FCC's Wheeler Gets Earful on LTE-U

Cable chief technology officers, joined by executives from Google and Microsoft, met with Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler to argue that before LTE-U technologies are employed in unlicensed spectrum bands, also used by cable Wi-Fi hot spots, there must be rigorous standards to insure the technology does not impair Wi-Fi. LTE-U is a way for telecommunication companies to offer their own offload of wireless broadband similar to Cable's Wi-Fi play for wired broadband. Cable operators have argued that standards first need to be in place to prevent the new technology from interfering with existing Wi-Fi, currently their major mobile broadband play, while wireless companies insist it has been tested already, that the two can co-exist, and LTE-U and license assisted access (LAA), which is a licensed-spectrum assisted version, should roll out ASAP.

The cable CTO's, including from Comcast, Time Warner Cable, Charter, and Cablevision, and the computer company executives told Chairman Wheeler and his aides that they don't oppose LTE-U, but that it has so far "avoided the long-proven standards-setting process and would substantially degrade consumer Wi-Fi service across the country." Backers of LTE-U, who have formed a coalition to push for the technology and include wireless companies and Qualcomm, say they have tested the technology and that it won't interfere with Wi-Fi.