Google remains hopeful the 3.5 GHz band citizens broadband radio service band will open for business in the first half of 2019, said Andrew Clegg, spectrum engineering lead, at the Next Century Cities conference Tuesday. Clegg predicted sharing will remain a key theme under President Donald Trump and will hit new heights with use of the 3.5 GHz band. The CBRS band will benefit rural and urban consumers, Clegg said: “It’s going to add a lot of fill-in capacity for urban systems. It’s a great complement to 5G.” In rural markets, wireless ISPs now have access to 50 MHz in the band and will be able to use up to 150 MHz, he said.
There are ways to move forward on policymaking to improve broadband deployments as the new Congress begins, federal and communications sector officials said Tuesday during a Next Century Cities-led event. Officials highlighted the potential for compromise as a contrast to the rancor over the ongoing partial government shutdown. They also noted policy disagreements. Later, the conference heard about spectrum (see 1901150043).
It’s unclear why DOJ sued to block AT&T’s buy of Time Warner, Attorney General nominee William Barr told Congress Tuesday. He had concerns the Antitrust Division wasn't engaging with some TW arguments. In Tuesday's Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing, Barr again committed to recusing himself from lawsuit proceedings (see 1901110028) because he was on TW's board during the deal.
The FCC asked a court to postpone Feb. 1 oral argument on the agency's net neutrality reversal, citing the partial government shutdown and the need of its attorneys to prepare. The commission said petitioners challenging the order oppose its Tuesday motion, its industry supporting intervenors don't oppose it, and others took no position (see 1901150057).
Though critical cyber offices at the Department of Homeland Security are understaffed because of the partial federal government shutdown, DHS can manage its duties for now, former department officials told us. The bigger issue is that a dysfunctional government makes the public sector less attractive to cyber professionals, who already have more incentive to work in the private sector, they said.
Possible violations of Minnesota law by Frontier Communications have state legislators’ attention, they told us. Comments are due early next month to the Public Utilities Commission on the state Commerce Department finding the carrier may be violating at least 35 laws and rules, based on about 1,000 customer comments (see 1901040039).
Former FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler slammed the Donald Trump administration’s work on 5G. Wheeler, now at Brookings, said many from the FCC to satellite companies to T-Mobile/Sprint use 5G as a justification for doing things they wanted to do anyway. Unless 5G is more secure than 4G and reaches parts of the U.S. now left unserved, its significance will be underwhelming, Wheeler blogged Friday.
LAS VEGAS -- On a final 5G panel at CES, speakers discussed advantages of the next generation of wireless. Verizon and AT&T already have launched 5G in some markets, with T-Mobile and Sprint scheduled to do so as well. Speakers repeatedly said Thursday they had never seen as much focus on a single topic at a CES as they saw on 5G.
A draft NPRM that would simplify processes for prospective low-power FM and noncommericial educational (NCE) station operators to apply for licenses during filing windows isn’t expected to draw controversy or much pushback at the FCC, said broadcast attorneys and industry officials in interviews. Most of the proposed rule changes would have little practical effect until a filing window for LPFM or NCE licenses is opened. It’s unlikely such windows would be opened until the rulemaking proceeding kicked off by the NPRM is complete, said Garvey Schubert's Melodie Virtue. The current proposals would mostly “get rid of some regulatory gotchas” that were barriers to entry, Virtue said. The NPRM is set for commissioners' Jan. 30 meeting.
Concerns about the partial government closure's impact on FCC device approvals (see 1901040008) mounted Friday, a day before the impasse reached a record length (see 1901100020). Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel also expanded on her concerns about the hiatus' impact on device authorizations (see 1901080023), seeking an end to the shuttering. A wireless charger maker also complained of the delay (see 1901110023).