Mobile Future Pitches Permissionless Spectrum

Mobile Future, which advocates for unlicensed spectrum, ha released a new report, The Importance of Permissionless Innovation in Unlicensed Bands, that warns the FCC against "shifting away" from that approach to unlicensed.

The release came only one business day after the FCC granted Verizon and Qualcomm authority to test devices that use unlicensed spectrum also used by cable Wi-Fi hot spots to access a similar wireless broadband hot-spot play (LTE unlicensed, or LTE-U).

Cable operators have argued that the devices have been insufficiently vetted for possible interference to their Wi-Fi service and could potentially 'wreak havoc," with it, while wireless companies counter that cable ops are trying to prevent competition.

A source speaking on background confirms the report's target is the LTE-U effort, and secondarily any effort to reduce unlicensed in favor of proprietary bands.

The paper defines the regulatory humility it wants the FCC to exhibit as "rejecting suggestions to set coexistence standards, impose protocols, or mandate specific technologies."

Cable operators have argued that standards first need to be in place to prevent the new technology from interfering with existing Wi-Fi

John Eggerton

Contributing editor John Eggerton has been an editor and/or writer on media regulation, legislation and policy for over four decades, including covering the FCC, FTC, Congress, the major media trade associations, and the federal courts. In addition to Multichannel News and Broadcasting + Cable, his work has appeared in Radio World, TV Technology, TV Fax, This Week in Consumer Electronics, Variety and the Encyclopedia Britannica.