American Airlines will offer complimentary in-flight Wi-Fi in January using Viasat and Intelsat satellite connectivity, the airline said Tuesday. Free Wi-Fi will be available to AAdvantage loyalty program members, and roughly 90% of its fleet is equipped with the connectivity. The airline is on pace to outfit more than 500 regional aircraft with Wi-Fi by year's end, it said. Retaining American Airlines as a customer is a big win for Viasat, the world's largest provider of in-flight connectivity, William Blair's Louie DiPalma wrote investors Tuesday. Viasat likely faced significant competition from SpaceX’s Starlink, which has won Wi-Fi deals with United Airlines, Air France, Qatar Airways, WestJet and SAS, he said.
Critics of T-Mobile’s proposed buy of wireless assets from UScellular spoke with an aide to FCC Chairman Brendan Carr to elaborate on their concerns. The groups at the meeting were the Rural Wireless Association, Communications Workers of America, Public Knowledge, New America’s Open Technology Institute and the Benton Institute for Broadband & Society. Joined by EchoStar, the same groups also met with aides to Commissioner Anna Gomez.
Since November, the Open Radio Access Network Alliance work and focus groups have published 67 technical documents, “bringing the total to 130 titles in [the] current version and 770 documents overall,” the group said last week. “O-RAN specifications lay the groundwork for open, intelligent, virtualized, and interoperable" RANs, it said: “By building on existing RAN standards, they enable innovation and support the growth of a global, competitive O-RAN ecosystem that delivers advanced products and services for network operators and beyond.”
Federated Wireless urged the FCC to consider the success of spectrum sharing in the citizens broadband radio access service and 6 GHz as it moves forward on the 4.9 GHz public safety band. The CBRS spectrum access system (SAS) and 6 GHz automated frequency coordination (AFC) system “enable widespread commercial access to spectrum while protecting existing and evolving incumbent use,” said a filing posted Monday in docket 07-100. As the FCC considers “the requirements and responsibilities” of the 4.9 GHz band manager, it should consider leveraging “proven spectrum management tools and capabilities” such as the SAS and AFC “to ensure efficient and intense utilization of the 4.9 GHz Band in support of public safety missions nationwide,” said Federated, whose representatives met with staff from the Wireless and Public Safety bureaus.
Tesla asked the FCC to act on its request for a waiver of agency rules to allow authorization for an ultra-wideband (UWB) positioning system operating in the 7.5-8.5 GHz frequency range, which would “facilitate wireless charging” of electric vehicles (EVs). The FCC sought comment in February, and Tesla noted that there has been no opposition (see 2502250037). “Grant of the requested waiver is necessary so the UWB sensors can be used to assist in the alignment of the EV with the outdoor pad in order to optimize usage of limited parking space, assist in alignment of the EV with an automated underbody conductive charger, or maximize coupling in applications such as wireless charging of the EV, and thereby provide efficient battery charging,” Tesla said in a filing posted Monday in docket 25-101.
AT&T notified customers that the carrier’s email-to-text and text-to-email services will be phased out June 17. “This means you won’t be able to use email to send or receive texts,” AT&T said. “Others who have AT&T Wireless won’t be able to email to send you a text or use text to send you an email.” An AT&T spokesperson confirmed the change in an email Friday: “This technology has become outdated and contributes to a high volume of unwanted text messages. We believe our customers are better served with more trusted and reliable messaging services."
WISPA urged a few changes to the FCC’s draft 37 GHz item, set for an April 28 commissioner vote. The filing was posted Friday in docket 24-243. WISPA called for more focus on a dynamic spectrum management system for the band. The group also raised questions about power levels as measured in effective isotropic radiated power (EIRP).
Mobile subscriptions worldwide stood at 8.8 billion at the end of 2024, up from 8.7 billion a year earlier, TeleGeography wrote last week. That's a population penetration of 109%. It also said total mobile subscriptions should reach 9.7 billion by the end of 2030, driven by 5G technology adoption. China and India accounted for more than a third of the world's mobile subscriptions, with 1.8 billion and 1.2 billion, respectively, at the end of 2024. Europe had the highest population penetration at year's end at 140%, followed by the U.S. and Canada at 124%, it said. The wireless carriers dominating the U.S. mobile sector -- T-Mobile, Verizon and AT&T -- had market shares of 35%, 34% and 27%, respectively.
Lumi United Technology asked the FCC on Friday to approve its requested waiver for an ultra-wideband (UWB) door lock system that would operate in the 6-10 GHz frequency range (see 2502250037). “Three parties filed comments in this proceeding, and all three parties support the waiver,” Lumi said in docket 25-102. “The comments confirm that the Lumi UWB Door Locks will pose no risk of harmful interference and that there are significant public interest benefits to granting the waiver request.”
The Competitive Carriers Association supported petitions for reconsideration of the FCC’s August order launching a 5G Fund filed by the Coalition of Rural Wireless Carriers (CWRC) and the Rural Wireless Association (see 2501140056). CCA agrees that “several aspects” of the order “require prompt reconsideration,” said a filing posted Friday in docket 20-32.