Wireless Telecommunications

For our 11th year of speed testing major wireless networks across the country, we drove to 26 US cities to see if 5G lives up to the hype. The answer: Not quite yet. While Verizon regains the title of fastest mobile network in our first nationwide 4G and 5G test, the carrier still has very little coverage. And AT&T's and T-Mobile's 5G networks don't help their overall performance much.

The Federal Communications Commission’s Sept agenda looks like a well-balanced fantasy team; we’re rolling out a diverse lineup featuring at least one item from each of the FCC’s seven bureaus.

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai shared with his colleagues a draft proposal which would take decisive steps toward making the 3.45-3.55 GHz band available for commercial use throughout the contiguous US. This item will be on the agenda of the FCC’s Sept 30 Open Meeting and, if adopted, would position this 100 megahertz of mid-band spectrum for commercial 5G use. 

5G may hold promise for the years ahead — but across most of America in 2020, a 5G phone does diddly squat. Testing 5G phones, I’ve been clocking download speeds that are roughly the same as on 4G LTE ones. And in some places, like inside my house and along the California highway, my 5G phones actually have been slower. Your experience with a 5G phone in 2020 is likely to be all over the map. I got searing fast 750 Mbps downloads from AT&T in one corner of downtown. But in the same spot, my 4G phone got an also extremely fast 330 Mbps.

On May 26, 2020, Reps Yvette Clarke (D-NY), Raul Ruiz (D-CA), Anna Eshoo (D-CA), and Darren Soto (D-FL) wrote to Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai to request the FCC to provide an update on the status of communications networks in Puerto Rico and determine whether its residents have maintained reliable connectivity throughout the coronavirus pandemic. The Reps wrote they were deeply concerned about the potential for continued communications disruptions, in light of recent earthquakes and the lingering impact of Hurricanes Irma and Maria in 2017.

The Federal Communications Commission released a Public Notice detailing the results of and next steps related to the recently concluded auction of 70 megahertz of Priority Access Licenses (PALs) in the 3550-3650 MHz band (Auction 105). This auction made available the greatest number of spectrum licenses ever in a single FCC auction. The Public Notice details auction results—including the names of winning bidders—and announces deadlines for payments and the filing of long-form applications, as well as other post-auction procedures needed for the prompt issuance of licenses.

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.

Verizon is appealing to the Federal Communications Commission to prevent T-Mobile from getting its hands on leases of more 600 MHz spectrum. T-Mobile applied for instant spectrum leases with Channel 51 License Company and LB License Co. to lease 600 MHz spectrum in a number of major markets, including Houston, Chicago, Los Angeles, Boston, New Orleans, St. Louis, San Francisco, Dallas, Atlanta, and Seattle, among others. Channel 51 and LB License Co. had been lending 600 MHz spectrum to T-Mobile to help the carrier boost its network during the Covid-19 pandemic.

As the Republican National Convention kicked off, the Trump campaign touted 5G among the president’s second-term goals, specifically stating he would “win the race to 5G and establish a national high-speed wireless internet network.”  This phrasing is a head-scratcher given the Trump orbit’s past flirtations with nationalizing 5G, an approach taking multiple forms over the years and deeply opposed by many at the Federal Communications Commission and on Capitol Hill.

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.