FCC Vote Approves 5G, Ancient Landlines Could Get Axed

The unanimous vote by the regulators over at the Federal Communications Commission to approve 5G implementation has paved the way to a faster wireless connection. At the same time, the agency also voted to allow carriers to replace outdated wires that connected landlines together in favor of modern alternatives.

According to a report by Ars Technica, the FCC had two votes recently that could have a significant impact on the telco industry. There’s the vote to open up a high-frequency spectrum that will be made available for 5G technology. Then there’s the vote to make it easier for carriers to replace old and outdated landline wires with fiber cables that are much faster than the copper lines available. Replacing them with wireless versions is approved as well.

FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler described the vote as possibly the most important step that the agency could take for the year. Considering that the agency supposedly aims to unleash the full potential of innovators with the vote by not restricting the kinds of technologies that could be applied to 5G, it’s more than likely that he is right.

"These new rules open up nearly 11GHz of high-frequency spectrum for flexible, mobile, and fixed use wireless broadband—3.85GHz of licensed spectrum and 7GHz of unlicensed spectrum," the FCC announced after the vote.

What makes this decision even more historic for the U.S. is that other major countries are still in the works of implementing 5G wireless connection, according to Reuters. These countries include South Korea, Japan, and China, and the U.S. is ahead of the curve.

Supposedly, 5G wireless connection opens up unlimited possibilities when it comes to the kinds of technologies that could be born from the open highway of communications. From the Internet of Things to the virtual reality market, wireless connection that could be 10 times or 100 times faster than current 4G technology would be quite appealing.