Wireless Internet

Verizon is touting its commitment to firefighters and public safety in a new ad, released weeks after Verizon throttled the Santa Clara County fire department while it was fighting California's largest-ever wildfire. "From coast to coast and everywhere in between, people rely on us to ensure they can communicate when they need it most," Verizon said in an introduction to the new ad. "Our innovations and technology allow first responders to do their jobs.

At the request of Federal Communications Commission staff, Verizon executives met with FCC officials just prior to Verizon’s Oct. 1 5G launch in parts of Houston, Los Angeles, Indianapolis, and Sacramento. In the meeting, Verizon executives once again noted the need for low-, mid- and high-band spectrum and encouraged the FCC to continue its work to make more spectrum available for 5G. The meeting was related to T-Mobile’s application to combine with Sprint, although Verizon didn't take an official position on that transaction.

A new battle for cellular airwaves is under way as governments around the world start to auction off spectrum for mobile coverage that could power near-instant video downloads and help run factories, control gadgets and navigate driverless cars.

Lampposts around downtown Los Angeles are being wired with fiber optic cable and shoebox-sized gadgets to beam the fifth and fastest generation of cellular data, known as 5G, into homes and mobile devices. This high-tech infrastructure build-out is the result of a deal between the city and Verizon — Los Angeles gave the wireless carrier a break on the fees for taking up space on streetlights in exchange for a package of amenities and services.

Without nationwide 5G, the Internet of Things won’t come close to reaching its full potential. The biggest challenge to the advancement of IoT is cybersecurity. If we want to realize the innovation and growth promised by IoT, we must ensure that Americans can trust the devices that they’re using. The National Telecommunications and Information Administration is working across the federal government, with stakeholders here and around the world, to promote smart IoT policies that incorporate security and protect American consumers. 

One of the most interesting aspects of the recently-completed Connect America Fund (CAF) II auction is the strong showing by smaller, non-traditional service providers. The second biggest winner, for example, was Wisper — a company little known outside southern Illinois and parts of neighboring states, where the company offers fixed wireless broadband, primarily in rural areas, including some areas the company has served for more than a decade.

Delta Air Lines’ CEO Ed Bastian said that the airline was working hard toward offering free in-flight Wi-Fi to all of its passengers. Though Bastian neglected to attach an exact timeline to his claim, he noted that the plan comes in response to Delta passengers’ vocal desire for fast, free connectivity. “I don’t know of anywhere else, besides in an airplane, that you can’t get free Wi-Fi,” Bastian opined.

In an effort to provide a much-needed forum for Members of Congress and staff to learn about Wi-Fi-related issues affecting their constituents, Reps Jerry McNerney (D-CA) and Bob Latta (R-OH) announced the launch of the bipartisan Congressional Wi-Fi Caucus to open a dialogue about appropriate policy solutions that can address today’s pressing concerns. Wi-Fi is the primary technology for internet access, delivering more than half of all internet traffic and over sixty percent of mobile network traffic offload.

The buzz over “5G,” the next generation of wireless technology, has been heating up, but most of the hype fails to account for the fact that a robust, innovative, and affordable 5G wireless ecosystem for all Americans will not result from empowering and allocating the best public airwaves to the four nationwide mobile carriers alone.

In the past, Wi-Fi versions were identified by a letter or a pair of letters that referred to a wireless standard. The current version is 802.11ac, but before that, we had 802.11n, 802.11g, 802.11a, and 802.11b. It was not comprehensible, so the Wi-Fi Alliance — the group that stewards the implementation of Wi-Fi — is changing it. All of those convoluted codenames are being changed. So instead of the current Wi-Fi being called 802.11ac, it’ll be called Wi-Fi 5 (because it’s the fifth version).