It’s more important than ever that the federal government show united leadership around the necessity of technical spectrum studies
While a significant percentage of Broadcom’s revenue comes from broadband and Wi-Fi, it also has significant exposure to the mobile cellular market. Therefore, when it comes to the future of spectrum access, the chip maker, more than anything, wants allocations to be technologically sound and reflect the reality of the market. What this means, explained Broadcom’s Director of Product Marketing Chris Szymanski, is facilitating thoughtful spectrum policy development by conducting extensive technical studies to identify the appropriate spectrum for a given market, followed by a designation for that spectrum – licensed, lightly licensed, or unlicensed.
And while this process reflects what has traditionally played out in the U.S., there has been a recent upset. Specifically, some groups Washington are asking for something that’s never really been done before: a sort of spectrum “set aside” for high-power use cases, regardless of technological soundness. Specifically, the Cellular Telephone and Internet Association (CTIA) has proposed setting aside 7125-7250 MHz in the 7/8 GHz band for 6G, arguing that it is needed to make the next generation of mobile service possible.
However, not only does Broadcom disagree that it is needed for mobile service, it also continues to advocate for what makes the most sense, both technically and commercially, rather than simply setting this spectrum aside for mobile use. Broadcom would like to see the bottom 125 megahertz in this band made available for unlicensed use to support the incredible growth, as well as current and future needs of Wi-Fi, but only if the technical studies support doing so.
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“Our radio right now in the W-Fi access point and client device can be tuned to cover up to 7250 with no redesign and you’re getting a whole additional 320-megahertz channel and an additional 160-megaherrtz channel,” he said. Further, while current occupants in this band include geostationary satellites and fixed links, Szymanski pointed to several studies demonstrating that Wi-Fi, especially low-power indoor Wi-Fi, is very protective of both.
“We like the way NTIA [National Telecommunications and Information Administration] was looking at spectrum strategy,” Szymanski stated. Studies should be done to see the degree of compatibility, he said. And if something needs to be relocated, where it can be moved to and how long that will take also needs to be studied because if it will take years, it’s not reflecting the pace of the market.
“When you start doing a spectrum set-aside, you can get the cart before the horse. Say you make 200 megahertz available, but if the emissions limits are so difficult no one can operate at a reasonable power level for 50 years, then it’s not made available, is it?” he argued. “You need to make sure the tech rules will match the market conditions.”