FCC Seeks Comment on Future of LTE-Unlicensed
The FCC, as promised at its April open meeting, sought comment on the future of LTE-unlicensed, a technology that carriers are looking to deploy in the 3.5 GHz and other unlicensed bands. When the FCC approved an order on the 3.5 GHz shared spectrum band, Chairman Tom Wheeler promised a public notice on LTE-U, also known as licensed assisted access (LAA), was also on its way (see 1504170055). The PN was released Tuesday by the Wireless Bureau and Office of Engineering and Technology. Comments are due June 11, replies June 26.
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Commissioner Mike O’Rielly issued a statement criticizing the notice, saying the FCC shouldn't be taking sides. “Today’s public notice walks a fine line between reasonable oversight and inappropriate interference with the standards setting process,” O’Rielly said. “The decision to jump into this space rather casually causes me great concern. In particular, any step that could insert the Commission into the standards work for LTE-U comes with great risk."
Public interest groups have raised questions about whether LTE-U would overwhelm other unlicensed use of spectrum if it's widely deployed by carriers (see 1504100039). The notice said LTE-U standards are still under development at 3GPP and that companies have already formed an LTE-U Forum. That group was formed by Verizon last year with the cooperation of Alcatel-Lucent, Ericsson, Qualcomm Technologies and Samsung, according to its website.
“The Commission has historically adopted rules that are technologically neutral and remains committed to this policy,” the bureaus said. “With this principle in mind, we are opening this docket to provide an opportunity for interested parties to enable a fully participatory and transparent discussion about LTE-U and LAA technologies and how they will coexist with other technologies, including Wi-Fi.”
“What tests or analyses have been performed to understand the impact of LTE-U and LAA on the existing commercial wireless and unlicensed ecosystems?” the bureaus asked in the PN. “Precisely how will LAA integrate licensed and unlicensed carriers, particularly with regard to controlling access to spectrum?”
Among the other questions, the PN asks what versions of LTE-U “are under active development or on a roadmap for future development?” The FCC asks about coordination on standards development between 3GPP and the IEEE Working Group 802.11, anticipated technical characteristics of LTE-U and bands where it may be used.
CTIA General Counsel Tom Power welcomed the PN release. “The FCC’s affirmation of its commitment to technological neutrality is welcome news," Power said. "That approach has encouraged the development of numerous technologies, like Wi-Fi and LTE-U, that exploit the potential of unlicensed spectrum while playing nicely with other access technologies. We encourage the FCC to stick with this winning formula.”
"Chairman Wheeler has wisely gotten out ahead of this debate about the appropriate use of the nation's unlicensed spectrum commons,” said Michael Calabrese, director of New America’s Wireless Future Project. “We are particularly pleased that the commission is inquiring into the process by which the two standards bodies -- 3GPP and IEEE 802.11 -- will ensure coexistence between carrier use of LTE-U and the general public's use of Wi-Fi and other unlicensed technologies.” Some questions were left unasked, he said. "Although not asked explicitly, public interest groups have expressed concerns not only about disruption to Wi-Fi in general, but also about potential anti-competitive behavior if LTE-U is both proprietary to licensed carriers and can dominate unlicensed bandwidth in congested areas,” Calabrese told us.
Public Knowledge Senior Vice President Harold Feld said the FCC seems to be treating the fight over LTE-U as a repeat of the fight over interoperability in the lower 700 MHz band (see 1309110036). “On the one hand, the FCC is very aware that the largest carriers can exert influence in standards bodies to freeze out potential rivals,” Feld said. “On the other hand, the FCC is always very reluctant to mandate a particular standard or outcome. So the FCC is opening a docket to follow the process and keep an eye out for potential trouble. If it appears that carriers and Qualcomm are trying to establish a standard which would prevent competition from ‘WiFi first’ providers like Republic Wireless, or from cable operators, then the FCC would want to be able to act.”
Feld said the FCC probably hopes it won’t have to act. “The FCC is hoping that the mere signal that they might intervene will be enough to push parties to develop a more cooperative standard,” he said.