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Licensed Wi-Fi Access, or LWA, is also on track to
have a final iteration in the 3GPP Release 13 spec.
As its name would suggest, LWA represents
true LTE-Wi-Fi convergence. With LWA, Wi-Fi runs in
the unlicensed bands and LTE runs in the licensed
bands, and the two radio technologies are combined
to offer a compelling user experience. The control
channel for the traffic remains in an LTE uplink.
Meanwhile, on the downlink, operators get a signifi-
cant speed boost from using Wi-Fi for transmission.
From a more technical standpoint, LWA tunnels
LTE traffic in the 802.11 MAC frame, so it will look
like Wi-Fi to another network, even though it is carry-
ing LTE data.
It also eliminates interference worries, because
with LWA, LTE is aggregated only in the licensed
bands, leaving Wi-Fi the master of its domain.
Cable operators and others that have extensive
Wi-Fi holdings could be in the catbird seat with this
one, either because of the opportunity for leasing
their footprints to wireless carriers or by enabling
new entrants on an MVNO basis. They could lever-
age their footprints themselves as well, working with
LTE providers for the signaling and management
piece but maintaining their own last-mile footprint
themselves. In theory this could radically lower the
economic barrier to entry to get into wireless resale
– a notoriously low-margin business in a white label
or pure-play resale iteration.
Both of these existing unlicensed LTE approach-
es require anchor spectrum; in other words, opera-
tors still need a licensed band to handle signaling,
while the unlicensed spectrum is used to boost
capacity. But a new approach called MulteFire pro-
poses a standalone LTE-based technology for small
cells that would allow anyone, even those without
any licensed spectrum, to build an LTE network.
This means that cable MSOs and others could
use MulteFire as a path to creating their own large-
scale networks, with the aim of either providing add-
on retail service to the triple play or for business
customers, or becoming neutral host providers.
That neutral wholesale environment can augment
wireless network operator environments by provid-
ing enterprise penetration, and spawn a new kind of
MVNO opportunity. Because MulteFire is a variant of
LTE, synching up for roaming agreements presents
limited technical obstacles.
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May - June 2016
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