Wireless Telecommunications

On December 11, 2023, the House of Representatives passed Sen. John Kennedy’s (R-LA) 5G Spectrum Authority Licensing Enforcement (SALE) Act. The bill would require the Federal Communications Commission to release previously auctioned spectrum in order to expand broadband access to rural communities. The US Senate passed Kennedy’s legislation in September 2023. The 5G SALE Act would temporarily grant the FCC auction authority it needs to complete spectrum transfers, which would allow broadband services to provide greater 5G network coverage to Americans in rural areas.

Conversations about rural broadband access tend to focus on connections to homes and businesses, but precision agriculture increasingly requires reliable connectivity to the farm office and the field. In the field, farmers rely on wireless connectivity—such as fixed wireless and mobile cellular—to make real-time strategic and logistical decisions about their land, crops, animals, equipment, and farm facilities. Connected sensors in the field collect the accurate, timely data that farmers can use to optimize their practices and conserve resources.

The Consumer Electronics Show 2024 is just around the corner, and while telecommunications executives were eager to shout about 5G to the rafters just a few years ago, you’ll probably be lucky to hear so much as a whisper about it this time around. While it’s true that 5G has actually arrived, the fantastic use cases we heard about years ago haven’t materialized. But deploying 5G at the breakneck speeds required to win an imaginary race resulted in one fewer major wireless carrier to choose from and lots of debt to repay.

As fiber deployments grow, Comcast President Mike Cavanaugh thinks the company is well-positioned to handle the competition. “We’re very focused on the key competitor over the long term being fiber,” Cavanaugh said “The good news is we’ve competed against fiber for 20 years, we know how to compete against [it].” What’s driving the current competitive landscape, Cavanaugh went on to say, is “low move activity” and “the entry of fixed wireless.” He noted it’s difficult to say “which one is more significant.” Cavanaugh predicts fixed wireless access (FWA) will “run for a while,” but said Comca

Senators Edward J. Markey (D-MA) and Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) urged the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to act expeditiously in its proceeding regarding the 12.2-12.7 GHz spectrum band while continuing to maintain an evidence-based approach.  With the 12.2-12.7 GHz band, the FCC has a unique near-term opportunity to expand broadband access, improve the distribution of spectrum resources, and put our spectrum to its most efficient use, especially in rural areas of the country.

Two top executives in the 5G industry renewed calls for more spectrum for commercial uses just weeks after the Biden administration released a 26-page national spectrum strategy. AT&T CEO John Stankey and Verizon's top networking chief, Joe Russo, both said that companies need access to more spectrum in order to innovate and grow the industry. Critics of President Joe Biden, including Federal Communications Commissioner Brendan Carr, argue that his administration hasn't done enough to support the 5G industry.

Dish’s Boost Mobile wireless network now covers 89 markets, with a footprint of 140 million people. The company recently added 12 new markets: Billings, MT; Cincinnati, OH; Columbia, SC; Denver, CO; Philadelphia, PA, Fayetteville, NC; Jacksonville, FL; Minneapolis, MN; Portland, OR; Shreveport, LA, Tucson, AZ; and Washington, DC. Dish bought the Boost Mobile business, which at the time was prepaid only, from T-Mobile as a condition of T-Mobile’s acquisition of Sprint. The deal closed in 2020. Dish owns spectrum and is moving traffic onto that network as it is built.

Viasat, Inc. announced the second satellite in the upcoming Arctic Satellite Broadband Mission has completed thermal vacuum testing at Northrop Grumman’s Dulles, VA, site: a significant milestone as the project looks to connect the Arctic region with high speed broadband in the second half of 2024. The mission, led by the Space Norway subsidiary Heosat, will see two satellites deployed in a highly elliptical orbit (HEO) in the world’s first HEO mission carrying a broadband commercial service payload.

Open Signal users on AT&T and Verizon’s networks have enjoyed substantial boosts in their download speeds around U.S.

Verizon’s TracFone Wireless subsidiary reached a settlement with the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) Enforcement Bureau to resolve an investigation into whether the company violated the agency’s Lifeline and Emergency Broadband Benefit (EBB) program rules.  According to the FCC, TracFone’s internal systems: 1) improperly considered a subscriber’s receipt of an inbound text message to constitute qualifying Lifeline usage and 2) improperly claimed support for a group of customers who were enrolled jointly in both the Lifeline and EBB programs, but did not use one of the services in