The fight to reinstate network neutrality rules could return to federal court, if public-interest advocates, consumer groups, and tech companies including Mozilla get their way [as well as the Benton Institute for Broadband & Society]. The groups asked a panel of judges to rehear a case that upheld a Federal Communications Commission decision to repeal the government’s open-Internet rules.
In the race to 5G, American wireless companies are sorely lacking one essential ingredient: mid-band spectrum. Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai announced that the FCC will pursue a public auction of a portion of the 3.7 to 4.2 GHz spectrum band – also known as the C-Band – by the end of 2020. Senate Commerce Committee approved S. 2881, C-Band legislation that would modify the automatic Treasury deposit.
According to the federal government, the majority of American homes now use cellphones exclusively. “We don't even have a landline anymore,” people began to say proudly as the new millennium progressed. But this came with a quieter, secondary loss—the loss of the shared social space of the family landline. Meanwhile, the physical medium of communication has shifted from telephone poles, visually linking individual homes, to the elusive air.
AT&T is launching its new 5G service Dec 13 in 10 cities, including Los Angeles (CA), San Francisco (CA), and San Jose (CA). Notably, the service is based on real 5G standards, unlike AT&T’s earlier "5G Evolution" offering, which in reality was just a variety of 4G. Still, AT&T concedes that the new service for now will only deliver speeds comparable to “5G Evolution”—about 158 Mbps, or roughly similar to the fastest available 5G service in the US offered by competitor T-Mobile.
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