Wireless Telecommunications

Common Networks, a Silicon Valley startup founded by former executives from payment company Square, announced the next stage in its fixed wireless broadband strategy with the launch of a symmetric 300 Megabits per second (Mbps) service for $49 per month. Common Networks is roughly three and a half years old, and said its fixed wireless broadband is made possible through the use of proprietary software built on open 5G technology, millimeter wave (mmWave) radio and its own software stack.

T-Mobile US and Sprint have taken the first, albeit small step to launch settlement discussions with a group of state attorneys general who threaten to potentially derail their $26 billion merger. Officials at T-Mobile and Sprint have begun exploring possible settlement ideas both internally and with the state AGs. 

T-Mobile and Sprint filed their opposition to calls for a formal comment period on proposed changes to their planned merger, saying petitioners already have had plenty of time to comment and it’s time for the Federal Communications Commission to act. The August 9 filing came after the Wireless Internet Services Providers Association (WISPA) on 

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai shared with his colleagues a draft Order that would approve, subject to conditions, the proposed merger between T-Mobile and Sprint. “After one of the most exhaustive merger reviews in Commission history, the evidence conclusively demonstrates that this transaction will bring fast 5G wireless service to many more Americans and help close the digital divide in rural areas.

Verizon has sued the City of Rochester (NY) in order to avoid paying fees for deploying 5G equipment and fiber lines. Verizon's lawsuit, filed in US District Court for the Western District of New York on Aug 8, claims that the fees are higher than those allowed by federal law. As proof, Verizon points to a Federal Communications Commission preemption order from 2018 that attempts to limit the fees and aesthetic requirements cities and towns impose on carrier deployments. Rochester imposed its new fees in February.

Trade group TechNet, which counts AT&T and Verizon among members, is sounding the alarm over language in the Senate defense bill, S. 1790, ordering the Defense Department to create a test-bed program for “innovative technologies and techniques to facilitate” spectrum sharing between 5G service providers and incumbent airwaves occupants. Wireless heavyweights view this language as a Pentagon power grab over 5G and are lobbying to strip it from the bill before the House and Senate settle on a consensus version.

CenturyLink said that it will invest “several hundred million dollars” in edge computing, following in the footsteps of AT&T and Verizon. AT&T and Verizon both have mobile businesses and with the advent of low-latency 5G networks, they and other mobile carriers are recognizing the need to minimize the distance between mobile users and the cloud. CenturyLink’s entry into edge computing suggests that the edge compute market may be like the fiber backhaul market— a mobile-driven opportunity even for non-mobile carriers.

Political and economic power is shifting to the cities, and 20% of the population — 46 million people — is being left behind in rural America. These communities face increasingly difficult barriers to education, wealth and health. Technological advancements such as 5G and automated vehicles won't directly make life harder for rural America, but instead will fuel inequality by making life that much easier for urban America.

A small library that lends out mobile hotspots is facing a tough budget decision because one of its borrowers accidentally ran up $880 in roaming fees, and Verizon refuses to waive or reduce the charges. The Tully (NY) Free Library has an "unlimited" data plan for the hotspots, but Verizon says it has to pay the $880 to cover less than half a gigabyte of data usage that happened across the border with Canada. Generally, the library pays $40 a month for each of the three hotspots, for a total of $120 a month.

The Wireless Internet Service Providers Association (WISPA) is adding its voice to those calling on the Federal Communications Commission to open a public comment period since new developments were made related to the proposed merger of T-Mobile and Sprint. WISPA, which previously called for a public comment period, notes the series of agreements that T-Mobile and Sprint entered into with the Department of Justice in July. Those conditions include the divestiture of certain spectrum assets to Dish Network.