Former FCC Chair Speaks at MoMo Seattle

Former FCC Chair Speaks at MoMo Seattle

Laying more fiber is one way to make more efficient use of wireless spectrum, former Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin Martin said on Wednesday.

Speaking at a Mobile Monday event in Seattle, he was repeating an idea presented by researcher David Clark from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology at an FCC panel last year.

“A significant amount of mobile broadband activity actually occurs indoors,” Martin said. “That should be gotten off-net quicker.”

For instance, he said he might sit on the couch in his house and look something up online using his cell phone, which doesn’t have Wi-Fi. Rather than use that valuable cellular spectrum, he could instead free up that bandwidth for mobile customers by using his Wi-Fi network, either from a capable phone or his laptop. Wi-Fi uses unlicensed spectrum and bridges a short gap between a wired connection in the wall and a user.

He implied that regulations could help encourage the use of Wi-Fi and wireline networks when possible. “We should make sure we’re thinking about ways, that we have policies that try to make sure we utilize spectrum in the most effective way possible,” he said. “And that includes getting things off-net.”

He also discussed other ways to make more efficient use of spectrum and praised some of the ideas that the current FCC has said will be in its forthcoming National Broadband Plan, to be unveiled on March 17. Via: PC World