Although LTE-Unlicenced (LTE-U) provides clear advantages for mobile operators, operating in the unlicensed 5 GHz band spectrum, the LTE-U’s coexistence with Wi-Fi has become a primary concern for the Wi-Fi industry which anticipates disruption on both the technical and business levels, according to ABI Research’s Carrier Wi-Fi market research. The LTE-U technology also promises better spectrum efficiency with better data rates and QoS to help Operators to expand network capacity without having to integrate another network, like Wi-Fi, within the cellular core.
ABI Research said that unlike Wi-Fi, LTE-U, as a propriety solution, does not sense the channel activity before transmitting. Instead, it applies a form of time sharing using periodic time slots. Such scheduled transmission of LTE-U not only adds interference and increases collisions for Wi-Fi’s opportunistic transmission, but also defies the concept of fair sharing as it seizes complete control over the channel and Wi-Fi’s transmission window.
Ahmed Ali, Research Analyst, ABI Research
But will this significantly affect the average mobile user preferences? Operators should make a compelling value proposition in order to compete with mostly free uncapped Wi-Fi service. LTE-U small cells in the enterprise still face the same challenges of site permission and the lack of neutral-host support. Concerns of possible interference with Wi-Fi make it even a harder sell. In addition to ensuring minimum impact on Wi-Fi operation, operators need to win enterprise community over with a true problem-solving solution.
