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The FCC on Friday voted unanimously to open a
so-called "notice of inquiry" into what it and the industry can
do to turn a new swath of very high-frequency airwaves,
previously deemed unusable for mobile networks, into
mobile-friendly frequencies.
The FCC's examination would serve as a regulatory backdrop for
research into the next generation of wireless technology,
sometimes referred to as 5G and which may allow wireless
connections to carry a thousand times more traffic.
"Today we’re stepping in front of the power curve," FCC
AaChairman Tom Wheeler said on Friday at the meeting.
In question are frequencies above 24 gigahertz (GHz), sometimes
called millimeter waves, that have previously been deemed
technically unweildy for mobile connections, though have the
potential to carry large amounts of data and give the promise of
lightning-fast speeds.
Millimeter waves work best over short distances and have
required a direct line-of-sight connection to a receiver. They
are now largely used for point-to-point microwave connections.
The FCC said it will study what technologies could help get
around the technological and practical obstacles and what kind
of regulatory regime could help a variety of technologies to
flourish on those airwaves, including the potential for services
other than mobile.
The U.S. wireless industry continues to work on deploying the 4G
connections, though some equipment manufacturers, such as
Samsung are already testing data transmission on the higher
frequencies.
"While we will always work to locate more cleared licensed
spectrum under 3 GHz, we also need to expand our search to find
other complementary spectrum bands, and this Notice is an
important step in that effort," Meredith Attwell Baker, head of
CTIA-The Wireless Association, said in a statement.
Google on Monday asked the FCC for permission to conduct tests
on some of the extremely high-frequency airwaves, which experts
say may provide the foundation for a wireless version of its
high-speed fiber Internet service.
Rosenworcel said growing data demand made it necessary for
next-generation wireless networks to carry heavy traffic,
quickly and without draining the phones' batteries.
“How do we meet these demands? We look up. Way, way, up. To
infinity and beyond,” she said at the meeting.
(Reporting by Alina Selyukh and Marina Lopes; editing by Andrew
Hay)
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