Consultant: Cable's Spectrum Auction Opposition Is 'Bizarre'
The cable industry has embarked on a "bizarre" strategy of trying to prevent spectrum auctions and starve fixed-wireless access (FWA) of more spectrum rights, High Tech Forum founder Richard Bennett wrote Wednesday. FWA providers are excited about the 800 MHz target for new spectrum licenses, as laid out in Congress' budget reconciliation package, previously called the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, he said. Cable's response is "positioning itself as the one true champion of Wi-Fi, the presumed loser from the OBBB auction plan." However, he said, "Wi-Fi doesn’t care what technologies users employ for Internet access. Wi-Fi simply connects devices in a home or office to each other. Telcos need -- and use -- Wi-Fi for the same reason cable does: to convenience its customers."
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Telcos have contributed far more to Wi-Fi and ethernet than cable has, Bennett said. Qualcomm, MediaTek and Apple are heavily invested in 5G and 6G chips, alongside Wi-Fi chips, as they see the cross-pollination, he added. Wi-Fi "has a perfectly fine set of spectrum rights in the 5 GHz and lower 6 GHz bands today," and FWA demand by consumers is strong. "It's time to get on with the auctions."