NCTA's Powell: Dynamic Spectrum Sharing Is the Path to Avoiding Fights With DOD
Given ever-accelerating consumer internet usage, particularly via Wi-Fi, policymakers mustn't "get too infatuated with fixed, exclusive wireless spectrum," NCTA President Michael Powell said last week in a video discussion with David Don, Comcast's senior vice president-public policy. There's a far…
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greater need for unlicensed spectrum, he said. A particular challenge is showing regulators that Wi-Fi "is something like a garden you have to continue to fertilize and grow," especially since the average of 17 devices on home Wi-Fi networks will multiply in five to 10 years. Powell said DOD uses most of the high-quality spectrum that interests commercial markets and thus can't be repurposed solely for commercial use. Dynamic spectrum-sharing technology is the obvious route to avoid repeated fights between DOD and the commercial sector, he added.