Bevin Fletcher

A coalition including Charter Communications, WISPA and public interest groups wrote a letter to the Federal Communications Commission urging the agency to reject proposals to increase power limits in the shared Citizens Broadband Radio Service (CBRS) band, saying it would favor macro cell deployments only and jeopardize existing deployments. Other signatories voicing strong opposition to changes in the band include the Open Technology Institute, Pu

Even though AT&T reported a strong first quarter for wireless subscribers, some analysts think the operator may be stepping off the 5G playing field as it focuses on other parts of its business. “It appears that management has chosen to focus its limited resources on HBO Max and on fiber deployments rather than try to keep pace with the network investments Verizon and T-Mobile are making in wireless,” wrote New Street Research analyst Jonathan Chaplin. New Street has pointed out before that AT&T’s plan for mid-band 5G, including C-band deployment timelines and capital spending, trai

A new Opensignal report shows that rural areas are benefiting most from boosts in 5G availability after T-Mobile’s launch of a nationwide standalone (SA) 5G network last year, but a focus on low-band 600 MHz for SA has left speeds lacking. Compared to urban users, 5G consumers in rural locations are spending a greater percentage of time connected 5G since T-Mobile’s August SA launch, according to Opensignal's analysis, though both geographies saw increase

Verizon has completed the first data session on its new 5G standalone core and plans to start shifting mobile traffic over later in 2020. All US carriers have deployed 5G networks in non-standalone (NSA) mode, which relies on a 4G LTE anchor. With 5G standalone that’s no longer the case. With a 5G core implemented, it means Verizon can start introducing key 5G technologies, like network slicing to enable new use cases. The carrier expects full commercialization of its 5G standalone core in 2021.

Sprint’s legacy 5G service using 2.5 GHz has been deactivated as T-Mobile continues work to reconfigure, test, and re-deploy the coveted mid-band spectrum into its new integrated 5G network. Sprint’s 5G service is no longer available, except to customers who have a Galaxy S20 5G that works on T-Mobile’s 5G network. The 2.5 GHz Sprint network deactivations, while necessary, do present a change for some legacy Sprint 5G users. Namely, it's those who were early adopters and purchased first-generation 5G smartphones from the carrier, including a Samsung Galaxy S10 5G, LG V50 ThinQ, or OnePlus 7

T-Mobile finally fixed network issues that had caused intermittent voice and text outages that affected customers across the US. The outages, which started June 15 just after 12 p.m. ET and continued for about 13 hours, were an “IP traffic related issue” that “created significant capacity issues in the network core throughout the day,” according to an update from T-Mobile CEO Mike Sievert. Later, T-Mobile President of Technology Neville Ray wrote:

A new coalition, backed by a wide range of players in the mobile ecosystem --, including U.S. operators AT&T and Verizon -- has formed to advocate for government policy that helps drive open radio access network (RAN) adoption to fund research and development of open and interoperable 5G networks. Executive director for the 31-member Open RAN Policy Coalition, launched today, is former Acting Administrator of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration Diane Rinaldo.

Smartphone users in all of the top 50 US markets spent increasing amounts of time connected to Wi-Fi during the end of March, according to new Opensignal data, aligning with behavioral shifts at a time when states across the country ramped their response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Opensignal’s analysis noted that users typically spend more time on Wi-Fi during the weekend and on public holidays, meaning it’s a good indicator of more time at home. 

T-Mobile deployed additional 600 MHz spectrum in two days after getting it on loan from Dish Network and others amid the COVID-19 crisis, according to analysis by Opensignal. This doubled capacity and 4G LTE speeds in major markets, showing a successful example of collaboration within and between the wireless industry and government during the pandemic. In 32 markets, T-Mobile boosted the amount of 600 MHz spectrum for 4G twice - increasing first from 10 MHz to 20 MHz, and then again to 30 MHz.

Halfway through its 5-year rural broadband project, Microsoft said its Airband Initiative is now in 25 states and Puerto Rico. Started in mid-2017, the Airband Initiative aims to eliminate the rural broadband gap and Microsoft said it's on track to meet its target of expanding high-speed internet to 3 million Americans living in unserved areas by 2022.