As demand for mobile broadband services continues to explode, mobile wireless networks\nmust expand greatly their capacities. This paper describes and quantifies the economic\nand technical challenges associated with deepening wireless networks to meet this\ngrowing demand. Methods of capacity expansion divide into three general categories:\nthe deployment of more radio spectrum; more intensive geographic reuse of spectrum;\nand increasing the throughput capacity of each MHz of spectrum within a given\ngeographic area. The paper describes these several basic methods to deepen mobile\nwireless capacity. It goes on to measure the contribution of each of these methods to\nhistorical capacity growth within U.S. networks. The paper then describes the capabilities\nof 4G LTE wireless technology, and further innovations off of it, to further improve\nnetwork capacity. These capacity expansion capabilities of LTE-Advanced along with\ntraditional spectrum reuse are quantified and compared to forecasts of future demand to\nevaluate the ability of U.S. networks to match future demand. Without significantly\nincreasing current spectrum allocations by 560 MHz over the 2014ââ?¬â??2022 period, the\npresented model suggests that U.S. wireless capacity expansion will be inadequate to\naccommodate expected demand growth. This conclusion is in contrast to claims that the\nU.S. faces no spectrum shortage.
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