Network management

National Security: Additional Actions Needed to Ensure Effectiveness of 5G Strategy

The Trump Administration issued a National Strategy to Secure 5G, which we assessed against our 6 key characteristics for effective national strategies. The plan only partially addressed 5 of the 6 characteristics. For example, it didn't say what resources are needed to carry the plan out—which can make it hard to allocate and shift resources appropriately. We recommended that Administration officials ensure the strategy fully addresses all 6 characteristics.

Commissioner Carr Announces Tower Site Order

Federal Communications Commissioner Brendan Carr announced the next step in the FCC’s efforts to accelerate the buildout of wireless infrastructure. Commissioner Carr unveiled a draft order that
would provide for streamlined review of requests to add limited space at the bottom of existing towers for backup power, low-latency computing, and multiple providers to be housed at one site, among other uses. The FCC  will vote on the order at its next open meeting on Oct 27.

Is spectrum shortage a thing of the past?

The largest user of spectrum, the Department of Defense (DoD), has put out a Request for Information (RFI) that seems to propose that at least some of the spectrum traditionally used by the military could be shared for a fifth generation (5G) wireless network. The DoD cites a component of 5G technology called dynamic spectrum sharing (DSS) as the vehicle to accomplish this. This is a milestone. The Defense Department itself is suggesting that it is possible to share spectrum without harming its operations.

Milwaukee's Local Government Struggles for Control in Federal 5G Rollout

5G is coming to Milwaukee, causing worries about how and where the new cellular equipment will be installed. “My board members and every citizen in Milwaukee County really want to have control over what is being approved and what is not,” says Milwaukee County Supervisor Sheldon Wasserman, who has been at the forefront of concerns about the 5G rollout. “The federal government and state government have a lot of regulations and rules on the topic, and local government has very little ability to control the situation.

Remarks Of Chairman Pai At The 10th Anniversary Celebration Of The Tower Providers And Infrastructure Association

Thank you to Chairman Gupta, Director General Dua, and everybody at the Tower and Infrastructure Providers Association (TAIPA) for inviting me to be with you tonight. For all the progress that’s been made, you understand that there is still so much more to achieve for the communication infrastructure sector in India. Why else would you be rolling out a new white paper at your 10th anniversary celebration? You’ve already got your eye on 5G and other new technologies being introduced right now and in the near future. 

Verizon, Corning and Samsung complete trials of new indoor cell sites to extend 5G coverage

Verizon has recently completed lab trials with Corning and begun lab trials with Samsung on new 5G mmWave in-building solutions which, when commercially launched, will provide 5G mmWave coverage inside facilities such as hospitals, manufacturing facilities, warehouses, schools, ports, retail stores and more. The launch of these indoor cell sites will not only extend the footprint of Verizon’s 5G Ultra Wideband network, but will also bring the promise of private networks with Mobile Edge Compute (MEC) capabilities one step closer.

Should the FCC oversee open RAN for the sake of national security?

The Federal Communications Commission held a ground-breaking, marathon virtual event Sept 14, hosting numerous stakeholders in the wireless ecosystem to discuss open radio access networks (RANs). The main impetus for the event was to promote open RAN technologies for 5G as an alternative to RAN equipment from the Chinese vendors Huawei and ZTE. Currently, the choices for telecom equipment are fairly limited to the big vendors Ericsson, Nokia, Samsung and Huawei.

T‑Mobile Supercharges 5G Speeds for Millions More People in Over 80 New Cities & Towns

T-Mobile announced that supercharged mid-band 5G is live for millions more people in parts of 81 new cities and towns across the country, delivering peak download speeds of up to 1 Gbps and average speeds of around 300 Mbps, 7.5x faster today’s average LTE speeds. With the announcement, this 5G experience is live in nearly 90 cities and towns, and the Un-carrier plans to continue lighting up this optimal 5G spectrum at an aggressive pace, reaching thousands more by end of 2020.

Benchmarking the global 5G user experience

For the first time, we are now comparing 5G users’ overall experience across 12 of the world’s leading 5G markets. Globally, our 5G users in Saudi Arabia see the fastest overall average download speed with a Download Speed Experience of 144.5 Mbps ahead of Canada’s 5G users in second place with 90.4 Mbps. Strikingly, 5G Users in the country with the highest adoption of 5G to date, South Korea, rank just third.

Chairman Pai on Major FCC Victory in 5G Infrastructure Case

[Aug 12's] decision is a massive victory for US leadership in 5G, our nation’s economy, and American consumers. The court rightly affirmed the Federal Communications Commission’s efforts to ensure that infrastructure deployment critical to 5G—a key part of our 5G FAST Plan—is not impeded by exorbitant fees imposed by state and local governments, undue delays in local permitting, and unreasonable barriers to pole access.

FCC Commissioner Carr Lauds Ninth Circuit Decision Upholding Small Cell REforms

I am pleased that the Ninth Circuit affirmed the wireless infrastructure reforms we adopted in September 2018. I thank the Federal Communications Commission staff who carefully crafted the order, and I congratulate the Office of General Counsel for their successful defense of our work. Small cells that power 5G were threatened by exorbitant fees and unnecessary delays—red tape that was tolerated when building macro towers but would have brought small cell deployment to a halt.

