, subject to the 60-MHz cap, since its licenses actually are held by CAT.

But that is not unusual in the Thai mobile market.

Market leader AIS has just 32.5 MHz, and 17.5 MHz (900 MHz concession with TOT) expires in September 2015.

True Mobile holds 30MHz in the 2.1GHz and 850MHz bands and the 850MHz is a concession from CAT.

The NBTC said in April 2015 that the spectrum cap would be set at 45 MHz.

Mobile Operators Cannot Fully Escape "Dumb Pipe" Business Role

At a very fundamental level, no mobile or wireless services provider can ever fully escape being a "dumb pipe provider."

With the caveat that the future cannot be predicted, it is a relatively safe bet that “dumb pipe” services (simple best effort access to the Internet) will be an enduring function and possible revenue stream for Internet service providers and other communications service providers.

In fact, that “prediction” flows simply from the architecture of present and likely most future communications protocols, the most important principle being that networks, applications and protocols are loosely coupled.

In other words, there are application program interfaces and protocols for communicating between functions and layers, allowing what happens within each layer to be disaggregated from the rest of the ecosystem.

At a high level, that is why the constant concern on the part of Internet service providers that they might be relegated to low value, low margin “dumb pipe” status is understandable, but in some ways unavoidble.

For the most part, that separation of applications from access was decided the day Internet Protocol became “the” major protocol for communications globally. As this chart by Telstra illustrates, the “network” (transport and access) is separated from the apps enterprises and consumers want to use.

That is not to say every valuable app is an “Internet” app. Many important managed services continue to be offered, ranging from carrier voice and messaging to video entertainment and other private and specialized networks.

Still, for the most part, modern IP networks necessarily separate apps from access. Functionally, that makes the whole network a dumb pipe. That is how the protocol works.

For that reason, it is virtually impossible for any communications services provider to avoid operating as a dumb pipe, for a goodly portion of its business. In fact, to the extent that an ISP makes money serving consumers, it is, by definition, doing so as a dumb pipe provider.

ITU Rebrands 5G as UMT-2020

As expected, the International Telecommunications Union has established its own terminology for fifth generation mobile networks, choosing “IMT-2020” as its own nomenclature for what most people will come to know as “5G.”

The name IMT-2020  is an extension of the ITU’s existing family of global standards for International Mobile Telecommunication systems (IMT-2000 and IMT-Advanced) which serve as the basis for all of today’s 3G and 4G mobile systems, the ITU said.

The name itself reveals the expected commercialization of the standard. Networks based on IMT-2020 are expected to become available in 2020.

At the moment, the expected new capabilities will support apps such as extremely high definition video services, real-time low-latency applications and Internet of Things (IoT).

The ITU-R Radiocommunication Assembly, which meets in October 2015, is expected to formally adopt the term “IMT-2020”.

New Market for Satellite Trunking?

It appears satellite trunking and mobile backhaul might be poised for wider use to support Internet access in remote regions, albeit enabled by a new generation of geostationary satellite and new middle earth and low earth orbit satellite constellations. 

To be sure, satellite trunking and backhaul have been crucial in many settings, for many decades, where undersea cables and terrestrial backhaul facilities do not exist. 

As always is the case, it is the business model that is most problematic. Among the issues: the cost of consumer premises equipment, which might need to fall to less than the cost of a smartphone. 

The biggest question is whether wholesale or retail emerges as the typical deployment pattern. In a wholesale business model, retail ISPs are customers. In the retail scenario, satellite is a competitor to other ISPs. 

Even with expected cost declines for terminals, the complexity and therefore cost of tracking MEO and LEO constellations likely argues for a wholesale model or direct to enterprise model.

Geosynchronous services will have both wholesale and consumer retail potential. 
  

Latency Really Matters, O3b Argues

For any number of new networks, latency is as important as bandwidth. That is true for satellite constellation O3b, the coming fifth generation mobile network standard, and likely for cloud computing networks generally.

In the satellite trunking business (long haul or wide area network transport), which at present is the biggest single revenue driver for O3b, it arguably is latency, not bandwidth, which is the primary user experience advantage for a medium earth orbit (MEO) constellation, compared to the more-traditional geostationary approach, argues David Burr, O3b VP.

And a surprisingly large number of application types provide better user experience when delivered over a MEO constellation, rather than a geostationary constellation.

