Nokia’s portfolio of 5G-essential patents topped 4,000 “families” of inventions, said the company Thursday. “Nokia contributes its inventions to open standards in return for the right to license them” on fair, reasonable and nondiscriminatory terms, it said.

CTIA asked the White House to direct the FAA and the aviation industry to work with the wireless industry on deploying the C band for 5G, starting in January. CTIA President Meredith Baker sought intervention in a Thursday letter to Brian Deese, director of the National Economic Council. Industry officials warned Wednesday of extended delays as the FAA probes potential interference to radio altimeters (see 2111100068). “Aviation safety is critically important,” Baker said: “It is also not at risk due to C-Band 5G operations because there is no credible engineering evidence or real-world interference incidents to warrant delay in 5G deployment. The sole basis for the aviation community’s advocacy is an aviation industry association report released late last year asserting interference risks to aviation altimeters, but a review of the test parameters shows significant flaws and inconsistencies and raises serious questions about the report’s veracity.” If results were accurate, “altimeters in the United States would be functioning improperly today, even in the absence of 5G deployments,” she said. The White House didn’t comment Friday. The FAA should leave 5G in the C band alone, Free State Foundation bloggers said. “The FCC has legal authority over commercial spectrum -- and the FAA does not,” they said: The FCC shouldn’t “allow the integrity of federal commercial spectrum policy to be undermined by executive agencies making last-minute unsubstantiated complaints.”

The global fixed wireless access market is expanding quickly “to fulfill the need of high-speed broadband connectivity” for business and consumer segments, and 5G’s “fiber-like broadband service” capabilities are expected to speed FWA adoption, reported ABI Research Wednesday. It forecasts the FWA market will exceed 180 million subscriptions globally and generate $70 billion in revenue by 2026, when 5G FWA will have 40% of the total FWA market. “5G FWA services can be deployed faster and at lower cost” than fiber to the home, said ABI. Faster time-to-market at a lower rate of capital expenditures are the key advantages of FWA deployments “to expand the service coverage and boost adoption,” it said.

Nokia representatives said all open radio access network deployments aren’t equally open, in a call with staff from the FCC Office of Economics and Analytics and Wireless Bureau. “Simply declaring a deployment ‘open’ does not make it so, if, for example, it is achieved through a private agreement in which vendors have disclosed their specifications to each other but are not building to the type of open, common specifications envisioned by the O-RAN Alliance work,” said a filing posted Wednesday in docket 21-63: “Lack of conformity to common specifications would make it very difficult for another supplier to step into such a deployment later, effectively limiting the carrier’s options for partners. That is hardly the end-state ‘mix and match’ environment that would reflect an open ecosystem.” ORAN company Rakuten also spoke with staff from the OEA, Wireless Bureau and Office of Engineering and Technology. “Rakuten discussed and answered staff questions on how American wireless carriers can deploy an OpenRAN, cloud-native network,” the company said.

Dish Network representatives told FCC staff that open radio access networks offer vendor flexibility, will enhance spectrum utilization and network slicing, and mean a more secure network. “DISH is well underway in its construction of a first-of-its-kind, cloud native, virtualized O-RAN 5G network,” said a filing posted Wednesday in docket 21-63: “Because DISH is building a greenfield network, we have the flexibility to choose the best technology to enter the market.”

T-Mobile is the exclusive 5G launch partner in North America for Qualcomm Technologies’ new Snapdragon Spaces XR Developer Platform, the carrier said Tuesday. T-Mobile said it’s working with startups and developers using the platform on augmented reality glasses starting next spring. “5G is powering more immersive experiences that better connect us to people and things around the world, and glasses will be one of the first disruptive new product categories,” said Neville Ray, T-Mobile president-technology: “First we need to build the ecosystem of developers that will bring new applications to life.”

Dish Network's DBS subsidiary will offer $4 billion in senior secured notes, using the proceeds to fund the "potential purchase" of wireless spectrum licenses and for the buildout of "wireless infrastructure," said an 8-K Monday. Existing Dish wireless spectrum licenses may be used as collateral for the "intercompany loan," it said. The money potentially will be used to buy licenses in the 3.45 GHz auction, said New Street’s Jonathan Chaplin. “While there can be no guarantee that this is for 3.45 GHz spectrum, the filing specifies the proceeds will be used ‘in order to finance the potential purchase of wireless spectrum licenses and for general corporate purposes, including the buildout of wireless infrastructure,’” he said: “We don’t think Dish needs outside funding for the network right now." He thinks it's "certainly plausible this is for 3.45 GHz spectrum, given the auction’s price has nearly settled (the auction will continue through technical procedures for at least another month, however),” he said.

The future of 5G spells growth “way beyond the smartphone," blogged Alex Katouzian, Qualcomm Technologies senior vice president-general manager. “Widespread 5G deployment is accelerating into numerous industries, sectors, and governments, serving to quickly and efficiently connect organizations to every aspect of their business,” said Katouzian. “Ultra-fast” millimeter-wave 5G “is creating completely new use cases” for technologies like “connected intelligent edge” for immersive extended reality and “powerful AI through distributed computing,” he said. Rather than just being a “personal connectivity” technology, 5G is “fueling digital transformations around the world,” he said. It’s connecting people to their homes and cars, “businesses to their supply chains, robotics, and security, and cities to their transportation and infrastructure systems,” he said.

The rate of 5G deployments will accelerate over the next five years, reaching 2.6 billion subscriptions globally in 2026, contributing significantly to mobile operator revenue of $942 billion that year, projected ABI Research Tuesday. China is the “key contributor” to 5G market momentum, currently generating more than two-thirds of the global 5G subscriptions, it said. The U.S. is second in 5G adoption with more than 50 million subscribers, followed by Japan and South Korea, it said. ABI estimates global 5G subscriptions will reach 507 million by the end of 2021, almost double the rate of 2020 adoption, it said.

Qualcomm is committed to achieving net-zero emissions by 2040, announced the company Monday. This “reflects our belief that environmental sustainability is absolutely imperative, with significant social and economic benefits that require collective action and leadership from Qualcomm and other corporate citizens," said CEO Cristiano Amon. He thinks 5G “will be instrumental in driving an environmentally sustainable future.”