Wireless Telecommunications

AT&T confirmed it is planning widespread job cuts that include managers and executives, in addition to 3,400 technician and clerical jobs. It will also close 250 retail stores, impacting 1,300 retail jobs. While the cuts can't be separated from the COVID-19 impact on the economy, the moves also come as the mobile industry has consolidated from four national players to three following T-Mobile's acquisition of Sprint. AT&T said the store closures were planned, but accelerated by the pandemic. Most store employees will be offered another job with AT&T, the company said.

T-Mobile finally fixed network issues that had caused intermittent voice and text outages that affected customers across the US. The outages, which started June 15 just after 12 p.m. ET and continued for about 13 hours, were an “IP traffic related issue” that “created significant capacity issues in the network core throughout the day,” according to an update from T-Mobile CEO Mike Sievert. Later, T-Mobile President of Technology Neville Ray wrote:

Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross announced a new rule ensuring US industry’s ability to more fully contribute to standards-development activities in the telecommunications sector. International standards serve as the critical building blocks for technological development by enabling functionality, interoperability, and safety.

The Ericsson Mobility Report for June 2020 found that fixed broadband usage increased an average of two and a half hours a day, while COVID-19 mobile usage, on average, increased about one hour per day. As people spent more time online at home, network traffic loads shifted geographically from city centers and office areas to suburban residential areas. In markets with limited penetration of fixed residential networks, the mobile data demand increase was especially high. Other key findings:

A T-Mobile US service outage, which kept thousands of customers from making calls or using data on June 15, will be investigated by the Federal Communications Commission. “The T-Mobile network outage is unacceptable,” FCC Chairman Ajit Pai said, adding that the FCC would launch a probe into the matter.

The Federal Communications Commission approved $237.9 million in funding over three years to expand, improve, and harden mobile broadband networks in Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands. Specifically, in Stage 2 of the Uniendo a Puerto Rico Fund and Connect USVI Fund, the FCC authorized $233.9 million to three carriers serving Puerto Rico and $4 million to one carrier serving the US Virgin Islands.

In the last decade, the smartphone has become a tool for witnessing police violence toward African Americans. From the 2009 killing of Oscar Grant to the 2020 killing of George Floyd, we reviewed the footage and talked to the people who captured it, to see how the accounts of racial injustice became clearer as the phones evolved. “This is our only tool we have right now. It is the most effective way to get us justice,” said Feidin Santana, who used his smartphone in 2015 to film a police officer killing Walter Scott in South Carolina. “The smartphone is a weapon that tells the story.

Wireless internet service providers (WISPs) have long offered fixed wireless broadband services in rural areas where cable or wireline broadband is lacking. But now fixed wireless is seeing a bit of a revival in some urban markets thanks to Verizon’s 5G Home service and newcomer Starry’s fixed wireless 802.11-based service. But not everyone is convinced that these new attempts at delivering fixed wireless broadband will be a success.

The protests continuing around the country are historic displays of social action. For political operatives, the mass gatherings are also a unique opportunity to harvest data on potential voters. Advocacy and voter-registration groups are gathering a trove of data from protests by tracking the cellphones of participants and sending them messages about registering to vote or taking other actions. The tactics, which one user called “deeply spooky yet extremely helpful,” are the latest example of ways political groups are using cellphone data to target voters.

When Dish Network Chairman Charlie Ergen forged a deal to acquire Boost from Sprint -- the takeover target of T-Mobile US -- the hope was it would lead to a new nationwide wireless carrier.