1. Monthly archive
  2. January 2022

January 2022

FAA clears 62 percent of US commercial airplanes for low-visibility landings at airports where wireless companies deployed 5G

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issued new approvals that allow an estimated 62 percent of the US commercial fleet to perform low-visibility landings at airports where wireless companies deployed 5G C-band. The new safety buffer announced January 18 around airports in the 5G deployment further expanded the number of airports available to planes with previously cleared altimeters to perform low-visibility landings. The FAA early January 19 cleared another three altimeters. Even with these approvals, flights at some airports may still be affected.

Ookla releases its mobile and fixed broadband Speedtest rankings for December 2021

Ookla's Speedtest released its mobile and fixed broadband speed rankings in the United States for December 2021. Speedtest Intelligence revealed T-Mobile was the fastest mobile operator in the United States during Q4 2021 with a median download speed of 90.65 Mbps on modern chipsets. AT&T was second and Verizon third. This represents a strong increase in download speed for T-Mobile from 62.35 Mbps in Q3 2021.

Department of Commerce Holds Digital Equity Roundtable with HBCU Presidents

To commemorate the birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, Deputy Secretary of Commerce Don Graves, Sens Ben Cardin (D-MD) and Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), and Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott (D-MD) joined Historically Black College and University (HBCU) presidents and representatives at a roundtable to discuss digital equity. The January 15 roundtable in Baltimore (MD) focused on closing the digital divide as a part of President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, which provides $65 billion dollars to expand broadband to unserved and underserved areas.

Amarillo, Texas, deploys $4 million fixed wireless access network for school kids

The City of Amarillo (TX) is working with Airspan to set up a $4 million fixed wireless access (FWA) network to help connect school kids to the internet. The 4G FWA network, which has achieved symmetrical speeds of 100 Mbps, is being deployed to the homes of children who do not have internet access. And of course, this will benefit others who live in those households as well. Based on the urgency of serving students, the goal is to have 50 square miles covered by the end of the 2021-2022 school year.

© 1994-2026 Benton Institute for Broadband & Society. All Rights Reserved.