Wi-Fi has worked commercially because spectrum was free. And some now believe nearly-free spectrum might unlock use of millimeter wave capacity in rural areas. In the U.K. market, where national licenses have been standard, many now argue for mechanisms to unlock use of millimeter wave spectrum in rural areas that might otherwise lie fallow, using spectrum sharing methods.
In the U.S. market, the same sorts of principles (low cost spectrum access) are at play in the 24-GHz and 28-GHZ spectrum auctions, where service providers can choose where they wish to obtain licenses, and where minimum prices for rural areas are far lower than licenses for urbanized areas with high population, by up to four orders of magnitude.
Spectrum sharing is the latest tool that could be used to provide better mobile and internet access services in rural areas, many now believe, especially when additional spectrum commercialization is in the millimeter wave bands.
Many of the same arguments apply to commercialized use of new unlicensed capacity in the millimeter wave bands. The basic argument is that national licensing will lead to a functional form of spectrum hoarding, as license holders will have clear incentives to deploy in urban areas, but almost no incentive to deploy in rural areas, where the requirement for use of small cells will create a difficult payback model.
Where low-band spectrum will work in rural areas for coverage, mid-band will work less well, and capacity in the 24 GHz to 28 GHz range might not work at all, in terms of a sustainable business model.
So many now believe that low-cost spectrum sharing is needed in rural areas, to commercialize use of millimeter wave capacity. Where a business model based on licensed millimeter spectrum and small cells might not work, many believe a model based on either unlicensed or low-cost shared spectrum might work.
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