Since 2003, the Wireless Broadband Alliance (WBA) has worked tirelessly to advance seamless, interoperable Wi-Fi experiences throughout the global Wi-Fi ecosystem. CableLabs recognizes the importance of WBA’s contributions to the wireless community as it promotes collaboration among its members in areas such as NextGen Wi-Fi, OpenRoaming, 5G, IoT, Testing & Interoperability and Policy & Regulatory Affairs.

Through programs and activities designed to address critical business and technical challenges, WBA has made many valuable contributions, including:

• expanding Wi-Fi roaming through the Wireless Roaming Intermediary eXchange (WRiX) framework,
• promoting awareness and detailed testing of Passpoint,
• leading trials and assessments of wireless technologies as they become available, and
• resolving standards and technical issues.

WBA is also transforming the Wi-Fi ecosystem with its introduction of WBA OpenRoaming, which enables users to roam over a larger pool of access networks. As the Wi-Fi ecosystem continues to evolve, WBA is among those leading the industry with research, education, development, collaboration and communication.

Working Together to Advance the Wireless Industry

CableLabs is a long-time supporter of WBA, as both contributors and leaders of many WBA projects. In recognition of this support, CableLabs has received more than 30 awards from WBA for these roles as Contributor and Project Lead, including the Outstanding Leadership award. The joint efforts of CableLabs, Kyrio and WBA benefit the cable industry and many others both now and in the future as WBA expands to cover issues in IoT and 5G convergence.

Specifically, CableLabs provided key ecosystems in an effort to duplicate real-world deployments within the CableLabs/Kyrio test house and lab simulations. The project resulted in useful data for reporting on Wi-Fi technologies such as Passpoint, OpenRoaming and Wi-Fi 5/6/6E. Through testing and trials, Kyrio—a CableLabs subsidiary—has played a major role in the WBA certificate PKI infrastructure, advancing Wi-Fi roaming authentication and accounting security, a key component of OpenRoaming deployments.

How WBA Is Moving Toward Seamless, Interoperable Wi-Fi

WBA’s mission is to help service providers, technology companies, cities, regulators and organizations create seamless, interoperable Wi-Fi experiences for consumers and enterprises. The alliance works to accomplish this goal by:

• helping organizations gain maximum commercial benefit from Wi-Fi,
• promoting interoperability among wireless technologies,
• supporting the development of next-generation Wi-Fi applications across the wireless ecosystem,
• delivering automated, secure Wi-Fi experiences,
• advising and influencing policy,
• delivering safe, secure Wi-Fi,
• bridging the digital divide with Wi-Fi to empower business, education and communication,
• developing sustainable Wi-Fi.

These focus areas support the development of technologies and services that will improve customer experiences and business opportunities. By helping members network and collaborate, WBA is building a connected infrastructure that will support the future of the industry.

Congratulations on two decades of innovation, Wi-Fi advocacy and growth. Here’s to the next twenty years!

When the power goes out, utility companies are not always aware of the outage until they receive notification from customers. However, broadband operators are aware. In fact, broadband operators likely know when and where power is out before utility companies. It’s this premise that initiated the recently completed Situational Awareness of Grid Anomalies (SAGA) project in partnership with the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL).

The SAGA project was created to assist utilities (and our government) in finding real-time insights and patterns of grid cyber incidents that affect power availability and quality, distribution system resiliency and electric service restoration. The project, which utilized data from CableLabs subsidiary, Gridmetrics, combined visual analytics, machine learning and human decision support to enhance distribution grid visibility and operational situational awareness. Built on power system tools developed at NREL, Gridmetrics data and other geospatial data, the project leveraged existing broadband infrastructure to demonstrate a disruptive technology for power system data analytics. The result is an advanced system that allows utility system operators to see a comprehensive overview of power activity across the U.S.

Improving Power Grid Monitoring and Resilience with Broadband Network Integration

Consider the scenario whereby a bad actor is able to compromise devices that interact with the power grid, such as smart thermostats, hot tubs, hot water heaters or even electric vehicle chargers. In this case, our siloed utilities would each respond to the sudden increased demand for power without realizing that this was a coordinated attack aimed at creating a disruption on the power grid. It is power grid hacking jujitsu. Recall, there are over 3,200 operating entities responsible for delivering the last mile of power. No one utility would see the big picture. This is precisely a scenario that SAGA worked to address.

