The U.S. Federal Communications Commission has reached out to the industry to find out how LTE-Unlicensed (LTE-U) and Licensed Assisted Access (LAA) will coexist with WiFi.
As its full name suggests, LTE-U is a means of using unlicensed spectrum – the 5 GHz band in particular is seen as a strong candidate – for cellular communications. LAA aggregates an LTE-U carrier with an LTE carrier operating in licensed spectrum to increase capacity and therefore connection speed. Standards for these emerging technologies are currently being considered by the 3GPP.
"Some have expressed concern that LTE-U and LAA operations may have a detrimental impact on existing and future use of unlicensed or shared spectrum," the FCC noted in a statement on Tuesday. "Others have asserted that LTE-U and LAA are more efficient than other currently available unlicensed technologies, that LTE-U and LAA include features to share the spectrum fairly with no detrimental impact on existing users of the spectrum, and that consumers will ultimately benefit."
In February, Verizon, SK Telecom and T-Mobile US all tried out LTE in unlicensed frequ encies using equipment supplied by Ericsson and Qualcomm.
At the time, the WiFi Alliance said the 5 GHz band is critical to WiFi, and there is a risk that LAA could harm WiFi users.
The FCC’s consultation hopes to address this issue by asking industry players to answer several questions related to the development of LTE-U/LAA and "how they will coexist with other technologies, including WiFi."
Interested parties have until 11 June to respond. Replies to those responses will need to submitted by 26 June.
