New America Foundation Slams 'Anti-Wi-Fi' Coalition

The New America Foundation's Open Technology Institute is no fan of the new Evolve coalition of mobile wireless carriers pushing for the rollout of LTE-U, a wireless technology using unlicensed spectrum to compete with cable Wi-Fi and improve wireless' speeds and rural reach.

Michael Calabrese, director of the Wireless Future Project at the Open Technology Institute, called it an "anti-Wi-iF coalition. “It is more than a bit ironic that the mobile carriers are finally recognizing the enormous and undeniable benefits of unlicensed spectrum as part of a campaign for a technology that could hobble the use of Wi-Fi by potential competitors," said Calabrese. "Consumers now use Wi-Fi to transmit the majority of mobile device data traffic. This has avoided the predicted spectrum crunch and makes mobile broadband more affordable. Our public interest coalition fears that if carriers use LTE-U to control access to the unlicensed commons, consumers could end up paying more and missing out on the potential competition of Wi-Fi first offerings by wireline providers and mobile virtual network operators such as Republic Wireless.” OTI says that If the FCC approves LTE-U--it's backers say the FCC only has to approve LTE-U devices, not the "permissionless" use of unlicensed 5 GHz spectrum -- they could move downlink data onto unlicensed spectrum as an add-on to their licensed spectrum.