Why Use LTE in Unlicensed Spectrum?

Posted February 24, 2015

A reasonable person might wonder why mobile service providers might be interested in using Long Term Evolution in unlicensed spectrum. After all, mobile service providers already routinely offload traffic to Wi-Fi, and no special protocol is required.

Mobile service providers “do not need LTE-U to use the 5 GHz band (they can do so with Wi-Fi),” notes analyst Monica Paolini.

But there are advantages, nevertheless.

LTE-U helps because it is more efficient, offers better spectral efficiency, easier network integration, and better traffic load management.

In other words, LTE-U–also known as licensed-assisted LTE–allows mobile service providers to manage their network access operations better.

Gary Kim

Gary Kim is a communications industry analyst of 30 years, ranked second globally among power influencers in mobile and among the top 10 telecom thought leaders. He currently works as a telecom/Internet conference content developer and speaker. He recently founded the Spectrum Futures conference for the Pacific Telecommunications Council, and acts as a conference advisor for PTC. He is a member of Mensa, the international organization for people with IQs in the top 2 percent.