I came across a blog entry from Prakash Sangam, Technical Marketing Director of Qualcomm. He is describing his company's vision of enabling the Cellular operators to use LTE technology in the 5 GHz unlicensed frequency band.
Initially I thought this sounded like a good idea. But upon some further reflection, I think this is a terrible idea. This is simply an attempt for encroaching on the "people's spectrum". I hope this idea meets the desired resistance and does not go anywhere.
The tremendous success of WiFi is because it operates in the unlicensed (ISM) bands and gives opportunities for all to innovate. New services have been developed and the WiFi technology is experiencing the positive spiral of innovation. For more than a decade, WiFi has been operating in just the 80 MHz of the 2.4 GHz band. And as can be expected, interference issues are increasing. This is driving the need to move to the 5 GHz band. The FCC is in the process of releasing more than 500 MHz for people's use.
Now if LTE starts encroaching on this band, it will very quickly crowd out the 5 GHz band too. The Carriers have deep pockets to blanket the areas with their high energy signals. This will limit the innovators. It will limit everyone's ability to run a simple Access Point in their homes. I think the Carriers should just stay the hell out of the unlicensed bands. They got enough resources to lobby for more Licensed spectrum.
Leave the small guys alone.
