Understanding LTE-Unlicensed // July 2015
Editor's Note
LTE-U Attracts
Controversy and
Industry support
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LTE-U Attracts Controversy and Industry Support
LTE-U is winning operator interest but concerns of Wi-Fi interference still linger.
By Jason Bovberg
Demand for spectrum will only increase as more and
more wireless devices proliferate around the world,
requiring greater and greater bandwidth. Experts say
that the wireless networks of the future will require
1000 times today's capacity. One way wireless operators
meet these burgeoning capacity demands is by using
unlicensed LTE spectrum, otherwise known as LTE-U,
or the 3GPP-standardized version of LTE-U, License-
Assisted Access (LAA).
Vendors are currently testing LTE-U technology
as a way to improve coverage and overall network
performance by using a combination of licensed and
unlicensed spectrum—in essence, adding unlicensed
spectrum as a supplement to licensed-spectrum LTE.
Still in its testing phase, LTE-U is nevertheless poised to
make a splash in mobile communications.
What will deployment look like?
Experts agree that the deployment of LTE-U is a
foregone conclusion: The technology has attained a
good amount of industry support, from Qualcomm and
Ericsson on the vendor side to Verizon and T-Mobile
on the operator side. Prospects are strong but analysts
are divided about how large a rollout there will be of
LTE-U.
"Almost all of the major small-cell vendors have
promised to add this capability to their products within
the next 12 months," said Ed Gubbins, senior analyst,
wireless infrastructure, Current Analysis. "They don't
typically pursue commercializing technologies with
that kind of near-term commitment and near-unanimity
without getting genuine interest from operators."
Nadine Manjaro, lead analyst, Maravedis-WBA, sees the
rollout of LTE-U as a limited affair. "Deployments will
be limited to provide indoor coverage, due to the smaller
coverage radius of the 5GHz band." Such installations
will focus on small-cell deployments.
