Federated Wireless Chief Technology Officer Kurt Schaubach and other company executives met with FCC Office of Engineering and Technology staff on the future of the 6 GHz band, said a filing posted Thursday in docket 18-295. Federated discussed how an automated frequency coordination system “could be leveraged to protect licensed incumbent services, while enabling and expediting access by Standard Power unlicensed devices to the U-NII 6 and U-NII 8 bands and providing additional power and flexibility for Very Low Power unlicensed devices to the U-NII-5 through U-NII-8 bands,” the filing said. Federated is testing its AFC system as it moves toward full operation (see 2310060025).
Verizon and AT&T are gaining on T-Mobile in 5G speeds in areas near airports since July when the two providers were allowed to increase power levels on their C-band installations in airport areas (see 2307180076), Opensignal said. AT&T and Verizon users saw “stunning boosts in their average 5G download speeds” after Aug. 1, compared with the period before July 1, said a Wednesday report: Download speeds were up 79.6% for AT&T, 62.1% for Verizon, and “both surpass the 100 Mbps milestone around the airport areas and are in a statistical tie,” with scores of 126.9 Mbps for AT&T, 132.2 for Verizon. At 174.5 Mbps, T-Mobile “still commands a substantial margin over its competitors,” but the differences are narrowing, Opensignal said.
The Boost Wireless Network now offers 5G broadband service to more than 73% of the U.S. population, covering 89 markets, parent Dish Network said Thursday. Boost announced it now offers 5G voice in 11 additional markets: Billings, Montana; Cincinnati; Columbia, South Carolina; Denver; Jacksonville, Florida; Minneapolis; Philadelphia; Portland, Oregon; Tucson; Arizona; and Washington, D.C. “This gives Boost Mobile and Boost Infinite customers the very latest in wireless connectivity at an unbeatable price -- as low as $15/month,” Dish said.
NTIA’s Commerce Spectrum Management Advisory Committee will hold its final meeting of the year Dec. 19, according to a notice for Friday’s Federal Register. CSMAC last met in September (see 2309210043). The group is focused on topics including 6G and the citizens broadband radio service band. The 2 p.m. meeting will be held at the NCTA, 25 Massachusetts Ave. NW, Suite 100, Washington, D.C.
NTIA Wednesday asked for comment, no later than Jan. 2, on an implementation plan for the national spectrum strategy (see 2311130048). NTIA also asked parties who want to meet with NTIA staff on the plan to schedule meetings “as soon as practicable.” An accompanying presidential memorandum asked the Commerce Department to publish an implementation plan within 120 days of the Nov. 13 release of the strategy. “NTIA is welcoming public input from interested stakeholders to help inform the development of an implementation plan for the Strategy, which is needed for the U.S. to bolster investment in spectrum-related innovative technologies and plan effectively for its current and future spectrum Needs,” the notice said: “NTIA is interested in public views on implementing the Strategy, with a focus on the next 1-3 years, as such inputs allow NTIA and other federal agencies to benefit from expertise and viewpoints outside the federal government. These views will be considered in developing the implementation plan, which is intended to help accelerate U.S. leadership in wireless communications and other spectrum-based technologies and to unlock innovations that benefit the American people.”
One long-standing contention is that the odd number G’s -- 3G and 5G in particular -- aren’t as significant as the even numbered ones, Jeffrey Reed, Virginia Tech professor of electrical and computer engineering, said during an IEEE webinar Wednesday. But Reed predicted that over time 5G will start to meet expectations. “We’ve seen a lot of negative publicity about 5G lately,” but negative comments follow the introduction of every new generation of wireless technology, he said. The first generation was primitive, didn’t support data and security was “horrendous,” he said. With 2G the quality of voice calls initially was “horrible,” Reed said. 3G “promised a lot of data” but didn’t do a good job with video, and delivery was late, particularly for the European market, he said. “4G has its disappointments as well -- it brought us video, but its battery life was horrendous,” especially in the early days, he said: “There was a lot of hype behind 5G. We have yet to see the realization of low latency and massive machine-to-machine communications on a large scale.” But in all G’s, the standards eventually catch up with expectations, he said. “5G is still evolving and many of the capabilities will eventually be demonstrated,” he said. 5G will continue advancing over the next five years or longer “laying the foundation for 6G,” he said. Two advances almost universally expected for 6G are widespread use of AI in networks and greater energy savings, he said.