Conducted over a three-year period, with a four-month documentation and reporting period, the SAGA project consisted of three main research thrusts: visual analytics, cyber-physical power system simulation and anomaly detection.

Visual Analytics: To help users understand, explore and analyze grid sensor data, the NREL and Gridmetrics teams designed and prototyped a web-based platform that connects to the project’s three core data services: metadata, near real-time data streams and historical data batches. The current platform allows users to visualize where Gridmetrics sensors are located and their proximity to infrastructure assets in real time. This sensor data empowers utility system operators to see which areas are affected by power performance and where to address the situation to fix it.

Cyber-physical Power System Simulation: Cyber-physical power system simulations are essential to creating a risk-free lab environment to test cyber-relevant events. Dynamic and steady-state cyber-physical power system simulation tools imitated and analyzed the behavior of power systems in real time. Creating a realistic representation of the power grid allowed teams to identify patterns, trends and anomalies to better understand how power systems behave and prevent future cyber threats against the system.

Anomaly Detection: Using the simulation data from cyber-physical power system simulations, the research team successfully demonstrated how system operators can use the sensor data to predict and detect issues that may arise. Each Gridmetrics sensor has a built-in prediction model. Using historical data and machine learning, assuming the system will operate under normal conditions, the sensor can estimate the expected value or range of the associated Gridmetrics voltage. When a sensor detects a deviation between the incoming and the expected voltage, an anomaly is captured. Anomaly detection can prevent future outages, reduce maintenance costs and improve overall system performance.

SAGA Project Learnings and Improvements

Through the SAGA project, Gridmetrics learned that in order to see more grid cybersecurity benefits, it must enhance sensing beyond the hundreds of thousands of existing broadband power sensors already in service. Improving grid sensing with higher fidelity sampling rates, measurement accuracy and GPS time stamping would allow this project to expand and promote widespread commercial availability of secondary distribution grid voltage and phase angle data.

The team proposed and completed a simultaneous technology commercialization project, which was funded by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Technology Transitions, Technology Commercialization Fund (TCF). During the TCF project, NREL and CableLabs collaborated to implement high-fidelity power grid sensors, built prototype sensors and tested them in the field — all within the timeline of the SAGA project.

What's Next for Our Energy Grid?

Gridmetrics continues accelerating its efforts to improve the quality and scale of data it can provide to customers. At the start of the project, Gridmetrics could only supply data from about 6,000 sensors but now has access to over 315,000 sensors and is working to access the majority of the 650,000 U.S.-based sensors over the coming year. Gridmetrics also aims to increase the fidelity and frequency of sensor reading to enable a real-time, continuous state of the grid. Gridmetrics has the potential to further develop the SAGA project to support additional DOE offices and priorities. 

By combining two distinct domains — power and broadband — the SAGA project increases the power grid's resiliency by integrating existing in-service broadband networks that already pass within 1,000 feet of 90% of homes in North America.

In the face of increasing cyber risk and challenges involving the integration of distributed renewable energy sources, NREL and CableLabs’ partnership continues to increase the resilience of the power grid and broadband services. Gridmetrics’ ambition is to create a more secure and reliable power grid by providing a unified view that allows utility system operators (and our government) to better analyze and understand the distribution grid. For more information, please read the peer-reviewed SAGA paper.

We’re thrilled to announce that Chris Lammers, CableLabs’ COO Emeritus and Senior Executive Advisor, has been inducted into The Cable Center Hall of Fame for his life-long professional efforts and indelible impact on the cable and broadband industry. This induction is one of the industry’s highest and most exclusive honors, reserved only for the most innovative and influential leaders.

Chris’s mission and vision extends beyond the goals of any one company. A lawyer by trade, he made his debut in the cable arena in the 1980s when he was hired to lead the merger and acquisitions effort at Western Communications, a mid-tier operator (MTO). After holding a series of executive positions at Western, he ultimately served as the company’s CEO for three years before joining CableLabs in 1997. In a number of roles, Chris contributed to the successful rollout of critical technology, which brought high-speed cable internet to millions around the world.

