Big players call for an end of future unlicensed frequency

^{Nokia, Ericsson, Cingular...} Big players call for an end of future unlicensed frequency

22 Jun 2004 at 18:19 GMT Timo Poropudas

3G Americas, a GSM organization, on Tuesday called for a prohibition on shared use of licensed and unlicensed frequencies and urged that any new wireless LAN-type spectrum allocations be above 5 GHz.

“The issue of licensed vs. unlicensed spectrum is a concern for everyone and encompasses the use of not only mobile devices, but unlicensed spectrum wireless devices as well, which can cause interference and reduce the quality of service for mobile customers and operators,” said Chris Pearson, president of 3G Americas.

In a new technical paper, the GSM group also recommended that rights and responsibilities of licensees be clearly defined when spectrum is allocated, and that frequency allocations should be globally harmonized whenever possible, reported RCR Wireless News.

The report claims that add cost in overcoming interference by requiring the construction of additional cell sites. 3G Americas’ document is intended to provide guidance to policy-makers and other stakeholders.

3G Americas’ board of governor members include AT&T Wireless Services Inc. Cable & Wireless (West Indies), Cingular Wireless L.L.C., L.M. Ericsson, Gemplus, Hewlett-Packard, Lucent Technologies Inc., Motorola Inc., Nokia Inc., Nortel Networks, Openwave Systems, Research In Motion, Rogers Wireless (Canada), Siemens, T-Mobile USA, Telcel (Mexico), and Texas Instruments.