Monica Alleven

The Federal Communications Commission has banned the sale of all consumer-grade routers produced in foreign countries unless the supplier applies for and receives a “Conditional Approval” from the Department of War (DoW) or the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The problem is, the FCC’s broad definition of “foreign produced” means that it will affect essentially all major broadband consumer-premise equipment (CPE) vendors, whether they operate though the service provider or retail channels, according to Counterpoint Research analyst Taimur Zafar. “This is not just about where a router

SpaceX made a splash with the big unveil of Starlink Mobile, triggering renewed speculation about what Elon Musk really plans to do to shake up the decades-old terrestrial wireless industry. Will he build his own hybrid satellite-terrestrial network to rule the world? Will he strike an MVNO deal with one or more existing mobile network operators to sell a Starlink Mobile-branded phone/broadband service to the masses?

To say that Consumer Cellular has a lot going on is an understatement. But what’s really remarkable is how it’s adding more retail stores and using real live people to answer customer service calls in an industry increasingly awash in AI. For the uninitiated, Consumer Cellular is an MVNO that was founded about 30 years ago by two Portland, Oregon-based guys, John Marick and Greg Pryor. Early in their tenure, they decided to focus on the 50+ age group and align the company with AARP.

About mid-way through T-Mobile’s two+ hour Capital Markets Day presentation, CFO Peter Osvaldik dropped a bit of a bombshell: Beginning in Q1 2026, the company will no longer be reporting postpaid phone net adds. What?!!!!! For years, this has been the metric used to gauge the growth (or lack thereof) of mobile carriers. It’s the easy button for comparing how the carriers are doing against their rivals. If one has a blockbuster quarter and another tanks, it’s right there in the net adds. The move didn’t seem to go over well among analysts who crunch numbers for a living.

The wireless industry is yet again hearing concerns about the safety of cell phones, but it’s not about their impact on mental health or the dangers of texting while driving.

It appears that T-Mobile quietly conducted a series of layoffs just before the holidays, but it’s unknown exactly how many people were fired – or even when the trend might end. “Sales teams are being significantly reduced nationwide today.

It looks like AT&T wants to add even more to its 3.45 gigahertz (GHz) spectrum stockpile through a licensing deal with Pennsylvania-based Blue Ridge Wireless. Some eagle eyes spotted recent filings with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) where AT&T describes a 3.45 GHz spectrum lease arrangement with Blue Ridge. AT&T argues that access to the spectrum, which must be approved by the FCC, will “greatly enhance” the quality of the service it offers to its subscribers. AT&T was the biggest bidder in the 2021 auction of 3.45 GHz airwaves, and it’s in the process of acqui

EchoStar provided a lot of drama in 2025, and it looks to be on a similar course as we kick off 2026.

Nobody, except maybe Elon Musk & Friends, wants SpaceX/Starlink to be the only satellite provider lording over the direct-to-cell/direct-to-device market. That’s the general gist of one of the ideas put forth by Ligado in its application to the Federal Communications Commission to modify its L-band satellite license so that Ligado can work with AST SpaceMobile.

2025 has been a year for the Citizens Broadband Radio Service ecosystem. It started off with CBRS users fending off a proposal by AT&T to upend the entire CBRS ecosystem and move it from its current home at 3.5 GHz down to the lower 3 GHz.