Spectrum

Wi-Fi officially launched 20 years ago, on September 15, 1999. There are many ways in which Wi-Fi might not have become ubiquitous, and instead HomeRF (home radio frequency) remained a competing standard. Had the Wireless Ethernet Compatability Alliance (WECA) chose to focus on just business connectivity, not "go-anywhere" connectivity, workers would have used "FlankSpeed" (a re-envisioned "Wi-Fi") at the office and HomeRF at home. It would be more difficult to bring work home with you. Neither an embattled FlankSpeed nor HomeRF could ever have been as cheap, or as pervasive, as Wi-Fi.

Because 5G is set to be embedded in so many fields of endeavor, the country that dominates the technology is likely to reap outsize profits, attract top-tier engineering talent and seize an edge in other critical future technologies, including weaponry. President Donald Trump has said 5G is a race that the US must win. But while American wireless carriers are leading in early deployment of the technology, some telecom-industry leaders say Beijing is poised to vault ahead in coming months. China plans to blanket urban areas with it by the end of 2020 and the rest of the country soon after.

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai announced that the items below are tentatively on the agenda for the FCC Open Meeting scheduled for Thursday, September 26, 2019:

In 2018, we created the Uniendo a Puerto Rico Fund and Connect USVI Fund. Today, I shared with my colleagues a draft Order that would finalize Stage 2 of the Funds, allocating about $950 million to improve, expand, and harden broadband networks in Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands. We will be voting on this draft Order at the FCC’s monthly meeting on Sept 26.

The power of 5G wireless depends on the use of millimeter wave (mmWave) bands to deliver larger gigabit capacities. Some 5G deployments will be in the sub-6 GHz band, specifically the 3.65 GHz band in the US with a total of 150 MHz of available spectrum, but the broadband industry is shifting its attention to frequencies of 24 GHz and more. These higher-frequency mmWave bands have GHz of spectrum available to generate gigabit connectivity and accommodate 5G services.

Since its founding in 1907, the National Rural Education Association (NREA) has advocated for policies to improve the quality of education in rural communities. There are few issues today that are more critical to that mission than expanding broadband connectivity in rural America. It is critical our policymakers in Washington act. NREA is part of a coalition that works to raise awareness and build support behind a mixed-technology approach to eliminating the rural broadband gap.

On October 25, 2018, President Donald J.

This tech summit is focusing on an important topic: improving the lives of Mississippians through communications technologies. Already today, you’ve heard discussions about the next generation of wireless connectivity and the new applications and services that they’ll enable.

A Q&A with Federal Communications Commissioner Michael O'Rielly.