The Wireless Broadband Alliance (WBA) and the Dynamic Spectrum Alliance (DSA) are to begin working together to promote and support the development of unlicensed wireless technologies, including TV white space.
The strategic partnership will see the development of mutual engagement between the two organisations and their members to use their combined efforts to drive forward and innovate in unlicensed, expanding the available spectrum as well as co-developing guidelines with the aim of ensuring interoperability within the ecosystem and promoting the usage of unlicensed wireless technologies at both the technical and regulatory level.
The organisations will also co-operate at their respective industry events; the DSA’s Global Summit (April 26-28, 2016, Colombia) and WBA’s Wi-Fi Global Congress, currently underway in San Jose, California.
“The growing appetite for data, both for consumer use and, increasingly, in voice and IoT deployments, means that innovative solutions need to be explored to maximise the efficiency of wireless spectrum use. The combination of Wi-Fi and other unlicensed wireless technologies require effective spectrum utilisation to provide the oxygen of future innovation. The work undertaken by the WBA and the DSA will expedite the availability of a new generation of Internet access. With the collective strengths of our combined memberships, this partnership can act as a positive force for the development of – and innovation in – unlicensed,” said Shrikant Shenwai, CEO, Wireless Broadband Alliance.
H Nwana, executive director, Dynamic Spectrum Alliance said: “The Wi-Fi ecosystem is invaluable to connecting the next four billion consumers in emerging markets. The partnership between the DSA and the WBA symbolises the true commitment we jointly hold to educate and promote the development and expansion of unlicensed wireless technologies to new non-traditional markets. This work will support Governments with their economic growth and enable a new wave of start-ups to bring innovations in the unlicensed wireless ecosystem to the top of the agenda.”
In the past 20 years, radio technologies in unlicensed spectrum, such as Bluetooth, WiFi and ZigBee have been widely adopted. Access to unlicensed bands has enabled innovation and business deployment by entities ranging from the world’s largest companies to the smallest of start-ups.
