Wireless Broadband In The Wrong Spectrum

Wireless broadband is currently allocated to the wrong spectrum and the result is hampering the growth of the technology, according to former FCC Chairman Reed Hundt.

Hundt, who presided over a major overhaul of U.S. telecommunications policy in 1996, said wireless broadband should be put in the same spectrum swath used by analog UHF stations, which is being vacated by broadcasters converting to digital television signals.

“Wireless broadband is being designed where the radio frequencies are very, very high and, as a result, the radio waves can not penetrate buildings,” Hundt told the Senate Commerce Committee Wednesday, as lawmakers look at a possible overhaul of telecom legislation.

“Waves at lower frequencies are longer in length. Longer wave lengths hold their energy over longer distances. They can travel miles from a tower and find their way inside living rooms.”

Hundt said the longer wave lengths are just as ideal for wireless broadband as they are for television broadcasting, particularly since they can also carry large amounts of information.

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