Tech firms say schools need more spectrum

If President Barack Obama really wants to put Wi-Fi in every US classroom, then the government will need to release more unlicensed spectrum for public use -- or so says WifiForward, a spectrum lobbying group backed by Google, Microsoft, the cable companies and the Consumer Electronics Association.

WifiForward released a paper that calls for regulators to open up or lift restrictions on big swathes of the 5 GHz band so it can be used to build bigger, badder gigabit Wi-Fi networks. It also calls for the government to open up more white space spectrum and move forward with its plans to create a shared public-private band at 3.5 GHz, which could be used to link those Wi-Fi networks to the Internet proper without using wires or fiber.