Wireless Telecommunications

AT&T has updated three smartphones from Samsung and LG to make them show 5G connectivity logos, even though none of them are capable of connecting to 5G networks. Now, when the Samsung Galaxy S8 Active, LG V30, or LG V40 are connected to portions of AT&T’s LTE network that have received some speed-boosting updates, they’ll show an icon that says “5G E” instead of “LTE.” That “E” in the “5G” logo is supposed to tip you off that this isn’t real 5G — just some marketing nonsense. But there’s no way of knowing that just from looking at the logo.

Google's radar-based gesture control system for mobile devices, Project Soli, isn't dead yet. The project, which was announced all the way back in 2015, has popped up at the Federal Communications Commission, where it has been approved for use in the 57- to 64-GHz frequency band. Project Soli's goal is to build a tiny radar system on a chip that can be used to detect hand gestures made above a device. Soli is only at the experimental stage right now, but Google usually pitches Soli as a concept control scheme for smartwatches, speakers, media players, and smartphones.

Here are 10 questions about broadband we hope to find answers to in 2019:

Welcome to 2019, where you will find aggressively marketed to you a new upgrade in Wi-Fi called “Wi-Fi 6” and just about every mobile provider will try to sell you some “new, exciting, 5G service!” But funny thing. If you buy a new “Wi-Fi 6” wireless router you know exactly what you’re getting. It supports the latest IEEE 802.11ax protocol, operating on existing Wi-Fi frequencies of 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz, and any other frequencies listed on the package.

Sen Joe Manchin (D-WV) lifted his hold on Federal Communications Commissioner Brendan Carr after the agency promised to prioritize rolling out funding for wireless broadband in rural areas. Sen Manchin announced the hold on Commissioner Carr the week of Dec 10 after the FCC announced it would pause the funding program while it conducts an investigation into coverage data submitted by major wireless carriers.

Today, Americans can choose between four nationwide wireless carriers – but that choice is now threatened by the proposed merger of Sprint and T-Mobile. If allowed to proceed as proposed, this merger will condense the market to just three national carriers, leading to higher prices, foreclosing the entrance of new competitors and eliminating jobs. And while the companies have promised that this deal would speed the roll out of 5G and improve rural service, the facts belie these claims. This deal offers no meaningful public benefit and threatens vast consumer harms.

Sprint and T-Mobile are urging Comcast to say publicly how it believes it will be affected by the proposed merger of the nation’s third and fourth largest wireless network operators.

Our two nations are connected by shared values and shared interests, and that is certainly true in the field of communications. Each of our governments is committed to connecting all of our citizens with what I like to call digital opportunity. And on Dec 17, the US Federal Communications Commission and the Israeli Ministry of Communications put this commitment into practice. We convened the first meeting of a new Joint Working Group to exchange information and learn from each other’s experiences.

A pair of telecommunications industry trade organizations gave more than $3 million to nonprofit organizations that helped secure the repeal of network neutrality policies in 2017, according to tax returns reviewed by MapLight.

The Federal Communications Commission is required to review biennially its regulations “that apply to the operations or activities of any provider of telecommunications service” and“determine whether any such regulation is no longer necessary in the public interest as the result of meaningful economic competition between providers of such service.” The FCC must repeal or modify any regulation that it finds are no longer in the public interest.