Chris’s experience at Western shaped his holistic vision for creating a truly inclusive global cable community that addresses the unique needs of its smaller members. Chris understood early on that small and mid-sized operators are often more open to trying new ideas and technologies that drive the industry forward. CableLabs offered him a platform for launching numerous initiatives geared toward increased innovation in the MTO space, resulting in the launch of many cutting-edge services that cable customers enjoy today. He has also been instrumental in growing CableLabs’ international membership from 19 to 65 members in 35 countries, making sure that every member has access to the latest developments and technical support. His unwavering moral compass and sense of fairness has helped him build strong professional relationships and teamwork among diverse members and employees, positively contributing to the inclusive culture and image of CableLabs and its community.

Chris is also a great champion of next-generation talent development. To promote interest in the industry, he has taken an active role in the Emma Bowen Foundation’s efforts to unite students with industry professionals, and he has also been involved in the Chinese Executive Media Management Program (CEMMP) to train mid-level managers from Chinese media companies in the United States. Outside his professional endeavors, Chris has led corporate sponsorship efforts for Community Food Share, United Way and the “I Have a Dream” Foundation, and he recently became professionally involved with the Colorado Women’s Hall of Fame. These accomplishments are only a snippet of Chris’s contributions to the cable industry and beyond.

We’re incredibly proud to have Chris Lammers as part of our team at CableLabs and deeply appreciate all that he has done for the cable industry over the course of his accomplished career. Congratulations, Chris!

Bringing rapid innovation and increased diversity and competition to mobile services is a national imperative. To accomplish this goal, the Institute for Telecommunication Sciences (ITS)—the research and engineering arm of the U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA)—is encouraging the evolution of open and interoperable 5G networks through the 5G Challenge.

The goal of the 5G Challenge is to accelerate the development and widespread deployment of open and interoperable 5G networks with true plug-and-play operation. In support of this effort, CableLabs was recently named the Host Lab for the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) and NTIA 5G Challenge. CableLabs brings an advanced mobile wireless network laboratory and expertise with open and interoperable network technologies to this collaborative initiative.

The 5G Challenge will leverage CableLabs’ recent lab deployment of fully virtualized 5G networks, including multiple cores, multiple radio access networks and new network emulation equipment—as well as our growing expertise in mobile network technologies. Moreover, CableLabs is well situated to host the 5G Challenge, given our long-standing role in the industry and our work with multiple vendors to drive interoperable network technologies. The value of CableLabs’ 5G lab extends well beyond this challenge as a resource for ongoing research and development and interoperability testing in mobile network technologies.

CableLabs is deeply involved in the industry’s work to develop flexible 5G technologies—including at 3GPP, O-RAN Alliance and the Telecom Infra Project (TIP)—to enable new vendor opportunities, enhance network security and streamline integration and interoperability. We’ll leverage this experience and our state-of-the-art 17,000-square-foot lab to host a successful 5G Challenge that meets NTIA’s goals. We’re constantly building for the future and looking to support initiatives and vendors that can help us revolutionize the technology the world relies on. More details will be available this spring when NTIA releases the invitation to participate in the challenge.

Read more about the 5G Challenge initiative by visiting NTIA’s site.

Cable TV Pioneers recently announced that 24 new members have been selected for the Cable TV Pioneers 55th Annual Induction. Each of the honorees has a minimum of 20 years of direct involvement in the cable industry and has made a positive impact on the growth and innovation of our industry during those years. The members of this year’s class include a strong array of men and women, from CEOs and company founders to technologists and journalists. Each has demonstrated and proven his or her value as a cable pioneer. We are very excited to announce that among those honored is our very own Chris Lammers, chief operating officer and senior vice president of member development at CableLabs. 