Basic web site downloads, Internet video streaming, video conferencing and regular voice calls, video conferencing and Interactive gaming are consumer and business applications that work better over a MEO link, because of the much-lower latency.

Also, many business applications such as remote database access and interactive transaction processing contain software timers that do not adjust for long delays over geosynchronous satellites.

Banking applications and airline reservation and scheduling applications are examples.

So the point is that bandwidth, while important, might not be as important as latency reduction, for satellite trunking operations, especially those related to applications and services running Internet Protocol.

“Latency does matter,” said Burr. On an 8,000-kilometer route between London and Lagos, Nigeria, an undersea cable might have latency of about 80 milliseconds.

A geostationary satellite link might have latency of 496 milliseconds. The same path, using the O3b constellation, might have latency of about 133 milliseconds, O3b said.

As a practical matter, geosynchronous satellite users must wait almost 750 msec. before they start getting data, whereas the lower latency O3b satellite link will receive it nearly four times sooner, O3b argues.

4G Will, by 2020, Drive Global Mobile Data Requirements

​Mobile voice revenues continue to decline across all regions, but aggregate mobile service revenues for 2014 increased 2.8 percent over 2013 on the strength of mobile data services, ABI Research says.

In 2015, 4G  data traffic has started to dominate the total traffic consumption, and the annual global 4G data usage in 2020 will exceed 224.7 Exabytes, 79 percent of the total data traffic, says ABI Research.

There will be 1.4 billion mobile subscribers in India by 2020, resulting in penetration of 100 percent, according to Ericsson. That is roughly the number of total global LTE subscribers in 2015.

The appendix reveals that the GSM/EDGE (2G) subscriber base is expected to peak in 2015 and expected to decline thereafter as subscribers migrate to 3G services.

Third generation (WCDMA/HSPA) subscriptions are expected to grow from over 120 million in 2014 to around 620 million by 2020, with the proportion of WCDMA/HSPA subscriptions in the total subscription base reaching 45 percent.

Fourth generation LTE subscriptions are likely to reach more than 230 million, forming around 17 percent of the total subscription base by 2020.

Second generation GSM/EDGE networks presently have the widest reach in India, with 95 percent population coverage.

Third generation networks cover more than 35 percent of the Indian population at the end of 2014, and is expected to cover approximately 90 percent by the end of 2020.

About 40 percent of the population will be covered by LTE networks by 2020, Ericsson predicts.

4G Will Drive Global Mobile Capacity in 2020

Mobile voice revenues continue to decline across all regions, but aggregate mobile service revenues for 2014 increased 2.8 percent over 2013 on the strength of mobile data services, ABI Research says.

In 2015, 4G  data traffic has started to dominate the total traffic consumption, and the annual global 4G data usage in 2020 will exceed 224.7 Exabytes, 79 percent of the total data traffic, says ABI Research.

Cambodia to Get New LTE Network

South East Asia Telecom (Seatel) has partnered with ZTE to build a Long Term Evolution mobile network in Cambodia.

ZTE will be the exclusive provider of 4G infrastructure and products, including the core network EPC, an IP RAN and an online charging system.

ZTE will also provide its Cloud UniCore and Cloud Radio network co-ordination products to help Seatel manage its network resources and functionality.

Seatel Cambodia is the operating entity of Seatel Group, which was established in Singapore in 2014. It has operating licenses in Cambodia to provide mobile, fixed-wireless, VoIP and other services.

FCC Leans Against More Set-Aside 600-MHz Spectrum

The U.S. Federal Communications Commission might be leaning against reserving more spectrum for smaller carriers in the upcoming 600-MHz spectrum auctions, as T-Mobile US and others have favored.

At present, 30 MHz has been reserved for carriers or other bidders without lots of lower-frequency spectrum. T-Mobile US has been arguing for a larger set-aside.

Some would argue that AT&T and Verizon actually are the most spectrum constrained suppliers. That might sound odd, but remember that the size of the customer base matters. A carrier with a smaller number of customers requires less spectrum than a carrier with a larger customer base.  

AT&T also argues that rural spectrum access really is not the issue, and that a larger spectrum set-aside will prevent AT&T and Verizon from bidding in urban markets.

Comcast to Enter Mobile Business?

Deutsche Telekom reportedly is in talks with Comcast about a possible purchase of T-Mobile US , a move that could vault Comcast immediately into the top ranks of U.S. mobile service providers, while imperiling Dish Network’s valuation, and its ability to monetize its significant mobile spectrum assets.

