Wireless Internet

The 5G industry continues to see strong growth according to new data from 5G Americas and Omdia that shows 185 million 5G connections were added in Q1 2024, pushing the global total to nearly two billion. 5G Americas and Omdia project that 5G connections will hit 7.7 billion by 2028. The new data shows that North America leads the charge in 5G adoption, with 5G connections in the region comprising 32 percent of all wireless cellular connections. Notably, the region experienced healthy growth in the first quarter, adding 22 million new connections to operator networks.

The digital divide is a global problem. NCTA – the Internet & Television Association released last week a documentary called “Every Last Mile,” which aims to illustrate the challenges ISPs face in building broadband in rural America, but we went a step further. We looked at which broadband and telecommunications startups are tackling connectivity on a global scale.

A television conference in Washington (DC) aired a proposed remake of one of the bigger spectrum-policy hits of the past decade, although it's not clear what kind of reception "Incentive Auction 2.0" might get. Federal Communications Commissioner Brendan Carr endorsed the idea of a second "incentive auction" during his talk onstage with Madeleine Noland, president of the Advanced Television Systems Committee.

Elon Musk’s satellite internet service, Starlink, is facing stiff resistance from Indonesian internet service providers (ISPs). The Indonesia Internet Service Provider Association is asking the government to ban Starlink’s license to sell services to consumers because ISPs see satellite provider as a threat to their market share. The ISPs have invested heavily in setting up a terrestrial network.

AT&T claims it is the first carrier in the U.S. to introduce 5G Reduced Capability (RedCap) technology for the IoT sector, with commercial service now available in select areas of the Dallas metro area. The service was launched on June 14 via a software upgrade from Ericsson, but AT&T is working with both Ericsson and Nokia on its RedCap rollout, according to Jason Sikes, AVP of Device Architecture at AT&T. RedCap stands for “reduced capability,” which sounds like something’s gone missing, but it actually refers to reduced complexity and therefore, reduced costs.

Millions of students, school staff, and library patrons around the country are on the wrong side of the digital and educational divide and, as a result, lack the same access to educational resources as their peers.

At the end of the first quarter of 2024, T-Mobile and Verizon together have accumulated 8.6 million customers nationwide on fixed wireless access (FWA) cellular home broadband. This is amazing success for a product that was just launched in 2021. The combined FWA customers represent 7 percent of the entire U.S. broadband market. Nobody knows exactly where the companies are finding the new customers because they aren’t telling, and the companies losing customers are mum about it. The appeal of FWA is obvious.

It looks like Congress will remain deadlocked over how to release spectrum for 5G.

T-Mobile says it will comply with an advertising watchdog’s recommendation that the company discontinue or adjust its price lock claims for its Internet service in response to a challenge brought by AT&T. The watchdog, BBB’s National Programs National Advertising Division (NAD), uses these challenges to self-regulate service providers’ advertising claims.

The Los Angeles school board set in motion a plan to ban cellphones all day on campus, saying the devices distract students from learning, lead to anxiety, and allow cyberbullying.