November 2019

T-Mobile Announces Three New Plans for its 5G Network

T-Mobile plans to light up its nationwide 5G on Dec 6, laying a foundation for the New T-Mobile’s massive network that will have the capacity to deliver breakthrough connectivity initiatives to millions if the T-Mobile/Sprint merger closes in 2020.

FCC Seeks Nominations for Intergovernmental Advisory Committee

The Federal Communications Commission announces the reauthorization of the Intergovernmental Advisory Committee (IAC) and solicits nominations for membership on the IAC. The current term of the IAC expired on Sept 24, 2019. The term of operations for the reauthorized IAC will be limited to two years, with an option for reauthorization at the end of the two-year period and will commence with its first meeting. Nominations for membership are due by Dec 6, 2019.

5G wireless is coming -- and the battle has already begun over where to allow the antennas in Maryland

Baltimore’s (MD) streets are dotted with more than 600 “small cell wireless facilities” on streetlights and utility poles, making the city one of the first areas in MD to welcome the new technology. The sometimes box-like equipment delivers cellular signals faster than traditional cell phone towers, paving the way for 5G service. The wireless industry and local governments have faced off on the issue in the General Assembly, and could again in 2020.

Consolidated: Public-Private Broadband Partnerships are Key to Rural Broadband Strategy

NH legislators in 2019 passed a law allowing municipalities to fund broadband networks through bond offerings – and that action already is spurring broadband deployment in sparsely populated areas of the state. One of the biggest beneficiaries of this is Consolidated Communications. Consolidated is already offering service on a new network in Chesterfield (NH) that was paid for, in part, by Consolidated and, in part, by the city.

OneWeb wants to blanket the planet in high-speed satellite broadband

OneWeb is talking a big game in satellite-delivered internet access—almost the size of this planet, to be more precise. OneWeb plans to surpass existing satellite-broadband firms by flying below them and in vastly larger numbers. Instead of rocketing a few large satellites all the way to geostationary Earth orbit (GEO)—22,236 miles up, at which point the satellite’s orbital period keeps it locked above one point on the equator—the company will launch hundreds of satellites in much lower orbits.