Wireless Telecommunications

Communication at a distance, especially the electronic transmission of signals via cell phones

FCC Commissioner Carr Lauds Ninth Circuit Decision Upholding Small Cell REforms

I am pleased that the Ninth Circuit affirmed the wireless infrastructure reforms we adopted in September 2018. I thank the Federal Communications Commission staff who carefully crafted the order, and I congratulate the Office of General Counsel for their successful defense of our work. Small cells that power 5G were threatened by exorbitant fees and unnecessary delays—red tape that was tolerated when building macro towers but would have brought small cell deployment to a halt.

Court Upholds Most of FCC's 5G Deployment Deregulation

A federal appeals court has upheld most of the Federal Communications Commission's orders speeding the deployment of cell service buildouts by easing regulations on those 5G deployments, including pole attachments and various local reviews of buildouts. Specifically upheld were the Small Cell Order, the Moratoria Order, and the One Touch Make-Ready Order, all parts of the FCC's Accelerating Wireless Broadband Deployment by Removing Barriers to Infrastructure order. 

Los Angeles, Other Cities Sue to Block FCC Cell Tower Order

Los Angeles, Boston, and other cities and counties have asked a federal court to block the Federal Communications Commission from overruling their authority to stop cell tower upgrades. The local governments, in a petition for review filed before the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, argue that the FCC exceeded its statutory authority and acted arbitrarily and capriciously in violation of federal law.

In Victory for Qualcomm, Appeals Court Throws Out Antitrust Ruling

A three-judge panel of the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit threw out an antitrust verdict against Qualcomm, overturning a ruling that had threatened the chip maker’s business model. The panel reversed a 2019 ruling by District Court Judge Lucy Koh, who found that Qualcomm had abused its monopoly position in wireless chips and overcharged mobile phone makers for its patents.

White House to Retool Pentagon Airwaves for 5G Networks

The Trump administration outlined a plan to commercialize a swath of military radio frequencies for use in next-generation 5G networks, yielding to cellphone carriers that have sought the spectrum for their own use. The White House plan would arrange for the Federal Communications Commission to auction 100 megahertz of prized mid-band spectrum starting in December 2021, allowing telecom companies to bid on licenses for them.

Wiltshire valley locals build their own mobile phone network

The village hall in Bowerchalke is an unlikely setting for a mobile technology revolution. Yet local residents, surrounded by crocheted goods and local jams, have spent three years forging a mobile phone network to bridge their own digital divide. The experimental Ch4lke Mobile, which runs over just five masts, can connect homes to a network capable of delivering broadband-like speeds, in an area that had been left behind by the digital revolution.

Dish marks progress on 5G network build

Dish Network is making progress on its one-of-a-kind open radio access network (RAN) in the US. Dish Chairman Charlie Ergen said “we’re just going to go do it,” rather than try to convince skeptics about what they’re doing. Dish needs to get through the RF planning, permitting and site acquisition processes and the actual installation of gear like antennas, but it’s still looking to launch one market before the end of the year. Dish is supposed to build a 5G network that covers 70% of the U.S. population by June 2023.

Executive Orders on Addressing the Threats Posed by TikTok and WeChat

President Donald Trump issued a pair of executive orders that will impose new limits on Chinese social-media apps TikTok and WeChat, effectively setting a 45-day deadline for an American company to purchase TikTok’s US operations. The orders bar people in the US or subject to US jurisdiction from transactions with the China-based owners of the apps, effective 45 days from Aug 6. That raises the possibility that US citizens would be prevented from downloading the apps in the Apple or Google app stores.

T-Mobile Overtakes AT&T to Become No. 2 Carrier

T-Mobile said it has vaulted ahead of rival AT&T in the race for wireless customers to become the country’s second-largest cellphone carrier. T-Mobile ended June with 98.3 million US customers, excluding wholesale subscribers on other brands that use its network. AT&T reported 92.9 million prepaid and postpaid customers, a tally that didn’t count wholesale accounts or connected devices such as Wi-Fi hotspots and car sensors.

FCC Establishes Bidding Procedures for December C-band Auction

The Federal Communications Commission established final application and bidding procedures for the auction of 280 megahertz of mid-band spectrum for 5G and other advanced wireless services. This auction will offer 5,684 new flexible-use overlay licenses based on Partial Economic Areas (PEAs) for spectrum in the 3.7– 3.98 GHz band. This spectrum holds the potential to be prime spectrum for 5G services, and the procedures adopted today will ensure the assignment to auction winners of contiguous spectrum blocks allowing wide channel bandwidths that support 5G deployment.