EchoStar has met its next FCC deadlines for its 5G network buildout ahead of schedule, Chief Operating Officer John Swieringa said. Speaking to analysts Thursday after the market's close as EchoStar announced quarterly earnings, Swieringa said the company's final construction deadline next year would likely be pushed to 2028 due to meeting the 2025 deadlines. The company had a June 14 deadline for its network to be compliant with 3rd Generation Partnership Project Release 17 standards. It had also committed to having at least 24,000 towers deployed by then. That deadline was set in exchange for additional time the FCC granted EchoStar last year to meet construction milestones attached to some of its wireless licenses (see 2409200049). The company didn't say how many towers were deployed.
Spectrum for the Future went on the attack Thursday against new CTIA President Ajit Pai over his calls for more spectrum for high-power licensed use. Pai has had a big week, contributing an opinion piece for The Wall Street Journal (see 2505050033) and hosting CTIA’s 5G Summit (see 2505060036). Spectrum for the Future is funded by cable companies and other sharing advocates. CTIA didn't comment Thursday.
The 50 MHz guard band between 28.35 and 28.4 GHz to protect upper microwave flexible use service (UMFUS) receivers from non-geostationary orbit (NGSO) earth stations in motion (ESIM) interference is wasteful and unnecessary, satellite interests said. In a docket 17-95 posting Thursday, the Satellite Industry Association recapped a meeting with FCC staff at which it and satellite company representatives argued that the 28 GHz UMFUS band is underused. SIA said the potential interference from NGSO ESIMs is no different from the potential interference from NGSO fixed terminals or from geostationary orbit fixed terminals or ESIMs, which can operate in the 28.35-28.4 GHz band. Satellite operators have demonstrated the interference risk is minuscule, the group said. A nationwide guard band to safeguard localized, limited UMFUS deployments that are already protected unduly limits NGSO ESIM services. Meeting with the FCC Space and Wireline Bureau staffers were representatives of Amazon, SES and Telesat.
At the end of 2024, just over 651,000 structures supported wireless infrastructure across the U.S., the Wireless Infrastructure Association said in a report Wednesday. WIA said that last year, the wireless industry spent more than $10.8 billion “expanding network capacity and coverage, excluding expenditures on spectrum.” Total wireless infrastructure investments, “including construction, maintenance and operations,” were more than $63 billion. The report said 368,750 workers were employed in the U.S. wireless infrastructure sector at the end of 2024.
The FCC Public Safety Bureau agreed to give UL Solutions the extra time it asked for to complete its initial work as lead administrator in the agency’s voluntary cyber trust mark program, extending the deadline 41 days to June 13 (see 2505050040). “We find an additional extension of time to be reasonable given the highly technical and complex issues being considered, the significant industry coordination involved, and the public interest benefits of ensuring the Commission receives complete and thorough recommendations,” the bureau said in an order Tuesday (docket 23-239).
SpaceX's measurement of EchoStar's use of the 2 GHz band "speaks for itself," according to a SpaceX filing (docket 22-212) posted Wednesday. SpaceX said that its data shows that EchoStar has left 95% or more of the band vacant and that EchoStar hasn't provided any data to show otherwise. That means it's up to the FCC to determine whether EchoStar has satisfied its band-specific commitments. If the commission says EchoStar is in compliance, the low activity levels in the band warrant reconsideration of using population-based terrestrial buildout requirements, said SpaceX, which has petitioned the FCC for greater access to the 2 GHz band (see 2402230027).
Nearly 50 WISPA members were in Washington on Wednesday to meet with policymakers on issues important to wireless ISPs, the group said. On Capitol Hill, WISPA had scheduled more than 60 meetings with members of Congress and staff from both chambers, said a news release. “WISPs provide broadband to over 9 million Americans, primarily in unserved, under-resourced, and Tribal areas that too often fall outside the reach of traditional providers,” WISPA said: “By leveraging a mix of unlicensed spectrum, shared spectrum such as [citizens broadband radio service] and 6 GHz, and increasingly fiber, WISPs have long pioneered flexible, cost-effective broadband solutions -- often in places no one else would serve.” Matt Mandel, WISPA's vice president-government affairs, said WISPs are closing deployment gaps “faster and more affordably than legacy providers.”
EchoStar, parent of Dish Wireless, filed at the FCC on Tuesday a list of cellsites where it offers 5G. EchoStar redacted the entire list and asked for confidential treatment. The report demonstrates that EchoStar has satisfied a commitment to the FCC to deploy at least 24,000 5G sites by June 14, said the filing in docket 22-212.
Comments are due June 6, replies July 7, on a Further NPRM on wireless location accuracy, said a notice for Wednesday’s Federal Register. The FNPRM, which commissioners approved 4-0 in March (see 2503270042), focuses on the importance of dispatchable location, an FCC priority for the last 10 years.
AT&T is prepared for the start of hurricane season, the carrier said Monday. It has a new 45-foot custom-built landing craft "capable of transporting trucks, network assets and other solutions,” and public safety agencies subscribed to FirstNet “have 24/7 access to a dedicated nationwide fleet of more than 180 deployable network assets,” the company said.