Telecom Fights Tech Over FCC Plan to Open Airwaves to Wi-Fi

Big Tech and Big Telecom are wrangling over a Federal Communications Commission plan that would open up an unprecedented amount of airwaves to meet the nation’s Wi-Fi demand. The FCC is expected to vote before the end of April on a plan that may quintuple the amount of spectrum available to handle data from millions of Wi-Fi-connected smartphones, laptops, and other devices. The plan, proposed in 2018, is backed by tech giants— including Apple, Amazon, and Microsoft—that say the additional spectrum is critical to alleviating data traffic jams and to fostering faster internet connections and new technologies. But the wireless industry—including Verizon and T-Mobile US—has been increasingly pressuring the FCC to slice the spectrum band roughly in half between Wi-Fi and 5G mobile use. The struggle over the highly-prized airwaves, which is playing out against the backdrop of the global race to 5G, shows the challenge the FCC faces over how best to put radio spectrum—a limited and highly prized resource—to best use.