Nokia formed a coalition to lobby US leaders to open up spectrum above 95GHz for wireless use.

The Finland-based company teamed with Keysight Technologies and Virginia Diodes to found the mmWave Coalition. The group indicated its purpose will be to push the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), other US government agencies and the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) to remove regulatory barriers hindering use of spectrum between 95GHz and 450GHz.

However, Nokia indicated the coalition “is not limiting itself to supporting any particular use or technology” within the bands, instead advocating for a framework embracing all technologies “limited only by the constraints of physics, innovation and the imagination”.

Nokia marketing manager Paul Norkus explained: “The success of innovative services riding the mmWave spectrum will be dependent on national governments and regulators working with the industry to support access to the right amount and type of spectrum, and under the right conditions. Nokia and the mmWave Coalition are advocating the great promise of frequencies above 95GHz that will assist in expanding broadband services for all communities and bring new entrants and applications to the market.”

The coalition is likely to find a receptive audience in the FCC, which is already exploring potential mobile uses and technologies in bands above 95GHz as part of its Spectrum Frontiers proceeding.

In March, FCC chairman Ajit Pai noted ultra-high frequency spectrum was not traditionally used for mobile technology, but indicated an inclination to let researchers work it out how it might be useful: “Instead of having regulators decide which frequencies are useful, we should put spectrum out there as a testbed and leave it to the innovators to figure out how to use it,” he said.