Wireless Internet

Verizon CEO sees fixed wireless access as 'the next generation of broadband'

Verizon CEO Hans Vestberg highlighted continued momentum in its Fios business but pointed to fixed wireless access as a key tool in its quest to expand its broadband reach further and faster.

Verizon Announces New Digital Inclusion Program in Eight States and DC

With support from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Verizon announced a new program to provide access to wireless broadband data and voice services to underserved communities in Massachusetts and eight neighboring states plus the District of Columbia. Verizon will provide turnkey connectivity, devices and other solutions available to eligible families who lack access to the internet.

Nokia and DigitalC to provide Private LTE internet connectivity in Cleveland, Ohio

Nokia is working with non-profit DigitalC to deliver much-needed high-speed internet connectivity to underserved homes in Cleveland (OH) using its Digital Automation Cloud (DAC) end-to-end private wireless solution. The deployment of Nokia DAC will allow DigitalC to leverage private LTE technology to provide affordable, reliable and high-speed internet access to thousands of people around Cleveland.

Verizon’s current fiber rollouts are all connected to 5G

When you think of Verizon and fiber, you tend to think of Fios, which is a fiber-based brand in the Northeast US that bundles connectivity, voice and video. But Verizon has other fiber as well, including long-haul routes, and the company is currently deploying lots of fiber as part of its 5G roll-outs. As part of its 5G/fiber rollouts, Verizon is also looking to help close the digital divide. And it sees fixed wireless access (FWA) as a technology to help with that.

Project Taara's laser internet system beams broadband across the Congo River

Project Taara’s wireless optical communications links are now beaming light-speed connectivity from Brazzaville (Republic of Congo) to Kinshasa (Democratic Republic of Congo). In the same way traditional fibre uses light to carry data through cables in the ground, Taara’s wireless optical communication links use very narrow, invisible beams of light to deliver fiber-like speeds. To create a link, Taara’s terminals search for each other, detect the other’s beam of light, and lock-in like a handshake to create a high-bandwidth connection.

North Dakota Attorney General Frets Over Coming 3G Phaseout

Duane Stanley, an official with the North Dakota Attorney General’s Office, is the latest to sound the alarm about a wireless industry plan to sunset its legacy 3G network in the coming months.

NEC collaborates with Amazon Web Services on global 5G and government support in Japan

NEC announced it has expanded its collaboration with Amazon Web Services (AWS) in the areas of global 5G and support for the digital government of Japan. NEC and AWS completed a corporate-level strategic collaboration pact in November 2020, and since then they’ve been developing offerings and strengthening delivery capabilities.

5G wireless is already teaching us what we'll want from 6G

Most of us are still getting our heads wrapped around 5G, but some major tech players are well into the development of 6G. In broad strokes, 6G is envisioned as truly subsuming wireless connectivity into everything around us with network coverage and bandwidth availability so effortless we cease to worry about them.

Which wireless carrier has the best coverage where you're going?

If you’d like a more honest assessment of whether AT&T, T-Mobile or Verizon Wireless – or none of the above – will offer decent connectivity, you should seek an outside opinion instead of consulting the carriers' coverage maps. Some resources to do so are:

Private CBRS network is deployed at Carnegie Mellon University

JMA Wireless, Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Crown Castle launched a private LTE network for Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) using Citizens Broadband Radio Service (CBRS) spectrum. Plans for the project started in mid-2020, as CMU looked to upgrade cellular connectivity to support research at its Living Edge Lab on campus.

How the 5G experience compares across 50 states and 250 US cities

Opensignal conducted a comprehensive analysis of smartphone users' 5G mobile experience across the US. Major findings include:

Starry Internet overview: Fast, affordable internet, no strings attached

Starry Internet is among the next generation of new wireless technologies that support high-speed, low-latency internet connectivity using millimeter-wave bands capable of sending large amounts of data over short distances. That sounds a lot like 5G, and I'd say it's definitely similar -- but Starry doesn't quite bill itself as a 5G home internet provider. Why not?

