Re:FCC weakens net neutrality rule in a prelude to larger ro...
by massysett on Friday February 24, 2017 @05:34PM
(#13728566)
You assume that high-speed wideband that is always getting faster and wider is of paramount importance. I doubt this is the case. Furthermore, more spectrum is not necessarily needed to improve bandwidth as technology improves.
Re:FCC weakens net neutrality rule in a prelude to larger ro...
by wtallis on Friday February 24, 2017 @05:42PM
(#13728615)
The assumption isn't perfect, but it's close enough. Techniques like MIMO offer diminishing returns for their cost to handset complexity and battery life. There are no big leaps to be had in wireless that are comparable to eg. switching from DSL to fiber. And it is very clear that demand for bandwidth is growing with no sign of stopping. Users want 4k streaming and cloud backups/storage, and display resolutions are still growing.
Ignoring the laws of physics tends to make for bad public policy.
Wireless will never be able to compete against wired services. This disparity will only grow over time, not shrink. There are only two ways for wireless providers to substantially increase the speed of their offerings: by acquiring more spectrum, or by increasing spectrum re-use by shrinking cell size. Since all the good spectrum is in use, acquiring more means using spectrum that is inherently more limited in coverage. Thus, both strategies boil down to deploying more wired infrastructure.