Over the past four decades, Chris has held numerous senior roles and responsibilities within the cable industry. Today at CableLabs, he’s responsible for operations, membership development and international relationships. Under his guidance, CableLabs’ membership has grown from 23 members to 65 members across 35 countries in North America, Latin America, Europe and Asia. In addition, Chris established CableLabs’ test and evaluation labs, leading the cable industry’s first video, broadband and voice certification programs. Chris also leads mergers and acquisitions for CableLabs, including the procurement of multiple cable television systems and, most recently, the acquisition of the Society of Cable Telecommunications Engineers (SCTE), with a critical focus on the integration of SCTE into CableLabs.

In what many see as one of his most substantial contributions to the broadband industry, Chris developed the MTO Group within CableLabs, made up of a highly influential community of mid-market and smaller operators across the United States and Canada. Chris was the first individual to recognize the need for including small organizations and determining how to understand, serve and address the coverage area of these smaller markets.

Through these efforts, Chris continues to represent the “voice” of the mid-market and small-market operators at CableLabs. His passion for mid-tier operators and small-market members brings a more holistic perspective of the entire broadband industry to CableLabs. It’s no exaggeration to say that Chris has been a true leader in bringing together cable operators of differing sizes and nations to create a truly global community.

Chris also supports CableLabs’ staff engaging in innovation to support MTOs, such as CableLabs’ mapping project and initiatives related to rural broadband. Through this work, Chris has ensured that mid-market and smaller operators are valued and that their unique needs are addressed. Without this work, many consumers served by MTOs wouldn’t receive the leading-edge services they enjoy today. 

Another very important activity that is near and dear to Chris’ heart is giving back to the community. Chris serves on the Emma Bowen Foundation’s Board of Directors (as well as its Executive Committee), an organization to which he has been committed for nearly 20 years. He has contributed to the Foundation by seeking to build a more diverse media industry by recruiting promising college and university students of color and placing them in multi-year paid internships at some of the nation’s leading media, PR and technology companies. Chris has supported the WICT Rocky Mountain chapter through its Tech It Out and Walk of Fame programs. He has also contributed to numerous state and local cable associations through industry guidance and speaking engagements.

Chris began his cable tenure serving as senior vice president and general counsel (1988–1993) at Western Communications, where the majority of his clients were cable operators, and he has been employed at CableLabs for the past 24 years. Please join us in congratulating Chris on his outstanding years of service and for his contributions to—and the impact he has made on—the entire industry.

Unlike any year in recent memory, 2020 has scrambled our way of life, changing how we communicate, how we work and even where we go—on a global scale. At CableLabs, meetings were rescheduled, new rules were drawn up and enacted, and events were put on hold or went virtual. And still—despite the numerous logistical, psychological and practical challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic—the industry learned new ways to collaborate with everyone. We all continued to work toward a brighter future, even snagging a few industry awards along the way. In the spirit of the holidays, let’s end the year on a high note by remembering only the best of 2020. We’ve got quite a few proud moments to share!

CableLabs partnered with Mediacom and NCTA to conduct the first ever 10G field trial

An incredible achievement on our road to 10G, Mediacom’s 10G Smart Home is the first demonstration of 10G in action. It’s essentially a working technology laboratory disguised as an ordinary home—except this future home is anything but ordinary! It’s wired for ultra-fast speeds that allow us to test the latest “smart home” technologies, including Internet of Things (IoT) kitchen devices, telemedicine connections, home automation, immersive entertainment, VR/AR applications and much more—in a real-life environment. A true tech paradise of the future!

CableLabs published the DOCSIS 4.0 specification

In March 2020, we announced the release of the DOCSIS® 4.0 specification, which incorporates both full-duplex and extended-spectrum capabilities. It doubles downstream speeds to 10 Gbps and quadruples upstream speeds to 6 Gbps—another big milestone on the path to 10G.

CableLabs published the Flexible MAC Architecture (FMA) specification

This release is the culmination of thousands of hours of work across the cable industry. Part of the 10G toolset, FMA defines the standardization of the complete disaggregation of Converged Cable Access Platform (CCAP) management and the control and data planes to support cable operators’ next-generation data services. In non-technical terms, FMA brings us much closer to making 10G a reality in the near future.

