Wireless Telecommunications

A national nonprofit backed by Silicon Valley luminaries is proposing to set up free WiFi in apartment buildings as one solution to an intractable problem — ensuring those who have access to the internet can actually afford it.

The Office of Economics and Analytics (OEA), in conjunction with the Wireline Competition Bureau (WCB) and the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau (WTB), released updated data on fixed broadband deployment, and mobile voice and broadband deployment as of December 31, 2020. These data were collected through Federal Communications Commission Form 477 and are available on the FCC’s website.

T-Mobile is claiming a new first for standalone (SA) 5G. The operator used a combo of 2.5 GHz and mmWave spectrum to reach nearly 5 Gbps on its commercial SA 5G network. T-Mobile said it’s the world’s first New Radio Dual Connectivity (NR DC) data call on a commercial standalone 5G network, which resulted in download speeds of 4.95 Gbps.

AT&T and Verizon agreed to delay their planned December 5 rollout of a new 5G frequency band so they can work with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to address concerns about potential interference with key cockpit safety systems. AT&T said it agreed to delay its planned 5G deployment until January 5 at the request of the US Transportation Department, which oversees the FAA. Verizon also agreed to postpone its launch of the new 5G wireless spectrum by about a month, people familiar with the matter said.

House Energy and Commerce lawmakers are offering bipartisan grumbling about whether President Biden’s executive branch is properly coordinating with the Federal Communications Commission on how to manage wireless airwaves. Their latest concern: the Federal Aviation Administration issuing warnings about possible disruption to airplane equipment from wireless carriers’ use of 5G-friendly airwaves in the C-band.

T-Mobile's third-quarter profits slipped as higher costs and a lull in new customer additions following a headline-grabbing hack sapped its bottom line. The company said it added 673,000 phone subscribers in the closely watched market for postpaid wireless service during Q3 2021. The tally lagged behind AT&T, which reported a net gain of 928,000 such subscribers over the same span.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) upped the ante in what has been an ongoing scuffle between communications regulators and the wireless industry with aviation stakeholders – as the agency issued a warning over potential interference to airplane safety systems from upcoming 5G deployments in C-band frequencies.

The First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet Authority) and its network contractor AT&T are working to bring FirstNet’s unique capabilities to areas historically prone to communication challenges. FirstNet currently provides over 2.71 million square miles of coverage and new cell sites are launching nationwide, including in Tribal communities such as the Nez Perce Reservation in Idaho, the Spirit Lake Reservation in North Dakota, and the Yankton Sioux Reservation in South Dakota.

The US Agency for International Development (USAID) has awarded AT&T a $182 million Task Order agreement to support its domestic and international wireless and wireline connectivity needs. Under this Task Order, AT&T will continue to provide wireline voice and data services to USAID domestic locations while significantly expanding the scope of services it provides. AT&T will consolidate USAID’s disparate networks onto the company's global IP voice network and provide mission-critical connectivity in support of an additional 90 USAID international locations.

Being digitally connected is such a central feature of our lives that we don’t often stop to think about how it actually works. Transient data, a combination of ones and zeros, pass through a surprisingly tangible physical infrastructure of fiber optic cables connecting centralized data servers — infrastructure that is vulnerable to an increasingly erratic and punishing climate. The reality of digital disconnection was brought into sharper focus during the COVID-19 pandemic; fundamental aspects of our daily lives shifted online instantly, from schooling to remote work to health care.