Wireless Telecommunications

Labor Downsizing

I’m mystified when large internet service providers (ISP) and carriers have significant layoffs at a time when they seem to be doing well; it’s a pattern that we’ve seen over and over during the last several decades. The latest big layoff is coming from T-Mobile, which announced in August that it is eliminating 5,000 jobs, about 7 percent of its total workforce.

One Giant Leap for Mobility: Recapping the 2023 5G Challenge

The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) is working to foster the development of an open 5G wireless ecosystem to help the private sector bring new life and innovation to a marketplace held back by few vendors and little competition. NTIA's 5G lab at the Institute for Telecommunication Sciences, partnered with the Department of Defense for the 2023 5G Challenge. The 2023 5G Challenge tested whether an open 5G ecosystem can work in real world scenarios.

DISH’s 5G Buildout Submission and Proposed Testing Methodology

As part of DISH’s involvement in the T-Mobile-Sprint transaction, and in connection with DISH’s related applications for an extension of time to complete construction of its facilities for its AWS-4, Lower 700 MHz E Block, and AWS H Block licenses, DISH committed to construct a nationwide 5G broadband network.

Chairwoman Calls on Wireless Industry and Related Associations to Explore 988 Routing Solutions

Federal Communications Commission Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel encouraged wireless carriers and industry associations to take the necessary steps to identity and develop a 988 georouting solution that could be deployed in wireless networks nationwide. The 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline is a national network of more than 200 crisis centers that helps thousands of people overcome crisis situations every day. These centers are supported by local and state resources as well as the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.

Joint Statement from Department of Defense Chief Information Officer John Sherman and Assistant Secretary of Commerce Alan Davidson on the Emerging Mid-Band Radar Spectrum Sharing (EMBRSS) Feasibility Assessment

Spectrum is vital to our most sensitive and important Federal missions, including military radar operations for homeland security, the training of our war fighters before they deploy overseas, and our ability to develop new and advanced military capabilities. Within this context, the Department of Defense has completed and submitted to the Department of Commerce the Emerging Mid-Band Radar Spectrum Sharing (EMBRSS) Feasibility Assessment as directed by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.

Verizon’s Kyle Malady touches on net neutrality while talking about his new job

Asked about net neutrality, Verizon Business CEO Kyle Malady said the Federal Communications Commission has flipped back and forth on the issue over the years. In his view net neutrality wasn’t needed before it was instituted, it wasn’t missed after it was revoked, and it still isn’t needed.

FCC October 2023 Open Meeting Agenda

While the proposal I made to restore net neutrality will certainly garner the most attention, the Federal Communications Commission's October agenda features many other actions to promote digital equity and support broadband-powered innovation:

Real Girls, Real Lives, Connected: A global study of girls' access and usage of mobile internet

Limited global research exists about girls’ and boys’ access to and use of mobile phones. For girls, access is much more diverse and colourful than simply whether they ‘have’ or ‘have not’ got a phone. Access is often transient, and diverse ownership, borrowership and sharing practices are flourishing. Boys are 1.5 times more likely to own a phone and 1.8 times more likely to own a smartphone. They're also more likely to use phones in more diverse and internet-enabled ways than girls. Girls are going to great lengths to gain access.

Chairwoman Rosenworcel Proposes Next Step for 6 GHz Band Operations

Federal Communications Commission Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel proposed new rules to allow very low-power devices to operate in the 6 gigahertz (GHz) band alongside other Wi-Fi-enabled devices.

In Search of the Killer 5G App

AT&T and Comcast joined the 5G Open Innovation Lab, a venture that has been funding start-ups and others working in 5G research. Along with looking to improve 5G edge technology, a primary goal of the OAI Lab is to search for killer apps for 5G. The group hopes that adding the large carriers will help to continue to support the 118 start-ups that have already been funded by the organization which has raised over $1.5 billion. I always find talk of a killer app to be interesting since that was never the real goal of 5G.

Commerce Secretary Raimondo Appoints Sean McDevitt to FirstNet Authority Board

Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo appointed Sean McDevitt, a partner with international management consulting firm Arthur D. Little (ADL), to serve on the Board of the First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet Authority). McDevitt has been a member of ADL’s telecommunications, internet, technology and private equity practice areas since 2017. He brings 30 years of private sector experience specializing in business development, business expansion, leadership, account management, and client project delivery for telecommunications and technology sectors.

Another campaign, another outrage over ‘free phones’

Former President Donald Trump questioned who was paying for the phones of illegal aliens, suggesting that the federal government is handing out high-quality cellphones to migrants as part of its purported efforts to flood the country with immigrants. This is the latest iteration of the political right’s frustration with the idea that the government (and, particularly, an incumbent Democratic president) is spending money on frivolous giveaways (in their estimation) to poor people of color. The government does have a program in which people seeking asylum are given mobile devices.

