Spectrum

In comments submitted to the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) concerning a National Spectrum Strategy (NSS)—an initiative that plans to unify federal spectrum strategy and provide a roadmap for future allocations—our coalition is urging the Administration to recognize the value of the 12 GHz band and to call upon other agencies, primarily the Federal Communications Commission, to maximize the 12 GHz band’s usage.

Mobile data demand is exploding, with aggregate data downloaded quadrupling in the last seven years. New and innovative uses enabled by 5G, as well as the prospect of 6G applications, point towards further increases in expected demand for mobile network capacity.

As the Federal Communications Commission continues taking steps to sustain and spur growth within the white space ecosystem, we adopt three orders addressing pending issues associated with white space devices. These actions will provide additional certainty to white space device users and manufacturers to enable unlicensed white space devices to operate efficiently while protecting other spectrum users. In the Report and Order we adopt rules specifying the database re-check interval for the new categories of mobile and narrowband white space devices established in 2020.

T-Mobile grabbed a big head start on mid-band 5G deployments with its 2.5 GHz winnings from the Sprint merger, covering 260 million people with Ultra Capacity 5G by the end of 2022. Verizon is farther behind. Executives have said they plan to cover 250 million people, or POPs, with Ultra Wideband, which includes its 3.7 GHz C-band spectrum, by the end of 2024. CEO Hans Vestberg said the company is well ahead of schedule to reach that target.

The United Kingdom announced its wireless infrastructure strategy on April 11, 2023. As part of this effort, the UK aims to deliver nationwide coverage of standalone 5G to all populated areas by 2030, ensuring that it can bring its full benefits to villages and rural communities well beyond cities and towns. The Prime Minister has set out 5 priorities for the UK government - to build a better, more secure, more prosperous future for the UK, including growing the economy, and creating better-paid jobs and opportunity right across the country, which this strategy is focused on delivering.

T-Mobile has long been a participant in the Federal Communications Commission's spectrum auctions, which the Commission has used for 30 years to rapidly assign licenses. These auctions fuel the U.S. economy—they’ve returned $233 billion to taxpayers so far, and once armed with this spectrum, wireless companies have spent another $635 billion building out networks.

Telecom carriers and analysts have been talking about lower capital expenditures (capex) for 2023, so it’s no surprise that Dell'Oro Group released a report citing a decline in worldwide telecom spending in 2023. Dell'Oro states that the decline is going to continue for a while.

Some questions about T-Mobile’s Home Internet service remain unanswered, including the cause of a deceleration of subscribers from the third quarter to the fourth quarter of 2022. However, the analysts at MoffettNathanson took a stab at examining that and other issues related to fixed wireless access (FWA) in a new report. The report is an update of one from a year ago in which MoffetNathanson worked with Opensignal, formerly Comlinkdata, to analyze where FWA subscribers are coming from. Not a lot has changed from a year ago; Opensignal’s estimates of T-Mobile’s FWA subscriber mix show sign

AT&T, T-Mobile, UScellular and Verizon sent a letter to the Federal Communications Commission saying that they agreed to voluntary commitments related to air traffic safety and the deployment of C-band spectrum. “These voluntary commitments will support full-power deployments across C-band, and are crafted to minimize the operational impact on our C-band operations,” the letter stated.

EnerTribe, a Native American and woman-owned consulting firm specializing in telecommunications and infrastructure projects, and Tarana, manufacturer of the Gigabit 1 (G1) broadband platform, the first of its kind in next-generation fixed wireless access (ngFWA), announced their partnership to enable the rapid deployment of reliable, high-speed internet in tribal communities across the US. EnerTribe serves as a resource for operators, value-added resellers, and other organizations that provide essential services to tribal residents, governments, and enterprises.