Court Upholds Most of FCC's 5G Deployment Deregulation

A federal appeals court has upheld most of the Federal Communications Commission's orders speeding the deployment of cell service buildouts by easing regulations on those 5G deployments, including pole attachments and various local reviews of buildouts. Specifically upheld were the Small Cell Order, the Moratoria Order, and the One Touch Make-Ready Order, all parts of the FCC's Accelerating Wireless Broadband Deployment by Removing Barriers to Infrastructure order. 

T-Mobile Launches World’s First Nationwide Standalone 5G Network

T-Mobile is the first operator in the world to launch a commercial nationwide standalone 5G network, and with this move, the carrier is expanding 5G coverage by 30 percent, now covering nearly 250 million people in more than 7,500 cities and towns across 1.3 million square miles. Standalone architecture is the future of wireless connectivity, bringing 5G closer to reaching its true potential with faster speeds, lower latency and massive connectivity.

Chairman Pai's Response to Members of Congress Regarding the 5G Upgrade Order

On June 1, 2020, Republican Members of the House Commerce Committee wrote to Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai in support of the "5G Upgrade Order" which the FCC considered at the June 9, 2020 meeting. "Reducing unnecessary regulatory burdens to promote broadband deployment is a top priority for Congress, and we urge the Commission to approve this Order at your June Open Meeting," the Reps wrote.

After years of hype, 5G making progress in the US

AT&T announced that it had achieved nationwide coverage for its 5G network, joining T-Mobile, who reached that important goal Dec 2019. AT&T announced about a month ago that they have turned on a technology called DSS (Dynamic Spectrum Sharing), which allows 4G and 5G phones to use the same frequencies.

Verizon readies shift to 5G standalone core after successful trial

Verizon has completed the first data session on its new 5G standalone core and plans to start shifting mobile traffic over later in 2020. All US carriers have deployed 5G networks in non-standalone (NSA) mode, which relies on a 4G LTE anchor. With 5G standalone that’s no longer the case. With a 5G core implemented, it means Verizon can start introducing key 5G technologies, like network slicing to enable new use cases. The carrier expects full commercialization of its 5G standalone core in 2021.

5G Was Going to Unite the World—Instead It’s Tearing Us Apart

Tensions between Washington and Beijing over trade, human rights, the handling of Covid-19, and Chinese misinformation are escalating global divisions around the deployment of 5G. A growing number of countries are aligning with either a Western or a Chinese version of the tech.

Ericsson Mobility Report: fixed broadband usage increased an average of 2.5 hours a day during COVID-19

The Ericsson Mobility Report for June 2020 found that fixed broadband usage increased an average of two and a half hours a day, while COVID-19 mobile usage, on average, increased about one hour per day. As people spent more time online at home, network traffic loads shifted geographically from city centers and office areas to suburban residential areas. In markets with limited penetration of fixed residential networks, the mobile data demand increase was especially high. Other key findings:

FCC Acts to Accelerate Deployment of 5G Wireless Infrastructure

The Federal Communications Commission took action to facilitate the deployment of 5G networks across the US by clarifying and seeking comment on the FCC’s rules regarding state and local government review of modifications to existing wireless infrastructure. June 9’s action will expedite equipment upgrades to deploy these next-generation networks, which are critical to expanding economic opportunities and supporting public health and safety in American communities.

FCC Proposes Expanding Access to 70/80/90 GHz Spectrum Bands

The Federal Communications Commission voted to initiate a proceeding to make more efficient use of additional millimeter-band spectrum resources, including for the provision of wireless backhaul for 5G and the deployment of broadband services to aircraft and ships. In the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, the FCC explores new and innovative commercial uses of the 71–76 GHz, 81–86 GHz, 92–94 GHz, and 94.1–95 GHz bands, collectively known as the 70/80/90 GHz bands.

Network call and texting volumes return to normal springtime levels

COVID-19 related network anomalies have returned to pre-Covid springtime levels, according to the latest Verizon Network Report. Over 776 million calls were made and 5.87 billion texts sent on May 18, showing a significant decline from peak pandemic volumes.

Americans falling back into old habits

The latest Verizon Network Report shows Americans slowly falling back into old habits. On May 13, slightly over 760 million calls were made, falling well below the peak daily call volume during the COVID pandemic at over 860 million calls. Text messaging continues its week over week decline falling another 5% to just under 6 billion texts sent on May 13. That is compared to over 9 billion texts sent at the peak of the COVID pandemic. As call and text volumes fall back towards pre-COVID levels, working and schooling from home continues.

Verizon’s nationwide 5G will only be a “small” upgrade over 4G at first

Verizon Communications CEO Hans Vestberg said that most 5G mobile users will see a "small" upgrade at first, and he stressed the continued relevance of 4G. Vestberg reiterated previous Verizon statements that the biggest improvements will come on millimeter-wave spectrum in the most densely populated and trafficked areas. But millimeter-wave frequencies don't travel as far as low- and mid-band radio waves and are easily blocked by walls and other obstacles, making them unsuitable for nationwide coverage.

5G rollout advances despite pandemic, but hazards loom

Coronavirus-related economic disruption and uncertainty could yet slow the pace of 5G deployment in the U.S. — but for now, the major carriers say they're moving full speed ahead. The major wireless carriers say the coronavirus has not altered the pace of their 5G rollouts, but industry observers and federal officials question how long that will remain true. "As a logical matter, I would expect a slowdown," said former Federal Communications Commission official Blair Levin, now a policy adviser for New Street Research.