Buick showcased its comprehensive connected car offerings that touch all the bases. Buick's new iteration of the OnStar brand combines 4G LTE connectivity with on-board Wi-Fi hotspot capable serving 7 devices, and On-Star telematics and safety services.

Leveraging unlicensed spectrum 

Communications service providers have been using unlicensed Wi-Fi spectrum since it became available, and now Wi-Fi plays a key role in both the voice strategies of MSOs and mobile network operators. Cable companies like Comcast have offered Wi-Fi calling through an app for years, and this February Cablevision launched Freewheel, a Wi-Fi-exclusive mobile offering. Meanwhile, mobile operators like T-Mobile have rolled out Wi-Fi calling offerings that don't require a separate app. As with everything in tech, Wi-Fi can be leveraged even further. The latest technology is Licenses Access Assist (LAA), also called LTE-U. This innovation enables Wi-Fi spectrum to be used like cellular spectrum for things like carrier aggregation. In other words, LAA extends the benefits of LTE to unlicensed spectrum to deliver high data rates (450 Mbps) in areas that are sometimes hard to reach with LTE alone. Ericsson and Nokia Networks are already pitching LAA products, and T-Mobile has publicly announced support for Nokia's LAA-enriched small cells.

“As the Internet enters a new phase of growth, in which more devices are connected and share richer data, there is a need to cost effectively address the challenges of a 1000x increase in mobile data traffic. To do this, we need a combination of more spectrum, more efficient use of existing spectrum, and more small cells,” said Matt Grob, Executive Vice President, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc., and chief technology officer. “Our job is to help the industry make the best use of all available spectrum, using both LTE and Wi-Fi technologies, to increase capacity.” 

Neville Ray, Chief Technology Officer, T-Mobile, commented on the advantages of LAA in late February. “LAA is an attractive solution to tap the unused potential of the 5 GHz band to give our customers LTE efficiencies and smooth co-existence with Wi-Fi. Nokia Networks’ early demo not only shows the next generation of small cells, but is a critical first step to staying ahead of the increasing LTE capacity demand. Our mission is giving our customers better mobile performance and capacity when and where they need it the most. This demo is a testament to Nokia’s ability to innovate quickly and bring products to market when we need them.”

While Qualcomm, Ericsson, and Nokia Networks are already running with the ball, LAA hasn't yet been standardized. According to the 3GPP, LAA is planned for 3GPP industry standardization in mid-2016.