Wireless Telecommunications

The Michigan High Speed Internet Office kicked off its BEAD challenge process this week, and it’s doing everything in its power to scrub the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) map of locations where providers are overstating their coverage. The state is receiving a historic $1.56 billion BEAD funding allocation—the fourth highest in the nation.

Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel shared with her colleagues a proposal that would improve how wireless calls to the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline (988 Lifeline) are routed to ensure that callers in crisis have access to behavioral health resources in the state or territory they are calling from while protecting their privacy. Calls to the 988 Lifeline are currently routed based on the caller’s area code and exchange, which presents some obstacles to callers whose area code does not correspond the caller’s location when in crisis.

Consumer fixed wireless (FWA) access growth using 5G networks has been one of the bright spots of the move to the new cellular standard. Both T-Mobile and Verizon in the United States have seen success offering the latest wireless technology to replace cable internet for the public stateside and it is spreading across the world. The reason?

Streamlining permitting efforts is crucial to quickly deploy the high-speed Internet networks needed by families and businesses across the U.S. The impact of the Advisory Council’s action will be felt immediately in our current broadband projects, and will make it easier for future deployments to connect unserved locations across America.

Our journey towards providing Internet for All will only succeed if we are able to quickly build high-speed Internet networks and get people the connections they need for doctor’s visits, distance learning, and applying for jobs. One important way to meet this moment is to streamline permitting reviews.

Advisory Council on Historic Preservation (ACHP) Chair Sara Bronin announced her approval of the Amended Program Comment for Federal Communications Projects. The amendment was requested by the US Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA). The purpose of the amendment is to assist federal agencies in efficiently permitting and approving the deployment of wired and wireless next generation technologies of communications infrastructure, including 5G, to connect all communities with reliable, high-speed Internet.

Chris Scharrer, founder and CEO of DCS Technology Design, claims that Mercury Broadband has overstated its ability to provide fixed wireless access (FWA) in 12 Michigan counties on the FCC’s broadband map. And he says this is deterring other providers from competing for Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) grants. Scharrer has mapping data that shows Mercury has claimed it provides practically ubiquitous coverage across 12 counties in Southern Michigan.

There is a tendency to think of high-cost areas—places where it’s expensive to build fiber—as only being in remote places with tough terrain. We’re going to see a lot of other cases of high cost locations that I think are going to surprise State Broadband Grant offices. There are many reasons that drive up the cost of building a landline network. Some places are high-cost by definition. I know of a small town in Arizona that is fifty miles away from the nearest other people.

The National Spectrum Strategy released November 13, 2023, charts a course for sustained US leadership in advanced wireless technologies and services. The radio spectrum provides numerous forms of connectivity to the American public, from the voice and data communications that fuel smartphones to critical government services that depend on spectrum access, and it therefore serves as a key foundation for the digital infrastructure on which the modern American economy runs. The Implementation Plan provides a public roadmap for this effort.

Spectrum is a hot topic in Washington these days, as lawmakers, lobbyists, regulators and others look for advantage ahead of the release of an implementation plan for the Biden administration's national spectrum strategy. The latest: A new bill from two top Republican Senators would require the government to reallocate at least 600MHz of midband spectrum for commercial use within three years.