Wireless Telecommunications

My mission and the Federal Communications Commission’s top priority is closing the digital divide and maximizing the benefits of broadband for the American people. The FCC is working to achieve that goal with the help of market principles. We want private companies to have the strongest possible business case for raising the capital and hiring the crews to build next-generation networks. Of course, it’s not enough to make sure that all Americans have high-speed Internet access. We also need to preserve the Internet itself as an open platform for innovation and free expression.

Sept 10-14 is National Telephone Discount Lifeline Awareness Week. The Federal Communications Commission, the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners, and the National Association of State Utility Consumer Advocates mark this week to highlight the critical role of the he federal Lifeline program. Despite the tangible benefits of Lifeline, in 2017 the FCC proposed substantial changes to Lifeline that would severely damage the program and harm the low-income and vulnerable families that rely on Lifeline for basic connectivity.

Millions of Americans will soon encounter new poles or notice antennas sprouting on existing structures, like utility poles, street lamps and traffic lights, all over their neighborhoods. All four national cellphone companies are pushing to build out their networks with a profusion of small, local cells to keep their data-hungry customers satisfied and lay the groundwork for fifth-generation, or 5G, service. Those plans face pushback in many places, and not just from residents.

I'm going to be the first Commissioner at the Federal Communications Commission to talk about 6G wireless service. Getting from here to there won’t be simple. In fact, I think it will require Washington to reassess some policies it holds dear and considers tried and true. I want to talk about three things we should revisit for the spectrum policy of the future— valuation, auction, and distribution.

Charter Communications Chairman and CEO Tom Rutledge explained why 5G isn’t an existential threat to cable’s connectivity business. “We have a better platform to deploy [5G] technology, I think, than the cellular industry does because we are fully distributed from a high-capacity wireline perspective,” said Rutledge. “If you think about what 5G is, it is small cells,” Rutledge added. “Small cells mean you needs lots of wired line connectivity to make the small cells work. We think we are actually in a better position to do that than traditional cellular companies.

AT&T, Verizon Wireless, T-Mobile US, and Sprint unveiled a system that would let them manage your logins across third-party websites and apps. The \system would verify each person's identity with "a multi-factor profile based around the user's personal mobile device," taking into account the user's phone number, account tenure, IP address, phone account type, and SIM card details. The system "combines the carriers' proprietary, network-based authentication capabilities with other methods to verify a user's identity," the carriers say.

On Sept 14, Federal Communications Commissioner Brendan Carr will visit AZ to hear from local leaders about the smart infrastructure policies they are putting in place to pave the way for next-gen connectivity and opportunity in communities across The Grand Canyon State. In Gilbert (AZ) Carr will meet with Mayor Jenn Daniels who has helped her community be one of the first in Arizona to streamline the deployment of small cells, which are the building blocks of 5G.

In Aug it was reported that T-Mobile was asking the small operators that resell T-Mobile's excess network capacity (Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MVNOs)) to write letters and opinion pieces in support of the company's proposed $36 billion merger with Sprint. By helpfully suggesting talking points to resellers —including Mint Mobile, Republic Wireless, and Ting, all of which lease access from the Big Four network operators (Verizon, AT&T, Sprint, and T-Mobile) in order to sell phone and data services to customers, T-Mobile is following the usual "air of inevitability" merger playbook

National organizations representing municipalities are rebelling against Federal Communications Commissioner Brendan Carr’s plan to streamline the deployment of the 5G wireless infrastructure known as small cells. The proposal, set for a Sept. 26 vote, would preempt local government authority, a measure of run-around that wireless giants like AT&T and Verizon say may be necessary for 5G deployment given delays they face at the local level.