Her agency's effort with NTIA last week on the latter's annual Spectrum Policy Symposium (see 2109210066) was an important step on collaboration, FCC acting Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel said Thursday at the virtual CTIA 5G Summit. “5G is an essential part of unlocking technologies we've been talking about and slowly developing for years,” including the IoT, “telemedicine, virtual and augmented reality, smart transportation networks, smart energy grids,” she said: “This in turn is going to drive the future of industry and expand the potential for machine learning and the possibilities of artificial intelligence.” The 3.45 GHz auction is important because of more than the mid-band spectrum it will make available for 5G, she said. It will “demonstrate the future viability of coordination zones that require private carriers to depend on other federal actors for information or access,” she said. The FCC is “continuing to work with our federal partners” on opening 3.1-3.45 GHz for a future auction, she said. Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., said Congress should pass legislation like the Secure Equipment Act (S-1790), which the Senate Commerce Committee cleared in August (see 2108040077). 5G “can be the best of technologies or the worst of technologies, if we don't address the safety and security threats that come alongside expanded connectivity,” he said: “We must take the proper steps to keep compromised equipment out of our networks, as well as safeguard all of the connected technology that is proliferating in consumers' homes and across our critical infrastructure.” Many trends from this pandemic, “including touchless retail, work from home and hybrid work and school arrangements,” will continue, predicted Verizon Consumer Group CEO Ronan Dunne. A survey Verizon commissioned found “more than half of employed adults said that they were working at least partially remotely, nearly twice the share before the pandemic began,” he said: And 60% of respondents “said that they expect kids to be able to attend remote school during inclement weather.”
New and existing Booth Mobile customers who preorder the Celero5G smartphone online through Oct. 31 can get it for $279 including talk, text and data for a year, plus a specially designed phone case, said Dish Network Thursday. The Celero5G will be available at Boost Mobile-branded retail locations and in national retail later this fall, it said. “The Celero5G fills a void in the mobile device market, providing an affordable 5G option that's packed with the features customers want,” said Dish. It has a 6.52-inch screen, four cameras, 36 hours of battery life and 4GB RAM/ 64GB ROM memory that's customizable with an SD card up to 2 TB, it said.
China slammed the FCC Wednesday for moving on the rip-and-replace program for Chinese gear (see 2109270023). “Considering the grave pandemic and economic situations in the U.S., the $1.9 billion could be used better in areas in urgent need,” said a Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesperson. “The U.S. has kept smearing and slandering Huawei and other Chinese companies, but is unable to present any solid evidence to support its accusations. The so-called ‘national security’ is only a clumsy excuse of the U.S. to impose ‘national bullying’ and practice trade protectionism.”
Motlow State Community College in southern Tennessee is giving away Samsung Galaxy A32 5G smartphones with a year of free T-Mobile service to 2,100 students on its four campuses to “enhance online education” during the COVID-19 pandemic, said the school and the carrier Monday. The phones are preloaded with the Motlow learning management system so students can connect with their coursework remotely, they said. All services, such as unlimited hot spots, talk, text and data, are included and funded by “sources blended to support students negatively impacted by the pandemic,” they said.
ACT|The App Association cited the importance of broadband maps, finalizing rules for the 6 GHz band and other issues in a conversation with FCC acting Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel, said a filing posted Monday in docket 21-233. ACT urged making more spectrum available for 5G and Wi-Fi: “Resolve remaining issues in its 6 GHz band proceedings as soon as possible based on the well-developed record” that “proposed unlicensed use will not result in harmful interference,” the group said.
NEC and Xilinx are collaborating on NEC’s 5G radio units for global deployment beginning in 2022, they said Thursday. The radios will support a wide range of 5G frequencies, including C-band spectrum, they said. Embedded Xilinx componentry will enable advanced signal processing and beamforming, and add open radio access network support, they said. Beamforming is an electromagnetic technique for promoting faster, more reliable 5G connections.
The Wireless Infrastructure Association said Thursday it joined the National Spectrum Consortium, with the goal of increasing “industry collaboration" on R&D of 5G and "5G-based technologies.” One focus will be telecom workforce development, WIA said.
The O-RAN Alliance and two of its members said they resolved issues about possible ramifications of the U.S. decision to list three Chinese alliance members on the Commerce Department's entity list. Equipment vendors Nokia and Ericsson had halted activities with the alliance over concerns about possible penalties (see 2109030053). The alliance said Sept. 13 its board "approved changes to O-RAN participation documents and procedures." It's up to individuals members "to make their own evaluation of these changes, [but] O-RAN is optimistic that the changes will address the concerns." The alliance didn't comment on what the changes were. Ericsson told us Tuesday it's now "satisfied" the alliance "found a solution that resolves the issue." Nokia said Wednesday it's "delighted" the alliance's work can now continue and will resume its technical contributions.
Nokia representatives spoke with staff, at FCC request, to answer technical questions on gear set to be deployed in the C-band, said a filing posted Wednesday in docket 18-122. “Commercial base stations in C-band are meant to provide wideband coverage for macrocells” and “operate close to the Commission regulatory power limits,” Nokia said: It fielded questions on power levels, out-of-band emissions and antennas, speaking with staff from the Wireless and International bureaus and Office of Engineering and Technology.
Worldwide 5G subscribers hit 429 million in Q2, based on data from Omdia, 5G Americas said Wednesday. That’s up 124 million in the first half of the year, the group said: “5G remains on pace to triple the number of connections in 2020 and is forecast to reach 692 million globally by the end of the calendar year.” North America had 44.6 million by the end of Q2, up 17.9 million for the year.