Principles of Spectrum Sharing: Understanding the Value of Shared Spectrum

As new spectrum based services come online, the demand for spectrum has increased significantly. At the same time, greenfield spectrum to meet these needs is becoming more scarce, and clearing government and other incumbent users from currently-allocated spectrum has become more challenging.

NTIA, Department of Defense Announce Final Winners of the 2023 5G Challenge

The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), in collaboration with the Department of Defense (DoD), announced the final winners of the 2023 5G Challenge and its $7,000,000 total prize purse. NTIA has awarded $3,000,000, the largest of the 2023 5G Challenge total prize purse, to the Stage Four: Mobility winning contestant team, Lions-NewEdge-Mavenir-Radisys.

FCC seeks comment on mobile spectrum holdings policies

AT&T filed a petition for rulemaking asking that the Federal Communications Commission establish a mid-band spectrum screen. As a broader development relating to competition policy, AT&T points to the July 2021 issuance by President Biden of an Executive Order that encouraged the FCC to consider actions to promote competition, including specifically to avoid excessive concentration of spectrum license holdings in the United States.

FCC Seeks Comment on 3.45 GHz Relocation Payment Clearinghouse

The Federal Communications Commission's Wireless Telecommunications Bureau (Bureau) seeks comment on whether Summit Ridge Group, the Reimbursement Clearinghouse (Clearinghouse) selected by a committee of stakeholders in the 3.45-3.55 GHz band (3.45 GHz Band), satisfies the criteria established by the FCC in the 3.45 GHz Second Report and Order and the Bureau in the 3.45 GHz Clearinghouse Selection Process Order. Following the comment period, the Bureau will issue an order announcing whether the selection criteria have been satisfied.

Sens Barrasso and Sinema Introduce Bill to Increase Access to Broadband on Federal Land

US Senators John Barrasso (R-WY) and Senator Kyrsten Sinema (I-AZ) introduced the CLOSE THE GAP Act. Permitting for broadband projects and telecommunications infrastructure on federal land can delay efforts for up to 48 months, jeopardizing broadband projects, increasing costs, and limiting access to high-speed internet and vital telehealth services. The Act will:

FCC Seeks to Target USF Support for Rural Wireless Broadband Services

The Federal Communications Commission is seeking further comment on the 5G Fund for Rural America to reignite the FCC's plan to expand the deployment of 5G service to rural communities that remain trapped on the wrong side of the digital divide.

FCC Chairwoman Rosenworcel's Testimony Before the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee

I want to start by thanking the Subcommittee for its decision to provide full funding for the Federal Communications Commission in your Fiscal Year 2024 FSGG bill. The work of the FCC matters. I’d like to highlight some the Commission’s recent work, made possible by your support of our budget, under my leadership. First, the Commission’s Affordable Connectivity Program, the largest broadband affordability program in our nation’s history, now helps 21 million households pay for high-speed internet service.

Cable jumps into the mobile subsidy game

Some of the nation's top cable operators have begun to ramp up promotions focused on smartphone subsidies. These cable-led promotions mark a shift in the dynamics of the US mobile market, according to MoffettNathanson. Analyst Craig Moffett said this new wave of mobile promotional offers from operators such as Comcast, Charter, and Cox illustrates that they're indeed needed in today's competitive market. "Cable's emergence as a promotional discounter was entirely predictable, notwithstanding their early protests to the contrary," Moffett explained. However, he tempered predictions on how we

Dish gets Department of Justice support for 800 MHz extension

The Department of Justice (DoJ) supports Dish Network’s request for more time to buy 800 MHz spectrum licenses from T-Mobile but says seven more months is sufficient rather than the ten months that Dish had requested. In a September 18 filing with the US District Court for the District of Columbia, the DoJ said a modest extension of the deadline for Dish to acquire the spectrum licenses will serve the competition goals of the final judgment that enabled Sprint to merge with T-Mobile. The DoJ referred back to a 2013 petition that T-Mobile filed with the Federal Communications Commission when

Technology Use (Farm Computer Usage and Ownership) August 2023

Nationally, 85 percent of farms reported having access to the internet. In 2023, 51 percent of internet-connected farms utilized a broadband connection while 75 percent of internet-connected farms had access through a cellular data plan. Additionally, 69 percent of farms had a desktop or laptop computer while 82 percent of farms had a smartphone. In 2023, 32 percent of farms used the internet to purchase agricultural inputs, which was an increase of 3 percent from 2021.

EU technology-specific industrial policy: The case of 5G and 6G.

The European Commission has recognized early on the disruptive potential of 5G and later 6G.

Competitive effects of mergers and of spectrum divestment remedies in mobile telecommunication markets

Mobile communications markets are usually characterized by a limited number of operators. Despite being markets exhibiting high concentration, many mobile network operator mergers have been recently proposed and approved subject to remedies (or commitments by the merging parties). The research investigates the merger induced effects on consumer surplus, in which a model has three firms selling horizontally and vertically differentiated products.