Mike Dano

Sprint and T-Mobile are urging Comcast to say publicly how it believes it will be affected by the proposed merger of the nation’s third and fourth largest wireless network operators.

As 2018 comes to a close, Sprint said it has much to show for the roughly $5 billion it spent upgrading its network throughout the course of this year. “We are celebrating a banner year for the Sprint network,” wrote CTO John Saw. “We made a massive investment to drive strong improvements in our network performance today and prepare to launch mobile 5G starting in the first half of next year.

The Federal Communications Commission's 600 MHz incentive auction of TV broadcasters’ unwanted spectrum was a noteworthy event. It was the culmination of years of work by officials at the FCC—it initially arose from the National Broadband Plan in 2010—and it featured “beachfront” low-band spectrum ideal for long-distance connections. Further, the auction itself sported a unique “reverse” auction that paid TV broadcasters for their unwanted spectrum licenses, and then made that spectrum available to wireless carriers and others through a traditional “forward” auction.

At the start of 2018, a wide array of analysts predicted a dramatic upswing in the amount of money wireless network operators would spend improving their networks this year compared with spending in previous years. Indeed, the analysts at Deutsche Bank Research in February predicted nationwide carriers would increase their overall capex during 2018 by 14% over last year to $30.5 billion—which they pointed out would be the market’s biggest capex figure since 2014.

T-Mobile disclosed a major new spectrum deal with Sprint that the company said stands apart from the two carriers’ plans to merge. However, details of the new transaction are vague at best.

NextLink, the internet service provider owned by AMG Technology Investment Group LLC, was the biggest winner in the recent Connect America Fund Phase II (CAF II) auction. Specifically, NextLink will get around $281 million of the $1.5 billion that the Federal Communications Commission distributed to telecommunications companies around the country so they can deploy services to rural areas in order to cross the digital divide. What does NextLink plan to do with all that money?

AT&T is proposing a potential solution to our broadband mapping problem: Get everyone’s address. 

Breeze Broadband, a wireless internet service provider owned by Union Pacific Railroad, is shutting down its service. The company didn’t provide any further details about the action except to say that it “allows us to focus on our core business.” Breeze Broadband operated like many other fixed wireless providers: It broadcasted a signal from its cell towers to receivers on nearby homes and offices in order to deliver internet service.

Top White House officials today held a “5G Summit” with one basic message: How can the Trump administration encourage the private sector to deploy 5G as quickly as possible? Although other US government agencies like the Federal Communications Commission and the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) have long dealt in spectrum and network deployment issues, the White House summit was the first major signal by the Trump administration that it also wants to play an active role in smoothing regulations for 5G rollouts.

The White House has scheduled a meeting Sept 28 between members of the Trump administration and wireless industry executives to discuss 5G network technology. However, details of the meeting—including whether it’s simply an educational event or if the administration is planning to discuss new policy initiatives—remain unclear. Nonetheless, the event is noteworthy considering that, at least so far, the Trump administration hasn’t engaged directly very often with the wireless industry on issues related to wireless networks or 5G.