Wireless Telecommunications

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.

On July 27, Rep Deb Haaland (D-NM) and Sen Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) introduced the Deploying the Internet by Guaranteeing Indian Tribes Autonomy over Licensing on Reservations Act (DIGITAL Act), a bill which ends the current Federal Communications Commission (FCC) practice of selling wireless spectrum rights on the lands of Indian Tribes and Native Hawaiian organizations and grants ownership, management, and governance of all spectrum to those groups in perpetuity.

The Federal Communications Commission's Wireline Competition Bureau clarified that 

Verizon's new LTE Home Internet initial launch includes Savannah (GA), Springfield (MO), and Tri-Cities (TN/VA/KY). Beginning July 30, Verizon will expand home Internet access to customers outside the Fios and 5G Home footprints, expanding home connectivity options to rural areas. With LTE Home Internet, customers will get unlimited data, and experience download speeds of 25 Mbps with peak Internet speeds of 50 Mbps.

Verizon joins both T-Mobile and AT&T with a fixed wireless offering targeting more rural markets.

Nearly 17 million new US jobs (16.7 million) were created during the nine-year period when 4G wireless networks were deployed and became a key driver of the US economy. At the beginning of the 4G era in 2011, 3.7 million jobs were connected to the wireless industry – a number that rose to 20.4 million by 2019. Overall, the US wireless industry gross domestic product (GDP) grew 253% to $690.5 billion between 2011 and 2019. Experts expect the industry’s GDP to increase by 126% between 2011 and 2019 to $441.8 billion. But instead, wireless GDP hit $690.5 billion in 2019.

Commerce CommitteeRanking Member Greg Walden (R-OR) and Consumer Protection and Commerce Subcommittee Ranking Member Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) wrote to Apple CEO Tim Cook and Google CEO Sundar Pichai asking several questions related to the companies’ app stores and processes undertaken to vet applications, particularly for foreign sourcing and potential ties to the Chinese Communist Party.

The Platforms for Advanced Wireless Research (PAWR) program, funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and a consortium of 35 leading wireless companies and associations, announced two finalists in the competition to name a fourth city-scale wireless research testbed aimed at studying novel ways to reduce the cost of broadband delivery to rural communities.

AT&T lost broadband customers in the second quarter of 2020, dropping from 14.05 million to 13.94 million. Fiber customers rose from 4.1 million to 4.32 million during the three-month period, but losses in the DSL category brought the total number of customers down.

Verizon saw a net gain of 10,000 consumer Fios broadband subscribers in the second quarter, even though it had to suspend many in-home installations because of pandemic restrictions. The Keep Americans Connected Pledge — waiving late fees and promising not to cut off service for customers who couldn’t pay during the pandemic —

The Senate Commerce Committee vetted the current state of spectrum policy and broadband availability at a July 23 hearing. There was general agreement that rural deployment was a problem and a priority, particularly during a pandemic; that the data on where broadband is and isn't — thus where the money needs to be put, or not — is flawed and needs fixing; and that sharing as well as clearing spectrum was important.