SCTE·ISBE joined CableLabs

At the beginning of December 2020, SCTE members voted to make the Society of Cable Telecommunications Engineers (SCTE) and its global arm, the International Society of Broadband Experts (ISBE), a subsidiary of CableLabs. The decision will become effective January 1, 2021. Working together to closely manage our innovation, specifications, standards and training and deployment efforts, these entities can drive faster and more cost-effective infrastructure upgrades in the industry.

CableLabs in the News

CableLabs won an Emmy award

Earlier this year, CableLabs won its second Technology and Engineering Emmy Award—this time for enabling the development and deployment of the hybrid fiber-coax (HFC) network architecture. HFC is a revolutionary suite of technologies responsible for the razor-sharp broadband video and high-speed Internet you enjoy today. It’s also the basis for the cable industry’s 10G platform, which will usher in a new era of super-high-speed, low-latency innovations.

Lori Lantz became a CableFax Most Powerful Women honoree

CableLabs’ SVP and Chief People Officer, Lori Lantz, has been instrumental to the company’s success. Over the past 12 months, she has championed numerous high-impact leadership development programs aimed at strengthening senior leadership abilities and strategic recruiting efforts. Lantz is always laser-focused on identifying areas of improvement that benefit individual team members as well as the company as a whole. The CableFax recognition is well deserved for her tireless efforts to shape our world-class organization.

Ike Elliott stepped into his new role as president and CEO of Kyrio

After a decade of leading the CableLabs Strategy Team, Ike Elliott has transitioned into his new role as president and CEO of Kyrio, a CableLabs subsidiary that provides broadband device testing, security analysis and software services for the connectivity industry. It’s an exciting move that will allow him to channel his vast CableLabs experience into expanding the impact of state-of-the-art broadband technologies at Kyrio. Congratulations, Ike!

Dr. Jennifer Andreoli-Fang named the 2020 WICT Walk of Fame Woman in Technology

In May 2020, our distinguished technologist, Dr. Jennifer Andreoli-Fang, received the prestigious Woman in Technology award for her contributions to the cable industry. A relentless innovator with more than 100 granted and filed patents, Andreoli-Fang has spent the past 13 years leading the development of game-changing technologies such as DOCSIS® 3.0 MAC, DOCSIS 3.1 MAC, Full Duplex DOCSIS MAC architecture, unlicensed LTE and NR, mobile xhaul and many more. We’re honored to have Andreoli-Fang as a member of the CableLabs family.

Phil McKinney joined Multichannel News’ “The Watch List”

Our CEO and innovation guru, Phil McKinney, is included in Multichannel News’ “The Watch List”—a new feature that ranks the 25 most influential insiders who define and drive the strategies and successes of the TV industry. Not surprisingly, McKinney has made the top 10 list. You can check out his profile in all Multichannel News publications.

This is only a small sample of the industry’s and our team’s accomplishments this year. From technology to strategy, we overcame unforeseen challenges and continued to deliver results that we can all be proud of. We look forward to bringing renewed, positive energy into 2021 as we continue to innovate the future.

CableLabs would like to thank its industry colleagues for their hard and dedicated work. We wish everyone a very happy and healthy New Year!

Today, SCTE•ISBE members voted to make Society of Cable Telecommunications Engineers (SCTE) and its global arm, the International Society of Broadband Experts (ISBE), a subsidiary of CableLabs. The agreement is the result of a unanimous vote of the CableLabs and SCTE board of directors and a vote of overwhelming support for the proposal by SCTE members. This combination will increase the alignment of investment, resources and innovations between the two organizations. CableLabs members can expect expanded benefits as part of the transaction, which goes into effect January 1, 2021.

This strategic decision allows SCTE•ISBE and CableLabs to increase industry collaboration and accelerate our progress toward 10G by streamlining the cable technology innovation cycle—from the very early research and ideation stage all the way to mass market deployment.

