Among the new developments happening in the wireless business is the potential of new types of enterprise or local networks that support Long Term Evolution 4G services. Even if we all know 4G as a mobile network standard, supporting mobile phone service, other new protocols, such as MulteFire, create the potential, for the first time, of 4G networks operated much as Wi-Fi networks are, using unlicensed spectrum and operating in indoor settings or as small cells.
MulteFire is suitable for any spectrum band that requires over-the-air contention for fair sharing, such as the global 5 GHz unlicensed spectrum band or shared spectrum in the upcoming 3.5 GHz CBRS (Citizens Broadband Radio Service) band in the U.S. market.
Business models for networks running 4G LTE protocols in a private LTE mode might be likened to similar use of venue Wi-Fi. An enterprise might consider creating its own enterprise 4G network. There will be business model differences based on which spectrum is used. In the CBRS band, for example, a venue owner deploying MulteFire would have proprietary rights of a sort, being able to block other temporary MulteFire networks from being created by a user hotspot, for example.
Wholesale models, such as neutral host networks open for use by third parties, represent another new business model.
In some ways, MulteFire takes the old debate about whether Wi-Fi can replace licensed mobile networks to a new level. In the future, it will be possible to create 4G networks that operate exclusively using unlicensed spectrum, or in forms that bond licensed mobile spectrum with unlicensed Wi-Fi spectrum or other spectrum.
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