Network management

While the Federal Communications Commission is correct to take steps to promote broadband deployment (like its recent Order promoting a one-touch-make ready regime for pole attachments), its proposal to limit state and local oversight of wireless deployments on public property is likely to have little success in promoting deployment, and instead is little more than a brazen wealth transfer of $2 billion from state and local taxpayers to the nation’s largest wireless companies.

Sept 28 will see a White House rally to promote US leadership in fifth generation (5G) wireless technology. There is no doubt that 5G is an important step forward for wireless technology that will benefit consumers and drive economic growth. However, it is time to take a deep breath and let logic temper emotional battle cries and political gamesmanship. We need to spend less time worrying about China and more time asking how we can we race to make 5G work for all Americans.

Mobile carriers such as AT&T and Verizon are in a race to build brand-new data networks that can deliver ultrafast downloads and support a fresh generation of smart, Internet-connected devices. But a battle is brewing over how much the companies should pay for access to public utility poles and other rights of way, as federal regulators get ready to vote on the issue on Sept 26. The proposal by the Federal Communications Commission would establish new limits on the use fees that cities and towns can charge wireless carriers as the companies set up their new 5G data networks.

The birth of wireless home internet has been so frustrating to observe. While major telecommunication companies like Verizon and T-Mobile make grand proclamations about disrupting home broadband with speedy 5G wireless internet service, the reality on the ground–or, rather, in the air–is harsher. Even with low buildout costs and limitless consumer demand, building out the wireless home internet of the future is a painstakingly methodical endeavor.

T-Mobile offered its clearest glimpse yet at exactly what it will offer in terms of in-home, fixed broadband internet services if the company is allowed to merge with Sprint—to become what it has called “New T-Mobile.”  T-Mobile’s chief operating officer Mike Sievert told the Federal Communications Commission that New T-Mobile “has confirmed that there is a large market for New T-Mobile’s in-home broadband offering at the anticipated pricing and service levels.” He said the company expects to offer in-home internet services to 52% of the zip codes across the county by 2024, covering 64% of

Across the country, telecommunication companies are beginning to lay the groundwork for 5G wireless networks. The buildout often pits states against cities. But a proposal that the Federal Communications Commission is set to vote on Sept 26 would not only upend future local agreements, but also preempt states. If approved, localities across the country would have drastically less authority over 5G infrastructure. 

Millions of Americans will soon encounter new poles or notice antennas sprouting on existing structures, like utility poles, street lamps and traffic lights, all over their neighborhoods. All four national cellphone companies are pushing to build out their networks with a profusion of small, local cells to keep their data-hungry customers satisfied and lay the groundwork for fifth-generation, or 5G, service. Those plans face pushback in many places, and not just from residents.

On Sept 14, Federal Communications Commissioner Brendan Carr will visit AZ to hear from local leaders about the smart infrastructure policies they are putting in place to pave the way for next-gen connectivity and opportunity in communities across The Grand Canyon State. In Gilbert (AZ) Carr will meet with Mayor Jenn Daniels who has helped her community be one of the first in Arizona to streamline the deployment of small cells, which are the building blocks of 5G.

5G technologies are expected to put mobile broadband on par with fiber networks — and they're rolling out on a city-by-city basis similar to how Google Fiber deployed networks between 2010 and 2016. Google has stopped expanding its expensive fiber build-outs and, as a result, is seen as a failed experiment.

The largest US telecommunication companies are slowing internet traffic to and from popular apps like YouTube and Netflix, according to new research from Northeastern University and the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. The researchers used a smartphone app called Wehe, downloaded by about 100,000 consumers, to monitor which mobile services are being throttled when and by whom, in what likely is the single largest running study of its kind. Among US wireless carriers, YouTube is the No. 1 target of throttling, where data speeds are slowed, according to the data.