Network management

Chairman Pai Remarks on 5G at Mobile World Congress Latin American Roundtable

By now, most of you have already had two days of non-stop talk about 5G. So, I was trying to think of a way to mix things up—to keep it fresh. And I came up with an idea. I will deliver my remarks in Spanish. [Chairman Pai proceeded to deliver the remarks in Spanish. Below is a brief translation.]

China Will Likely Corner the 5G Market -- And the US Has No Plan

China is planning to deploy fiber-optic connections to 80 percent of the homes in the country. What’s new about China's massive deployment of fiber, both in its own territory and in its global market along its planned Belt and Road, is that China is likely to permit only 5G equipment made by Huawei and a handful of other Chinese companies to connect to that fiber. China, not America, will be the place where new online services are born. Although the US came up with the idea of the internet, we don't have a sandbox to play in, a giant market in which to test new high-capacity services.

The Route of a Text Message, a Love Story

The surprisingly complex journey a text message takes every time we hit 'send.'

Engineers would say that, when the phone senses voltage fluctuations over the ‘send’ button, it sends the encoded message to the SIM card (that tiny card your cell provider puts in your phone so it knows what your phone number is), and in the process it wraps it in all sorts of useful contextual data. By the time it reaches my wife’s SIM, it goes from a 140-byte message (just the text) to a 176-byte message (text + context).

Verizon outlines 5G-era growth strategy at investor conference

Verizon outlined its strategy for revenue and profitability growth in 2019 and beyond, built on the expansion of its network leadership in the 5G era. Discussion items included:

FCC Chairman Pai: 5G Future Is a Wired One with Promise for Rural America

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai addressed the NTCA-The Rural Broadband Association membership, and discussed a 5G future that is very much about wires and not just wireless, and promising for rural markets. “I’ve consistently said that the 5G future isn’t necessarily a wireless one, it’s actually a wired one,” Chairman Pai said.

Keynote Remarks of FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr: 5G Jobs in the Year of 5G

For America to win the race to 5G, we must invigorate the free market by empowering our tower crews. We need to put you, the builders of wireless infrastructure, in a winning position by freeing you from needless government regulation and red tape. I’m proud that the FCC is executing on just this strategy. In 2019, I am taking another look at the federal rules governing wireless infrastructure deployment. We will look to fully and faithfully implement the decisions Congress has made to streamline the deployment of next-generation technologies.

Building inclusion into 5G wireless networks

The emergence of fifth generation (5G) mobile networks is elevating the need for stakeholders to assess infrastructure and cost inclusivity in order to address this digital divide. Communities of color, who often find themselves on the wrong side of the divide, are poised to benefit from 5G technologies that enable internet of things (IoT) applications in health care, education, transportation, and energy. However, this outcome is contingent on stakeholder buy-in, advocacy, and programming of intentional diversity initiatives.

Will fixed 5G be a broadband savior for wireless operators?

Verizon and AT&T have waffled on their timelines and business strategies for fixed 5G vs. mobile 5G. In 2018, Verizon pushed hard to be the “first” operator to launch 5G and it was going to do so by offering a fixed wireless service. The company fulfilled that goal with its prestandardized fixed 5G service, called 5G Home, that it launched in four markets in Oct 2018. However, it appears Verizon will be moving more quickly to a mobile 5G offering, while the expansion of its fixed 5G Home service may be delayed to later in 2019. 

Fixed wireless: It’s not just for urban densification

Fixed wireless has garnered a lot of attention lately because both Verizon and AT&T are deploying the technology as a first step in their 5G networks. Not only does fixed wireless provide a first step in the evolution to 5G, but the technology can also be used for urban densification. And carriers can use it to “overbuild” in their competitor’s territory as well. For instance, Verizon has a lot of fiber in New York City, but with fixed 5G and its higher speeds, AT&T could poach some of Verizon’s broadband customers.

Documenting the True—and High—Local Administrative Costs of Small Cell Siting

A hundred bucks. That’s what the Federal Communications Commission recently decided is adequate compensation to your locality for processing a small cell application. In many cases, it’s not going to be enough. And if your actual costs are indeed higher than $100, you will effectively be forced by the new FCC rules to subsidize the telecommunications industry—unless you can build a strong and reasonable case for why your actual, documented costs are higher and should be recovered by your community.

Time to move beyond 5G hype

It is time to move past the political and marketing talking points to consider both the promise of 5G and the challenge to its realization. First of all, to call 5G a “race” is a deceptive metaphor. A “race” connotes a contest along a common course with a start and finish. The reality is that 5G networks will be built piece-by-piece, area-by-area, and application-by-application over a protracted period of years. The national strategy for 5G needs to move beyond slogans and press releases.

How San Jose’s 5G approach blocks broadband

Instead of embracing 5G, San Jose (CA) Mayor Sam Liccardo taxed it.  Beginning in 2015, the city sought up to $3,500 per year per small cell.  Compare that to $100 in Phoenix (AZ) and $50 in Indianapolis (IN) — cities about the size of San Jose that have leapfrogged it in terms of small cell deployment. Excessive taxes charged by big cities deplete the capital needed to build broadband in suburban and rural America. That’s why several dozen mayors, county supervisors, and elected leaders called on the Federal Communications Commission to act.