SCTE•ISBE has served as a cable thought leader for over 50 years, bringing the industry together through various initiatives such as its incredibly successful annual SCTE•ISBE Cable-Tec Expo®, core learning and development programs for cable technologists and other membership activities. SCTE’s goals of facilitating productive industry partnerships, technological progress and innovation are already very closely aligned with ours. By formally combining our efforts and expertise, we aim to further accelerate our innovation and deployment efforts—a mutually-beneficial move for all our respective members and the global cable industry as a whole.

The decision to join forces is not only smart, it is also very timely. The current pace of innovation requires us to move quicker than ever before. After all, we are building the communication platform that will become a cornerstone of future technological progress. By syncing and closely managing our innovation, specifications, standards, training and deployment efforts between our two companies, the industry can drive faster and more cost-effective infrastructure upgrades. These efficiencies will allow for smoother workflows and more collaboration opportunities among our members and the cable community.

Together we can more efficiently test, build and deploy technologies that will meet and exceed the needs of cable broadband customers around the world, as well as allow our members and vendors to maximize their investments and resources. We are here to support our cable community on all fronts—from education and training to technical expertise and industry standardization efforts, plus, much more. This is why we are very much looking forward to welcoming SCTE•ISBE to our CableLabs family in 2021!

There’s more great news from across the pond! Just a month after Vodafone Germany surpassed the 21 million gigabit homes passed milestone, another European telecommunications company and CableLabs® member, Telia Norge (Telia Norway), is launching the fastest broadband service in Norway for its customers, operating under the GET brand it acquired in 2018.

Now, Telia Norway’s GET customers have access to as much as 1,250 Mbps download speed and either 500 Mbps or 50 Mbps upload speed, depending on the package they choose. Either option gives them unprecedented freedom to surf, stream and share on multiple devices at the same time. In addition to much higher speeds, customers will also enjoy the benefits of a significant increase in network capacity and reliability. These improvements are a direct outcome of Telia Norway’s ongoing commitment to modernize and future-proof its hybrid fiber-coax (HFC) network in preparation for the next generation of high-speed digital products and services. By upgrading its network to CableLabs DOCSIS® 3.1 technology, Telia Norway will be able to not only greatly improve the broadband experience for its current customers but also ensure that it stays ahead of their broadband needs for years to come.

“This is a large and important program for us, where we will invest a lot in the years ahead,” said Pål Rune Kaalen, Telia Norway Director of the Private Market. “Through the program, we are greatly expanding the speed, capacity and stability of today's network—something our new broadband product is a good example of. For us, this technology represents the broadband of the future.”

As part of this large-scale modernization push, Telia Norway plans to continue investing in its HFC infrastructure with a goal of upgrading more than 300,000 homeowners to the new DOCSIS technology by 2023. The inherent flexibility of the DOCSIS technology will allow for a cost-effective upgrade without digging new trenches and negatively impacting the environment—or the bottom line. And that’s what the broadband of the future is all about.

Check out the full press release on Telia's news site (Norwegian).

Today we are shining a spotlight on another monumental achievement in the European cable community. Our CableLabs member with the largest gigabit network in Germany, Vodafone, has just surpassed 21 million households with access to gigabit speeds, bringing blazing-fast internet to over 50 percent of German households.

As a leading provider, Vodafone Germany recognizes the importance of expanding its Hybrid-Fiber-Coax (HFC) network and combining it with innovative multi-layer technology to meet the rising demand for high-speed services. From Aachen to Zwickau, and from the North Sea to the Zugspitze, in the first quarter of this year, more than half of Vodafone’s new customers are opting in for a connection of 400 Mbps or faster and every third customer chooses 1 Gpbs service. It’s very clear: an ultra-high-speed cable connection is the digital future and Vodafone intends to deliver. Aside from adding new infrastructure to accommodate its growing customer base, Vodafone has been using CableLabs DOCSIS® 3.1 technology to significantly increase both download and upload speeds and expand network capacity. Right now, there is an average of 8 gigabytes passing through every Vodafone customer’s connection every day, allowing businesses and individuals to work, learn and enjoy multi-gig services.

Twenty-one million is a significant milestone, but while we are taking a minute to celebrate, Vodafone Germany is already working toward the next one: 25 million households in the Vodafone network by 2022! As soon as the first prototypes of the new hardware generation are available, Vodafone is planning initial field tests. These are to take place within the next two years.

