NTIA’s Institute for Telecommunication Sciences issued a “Broad Agency Announcement” Friday seeking prototype or commercial-off-the-shelf equipment for open radio access network tests. “ITS is seeking equipment used in Open RAN 4G and 5G networks, as well as Virtualized RAN (vRAN) software and RAN automation software,” the announcement said: “ITS will deploy the technology in its Communications Research and Innovation Network to evaluate performance, inter-vendor interoperability, and standard maturity compared with established RAN technologies.” Responses are due July 6.

Verizon is seeing traffic growth at its stores as the pandemic wanes, and is recruiting an additional 1,000 retail employees to keep pace, Verizon Consumer Group CEO Ronan Dunne told a Bernstein virtual conference Wednesday. Verizon is seeing strong economic recovery, “we're seeing the evidence of consumer confidence, we're seeing activity levels both on the network and in the marketplace, back to 2019 and maybe even above,” he said. Dunne predicted growing momentum for Verizon as its C-band spectrum comes online later this year. All “key” handsets are compatible with the newly opened band, which will offer 5G similar to what’s available now using high-band spectrum, he said. Verizon’s high-band 5G covers only a small percentage of customers, “but we make no apologies for that because we're delivering millimeter wave as a fundamental enhancement of experience and capacity in the areas that have the densest demand for traffic,” he said.

Industry commenters said the FCC should avoid rules for open radio access networks, in replies due Friday on a notice of inquiry in docket 21-63. “The FCC should not put itself in a position where it is picking winners and losers,” the Telecommunications Industry Association said. CTIA opposed rules: “The imperative of network security and reliability is another compelling reason that the Commission should allow providers to deploy Open RAN at the time and manner that they believe meets the requirements of their networks.” T-Mobile said the FCC doesn’t need to act to promote ORAN. While ORAN “may show promise, it is not yet ready for broad deployment,” the carrier said. Push for “common specifications,” “allowing service providers to choose from a growing global ecosystem,” and “facilitate demonstration beds and innovation zones,” Nokia asked. Don't favor U.S. ORAN suppliers, Ericsson said: “Foster a diverse, trusted market.” The Open RAN Policy Coalition said comments show strong interest in ORAN, and artificial intelligence and machine learning will play an important role. Mavenir said the FCC’s program for replacing Chinese gear in networks should accommodate ORAN deployments. “Choice, or the lack thereof, and the present semiconductor shortage warrant an extension of time under the Secure and Trusted Communications Act Reimbursement Program,” Mavenir said.

Upcoming flagship smartphones will have to differentiate with advanced functionality such as Wi-Fi 6 and ultrawideband to continue to stand out at the high end of the market as 5G adoption becomes more mainstream, said ABI Research's David McQueen Tuesday. Other features expected to set flagship phones apart are fast-charging technology, foldable and rollable displays, and improved cameras. 5G handsets were largely immune from supply chain disruptions during the pandemic, leading to a more diverse device landscape with a wide variety of prices, the analyst said: “The mobile market is quickly transitioning to 5G and many leading OEMs are pushing ever-deeper into the lower-priced 5G smartphone segment.” ABI forecasts 681 million 5G handsets will ship in 2022. The researcher expects 5G integration and always-on connectivity to appear in tablets, Chromebooks and laptop PCs “as the portable computing and mobile value chains converge more than ever.” COVID-19 boosted demand for mobile computing products, and 5G will become a more prominent feature in high-end products from Samsung, Apple, and Huawei. “Dozens” of always-on 5G portable devices, including tablets and notebook PCs, will hit the market this year, exceeding 10 million next year, said ABI.

T-Mobile said retiring its CDMA network doesn’t violate California OK of the carrier's acquiring Sprint. T-Mobile videoconferenced with an aide to Commissioner Cliff Rechtschaffen and CPUC staff May 24 about Dish Network's April 28 petition to modify the April 2020 T-Mobile/Sprint OK (see 2105060024), said a Thursday filing in docket A.18-07-011. “DISH has been aware of our plans to decommission the CDMA network since it negotiated a contractual agreement with T-Mobile in 2019.” T-Mobile testified it would keep the CDMA network for at least three years, Dish Executive Vice President-External and Legislative Affairs Jeff Blum responded Friday: Shutting it down 18 months earlier is anticompetitive.

The FCC shouldn’t impose mandates on any program that funds deployment of open radio access networks, said the Telecommunications Industry Association. Replies were due Friday on an FCC notice of inquiry in docket 21-63. “We have been a longstanding proponent of government maintaining a technology neutral approach when it comes to adopting policies involving emerging and existing technologies and solutions,” TIA said: “The FCC should not put itself in a position where it is picking winners and losers in this market.”

The FCC plans an online open radio access network solutions showcase June 29 at 9:30 a.m. EDT, it said Thursday. The agency invites presentations on equipment, it said. The event will give fixed and mobile network operators "an opportunity to hear directly from vendors whose interoperable, open interface, standards-based 5G network equipment and services will be ready and available for purchase and installation by January 1, 2022, if not sooner."

Verizon is “sitting on a fantastic position in spectrum” after investing big in the C band (see 2103040034), CEO Hans Vestberg told a JPMorgan conference Tuesday. It plans to use C band and its high-band spectrum in its fixed-wireless 5G offering, he said. Before buying C band, Verizon had “the best network and the least spectrum,” he said. The provider won’t need new towers to build out the band but will upgrade at facilities where it has 4G, he said. Vestberg said unlike AT&T (see 2105240044), which is cutting its dividend as part of the Discovery deal, Verizon plans to increase its payout. “We can continue to create better bottom line and top line,” he said. Verizon sees “great interest” from customers for private networks using high-band or a 5G slice, he said. Slicing wasn’t possible with 4G, he said. “Sometimes, people ask about when will you monetize 5G,” he said: “We're already doing it.” Vestberg expects buying Tracfone to close in Q3 (see 2105250065).

Mavenir asked the FCC to revise a preliminary cost catalog and replacement list for its supply chain reimbursement program prepared by Widelity (see 2103250070). Mavenir urged correcting the definition of open radio access network, to “address bias in the Report” and change it to “reflect the actual, and lower, pricing” for ORAN, in a call with Wireline Bureau staff. Stakeholders rely on the document "to make decisions on whether to adopt Open RAN,” said a filing posted Thursday in docket 18-89.

At its 5G Summit Wednesday, Qualcomm announced the Snapdragon 778G 5G mobile platform for high-tier smartphones; plug-and-play 5G cards to spur 5G adoption in PCs, tablets and routers; and upgrades to its X65 5G model-RF system in anticipation of 5G millimeter-wave rollouts in China. The 778G 5G mobile platform, designed for smartphones from Honor, iQoo, Motorola, Oppo, Realme and Xiaomi, is geared to mobile gaming and has advanced AI for photos and videos, Qualcomm said. The X65 and X62 5G M.2 reference designs for PCs, always-connected PCs, laptops, customer premises equipment, extended reality, gaming and other mobile broadband devices, support 5G sub-6 GHz spectrum and extended-range mmWave, said the company. Their form factor allows OEMs to reduce time to launch for high-performance 5G-enabled products, it said. The Snapdragon X65 supports spectrum aggregation of up to 1 GHz of mmWave spectrum and 300 MHz of sub-6 GHz spectrum for frequency division duplex and time division duplex systems, said the chipmaker. Upgrades to the 5G modem-to-antenna solution, announced in February, include improved power efficiency and support for wider mmWave carriers, it said.