Like it or not, LTE-Unlicensed (LTE-U) small cell spending is expected to reach nearly $2 billion by the end of 2020, according to SNS Research.
While organizations like CableLabs in the U.S. are still studying the technology's impact on other users of unlicensed spectrum, early trials have demonstrated significant capacity leaps for carriers, SNS notes. In South Korea, for example, LG Uplus has demonstrated twice the speed of its commercial LTE-A service by combining 60 MHz of unlicensed 5.8 GHz spectrum with 20 MHz in the licensed LTE spectrum. For more, check out this release.