CEI: Wi-Fi Gives U.S. Big Advantage Over China

Wi-Fi has been a huge win, offering broadband access in many locations, with more than 18 billion Wi-Fi devices in use and its success based on a “foundation in permissionless innovation,” the Competitive Enterprise Institute said in a report Tuesday. The U.S. approach contrasts with China's, where Wi-Fi is seen as a “threat,” CEI said. “Wi-Fi shows that when America embraces permissionless innovation it creates competitive advantages.” The report quotes inventor Nikola Tesla saying “when wireless is fully applied, the Earth will be converted into a huge brain, capable of response in every one of its parts.” CEI noted that people consume up to 80% of data indoors and Wi-Fi is largely used for indoor broadband. “Permissionless innovation is optimistic,” the report said: “It embraces human innovation and ingenuity as overall good things. It allows that harms from innovation can be addressed as they occur. Government need not attempt to anticipate or attempt to prevent potential harms, in large part because it is rarely possible to accurately predict what will go wrong and head that off at the pass.”