Wireless Internet

Cellphone carriers usually ask for their customers’ blessing before listing their phone numbers, sharing their addresses or exposing them to promotional emails. But seeking permission to share one particularly sensitive piece of information—a cellphone’s current location—often falls to one of several dozen third-party companies like Securus Inc. and 3Cinteractive Corp. Carriers rely on those firms to vouch that they obtained users’ consent before handing over the data.

Our 5G deployment process is slowed by outdated regulatory processes, spectrum scarcity, and local bureaucracy related to building local towers and other infrastructure. The US faces unique challenges associated with the deployment of small cells, which are antennae the size of a pizza box that enable 5G’s signal strength and resiliency. Deployment delays also result from approval times on small cell applications, permitting, and zoning processes at the local level.

Google’s efforts to build delivery drones and internet-beaming balloons are no longer just science projects. Both ventures are becoming their own independent businesses within Alphabet, the technology conglomerate that owns Google and now 13 other units.

The full House Commerce Committee has scheduled a markup for more than a dozen bills July 12, including two broadband-related bills -- H.R. 3994, the Advancing Critical Connectivity Expands Service, Small Businesses Resources, Opportunities, Access, and Data Based on Assessed Need and Demand (ACCESS BROADBAND) Act, and H.R. 4881, the Precision Agriculture Connectivity Act of 2018.

Some city light poles around Oahu (HI) are being equipped to produce more than street lighting. A contractor representing mobile phone service provider Sprint is installing data transmission equipment on 67 poles largely concentrated in Honolulu’s urban core but also in Central Oahu, Leeward Oahu and Laie. The equipment turns the light poles into miniature cell antenna towers that eliminate service coverage dead spots and increase data transmission capacity as more phone users consume more data, largely by watching videos.

CTIA’s Annual Wireless Industry Survey finds the industry beginning the transition from 4G to 5G wireless networks with significant growth in cell sites and data-only devices. That growth and continued demand for everything wireless contributed to Americans using an unprecedented amount of mobile data in 2017. The key wireless trends in this year's survey:

As the Federal Communications Commission prepares to vote July 12 on opening up the C-Band for wireless broadband, House Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman Tom Cole (R-LA) is calling for care and handling of noncommercial broadcasting. Chairman Cole has written FCC Chairman Ajit Pai to advise caution as the FCC ponders remaking the band to allow wireless use, either by dividing up the band or allowing for sharing.

According to several interviews with frequent Chinese travelers to the United States, those with China Mobile as their carrier are often unable to access American websites and apps that are banned in China. The experience of using China Mobile roaming in the United States “is exactly the same as when you surf on the Internet at home,” said May Sun, a 34-year-old analyst living in Shanghai.

I have spent the last two weeks or so doing a deep dive on what, exactly does 5G actually do — with a particular emphasis on the recently released 3GPP standard (Release 15) that everyone is celebrating as the first real industry standard for 5G. My conclusion is that while the Emperor is not naked, that is one Hell of a skimpy thong he’s got on. More precisely, the bunch of different things that people talk about when they