In Monday’s speech, FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel is expected to push for expanded unlicensed use of spectrum, including as part of the upcoming broadcast incentive auction and in the 5 GHz and 3.5 GHz bands. Unlicensed spectrum can be used by any company for free and powers technologies such as Wi-Fi.
FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel wants to make sure that Wi-Fi isn’t left behind in the race to grab up chunks of the country’s airwaves. Unlike wireless phone service, Wi-Fi signals operate on unlicensed bands of the spectrum, but the space is becoming increasingly crowded, she wrote in an op-ed for re/code.
“As our economy increasingly relies on spectrum, this Caucus will be an important mechanism for our colleagues and congressional staff to engage on the spectrum policies, both licensed and unlicensed, facing our economy,” Matsui said in a statement.
Prepared Remarks of FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler
GSMA Mobile World Congress
February 24, 2014 – Barcelona, Spain
Thank you, Dr. Dugan, for that introduction and thank you GSMA for welcoming me and Commissioner Rosenworcel. I also want to acknowledge Vice President Neelie Kroes.
This is my first international trip since becoming FCC Chairman. One lesson I’ve learned so far is that no matter where I go or how far I travel, I can’t get away from Randall Stephenson.
Read More “Chairman Wheeler’s Prepared Remarks at GSMA Mobile World Congress”
Chances are you used wireless technology today. Maybe it was the shiny new tablet or smartphone you received as a gift over the holidays. Or maybe it was the old cordless phone you have had lying around the house for too many years to count. It also could have been one of those things you use every day without much thought, like your television remote control. So many devices and so much of our lives are now dependent on wireless connectivity.
Read More “Growing Unlicensed Spectrum, Growing the Wireless Economy”
More than a dozen tech and cable companies have joined forces for a coalition hoping to expand and improve Wi-Fi networks.
WifiForward boasts heavyweight partners like Google, Comcast, Microsoft, Charter Communications, and Time Warner Cable. Its goal: free up more spectrum to lessen the stress on networks currently bogged down by massive use.
Read More “Google, Comcast Want to Make Sure You Have Fast Wi-Fi”
Google and Microsoft have teamed with Comcast and Time Warner Cable to advocate freeing up more unlicensed spectrum for Wi-Fi.
The group, WifiForward, says the government should “protect and strengthen existing unlicensed spectrum designations; free up new spectrum for unlicensed use at a variety of frequencies, including low, medium, and high frequency bands; and establish investment-friendly, transparent and predictable unlicensed rules that encourage growth and deployment.”
Read More “Tech vendors and cable companies push for more Wi-Fi spectrum”
Some of the biggest cable and technology companies in the US are apparently putting together an unlikely partnership. According to The Wall Street Journal, Google and Microsoft are joining up with Charter, Comcast, and Time Warner Cable to launch a coalition to expand public Wi-Fi access. WifiForward, as the coalition is said to be named, would seek to lobby the government to free up more spectrum that could be used for Wi-Fi to free up networks that will undoubtably get more congested in the coming years. Despite the ubiquity of LTE-capable smartphones, Cisco says that 57 percent of mobile data traffic in the US is carried over Wi-Fi — and as data usage increases in coming years, Wi-Fi spectrums will get more and more crowded.
Read More “Microsoft, Google, Comcast, and other are partnering to expand Wi-Fi access”
Internet and communications heavyweights along with other supporters want more spectrum for Wi-Fi and they want it now.
The WifiForward coalition is calling for policymakers to open up more unlicensed spectrum for Wi-Fi and other uses, contending that Wi-Fi in general is at risk due to a deluge of wireless data traffic that is causing increasing spectrum congestion.
Read More “WifiForward adds ballast to demand for unlicensed spectrum”
Comcast, Google, Microsoft, Time Warner Cable, the Consumer Electronics Association and other industry stakeholders said they formed WifiForward, a coalition to urge the FCC and Congress to increase the amount of unlicensed spectrum so it’s available for Wi-Fi use. Wi-Fi use is growing 68 percent a year, meaning policymakers will need to open up additional spectrum for unlicensed use in order to avoid a crunch greater than the current congestion being caused “by a deluge of data from more devices, applications and services,” the coalition said Thursday. Analysts said the coalition is likely to have some effect on the policymaking debate around unlicensed spectrum, but immediate change is unlikely.
Read More “WifiForward Coalition to Seek Increased Unlicensed Spectrum from FCC, Congress”