Wireless Internet

The Federal Communications Commission has been ramping up our work to promote space-based innovation.

SpaceX’s satellite-internet division has outpaced rivals and generated surging revenue, but it hasn't lived up to Elon Musk’s ambitions. Starlink reported $1.4 billion in revenue for 2022—up from $222 million in 2021. However, the company had predicted the business would be bigger by now: a 2015 presentation SpaceX used to raise money from investors projected that Starlink would generate almost $12 billion in revenue and $7 billion in operating profit in 2022. Starlink is key for Musk's plans to send humans to Mars. Global spending on high-speed internet is orders of magnitude bigger than o

Several years ago, Comcast acquired wireless spectrum in the CBRS and 600 MHz bands as a key building block to host even more data traffic on its own wireless networks. Beginning Sept 2023, after successful employee tests of the CBRS spectrum, Xfinity Mobile and Comcast Business Mobile customers in Philadelphia will start connecting to the company's new 5G network for the first time. This strong CBRS spectrum performance has made Comcast realize that it is unlikely to need the 600 MHz spectrum licenses that it currently holds to support wireless customers.

On August 7, Reps. Mike Gallagher (R-WI) and Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL) wrote Federal Communications Commission Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel with concerns about the security risks posed by cellular connectivity modules provided by companies subject to the jurisdiction, direction, or control of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) or the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). On September 5, the Chairwoman wrote back saying that the s approach is to “deter, defend, and develop”: deter bad actors, defend against untrusted vendors, and develop a market for trustworthy innovation.

Since 2020, AT&T's network has seen an annual 30% increase in traffic. This is the direct result of our progress enabling standalone 5G. Many of the newest mobile devices use the 5G standalone network that we are moving thousands of customers to every day.

The Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) is a huge factor in the prepaid ecosystem. In the coming years, the two top sources of funding for this ecosystem will be the Total by Verizon store rollout and the ACP.

Midco is a midwestern service provider that offers broadband via hybrid fiber coax (HFC), fiber-to-the-home, and fixed wireless access (FWA). The company serves 490,000 homes and businesses in 400 communities in Kansas, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wisconsin. Midco is doing greenfield fiber-to-the-premise (FTTP) builds in new communities and to large multi-dwelling units. But in brownfields, it’s doing a mix, adding fiber deeper into neighborhoods, but also upgrading its cable plant.

The National Content & Technology Cooperative (NCTC), formerly known as the National Cable Television Cooperative, has completed the build of its Connectivity Exchange platform, which allows NCTC broadband provider members to compete for and win bids to provide services to commercial customers through a single unified network. Initially focused on negotiating video-related deals for smaller broadband and pay TV provider members, the NCTC's focus has expanded to include offerings such as a mobile virtual network operator offering through AT&T.

Despite the cable mobile virtual network operators' (MVNO's) success with bundled offerings and heavily discounted wireless service plans, don’t expect Verizon to follow suit. Verizon CEO Hans Vestberg dismissed the cable MVNO's strategy of offering free or discounted wireless service plans when bundled with broadband. “Lowballing and discounting won’t help us,” he said, adding that the company recently ended its $25/month discounted pricing for its 5G Home fixed wireless access offering.

Charter Communications CEO Chris Winfrey believes fixed wireless access (FWA) won't meet speed and bandwidth demands. In fact, Winfrey likens it to DSL – a product that had its moment but saw many customers flee to cable's higher-quality connections. The initial success of FWA "shows there's a nice, niche market for limited-bandwidth, limited-capacity, and limited-reliability product," Winfrey said.