The lower 3 GHz band, a top target for wireless carriers for reallocation for full-power licensed use, remains critical to DOD as well, DOD Chief Information Officer John Sherman said Thursday at NTIA's spectrum policy symposium. The band is one of five targeted for study in the national spectrum strategy (see 2311130048).
Several lessons are emerging from the move to open and virtual radio access networks that can help providers that are getting started, Matt Conrod, Intel director-VRAN business development, said Wednesday during a TelecomTV webinar. One lesson is the importance of beginning early with field trials and pilot projects to gain exposure to the technology, Conrod said. “You won’t be able to wake up in 2026 and introduce VRAN like you would a traditional RAN feature -- this is network transformation,” he said. Providers should also use “proven” ORAN components, he said, noting that integration takes time. “Reuse proven components and partners who have gone through deployment at scale already,” he advised. Carriers can change their approach after the RAN is established, he said. In addition, providers should “critically assess” their capabilities for system integration and tool development, he said. “Some things, as we have found out, can only be learned at scale,” Conrod said. A recent survey by his company and Analysis Mason found that the greatest obstacles to deployments are integration costs and complexity, said Paul Miller, chief technology officer at ORAN company Wind River. Its work with Dell is helping companies reduce those costs, which are “key obstacles" to adoption of these technologies, Miller said. One key is working with experienced partners on a deployment. Such partners have launched other open networks, said Manish Singh, CTO of Dell Technologies’ Telecom Systems Business. “You want to bring in the set of partners who are actually committed to making this happen,” he added. Providers also should clearly state what they expect from their partners, he said. “Start early and get it to work,” advised Cristina Rodriguez, vice president of Intel’s Network and Edge Group. “The technology is ready today,” she said. While technology will improve, companies should recognize “we have today what we need to start,” she added. Rodriguez agreed there are things providers can learn only when they launch at scale.
The FCC’s Nov. 20 order, published Jan. 22 in the Federal Register, purports to implement congressional “instruction” to facilitate equal broadband access under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, but it gives the commission “unprecedented authority to regulate the broadband internet economy,” said the Ohio Telecom Association’s (OTA) petition for review Tuesday (docket 24-3072) in the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
Don't prematurely change equivalent power flux density rules or otherwise push for EPFD limit changes at the 2027 World Radioccommunication Conference, SES/O3b told the FCC Tuesday. In docket 16-185, it said SpaceX bullishness about possible EPFD changes being undertaken for non-geostationary orbit systems at WRC-27 (see 2312200046) misses that WRC-23 clearly decided only analysis would occur before WRC-27, with conclusions reported then.
Wireless carriers are concerned that mobile broadband has “maxed out” its opportunities for revenue growth, Hans Hammar, Ericsson head-business strategy for business area networks, said during a Mobile World Live webinar Monday. Other speakers agreed that 5G faces challenges, including living up to what providers promised the new technology can do.
Telephone and Data Systems and UScellular stock prices rose Friday after T-Mobile Chief Financial Officer Peter Osvaldik said his company was eyeing UScellular. The boards of TDS and UScellular are exploring the future of the carrier and “strategic alternatives," the companies said in August (see 2308070043). TDS was up 5.85% to $20.08 Friday, UScellular 3.26% to $46.51.
The FTC is examining Alphabet, Amazon and Microsoft to see if they are unfairly exerting undue control over AI markets, Chair Lina Khan announced Thursday.
Following last week’s oral argument in two Chevron cases before the U.S. Supreme Court (see 2401170074), the future of the doctrine appears in doubt.
Labor contributed on average to 73% of underground build costs and 67% of aerial costs for fiber broadband providers in 2023, said a Fiber Broadband Association report Monday. Conducted by Cartesian, the report included regional cost variations and the cost differential between deployment methods. “As broadband providers across the country look to leverage public and private funding to connect communities to high-quality broadband services, understanding the cost variables of deployment remains a vital component to broadband plans and proposals,” said Deborah Kish, FBA vice president-research and workforce development. Respondents to the group's survey expected deployment, engineering and permitting costs to decrease in 2024 while material prices were expected to increase. The group will present the report's findings in a webinar Wednesday at 11 a.m. EST.
Telecom and media companies support the intentions behind FCC and FTC “junk fees” regulatory actions, but implementation raises questions and potential compliance headaches, industry representatives said. At an FCBA event Monday, Brownstein Hyatt financial services lawyer Leah Dempsey said many industries see the White House and regulatory agency focus on junk fees as "kind of a campaign issue." She said President Joe Biden will likely be "touting the war on junk fees" at his next State of the Union address. Dempsey also said there are concerns that agencies are coming to predetermined outcomes on fees.