A Range of Views on LTE in Unlicensed Spectrum

30 Mar 2015

A Range of Views on LTE in Unlicensed Spectrum

A key theme in this “unlicensed spectrum” series of blog posts has been the potential negative impacts on wireless carriers of lower-cost services built on WiFi connectivity, either in a “WiFi-first” or “WiFi-only” mode. In this two-part post the focus will shift to potential LTE deployments in unlicensed spectrum by licensed carriers, as they seek to increase network capacity while retaining tighter integration with their existing LTE-based networks than they can achieve with WiFi technology. The prospect of carriers deploying LTE in unlicensed bands marks a new phase in the history of unlicensed spectrum. In this new phase licensed carriers […]

25 Mar 2015

WiFi, User Interfaces and “The New Comcast for the Internet”

In an earlier post in this series I discussed business issues and opportunities related to a potential launch by Comcast of a WiFi-based service that could: further monetize the company’s investments in millions of in-home dual-SSID WiFi gateway devices; provide it with a relatively low-cost, high-margin entry into the wireless market space; give it a powerful position in the emerging market for nomadic, multiscreen multimedia services and; strengthen its overall market power in the communication sector as a whole. In this two-part post I’m considering this same topic, but from a public policy perspective. Viewed in very broad strokes, we have […]

24 Mar 2015

Unlicensed Spectrum: Comcast Uses In-Home Gateways to Deploy Millions of WiFi Hotspots

The focus of my last post in this series was business issues and opportunities related to a potential launch by Comcast of a WiFi-based service that could: further monetize the company’s investments in millions of in-home dual-SSID WiFi gateway devices; provide it with a relatively low-cost, high-margin entry into the wireless market space; give it a powerful position in the emerging market for nomadic, multiscreen multimedia services and; strengthen its overall market power in the communication sector as a whole. In this two-part post I’m going to consider this same topic, but from a public policy perspective. Viewed in very […]

22 Mar 2015

Unlicensed Spectrum: Comcast Considers its WiFi Strategy Options

The last post in this series discussed Cablevision’s recently launched WiFi-only service called Freewheel. It ended with the speculation that Comcast—the nation’s largest provider of cable TV and broadband services—might look to Freewheel for lessons about how to approach the WiFi-based service it is expected to launch sometime in the near future. Though Comcast executives have so far been reluctant to discuss their WiFi plans, they did shed a little light on their thinking during the company’s February 24 yearend earnings call. For example, during the call’s Q&A session, Comcast Cable CEO Neil Smit, describing WiFi as “a great asset,” […]

18 Mar 2015

Unlicensed Spectrum: Cablevision Tests the WiFi-Only Waters

2015-03-18
Mitchell Shapiro
Blog

I ended an earlier post in this series by suggesting that Cablevision’s launch of Freewheel, a WiFi-only wireless service, marks a new chapter in the emerging “nomadic multiscreen multimedia service battleground.” In this post I’ll elaborate a bit on what I meant by that. That earlier post reviewed the cable industry’s 20-year history of launching then aborting ventures intended to use licensed spectrum to compete in the wireless market. As comments made to investors in 2009 by Comcast CFO Michael Angelakis suggest, the balance of risk and rewards in these ventures never proved attractive enough for Comcast and other cable operators to […]

15 Mar 2015

Signs of Healthy Competition in the Online Video Market

A March 10 article in Variety by Todd Spangler discusses recent competitive trends in the sector of the online video market that has long been dominated by Google’s YouTube platform. Its main theme is summed up by a quote from Peter Csathy, CEO of investment and consulting firm Manatt Digital Media, who sees “a critical mass of threats that represent real challenges to YouTube’s complete dominance for the first time.” As one would expect in a media industry trade publication, Spangler’s long and informative piece approaches the subject mainly from a “who’s winning and who’s losing and why” perspective. If there could […]

12 Mar 2015

Unlicensed Spectrum: Cable’s 20-Year Quest for a Wireless Strategy

In an earlier post I discussed how a handful of small startups (Republic Wireless, FreedomPop and Scratch Wireless) are offering low-cost “WiFi-first” mobile services targeting mainly cost-conscious smartphone-toting millennials. In February, these relatively small-scale and modestly-capitalized “wireless disruptors” were joined by a much bigger player: Cablevision Systems, a cable operator that generated nearly $6.5 bil. in revenue last year and whose network passes more than five million homes and businesses in the tri-state New York City metro area. As proclaimed in bold letters on the home page of its new Freewheel service, Cablevision’s marketing message is “Goodbye data limits. Hello Generation WiFi.” And, […]

03 Mar 2015

Unlicensed Spectrum: Startups Offer Low-Cost WiFi-First Service

In my introductory post on unlicensed spectrum I noted that two small startup companies, Republic Wireless and FreedomPop, are making creative use of that spectrum to offer low cost voice and Internet service. These two companies were the focus of a mid-February article in the New York Times by Brian Chen. As Chen explains, “FreedomPop and Republic Wireless…offer services that rely primarily on Wi-Fi networks, and in areas without Wi-Fi, customers can pull a signal from regular cell towers.” FreedomPop, which has 80 employees, offers software that enables smartphones to automatically join Wi-Fi networks…For $5 a month, users can gain […]

24 Feb 2015

The Evolving Role of Unlicensed Spectrum: Introduction

With the FCC taking multiple steps to expand the availability of unlicensed spectrum amid growing user reliance on untethered connectivity, the role and importance of this spectrum in the U.S. context is expanding and likely to expand further. This evolving dynamic will be the topic of a series of posts, starting with this introduction. We hope it will trigger comments from experts and other interested parties in the U.S., and also from those who can draw comparisons with other countries and regions of the world. Among the manifestations of this shift are new types of wireless service providers, including small startups […]

12 Feb 2015

Community Fiber Networks: Bringing Competition and World-Class Infrastructure to American Cities

In the following video, President Obama announced several steps his Administration is taking to encourage municipally-owned broadband networks, as well as the rationale for taking them. A few weeks after the president’s January 14 speech, the FCC announced it would be voting on a similar approach to municipal broadband at its February 26 meeting, where it will also vote on a proposal to classify broadband access as a Title II common carrier. Since community broadband is a topic I hope to write about here in the future, and the Commission’s meeting is only two weeks away, I thought I’d share some initial […]

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