Wireless Internet

Facebook is getting deeper into the wireless business. It isn’t buying a cellular provider or even licenses to use federally controlled airwaves. Instead, it has built networking technology that equipment makers and internet providers can license free of charge that helps provide home internet connections through wireless service instead of running fiber to each home.

Diane Rinaldo, acting head of the National Telecommunications & Information Administration, says that thanks to government policies that emphasize collaboration with industry, the US, as promised, winning the race to 5G. 

As part of our 5G FAST plan, we are pursuing additional opportunities to free up mid-band spectrum for next-generation wireless networks. Following the 3.5 GHz band auction, the FCC plans to hold an auction in the 2.5 GHz band. With almost 200 megahertz, this is the largest contiguous band of terrestrial, flexible use spectrum below 3 GHz in the United States. But it’s dramatically underused today—existing licenses cover only about one-half of the country, and the spectrum often vacant west of the Mississippi River.

I’m going to say a word or concept—something about wireless—and I’m going to ask you to raise your hands—is it overrated or underrated? And in return, I’ll share my two cents about it, too.

5G -- underrated     Mid-band spectrum -- underrated   World Radiocommunication Conference -- overrated    Network Virtualization -- Very underrated    Unlicensed Spectrum -- underrated 

2019 has been the Year of 5G. And most Americans know something about 5G by now. But we need to do a better job of explaining 5G in plain terms. It’s important that we meet this communications challenge. We have to shift our audience from those who are immersed in tech and telecom to ordinary people who aren’t interested in the latest 3GPP release but who are very interested in how new tools can make their jobs more rewarding, their kids’ schools more enriching, and their families closer.

The Federal Communications Commission remains intent on repurposing airwaves to handle surging Wi-Fi data traffic, despite opposition from power companies and first responders who say it could interfere with their communications systems. FCC Chairman Ajit Pai defended the agency’s plan to allocate more spectrum to meet exploding Wi-Fi demand at a recent Senate appropriations panel hearing. The agency may finalize its proposal later this year or early in 2020, commission watchers say. “I truly believe that American consumers can have the best of both worlds,” Chairman Pai told lawmakers.

Two stories from the Federal Communications Commission caught our eye this week. One gained lots of headlines. The second is a bit of inside baseball but could turn out to be big news down the line. Both impact the deployment of broadband and closing the digital divide. FCC commissioners have voted to approve T-Mobile's acquisition of Sprint.

Donald Trump’s push to roll out 5G internet as quickly as possible has sparked a series of disputes over who should get access to parts of the telecoms spectrum, involving groups as large and varied as Facebook, Google, AT&T and National Public Radio. The Federal Communications Commission has pushed forward with a string of spectrum sales in the past few months as it rushes to fulfil the US president’s pledge to “win the race” to establish superfast internet across the country.

In a new filing, a group of seven economists and antitrust experts say a court should reject the Department of Justice’s proposed solution for the T-Mobile/Sprint transaction, calling it “doom[ed] ... to failure” and “a remedy that does not meet the standard of restoring the competition currently provided by Sprint.” For at least the next seven years, anyone buying service from Dish will just be getting rebranded T-Mobile service, and that’s not actual competition.

Attorney General Jim Hood (D-MS) reached an agreement with T-Mobile as an alternative to litigation against the phone company’s merger with Sprint. The following commitments were made: