Wireless Internet

A wireless network will only be as good as the wired infrastructure beneath it. More users and devices on a wireless network eventually necessitate more wired infrastructure upgrades to accommodate increased traffic and consumer demands, and many consumers’ bandwidth consumption is growing at a pace where only fiber will ultimately be able to satisfy demands.

Thankfully, the Administration is developing a National Spectrum Strategy to give the wireless industry the certainty required to plan for and build out the best and most secure 5G networks possible. We’re laying out a three-point call to action to inform the Administration’s National Spectrum Strategy:

US national security officials are planning for a future in which the Chinese firm Huawei will have a major share of the advanced global telecommunications market, and have begun to think about how to thwart potential espionage and disruptive cyberattacks enabled by interconnected networks. “We are going to have to figure out a way in a 5G world that we’re able to manage the risks in a diverse network that includes technology that we can’t trust,” said Sue Gordon, the deputy to the director of the US intelligence community.

C Spire and T-Mobile have been duking it out in dueling letters to the Federal Communications Commission concerning T-Mobile rural plans which, according to T-Mobile, are contingent on its planned merger with Sprint being approved by regulators. T-Mobile has said it would broadly expand fixed wireless service to rural areas if it obtains Sprint’s vast spectrum holdings.

The Benton Foundation unequivocally opposes any proposals from the Federal Communications Commission that would allow the FCC to shirk its responsibilities to meet its Congressionally-mandated mission. The FCC is supposed to ensure:

Count Federal Communications Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel and Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA) as critics of a proposal from FCC Chairman Ajit Pai to explore a spending cap on telecommunications subsidies to expand telephone and broadband access. “Any effort that could harm classroom learning, broadband deployment, rural health opportunities, or connecting more individuals should be shelved and never considered again,” said Markey said of the FCC proposal, which would target Universal Service Fund programs.

The agenda for the Federal Communications Commission's April open meeting:

T-Mobile is launching a pilot home broadband service to a small group of its wireless subscribers. The invitation-only pilot will connect around 50,000 homes of subscribers to a fixed wireless access service on T-Mobile’s LTE network. The company said it’s targeting rural and underserved areas of the country and expects to be able to deliver 50 Mbps to residents. The service will cost $50 per month to subscribers who sign up for autopay, and will be free of data caps, annual service contracts, or equipment costs. 

At the Federal Communications Commission, we’re working to be good partners for broadband builders like you [Wireless internet service providers]. And today, I’d like to mention a few of the ways we’re trying to do that: through modernized infrastructure rules, fair support programs, and smarter spectrum policies. In 2019, I am taking another look at the federal rules governing wireless infrastructure deployment. We will look to fully and faithfully implement the decisions Congress has made to streamline the deployment of next-generation technologies.

Smartphone 911 location data is getting more precise, but the Federal Communications Commission isn't updating its privacy rules despite carriers' history of selling their customers' location data. The FCC is scheduled to vote on a Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (FNPRM) requiring collection of more precise location data. The data would identify a person's floor in a multi-story building when someone calls 911 and is being referred to as "Z-axis" data.