Fixed-wireless access addresses a longtime “dream” for the wireless sector to enter the broadband business using wireless technology, said Verizon Business CEO Kyle Malady at the Mobile World Congress in Las Vegas Wednesday. Malady and others also noted the growing importance of private networks.
The FCC’s Oct. 19 meeting is packed, with items on 6 GHz rules, Wi-Fi on school buses, wireless emergency alerts, video programming for the blind and visually impaired, maternal healthcare and other items. That's aside from the NPRM on net neutrality, which is expected to grab most of the attention (see 2309270056). The meeting will be the first with new Commissioner Anna Gomez and the first with a 3-2 Democratic majority during the Biden administration.
FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel defended an anticipated proceeding that will kick off the commission's efforts to reestablish net neutrality rules (see 2309260047). "We've made it a national policy to make sure broadband reaches everyone, everywhere," she said during a Wednesday Axios event: "I think we should make it a national policy to make sure it's open and not just leave this issue to the states." Rosenworcel in an FCC note also previewed the draft item to be released Thursday, saying commissioners will vote next month on a proposal to begin the process of restoring the FCC’s "overwhelmingly popular" rules.
A looming federal government shutdown could hinder work on important broadband and satellite regulatory initiatives, said FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel and NTIA Administrator Alan Davidson during a Wednesday Axios event. The chances Congress will include language in a continuing resolution to restore at least parts of the FCC's spectrum auction authorities continued to dim Wednesday, but officials and lobbyists we spoke with don't believe those efforts are completely dead. The Senate and House made progress into Wednesday afternoon on their respective continuing resolution proposals to prevent a shutdown that would otherwise occur this weekend, but major differences between the two measures continued to stoke widespread apprehension on Capitol Hill.
The U.S. wireless industry invested $39 billion in infrastructure, and “America leads the world in 5G availability,” but leadership is in doubt unless more spectrum is allocated for industry to keep up with demand, CTIA President Meredith Baker said Tuesday at the start of the Mobile World Congress in Las Vegas. The U.S. is falling behind many other countries on mid-band for 5G, she said. Baker urged special focus on reallocating the lower 3 GHz, 4 GHz and 7 GHz bands for 5G.
E-rate groups, industry and state officials welcomed the FCC's proposals to expand access to the program and streamline its requirements, in comments posted Tuesday in docket 02-6. Commissioners adopted the Further NPRM in July as part of an order expanding access to E-rate for tribal libraries (see 2307200041). Some sought more guidance on certain rules and more flexibility for applicants seeking category two support.
The FCC's abdicating its internet oversight authority in 2017 largely neutered the agency's ability to protect online privacy and to require ISPs to address lengthy outages, Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel said Tuesday as she announced the agency was moving to take that authority back. Reclassification of broadband as a service under Title II would end having to often jury-rig legal justifications for actions the agency is taking, she said, saying October's agenda will include a draft NPRM on reinstating the agency's 2015 net neutrality rules. The move met loud criticism, including from inside the FCC, as well as support.
Smartphones with mobile supplemental coverage from space (SCS) service will be the norm within a handful of years, with it becoming inevitable that every handset will offer the capability and all mobile carriers will partner satellite operators on direct-to-device service offerings, mobile and satellite industry experts told us. Others question the demand for SCS service.
5G is growing in Europe, but the region is falling behind parts of the Americas and Asia, a GSMA official said during a Mobile World Live webinar Monday. Europe is “lagging in terms of customers willing to upgrade to 5G,” said Radhika Gupta, GSMA Intelligence head-data acquisition.
A Maine proposal to save the state’s 207 area code from phone number exhaustion by combining Consolidated Communications’ multiple rate centers into one could be a model for the entire U.S., said Maine Public Utilities Commission telecom analyst Michael Johnson at a workshop Friday. "This is definitely a big undertaking and something very unique that we're working with Consolidated to possibly implement."