Spectrum

In November 2023, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) published its draft national Spectrum Strategy (NSS) and asked for comments to be filed by January 2, 2024. Seventy three organizations submitted written comments by the deadline. All three major national wireless carriers filed comments, which were remarkably similar to each other in their talking points. AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile stressed their desire to put a rush on more mid-band spectrum.

Dish Network already is spinning more heads than some companies do in an entire year. Among the revelations: More layoffs at Dish Network, affecting employees at its Colorado headquarters. Dish is transferring certain spectrum licenses to an EchoStar holding company.

One of the stickiest issues that State broadband offices are going to be wrestling with is how to recognize the service areas for ISPs that use licensed spectrum to deliver rural broadband. This issue comes from a ruling from the National Telecommunications and Information Administration that, for purposes of Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program grants, fixed wireless networks using unlicensed spectrum are deemed to be unreliable.

After closing on his re-merger of Dish Network and EchoStar, Chairman Charlie Ergen outlined a series of strategic asset shifts that shield certain spectrum assets, as well as the cash generated by about three million Dish pay-TV subscribers, from existing creditors. The moves “further unlock incremental strategic, financial and operating flexibility for its business following completion of its merger” with Dish Network.

T-Mobile said that it achieved the world’s first six-carrier aggregation call using sub-6 GHz spectrum on its live production 5G network. Working with Ericsson and Qualcomm Technologies, T-Mobile exceeded 3.6 Gigabits per second (Gbps) in the test. The carrier described this speed as fast enough to download a two-hour HD movie in less than 7 seconds. Higher speed and increased performance are the result of the 5G carrier aggregation in which T-Mobile combined multiple 5G channels.

I often describe NTIA as a ‘small but mighty’ agency. We lived up to that moniker in 2023, making considerable progress in our work to close the digital divide, build a better Internet at home and abroad, and support U.S. wireless innovation and leadership. NTIA hit major milestones in 2023, including:

Happy new year! In the spirit of wishing everyone a safe and healthy new year, we are kicking off 2024 with a monthly open meeting that features a pair of items from our Public Safety Bureau. Here’s everything we have lined up for our January agenda.

Although the Federal Communications Commission did not have its auction authority for most of 2023, some important events came to pass. The wireless industry lobbied much of the year for reallocation of spectrum in the 3.1-3.45 GHz band, which didn’t happen. The Biden Administration delivered a plan for a National Spectrum Strategy, which includes further study of the 3.1-3.45 GHz band.

Dish Network is re-upping its calls for the Federal Communications Commission to update spectrum holding policies, saying the agency’s current spectrum procedures have enabled incumbents like T-Mobile to amass too much low-band spectrum to the detriment of new competitors and regional carriers. Dish EVP of External & Legislative Affairs Jeff Blum and other Dish lawyers met with FCC representatives to discuss the current competitive landscape and importance of spectrum availability in giving new entrants a chance to compete. Dish pointed to comments from AT&T, Public Knowledge, and O

“The initial build of the FirstNet network was done on time, on budget and on task.” With those words, the First Responder Network Authority Board Chair Chief Richard Carrizzo confirmed and validated the successful completion of the initial 5-year buildout of FirstNet, America’s public safety broadband network. The journey to this moment has been remarkable—it started with the development of custom FirstNet state plans for all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and the 5 US territories. Through our public-private partnership, and close collaboration with the public safety community across