Network management

While our universities and tech firms still lead in cutting-edge innovation — from artificial intelligence to 5G wireless technology — it is China that has deployed them. The US is losing the commercialization race, a failure of our own making. America has no domestic manufacturer of 5G equipment, so it must rely on European or Chinese suppliers.

Much like TaxWatch, one of the Federal Communications Commission’s chief priorities under FCC Chairman Ajit Pai has been to serve as a watchdog to identify and repeal bad regulations and learn from the lessons of the past. By eliminating regulations that impose unnecessary costs on the economy, our actions protect the American consumer, facilitate the deployment of new communications networks to connect distant communities, and help close the so-called “digital divide.” Now, the Communications Act envisions an important role for the states and municipal actors (like local utility and zoning

The long-touted fifth generation (5G) of wireless communications is not magic. We’re sorry if unending hype over the world-changing possibilities of 5G has led you to expect otherwise.

In one year mobile Video Experience has significantly improved in 59% of 100 countries analyzed. Top-ranked countries for mobile download speed were far from top in Video Experience. South Korean users’ experience ranked first for download speed yet 21st for video, while Canadians’ were third fastest for download speed in Opensignal’s State of Mobile report, but just 22nd for video.

The Federal Trade Commission announced a $60-million settlement from wireless giant AT&T for not playing straight with the public. The issue is "throttling" and wireless companies intentionally slowing down your speed to near unusable levels if you consume too much of its "unlimited" data. AT&T said it was sorry, that the practice was way in the past – dating back to 2011 – and that it ha

Baltimore’s (MD) streets are dotted with more than 600 “small cell wireless facilities” on streetlights and utility poles, making the city one of the first areas in MD to welcome the new technology. The sometimes box-like equipment delivers cellular signals faster than traditional cell phone towers, paving the way for 5G service. The wireless industry and local governments have faced off on the issue in the General Assembly, and could again in 2020.

Better mobile phone coverage in the British countryside has moved a step closer after the government and the telecoms regulator backed an industry plan to share masts and build new towers in very remote areas. Mobile operators spent months thrashing out an agreement to allow access to each other’s masts in rural areas to improve patchy coverage, but it was contingent on Ofcom, the telecoms regulator, revising the rules of an impending sale of spectrum for 5G services. The regulator on Oct 25 confirmed the changes had been agreed.

The Federal Communications Commission has officially rescinded the portion of its rules that exempted certain wireless facilities deployments from local environmental and historic preservation reviews. An order from the FCC's Wireless Telecommunications Bureau indicated there had been no need to put the order out for public notice and comment since it was simply implementing a court mandate from which the FCC had no discretion to deviate. 

The House Communications Subcommittee considered a handful of bills Sept. 27 at the hearing "Legislating to Secure America's Wireless Future" -- the thrust of which were to protect 5G networks from foreign intruders looking to spy on the US, as well as to efficiently manage spectrum. Bills being considered at the hearing were: 

House Commerce Committee Chairman Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ), Ranking Member Greg Walden (R-OR), Reps Doris Matsui (D-CA), and Brett Guthrie (R-KY) introduced the Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Act (HR 4459), a bipartisan bill to help secure America’s telecommunications supply chain. "This bipartisan legislation will protect our nation’s communications networks from foreign adversaries by helping small and rural wireless providers root-out suspect network equipment and replace it with more secure equipment.