That possible move illustrates one clear strategic implication of regulatory action that prevents firms from gaining any more market share: publicly traded firms, which need to grow, will look to other markets for growth.

For Comcast, that appears, in part, to be mobile. For AT&T, in part, growth is sought outside U.S. markets.

As with all such reports, there are many reasons for such information to leak. DT might actually hope it can sell for a higher price to Comcast. At the very least, having other serious bidders provides negotiating leverage.

But part of the attraction also could be Comcast’s willingness to assume full control, buying all outstanding shares of T-Mobile US. That would allow DT a full and immediate exit from the U.S. market.

There always could be regulatory issues. Dish Network might have an easier time gaining antitrust approval.

And, as always, the parties might not be able to agree on fundamental terms. Still, Comcast is a strategic buyer; T-Mobile US a strategic seller. And some have suggested a Dish Network purchase of T-Mobile US would eliminate some other eventual buyers of that whole asset, namely Comcast.

One must assume it is impossible for any of the four largest U.S. mobile firms to acquire or merge with each other, based on past regulatory decisions and views. That leaves only other third parties.

Should Dish Network decide not to bid for T-Mobile US, or should any such bid be rejected by Deutsche Telekom, Dish Network likely would have to consider a major network sourcing deal with Sprint, something the Sprint network now is specifically crafted to support.

That would still leave Dish Network requiring additional assistance on the marketing and operating fronts, however, Having a network is one thing. Creataing an effective national sales and fulfillment presence is quite another challenge.

Dish already has tried, unsuccessfully, to buy Sprint and Clearwire, nor is SoftBank likely to want to sell, so a Dish acquisition of Sprint is unlikely.

KT Giga LTE Suggests 5G Will be an Extension of 4G

All marketing hype to the contrary, if the first commercialized fifth generation (5G) "mobile" networks emerge by 2020, it is almost certain that 5G will be built on a 4G foundation and other current technologies, including better antennas using MIMO, channel bonding, small cell architectures and use of both Wi-Fi and Long Term Evolution air interfaces. 

There is precious little time to do anything else. Consider, for example, KT Corp.'s plans to commercialize the world’s fastest mobile network, called “Giga LTE,” that apparently provides that speed by bonding both Wi-Fi and LTE capacity, as the Korea Herald reports.  

Giga LTE supports a maximum download speed of 1.17 Gbps, about 15 times faster than the LTE and four times faster than the LTE-Advanced. Presumably the system uses some form of carrier aggregation.  

Giga LTE also provides upload speeds 10 times faster than LTE-A, and relies on use of Samsung smartphones including the Samsung Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge.

“Another five to six more high-end and mid-end Samsung handsets, compatible with the Giga LTE, will be released in the latter half of 2015 along with some LG Electronics handsets, Korea Telecom says.

Giga LTE provies yet one more example of how fast access technologies are blurring the line between mobile and fixed networks, licensed and non-licensed spectrum. Some also would say the bonding techniques point the way to 5G networks, as well.

But Giga LTE also shows how the future 5G platform almost has to extend present technology trends.

Singapore to Shutter 2G Networks

Mobile operators in Singapore will shut off 2G services in April 2017, freeing up more spectrum for 3G and 4G services.

There are about a quarter million 2G subscribers remaining in the Singapore market, down from about two million in 2011, or about three percent of all mobile subscribers. The 2G network was launched in 2004, so it will have had a lifespan of about 10 years.

The 2G shutdown would not be the first time a mobile network has been closed, as the analog networks globally also had been shut down previously,

The U.S. analog networks likewise were shut off in 2008, for example. The point is that mobile network operators, unlike fixed network operators, have experience with shuttering an older mobile network, completely.

Regulator IDA Singapore has approved a plan from the operators to shutter their 2G networks on April 1, 2017,  allowing 2G subscribers to continue with their existing plans at no extra cost after migrating to 3G, and being provided with low-cost 3G phones.

14 Million LTE Subs in India by End of 2016

India will end 2015 with 5.8 million 4G Long Term Evolution  subscribers. By the end of 2016, the country will reach a total of 14 million, according to IDC Asia Pacific associate director Shiv Putcha,

The issue is how many of those LTE subscribers will be on the new Reliance Jio 4G  network.

