BROWSING: Policy

FCC reconsidering wireless resiliency rules

There is bipartisan support at the Federal Communications Commission for making voluntary rules around network resiliency into enforceable ones. FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel is circulating new draft rules that are aimed at helping to reduce cellular network outages after natural disasters, largely by codifying an...

Regulators, carriers agree to phase in more C-Band use

Vulnerable aircraft radio altimeters must be retrofitted; Verizon anticipates an 'accelerated and defined schedule' Verizon, AT&T, aviation industry players and federal regulators say they have come up with a series of steps that will balance continued protection of aircraft radio altimeters from potential interference by...

Deutsche Telekom and Telia strike back at anti-operator agenda in private 5G market

Right, let’s see how good my notes are two days later; shortly following a shot-across-the-bows from a top analyst at a London private 5G event (Omdia’s Pablo Tomasi at Private Networks in a 5G World), Sweden-based Telia and Germany-based Deutsche Telekom, on behalf of...

Engineers connect Japan and Europe via space-enabled 5G links

The European Space Agency said that these 5G-based experiments took place in January and February 2022 Engineers have connected Japan and Europe via space-enabled, next-generation 5G telecommunication links for the first time, the European Space Agency (ESA) said in a release. The agency noted that the...

Pavement prioritization, trail sensors, QR codes: Cities getting smarter

How are some cities actually using IoT, new technologies and ever more sources of data? The mayors of three Indiana cities discussed their journeys with tech at a panel yesterday at an event highlighting Perdue University's efforts to support and development various smart city-related...

Connectivity is key for workforce reskilling, ‘last mile education’

Coursera CEO: “If you don’t have connectivity, you’re starving both access to the skill development and the access to the economic opportunity” As it typically does, the World Economic Forum uses its annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland, as a platform for business and political leaders...

FCC proposes faster speeds for rural broadband program

The Federal Communications Commission is considering modifying the rules for one of its high-cost rural broadband deployment programs to support 100/20 Mbps service. The agency has opened public comment on a proposal that would increase available support to some of the smallest, most rural...

India says ‘no’ to direct private 5G licences “for now” – but ‘maybe later’

India is to say ‘no’ to direct spectrum allocations to enterprises for private 5G and Industry 4.0, as provisioned in most other major industrial markets, according to reports. Instead, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) has recommended that leases for enterprise-owned private 5G...

RF factors in play for 5G and future 6G systems

When it comes to 5G and spectrum, there are a lot of complicating factors at work. While previous generations of cellular technologies typically brought new spectrum into play, 5G is making use of familiar sub-6 GHz frequencies that have been foundational to cellular networks,...

FCC authorizes another $200 million for RDOF deployments

The Federal Communications Commission has authorized nearly $200 million from the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund for broadband deployments in 26 states and the Northern Mariana Islands, a U.S. territory. The agency said that the funding, which will be extended over the next 10 years,...

How Europe can build on strengths in SEPs to reclaim leadership in cellular with 5G and 6G (Analyst Angle)

The EU is in grave danger of “throwing out the baby with the bathwater” in its prospective attempts to reform SEP licensing with interventions for the purported benefit of European Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs) in IoT.  Europe was once preeminent in cellular communications with...

Well, technically… the pandemic revealed how small our world truly is: Twilio’s Rebecca Thompson (Ep. 69)

Twilio's Head of Communications Policy discusses the importance of having a global business outlook even if you're not a global company.

FCC kicks off new examination of wireless receivers

The Federal Communications Commission has formally begun a proceeding to gather information about wireless receiver performance, and how it might encourage better performance in wireless receivers—an effort that has bipartisan support on the commission, and which could represent a turning point for the design...

FCC awards another $37 million in emergency connectivity funding

New funding application window for connecting schools and libraries to open next week The Federal Communications Commission continues to dole out emergency connectivity funding for schools and libraries around the country, with a 13th wave of funding that totals $37 million. Funding from the program...

Sigfox sale gets delayed to April 21 – ‘a week to convince the government,’ says UnaBiz

The Commercial Court of Toulouse in France has delayed its decision on the sale of Sigfox until April 21. The decision, originally scheduled for today (April 14), gives Singapore-based UnaBiz, the long-time front-runner to buy ailing IoT firm, another week to appeal against the...

Sigfox spies skulduggery – UnaBiz blocked (and appealed) as Sigfox sale gets political

Singapore-based UnaBiz, the front-runner in the race to buy Sigfox, has had its bid for the ailing French IoT firm blocked by the French Ministry of Economy, as political hyper-sensitivity around economic nationalism, and even protectionism, mounts ahead of the French presidential elections on...

CCA tackles rural broadband, policy, wellness

The Competitive Carriers Association convenes in Tampa this week for its in-person Mobile Carriers show focused on the ins and outs of rural networks and smaller operators' needs amid a time of heightened focus on the extension of broadband services. CCA President and CEO...

Scotland opens 5G hubs in Strathclyde, Glasgow – to be at ‘forefront’ of Industry 4.0

The Scotland 5G Centre (S5GC), a government-sponsored research centre with the universities of Strathclyde and Glasgow, has opened new private 5G network testbeds in Aberdeen and Kilmarnock, in Scotland. The new additions take the total number of S5GC testbeds to five, following installations in...

Rosenworcel: 11 million household participating in FCC’s broadband affordability program

More than 11 million American households are participating in the federal broadband subsidy program that was established during the pandemic and solidified under the Biden administration's Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, Federal Communications Commission Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel told Congress last week. The program was...

‘Time for Africa to put itself at centre of tech revolution’ – Africa Industry 4.0 hub opens

The first Centre for Fourth Industrial Revolution (C4IR) in Africa has opened in Rwanda, with a focus on data governance, artificial intelligence (AI), and machine learning. It joins a network of 15 C4IR venues on four continents, and sets its agenda to “put ...

FCC revokes US operations of another Chinese telecom company

The Federal Communications Commission has revoked the ability of another telecom company, Pacific Networks and its subsidiary ComNet, to operate in the U.S., after determining that the Chinese-owned companies pose a national security risk. The company primarily offers retail calling card services to U.S....

Global standard setting at 3GPP endangered with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine (Analyst Angle)

It took the industry 30 years to consolidate mobile communications developments into a single 4G standard with the introduction of LTE and the demise of WiMAX.  That attainment—also in 5G—should be cherished; but it is imperiled by geopolitical developments. While the international response to Russia’s...

Why the telecom industry needs to look at a multi-tier defense mechanism to combat illegal and malicious robocalls (Reader Forum)

Fraudulent robocalls are a menace across the globe. Many of these utilize call spoofing, a practice by which voice carriers and aggregators intentionally falsify caller ID information to gain an illicit advantage. Call spoofing enables many different types of fraud such as Wangiri (short...

‘We need mid-band deployment at scale,’ Rosenworcel says; 2.5 GHz auction ahead in July

Rosenworcel says she will propose a new look at standards for receivers as well as transmitters The Federal Communications Commission will increase the available midband spectrum in the United States by auctioning 2.5 GHz spectrum this coming July, and follow that up with continued work...