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The Primary Constraints on Fixed Wireless Coverage,
  Performance and Innovation are Regulatory, not Technological

  • Interference in Part 15 unlicensed "jungle" limits coverage and stability of unlicensed systems. Under current rules, a baby monitor can radiate as much as an access point serving dozens of broadband customers!

  • Current spectrum auction regime precludes small, local, and independent carriers from obtaining exclusively licensed spectrum -- essentially a "feudal" system

  • We need non-exlusively ("lightly") licensed spectrum which is not polluted by consumer devices and unburdened by needless regulatory requirements
    • Use of 3650 MHz prohibited in many areas
    • No workable spectrum etiquettes to avoid collisions between providers
    • 3650 MHz rules require individual licensing of every customer's radio
    • A band that's usable nationwide is necessary to create equipment economies of scale

  • Regulate only when there are real market failures or anticompetitive practices. Regulation (e.g. "wireless network neutrality") imposed for political rather than technical reasons would encumber deployment, harm performance (e.g. 802.11b equipment on 802.11g networks), deter innovation (e.g. advertiser-sponsored "spot priority" or "spot bandwidth")  or outlaw economical, popular rate plans