“Without a 2G GSM network to fall back on in all areas, users will be exposed to call drops when they move away from LTE coverage,” Putcha said. “Unless Reliance Jio has blanket LTE coverage immediately at launch, they will be exposed to fundamental risks, which can be mitigated by signing roaming agreements with existing 2G GSM operators”, the analyst added.

90% of U.K. International Travelers Rely on Wi-Fi, 11% Roam

Most international travelers rely heavily on Wi-Fi access when abroad for one simple reason: it saves them lots of money.

Of course, that also means some mobile apps, including navigation and maps, photo and social apps get used only in tethered mode (when in a Wi-Fi zone), and not on a “mobile” basis.

In a recent study by TNS for Webloyalty, about 90 percent of U.K. travelers abroad reported using Wi-Fi. Just 11 percent said they used mobile connectivity.  

And while it might be rational behavior for some mobile operators to maintain high prices for roaming users, some mobile operators could earn more money by offering lower prices.

So far, most carriers have resisted calls to drop roaming prices.

That is an issue for mobile service providers who might prefer lower roaming rates. Retail prices must incorporate all underlying costs, and the price of roaming access is set by domestic carriers. So mobile operators whose customers roam onto those international networks have to pay whatever the prevailing rates might be, passing the costs along to customers.

Releasing more spectrum for Wi-Fi (5 GHz) might help somewhat, particularly as Wi-Fi networks become more dense, and can be federated.

Still, the clear trend for mobile data roaming is towards lower prices, over time, as seen in the EU, for example.

About 50% of Myanmar Internet Access Happens on Mobiles

In Myanmar, more than a third of Ooredoo revenue is generated from mobile data services, the company says. In substantial part, that is a result of the fact that more than 80 percent of Ooredoo’s customers in Myanmar are using smartphones.

About half of Myanmar residents use the Internet only on mobile devices. Huawei, according to one survey, has about 71 percent market share of devices. Android represents 95 percent of the mobile operating systems in use on mobile devices.

The same survey suggests 79 percent of smartphone customers use Viber as their messaging app and 58 percent use Facebook. Some 55 percent of polled users earn less than $155 a month, and 41 percent of respondents have earned a bachelor’s degree.

Internet Use in Vietnam Leaps to 44% of Population

Use of the Internet in Vietnam has reached 44 percent of the population, aout 75 percent provided by mobile phones. A separate study Google estimates smartphones also are used about 90 percent of the time when people are watching TV.




And there are some indications the smartphone growth rate has accelerated over the last year. At the end of 2013, for example, smartphone adoption might have been about 19 percent. 

Cable TV Industry Opposes LTE-U, Cites Interference Risk

Disputes over spectrum rights are routine. So it comes as no surprise that many stakeholders are concerned about Long Term Evolution-Unlicensed protocols that would allow LTE networks to bond new Wi-Fi channels in the 5 GHz band.

“Although some wireless carriers developing these LTE-based technologies have acknowledged the need to share spectrum fairly with unlicensed technologies like Wi-Fi, nothing in the current design of LTE-U provides confidence in that result,” the National Cable and Telecommunications Association NCTA argues. “Unlike Wi-Fi, which uses politeness protocols to effectively share spectrum with other unlicensed users, the current formulations of LTE-U do not require providers to build in adequate sharing protocols.”

The NCTA has notified the Federal Communications Commission of its concerns about interference.

Wi-Fi protocol includes listen-before-talk and back-off mechanisms. Listen-before-talk, as it sounds, means devices do not transmit data while there is another active signal in the band.

And back-off is a second protocol in the event of that two Wi-Fi signals transmit at the exact same time.

When such a collision happens, Wi-Fi transmission will wait a period of time before trying again.

Proponents of LTE-U are “threatening to deviate from the careful and collaborative stewardship of shared frequency bands,” NCTA argues.

As always, public policy concerns also have private interest corollaries. Mobile operators would gain if allowed to bond 5-GHz Wi-Fi channels.

Cable TV operators also plan to build mobile networks substantially based on use of Wi-Fi capacity. So keeping one important class of potential users off 5 GHz channels would help cable operators.

The NCTA also wants “non-standard” versions of any such protocols to be barred, in the interim, a move that would prevent mobile operators from deploying the protocol soon, even if they incorporate “listen before talk” protocols.

That isn’t to say legitimate interference issues exist. They do, and must be addressed. That said, more users and devices sharing any specific set of resources will increase congestion. That always is true, for existing or new spectrum available to any shared network.

source: NCTA