NTIA supported a waiver sought by Jotron to permit the authorization and use of a personal locator beacon (PLB) not in compliance with FCC rules. Jotron noted that the device is in compliance with a recently published Radio Technical Commission for Maritime (RTCM) Services standard for PLBs. The FCC Wireless Bureau sought comment on the waiver request in August (see 2308230051). Replies were due Sept. 13. “NTIA believes the public interest and safety are served by permitting deployment of the improved PLBs while the Commission considers updating its rules to reference the latest RTCM standards,” NTIA said in comments posed Wednesday in docket 23-292: “Accordingly, NTIA supports the Jotron Waiver Request to further the safety and rapid rescue of our nation’s citizens, which is a top priority for the United States Government.”
Verizon subsidiary Tracfone agreed to pay $23.5 million to settle an investigation into whether it violated FCC rules for the Lifeline and emergency broadband benefit programs, and to put in place compliance measures, the FCC said Wednesday. That amount includes $6 million to resolve a 2020 notice of apparent liability for other apparent Lifeline violations, the agency said. The Enforcement Bureau investigated Tracfone’s procedures “for determining customer usage, which are critical for ensuring public funds are not subsidizing unused connections,” the agency said: “TracFone disclosed that its internal processes resulted in Lifeline claims for customers who had not used the service in the prior 30 days, contrary to the Commission’s rules.” Verizon closed on its buy of the low-cost carrier two years ago (see 2111220069). “Whether attributable to fraud or lax internal controls, or both, we will vigorously pursue allegations of misconduct that harms critical FCC programs designed to help those most in need of communications-related services,” said Enforcement Bureau Chief Loyaan Egal.
Verizon is deploying C-band spectrum in rural and less dense markets, with more than 250 million POPs expected to be covered in the next few quarters, Joe Russo, president-global networks and technology, said during a Wells Fargo conference Tuesday. That’s up from 230 million POPs in the latest announcement. “POPs covered isn't exactly my goal,” Russo said. “My goal is to get capacity and performance into the network where customers want to use it when they need it, where they need it,” he said. Verizon plans to deploy the band in all U.S. markets, which will happen over the next few years, he said. “We'll follow where customer demand is. … Where we see we need capacity, coverage or capabilities in the network, that's where we'll target next.” Verizon is targeting 350,000-400,000 net fixed wireless adds a quarter, using spectrum it already has deployed, he said. It is seeing “more and more enterprises look to us” for fixed wireless access, “both for backup and primary connections,” he said. Companies that have branches in different locations want access to the same level of throughput in all branches, he said. Verizon is also pleased with the performance of its high-band spectrum, which it’s using in ways the company didn’t expect a few years ago, Russo said. “It's a great tool in our toolbox to handle capacity and to allow customers to do things they never could do before in certain areas,” he said: “If you've been to a Taylor Swift concert, all of those people, our customers, are there and they want to stream that experience with their friends and family, and you couldn't do that in a 4G world.”
NTIA’s Public Wireless Supply Chain Innovation Fund on Tuesday awarded its second round of grants, awarding a total of $13 million. Among the grants were $2 million to the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, for learning-based open radio access network testing, and nearly $2 million to Northeastern University for its DigiRAN digital framework. “The transition to open, interoperable wireless networks is now well on its way -- bringing with it greater security, competition, and resiliency,” said NTIA Administrator Alan Davidson: “The Wireless Innovation Fund will accelerate this shift by supporting the foundational research and testing needed for this crucial technology.” The fund will provide $1.5 billion during the next decade to support the development of open and interoperable networks.