FCC revisits the idea of a shared “innovation” band for broadband use
After a two year wait, the FCC is again taking up a proposal that would create a shared spectrum band between government uses, carriers and the public.
After a two year wait, the FCC is again taking up a proposal that would create a shared spectrum band between government uses, carriers and the public.
As a Congressional deadline approaches, the FCC laid the groundwork for a new spectrum auction that would infuse new capacity into LTE networks. But there’s a catch: Carriers would have to share with the government.
A new pilot project in LA will test the feasibility of broadcasting consolidating their transmissions onto fewer channels. If it works it could persuade TV stations to part with their airwaves in the upcoming incentive auction.
The full backing of the U.S. executive branch is now behind the idea of spectrum sharing, which would split time between federal and commercial users on the wireless airwaves.
Three of the nationwide operators haven’t signed off on the government’s proposal to split time on the federal airwaves between public and commercial users, but they’re willing to consider it.
Google is launching yet another mysterious wireless experiment, this time using small cells at its HQ. Taking all of Google’s wireless projects together, a new kind of mobile architecture might be taking shape: the heterogenous network.
Thanks to a recent government report, the idea of spectrum sharing between federal agencies and consumer broadband applications is gaining ground. But before we encourage sharing, we should ask tough questions about security. Can we share our airwaves without compromising them?
The FCC proposes to dedicate 100 MHz of airwaves for small use, but not exclusively. Carriers would need to share it with existing government users. The high-frequency band would be ideal for small cell deployments, but carriers don’t like sharing.
In an aggressive proposal, the President’s Council of Advisors on Policy and Technology not only wants the administration to double the amount of federal spectrum being targeted for new mobile and wireless networks, but it also wants to make a good portion of those airwaves shared.
When the NTIA that carriers and government agencies share a huge block of airwaves, carriers and mobile industry groups applauded. But speaking to GigaOM, the trade group representing the major U.S. operators offered up a more sobering view on why sharing frequencies won’t work.