On Wednesday, November 13, the House Energy and Commerce Committee will hold a hearing entitled “Challenges and Opportunities in the 5 GHz Spectrum Band.” The hearing will look at making an additional 195 MHz of spectrum in the 5 GHz band available for unlicensed use. If the government makes this spectrum available, it could result in incredible advances in Wi-Fi such as faster speeds, less congestion and availability in more places, all of which could have a significant impact on SMBs.
In February 2012, as part of the “Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012,” Congress asked the FCC and NTIA to look into whether it would be feasible to make two sub-bands of the 5 GHz spectrum band, which are currently used by the federal government, available for unlicensed use. The FCC opened a docket on the issue this past February and received comments from nearly 100 stakeholders, but we’re likely still years away from seeing this spectrum get into the public’s hands.
The 5 GHz band of spectrum is currently home to a large portion of the nation’s Wi-Fi traffic, but there isn’t enough spectrum available to meet our growing need for Wi-Fi. More and more often, we’re encountering Wi-Fi congestion at airports and coffee shops, and sometimes even at home when we have multiple devices on the same network. Allocating more spectrum for Wi-Fi in the 5 GHz band will not only allow for more network capacity, it will also allow for the development of new technology (called 802.11ac) that could allow Wi-Fi to transmit data at 1 GB per second. Such an outcome could be a boon for small innovative companies to develop new technologies and services, advancing the IT industry as a whole.
The 5 GHz band also provides the opportunity for more Wi-Fi offload for mobile devices. As wireless providers’ networks become more congested, companies are looking to offload traffic onto Wi-Fi networks. This will both free up wireless networks and allow stationary wireless customers access to faster broadband speeds.
According to CompTIA’s Second Annual Trends in Enterprise Mobility Report, the IT workforce is supplementing or even replacing laptops with smartphones and tablets as their work devices of choice. This move to wireless devices is causing the demand for wireless broadband to skyrocket while the supply of spectrum stays the same. Congestion will only get worse if more spectrum isn’t made available for Wi-Fi.
Additionally, unlicensed spectrum has infinite potential for innovation. Wi-Fi and Bluetooth were technologies invented because of access to unlicensed spectrum, and it’s impossible to know what SMBs could come up with next. Already, we are seeing an explosion of wireless wearable health monitors and home appliances that communicate with one another. If more spectrum for Wi-Fi is made available, imagine the possibilities.
Before this spectrum in the 5 GHz band can be made available for unlicensed use, however, there is still an immense amount of work that needs to be done. The FCC and NTIA still need to determine how this spectrum can be made available for unlicensed use without interfering with the federal government entities already operating in these bands. Federal agencies have, in the past, put up a fight when it comes to sharing their spectrum. If there isn’t enough of a push to make the spectrum available, it’s possible that the FCC and NTIA could just determine that it isn’t worth the effort to do so. SMBs cannot afford this outcome.
