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.”
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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”
The WifiForward Coalition was launched earlier today in a conference call with reporters. The Coalition includes a variety of private and public sector organizations including the American Library Association, Comcast, Google, Microsoft and several others. More information about the coalition is available at www.wififorward.org.
Read More “SHLB Coalition Pleased to Support WifiForward”
As mobile data traffic continues to skyrocket, Wi-Fi is getting a lot more attention.
On Thursday, cable companies Comcast Corp. , Time Warner Cable Inc. and Charter Communications Inc., along with tech giants Google Inc. and Microsoft Corp. , are expected to announce a new coalition to bolster efforts to expand access to Wi-Fi.
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The economic value of unlicensed wireless spectrum in the U.S. could exceed $140 billion, based on estimates derived from independent studies.
That’s the conclusion of a newly released report by Richard Katz, Ph.D., who is Director of Strategy Research at the Columbia Institute for Tele-Information. The report’s release is tied to the introduction of a new industry-supported organization, WiFiForward, which seeks to encourage the liberation of unlicensed over-the-air spectrum for Internet traffic delivery purposes.
Read More “Value of unlicensed spectrum may top $140 billion”
WifiForward Releases Economic Analysis Outlining $222 Billion in Value Added to the U.S. Economy as a Result of Innovation Unleashed by Unlicensed Spectrum
Washington, D.C. – A coalition of companies, organizations and public sector institutions today announced the launch of a new organization, WifiForward, which is calling for policymakers to unleash unlicensed spectrum for Wi-Fi and other uses, enabling economic growth, creating new jobs and spurring innovation nationwide. Members include the American Library Association, Best Buy, the ARRIS Group, Comcast, the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA), Google, the International Association of Venue Managers (IAVM), Time Warner Cable and Microsoft, among others.
Read More “New Coalition Calls for More Wi-Fi to Boost U.S. Economy”
