Cable, Tech Wi-Fi Backers Seek LTE-U Standards, Saying LTE-U Forum not a Standards Group
Tech and cable heavyweights said they don't oppose LTE in unlicensed bands, but the standards-setting process "is the path to protecting consumers and supporting innovation." Reporting on Thursday and Monday lobbying meetings with aides to all regular FCC members by…
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executives from Cablevision, Comcast, Google and NCTA, and in some meetings Microsoft, a lawyer at Harris Wiltshire said the LTE-U Forum isn't a standards organization. The forum has restricted membership and doesn't "engage in the type of coordination needed to protect consumers," said the filing posted Tuesday in docket 15-105. "CableLabs and Google testing demonstrates that LTE-U specification-compliant devices would substantially undermine Wi-Fi consumers." Qualcomm, an LTE-U backer and according to the group's website a forum member, has said that LTE-U and Wi-Fi can coexist. The LTE-U Forum agreed to coexistence protocols to ensure LTE-U is "polite" to other wireless spectrum users, an executive at Verizon, which the forum says started the organization, recently said (see 1510060010). "Qualcomm and all the other companies involved in developing and deploying LTE-U, which is based on the 3GPP [3rd Generation Partnership Project] Release 10-11-12 global standards, are also strong supporters of Wi-Fi, and we have a strong vested interest in ensuring that LTE-U will not have any adverse impact on Wi-Fi," emailed Qualcomm Senior Vice President-Government Affairs Dean Brenner Tuesday. "A mountain of test results on file at the FCC proves that, in fact, LTE-U will not interfere with or harm Wi-Fi, and in fact, LTE-U will in many cases be a better neighbor to Wi-Fi than Wi-Fi is to itself. We are continuing our constant technical collaboration with our colleagues in the Wi-Fi community to answer questions, address issues, and ease concerns.” The LTE-U Forum itself couldn't be reached for comment.