Monica Alleven

Once again, there’s a lot of talk in the wireless industry about what constitutes the fourth biggest wireless competitor in the U.S. after Verizon, T-Mobile and AT&T. Is it EchoStar's Boost Mobile wireless entity, cable, or something else entirely? According to the OnGo Alliance, it’s that last bucket, which is served by Citizens Broadband Radio Service, that constitutes the fourth entity powering more than 420,000 wireless radios from all walks of life.

The U.S. District Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia ruled in favor of the Federal Communications Commission after it decided that the agency lawfully levied fines against T-Mobile and Sprint when they failed to take measures protecting customer location information from being sold to third parties.

T-Mobile recently wrapped up its $4.3 billion acquisition of UScellular, and the departure of UScellular (as we know it) comes at a weird time. 

EchoStar's subsidiary Dish made scheduled interest payments that were originally due July 1, thereby avoiding default.

The dark cloud of uncertainty hanging over EchoStar doesn’t appear to be going away anytime soon. Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr said his agency continues to take a close look at whether EchoStar, via its Dish business, complied with the FCC’s 5G network buildout obligations. “Dish obviously says that they did,” he said during a press conference after the FCC’s July open meeting.

It’s fair to say some people are upset about the U.S. government’s approval of T-Mobile’s $4.3 billion acquisition of UScellular. Even though UScellular was losing customers, it still provided thousands of jobs and competition in the 21 states where it operates. But it’s the lack of conditions attached to the government’s approval that is particularly infuriating to the Rural Wireless Association. RWA said it was downright shocked that the Federal Communications Commission “rubber stamped” the deal, pandering to the desires of the merging companies.

T-Mobile is ending its diversity, equity, and inclusion programs to get two big deals OK’d by regulators. In a letter to Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr, T-Mobile said it will end its DEI programs as it seeks regulatory approval for its UScellular and MetroNet transactions.

The Federal Communications Commission is getting an earful about Verizon’s petition for a waiver to its 60-day handset unlocking requirements.

The Federal Communications Commission regained its ability to hold spectrum auctions when President Trump signed the One Big Beautiful Bill into law on July 4. The FCC’s auction authority had lapsed since March 2023. Reinstating the FCC auction authority wasn’t the only good news for wireless.

CTIA popped the proverbial champagne corks after the Senate narrowly passed the "One Big Beautiful Bill," but the Wi-Fi crowd is having none of it, fearing the U.S. government will take away precious Wi-Fi airwaves and put them up for auction. The Senate version of the bill includes many of the same spectrum provisions that the House version addressed. For example, the Federal Communications Commission will get its auction authority reinstated, and the 3.1-3.45 GHz and 7.4-8.4 GHz spectrum bands will be exempt from any auction.