Wireless Everywhere, But Whether Spectrum Can Keep Up Is Rising Theme at CES
LAS VEGAS -- Mobility is everywhere was the theme of a packed session at CES Tuesday with top executives from Qualcomm, AT&T and Ericsson. There were long lines to get in and the crowd filled several conference rooms at the Las Vegas Convention Center. Halfway through, FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel brought things down to earth, asking the executives whether spectrum can keep up with a world of driverless cars, drones and medical wearables.
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"When you talk about mobile everything, I think about spectrum,” said Rosenworcel, who was in the audience and was called on to ask a question. “And spectrum is a limited resource. … Do we have enough that is purposed for global technology use, and if we don’t, what technologies like small cells are going to help us use it more efficiently?"
"Spectrum is the consummate scarce resource,” Rosenworcel told us. “We need to find ways to repurpose more to fuel this revolution and we also need to find ways to make sure that we use what we have more efficiently. … Making sure we have adequate wireless resources to fuel this revolution is a priority for the FCC and for me."
"The trend is pretty unmistakable,” said Qualcomm CEO Paul Jacobs. “We're seeing broader bandwidth and denser networks and that’s all about getting more bandwidth to and from devices.” No matter what, “we've got to open up more spectrum,” he said. “If we go to gigabyte-per-second links, we're going to have to go to much higher frequencies.”
"Of course, spectrum will be a limitation for sure,” said Ericsson CEO Hans Vestberg. “We must spend more money on studying how we optimize the spectrum usage … using spectrum at the same time.” Industry will also need access to more spectrum in higher and lower bands, he said. “The spectrum has to be there in order to have services."
"Spectrum is the lifeblood of an industry that’s the oxygen for commerce,” said AT&T Senior Executive Vice President John Donovan, who conceded there’s “an insatiable desire” in industry for more spectrum. “The worst thing we could do is get a mismatch between investment and horizon.” Spectrum pooling, small cells and technology “aren’t enough to overcome the difference between our investment cycle and how much we see spectrum coming down the pike,” he said.