Consumer Needs and Expectations for Home Wi-Fi Fundamentally Altered Post-Pandemic According to New Airties Survey

58% of respondents across the US, UK and Germany said they encountered more home Wi-Fi issues than before the COVID-19 pandemic, and a remarkable 55% said they had daily issues with their home Wi-Fi. Consumers also strongly prefer their broadband operator take the lead in ensuring a quality Wi-Fi experience, with 80% saying they would rather their broadband subscription included home Wi-Fi networking gear instead of purchasing it themselves through retail. 90% of people said they are using their home Wi-Fi more now than ever, with, at the top end of the scale, almost half of Americans (48%)

Hurricane Ida Spurs Calls to Bolster Mobile Networks After Phones Fail

As Hurricane Ida pummeled New Orleans, officials told residents needing help to flag down a police officer or go to a fire station. The city’s 911 emergency calling service, served by AT&T, wasn’t working. The failure, rectified on August 30, is helping to fuel calls for Washington regulators to demand greater resiliency for mobile phone networks in the face of storms, fires and other natural disasters.

Car owners' new gripe: lousy wireless service

JD Power's new study finds 1 in 4 problems cited by car buyers in the first 90 days of ownership involves infotainment. For the first time in a decade, voice recognition is not the top problem; instead, it's Apple CarPlay/Android Auto connectivity, which worsened significantly, especially for those trying to connect wirelessly. About one-third of new cars now come with a built-in WiFi hub, which may or may not be compatible with a phone's operating system.

TracFone concerns still run high for consumer groups

Consumer groups are still very much concerned about what happens if TracFone gets acquired by Verizon even though Verizon promises to serve the public interest.

Wireless subscriber growth and providers' promotional offerings are off the charts

Wireless subscriber growth has been off the charts in 2021, with second-quarter increases nearing records as mobile service providers like AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile blanket the market with free offerings. But as subscriber numbers have surged, those new customers are a volatile bunch, meaning the industry may soon have to decide whether to keep heavy promotions going just to maintain the status quo or risk losing them by turning off the promotional spigot.

FCC Grants Licenses for Wireless Services in Alaska Tribal Communities

The Federal Communications Commission's Wireless Telecommunications Bureau granted an additional six spectrum licenses to Tribal entities in Alaska that filed applications during the 2.5 GHz band Rural Tribal Priority Window. The licenses granted will afford these rural Alaska Native communities the opportunity to deploy 5G and other advanced wireless services that are a vital part of staying connected in this digital age.

5G home internet may be the answer to your broadband needs

The technology that's powering our newest phones and enabling our latest gadgets also wants to tackle our home broadband needs.

NTIA Releases 5G Listening Sessions Summary of Conclusions

The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) released a summary of conclusions from its two 5G industry listening sessions, conducted to identify incentives and policy options to ensure the US has adequate sources of secure, effective, and reliable 5th and future generation wireless communications systems and infrastructure. Top conclusions from major areas of discussion are:

Let’s promote all broadband technologies to speed help to all Americans

The House should waste no time in passing the badly needed infrastructure bill while expanding its scope to include support for all viable broadband technologies demanded today by consumers. Fixed wireless is an efficient, competitive and popular high-speed alternative to fiber, particularly in more remote areas. With the massive investments going into the deployment of 5G wireless technologies by both national and local broadband internet service providers, fixed wireless capability is only getting better.

Rural telecommunications companies want more cellular spending in infrastructure package

While the bipartisan infrastructure package may help the nation’s most remote communities get connected to the Internet through fiber-optic cables, rural telecommunications companies say even fiber links won’t fix another big communications problem in their communities — a lack of cellphone towers that leaves many residents and first-responders with extremely poor mobile service. Their concerns underscore the complexity of modern communications networks, which require steep spending to dig the ditches, lay the cable and build the cellular towers to connect far-flung communiti

Fiber on the rise: What FCC's new data tells us about broadband in the US

Every six months, the Federal Communications Commission releases updated data on the respective coverage of every internet provider in the US. That includes coverage maps as well as metrics on the types of technologies being used, the number of customers that fall into each provider's footprint, and the specific upload and download speeds available to those customers, should they choose to sign up.