New coalition seeks mobile evolution

A new association of mobile and technology companies and associations is seeking greater openness in the mobile technology space. A coalition named Evolve is promoting the consumer benefits of unlicensed spectrum and new technologies for unlicensed spectrum like LTE-Unlicensed (LTE-U) and Licensed Assisted Access (LAA).

Founding members of Evolve include Competitive Carriers Association, CTIA – The Wireless Association, Alcatel-Lucent, AT&T, Qualcomm Inc., T-Mobile, and Verizon. Evolve believes regulators should reject calls to preemptively pass rules regarding new technologies like LTE-U and LAA, which the group says enhance utilization of unlicensed spectrum by substantially increasing data speeds and improving wireless coverage.

Unlicensed spectrum is open to anyone using any technology. According to Evolve, LTE-U and LAA were designed from the ground-up to operate cooperatively with Wi-Fi and other signals, and says tests show that Wi-Fi performed the same or even better with LTE-U than it does alone.

According to Evolve, unlicensed spectrum will provide consumers with a superior wireless experience and allow innovation in emerging technology areas like Internet of Things.

"Americans need better broadband, and they need it now," saidDean Brenner, senior VP of government affairs, Qualcomm. "That is because the Internet is entering a new phase of growth, in which so many more devices are connected and share rich data, making it necessary to increase mobile broadband capacity by 1,000 times.”