"Vodafone, with its hybrid fiber coax network, is the main driver for the expansion of high-speed networks in Germany. With today's expansion step, we and above all our customers have well over 20 million reasons to celebrate," says Vodafone Germany CEO Hannes Ametsreiter and adds: "The upgrading of our hybrid fiber coax cable network continues and the end of the line in terms of speed is still a long way off. With each technology evolutionary step, we are making our cable internet even faster and even better by bringing more fiber optic into the network and pushing ahead with capacity expansion.”

Vodafone is a shining example of the true power of an HFC network in delivering the future we are all dreaming of. As more multi-gigabit innovations become part of our lives, Vodafone and other cable providers will be ready to not only meet the increasing demand but to stay well ahead of it—many years into the future.

It is a historic day. At a time when we are all relying on broadband and Wi-Fi more than ever to maintain relationships and be productive, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has decided to release a new swath of wireless airwaves – known as the 6 GHz frequency band – to ensure these connections are resilient into the future. The last time the FCC opened a major chunk of bandwidth for Wi-Fi was more than 15 years ago. And with today’s action, we are tripling the amount of spectrum available for Wi-Fi and other innovations that ride on unlicensed frequencies, this is a big deal.

CableLabs applauds the FCC’s leadership in taking this step. Opening the 6 GHz band will unleash unparalleled innovation with the deployment of Wi-Fi 6E and future generations such as Wi-Fi 7, and will also help to bring multi-gigabit connectivity and continued expansion of broadband performance for Americans in communities of all sizes.

A diverse set of innovative companies support this action and are developing new technologies to put the new frequencies to good use. And for the cable industry, this is a perfect complement to our 10G broadband roadmap. Opening 1.2 gigahertz of bandwidth in the 6 GHz spectrum band will ensure that abundant wireless bandwidth is available for consumers’ experience of multi-gigabit broadband.

A Big Improvement for Wi-Fi Users

Since the last time a major swath of spectrum was allocated for Wi-Fi, more than a few things have changed in the way we connect, work, learn and entertain. Landlines have been replaced by smartphones, conference calls have become virtual meetings, online courses have opened up a new world of learning and Netflix now streams online instead of mailing DVDs – just to name a few things that have changed in the last 15 years. Wi-Fi has handled a major share of this digital migration and has improved technologically over many 802.11 generations to enable these user experiences, so it is past due for a spectrum update.

And now, with people working, learning and connecting from home more than ever, we are seeing just how important Wi-Fi is as the gateway to broadband connectivity. Data traffic is up, the number of devices connected is up and even subscribership is up. Broadband and Wi-Fi are enabling our economy and society to continue functioning during our current public health crisis, and cable networks are holding up very well to these demands. This is an important time for the Commission to enable continued Wi-Fi progress.

What Comes Next for Wi-Fi

For Americans, 6 GHz spectrum will mean improved connectivity as new wireless innovations are brought to market. Cable will deploy these new wireless technologies in coordination with ongoing network investment to ensure robust connectivity in the future.

Elsewhere, outside of the United States regulators should take a close look at this FCC action and follow suit to advance 6 GHz spectrum access in their own jurisdictions. The future of Wi-Fi depends on it.

CableLabs’ Role in This Important Milestone

Nearly every spectrum policy decision rests on a judgement of its potential wireless interference impact; without the proper technical rules of the road, incompatible wireless systems can impede each other’s operations. CableLabs therefore focused its efforts on an intensive technical study of the potential impact of Wi-Fi operations in 6 GHz to the other wireless systems that operate in the band.

Working with the FCC, we assessed the appropriate technical parameters of 6 GHz Wi-Fi to ensure that there will be no harmful interference to point-to-point microwave links, electronic news gathering operations and other incumbent systems that also use these frequencies. CableLabs ultimately determined that low-power, indoor Wi-Fi has a very low risk of impeding these other systems. We are extremely pleased that the FCC agreed with our conclusions and noted how crucial our work was to their decision. I am incredibly proud of the CableLabs team and grateful to the Commission staff for our collaboration.