Sacramento’s 5G story dimmed by legal spat involving Verizon, XG

Sacramento (CA) has come to stand as an example of the complexities involved in actually getting 5G services turned on. Sacramento’s journey toward 5G started in 2016 with an agreement between the city and a company called XG Communities.  The agreement called for XG to identify and organize a database of city assets—namely, street light poles, conduit, fiber and utility circuitry—that could be made available to carriers that wanted to pay for the rights to install small cells on city property.

5G wireless: Separating fact from fiction for cities and states

The Federal Communications Commission just gave the wireless infrastructure effort a lift by streamlining the rules for deploying small cells. I found last week’s editorial by the mayor of San Jose (CA) quite odd. Mayor Sam Liccardo argued that the new FCC rules to encourage faster deployment are an industry effort to “usurp control over these coveted public assets and utilize publicly owned streetlight poles for their own profit, not the public benefit.” But the new streamlining rules do no such thing. Public rights of way will still be public.

Sprint is throttling Microsoft's Skype service, study says

Sprint has been slowing traffic to Microsoft’s internet-based video chat service Skype, according to new findings from an ongoing study by Northeastern University and the University of Massachusetts. More than 100,000 consumers have used the researchers’ Wehe smartphone app to test internet connections. Among leading US carriers, Sprint was the only one to throttle Skype, the study found. The throttling was detected in 34% of 1,968 full tests — defined as those in which a user ran two tests in a row — conducted between Jan. 18 and Oct. 15.

Biggest Telecom Company CAF II Winner Will Use the $52 Million for Fixed Wireless

Benton Ridge Telephone Company can trace its roots back over 100 years to when it started out as a rural telephone company serving the OH community with the same name. The largest part of the company’s business now, however, is its wireless internet service provider unit known as Watch Communications, which offers service in parts of rural OH, IN and IL. When the company decided to bid – and ultimately won over $52 million – in the Connect America Fund II auction, its plan was to use fixed wireless for the project area.

Verizon won’t speed up 5G buildout despite FCC preempting local fees

Verizon Wireless says it will not move faster on building its 5G cellular network despite a Federal Communications Commission decision that erased $2 billion dollars' worth of fees for the purpose of spurring faster 5G deployment. The FCC's controversial decision in Sept angered both large and small municipalities because it limits the amount they can charge carriers for deployment of wireless equipment such as small cells on public rights-of-way.

Commissioner Carr Testimony at Senate Commerce Field Hearing on 5G

Spending time like this outside of DC—hearing directly from community leaders and broadband providers alike—is critical. I can think of no better way to identify both the regulatory barriers that needlessly slow down broadband deployment and the steps we can take back in Washington to remove them. As this hearing makes clear, spectrum and infrastructure are key for 5G. So I want to start by commending the [Senate Commerce] Committee for leading on these two issues.

'The race to 5G has begun': Hearing led by Sen Thune (R-SD) touts possibilities of technology in Sioux Falls

Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John Thune (R-SD) brought his fight for fifth-generation (5G) internet speeds to Sioux Falls (SD) on Oct 12 during a field hearing of the committee.  "I've heard from stakeholders throughout the country ... it will transform our everyday lives," Chairman Thune said, referring to its potential in the use of driverless cars, precision agriculture and e-medicine.

Chairman Pai Remarks at International Regulators Forum in Mexico City

Closing the digital divide is the Federal Communications Commission’s top priority. The best way to make sure every American has better, faster, cheaper Internet access is to set a market-based regulatory framework that promotes competition and increases network investment. We also want to promote competition and innovation that could transform the marketplace.  The FCC has made facilitating the rollout of 5G a major priority. One economic analysis of our [5G] reforms projects that they will cut about $2 billion in costs, unleashing $2.4 billion in extra investment.

Remarks of FCC Chief of Staff Matthew Berry at Americas Spectrum Management Conference

Over the past two days, you’ve heard discussions about the wide range of spectrum management opportunities and challenges in the Americas. But particularly when we think about 5G, the infrastructure piece of the puzzle is crucial. So even though this is the 7th Annual Americas Spectrum Management Conference, I’m pleased to be with you this afternoon to kick off this important panel on infrastructure. 

Chairman Pai on 5G at Americas Spectrum Management Conference

I was at the White House for a summit on 5G. Notably, this summit was spearheaded by the National Economic Council. NEC’s ownership of this event tells us that the White House sees wireless innovation as an issue of economic competitiveness, first and foremost. And I think that’s exactly right. 

AT&T is Leading the U.S. and the World on Mobile 5G

I had the opportunity to attend the White House 5G Summit. The event was focused on discussing issues such as 5G deployment, spectrum and standards that will enable the US to win the race on 5G.

Remarks of Assistant Secretary Redl at the Sept 28 White House 5G Summit

There are too many places in this country, especially in rural America, that lack the basic infrastructure that will be needed to enable 5G service. We have data that shows this. But we are currently relying too much on the Federal Communications Commission’s Form 477 data, which only tells part of the story. If we want all Americans to have the kind of broadband access needed to compete in the modern world, we need to know the full story. That’s why Congress directed the National Telecommunications and Information Administration to improve data associated with the national broadband map.