Wireless Telecommunications

Facebook says privacy changes that Apple has made to its newest operating system will cripple Facebook’s ability to serve targeted ads to iPhone users while they use outside apps. The announcement, which Facebook made in a note to app developers, will affect its Audience Network business, which connects users’ Facebook identities with their off-platform activities. That enables the company to serve them ads on apps outside of Facebook’s. The changes go into effect with Apple’s new operating system for iPhone, called iOS14, which was released in beta form to developers recently.

Mobile data usage is at least 96 times higher today than it was just 10 years ago, according to a new report about US wireless industry growth from industry association CTIA. Annual mobile data consumption jumped from 388 billion megabytes (MB) in 2010 to 37.06 trillion MB in 2019. In 2020, the average smartphone user consumed 9.2 GB per month, up from 6.6 GB per month in 2019.

The Federal Communications Commission announced the successful conclusion of bidding in its auction of Priority Access Licenses in the 3550-3650 MHz band. This auction, which was designated as Auction 105, made available the greatest number of spectrum licenses ever in a single FCC auction. This 70 megahertz of licensed spectrum will further the deployment of 5G, the next generation of wireless connectivity, as well as the Internet of Things and other advanced spectrum-based services. 

The Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) leads 5G risk management efforts so the US can fully benefit from all the advantages 5G connectivity promises to bring. In support of CISA’s operational priority to secure 5G, as outlined in the CISA Strategic Intent, the CISA 5G Strategy establishes five strategic initiatives that stem from the four lines of effort defined in the National Strategy to Secure 5G.

On July 30, 2020, numerous Members of Congress wrote to Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajti Pai to request that the FCC extend the 2.5 GHz Rural Tribal Priority Window by 180 days — until Feb 1, 2021 — while not delaying further necessary proceedings associated with the auction in order that it stay on track.

Verizon has partnered with the Texas Education Agency (TEA) and Gov Greg Abbott’s (R-TX) Operation Connectivity initiative to provide up to 18.9 million students in Texas and 15 neighboring states with a simple and quick way to access critical distance learning technologies.

AT&T and T-Mobile are fighting a Federal Communications Commission plan to require drive tests that would verify whether the mobile carriers' coverage claims are accurate. The carriers' objections came in response to the FCC seeking comment on a plan to improve the nation's inadequate broadband maps.

House Commerce Committee Chairman Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ) and Communications Subcommittee Chairman Mike Doyle (D-PA) sent a letter to Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai urging him to give tribes more time to apply for broadband licenses in the 2.5 GHz Band. “We are concerned that the FCC’s failure to provide adequate time for tribes to take full advantage of the 2.5 GHz Rural Tribal Priority Window means fewer tribes will be connected to lifesaving internet service,” Charimen Pallone and Doyle wrote.

Verizon is adding some perks to its wireless plans, but some things aren't changing: Verizon still restricts 5G service to its most expensive unlimited-data plans. If you want to save money by getting a limited-data plan, you'll have to make do with 4G only—which, admittedly, is not a big problem for most people given how sparse Verizon's 5G network is. AT&T still enforces a similar restriction, including 5G only in its unlimited-data plans while selling limited-data plans without 5G.

The Federal Communications Commission begins its latest annual statutorily-mandated assessment of its progress in closing the digital divide. In the 2020 Broadband Deployment Report, the FCC concluded that for the third consecutive year such advanced telecommunications capabilities are being timely deployed. While the 2020 Report acknowledged there is still work to be done to fully close the digital divide, more Americans than ever before now have access to the benefits of broadband as the FCC’s policies have created a regulatory environment to stimulate broadband investment and deployment.