Nearly 50 entities offered advice on a 5G challenge notice of inquiry proposed by NTIA in cooperation with DOD (see 2101080021). NTIA posted comments Tuesday. Most stressed the importance of open radio access networks, as did filings we got last week (see 2102110064). Focus on commercial adoption of an “eventual open source solution,” Google said. A public-private partnership would be “optimal,” Google said: “Industry can interact directly with the NTIA in developing the contest framework, metric and qualitative criteria, and other aspects of the contest. … Industry can provide its assessment of the key obstacles to the NTIA’s and DoD’s objectives.” Pursue development of “open 5G technologies, leading to greater interoperability between government and commercial systems,” said the NASA Glenn Research Center’s Space Communications and Spectrum Management Project Office. “We welcome the opportunity to become part of this conversation, from providing technical advice to evaluating technologies and guiding development,” NASA said. Mandate compliance with the ORAN standard “for all the key interface,” Dell Technologies commented. An open 5G solution could “have deficiencies compared to existing commercial offers that are supplied by a single vendor and not open,” Dell warned: “The Department must also invest in research and development that accelerates the development of 5G infrastructure that utilizes the U.S.’s strengths in silicon, software, and cloud.” Create a lab managed by the Pentagon “where all vendors can bring their components of the open 5G stack for functional and interoperability testing,” Ericsson advised. It sought a "multi-vendor ‘Open Ecosystem Plugfest’" of 5G components. Intel emphasized standards. They “can enable interoperability, while still allowing for product differentiation,” it said: Focus on “openness of interfaces between the various components” rather than “the concept of open-source software,” CableLabs commented. Looking at just the network's wireless components “would ignore the necessary relationships and advancements in adjacent network technologies that will be critical to bringing to fruition the full vision and promise of 5G,” CableLabs said. Proprietary "lock[s] out vendors other than the manufacturer from the network,” said Mavenir: In the U.S., that means “foreign-headquartered companies sell equipment and services from their own company.”

Rysavy Research's report paid for by CTIA urges the 3.45-3.55 GHz band be made available using a “simple, flexible-use licensing model based on full-power operation and wider license areas.” Being filed at the FCC Tuesday, it said using a citizens broadband radio service sharing model would place the U.S. “at a global competitive disadvantage.” The band is “a critical near-term opportunity to make a significant swath of midband spectrum available for next-generation wireless use, and it is vital to ensure that wireless users have full access to as much of this spectrum as possible,” CTIA said.

Affordable direct satellite connectivity to mobile devices, "one of the moonshot objectives" of the satellite industry for years, is feasible, and there's sizable work going on to adapt some 5G standards to non-terrestrial networks, blogged Northern Sky Research analyst Lluc Palerm Monday. "That the same off-the-shelf device that connects to a terrestrial station will be able to close the link with a satellite is no minor feat," said Palerm. "The good news is that major chipset manufacturers are embracing this opportunity."

Ligado and Rakuten Mobile agreed to create plans for use of the Rakuten Communications Platform in Ligado's planned 5G mobile private network, they said Friday.

Dell’Oro Group sees a slightly less rosy outlook for the citizens broadband radio service band, forecasting $2 billion in investments between last year and 2025, said a Friday report. Fixed wireless and network capacity augmentation dominate investments, the report said. “We remain optimistic about the CBRS opportunity, but we have revised the outlook downward over the near-term to reflect the slower than expected CBRS uptake,” said Stefan Pongratz, vice president-analyst: “This downward adjustment does not change the long-term vision -- we continue to believe that there is an opportunity to improve spectrum utilization while at the same time stimulating innovation for both public and private networks across various industry segments.”

Smartphone market “conditions and visibility” began improving in 2020's second half, as consumers and handset OEMs “adjusted to the new COVID environment,” said Pixelworks CEO Todd DeBonis Q4 call Thursday. It was a “down year” for the handset industry, he said. Global smartphone unit shipments fell 8% from 2019. Pixelworks supplies video processing chips and software to makers of mainstream-priced smartphones. Oppo and TCL are its top customers. Handset OEMs “delayed or canceled numerous planned phone launches” in 2020, said DeBonis. Though the rollout of 5G-enabled smartphones began to gain momentum in the second half of the year, “total 5G units shipped proved to be much lower than was forecast entering 2020,” he said. A “notable trend” during 2020 was the introduction of the first mainstream handsets to feature higher frame rate displays, “coupled with a broader shift by OEMs from LCD to OLED displays due to an increased availability and more competitive pricing,” he said. Pixelworks technology was embedded into 16 handset models from seven OEMs in 2020, compared with six smartphone models launched across four OEMs in 2019, he said. The rollout of 5G phones will become “more pervasive” in 2021, said DeBonis. High-quality video and gaming are “the most obvious applications for leveraging the substantially higher bandwidth and low latency of 5G in mobile devices,” he said. Market data suggests “the global consumer appetite for $1,000-plus phones is shrinking,” he said. “We expect mobile OEMs to aggressively push 5G technology down the cost curve to lower price models.”

Major carriers disagreed on what the government should do to move forward based on a 5G Challenge notice of inquiry proposed by NTIA in cooperation with DOD (see 2101080021). Verizon didn’t comment nor did most major associations, we were told this week. Filings were due Tuesday and will likely be posted next week, an NTIA spokesperson said. The FY 2021 National Defense Authorization Act instructed DOD to carry out a “demonstration project to evaluate the maturity, performance and cost of covered technologies to provide additional options for providers of fifth-generation wireless network services.” T-Mobile urged caution, noting efforts on open radio access networks underway. “Keep in mind the work that the wireless industry has already performed, and will continue to perform, to develop these technologies,” T-Mobile said: “Open network interfaces are already a part of 3rd Generation Partnership Project 5G protocols.” Rather than pursuing the challenge, the Pentagon could “accelerate 5G network diversity by taking advantage of the work that, among others, 3GPP has already performed to implement solutions unique to DoD,” the company said. “It can also work with Congress to seek funding for and implement the already-established 5G grant program intended to accomplish exactly what the NOI seemingly hopes to achieve through the Challenge,” the carrier said. AT&T said the challenge could help DOD fulfill requirements under the NDAA and “demonstrate the value” of ORANs. “Such action can send a strong signal not only to the U.S. marketplace and investment community but also to our international partners," the telco said: “Establish a true plug and play environment open to any vendor that is compatible and with published, open interfaces to ensure interoperability.” NTIA and DOD have a “unique opportunity to augment the progress and impact of related efforts across the federal government as part of a whole-of-nation 5G effort,” the Open RAN Policy Coalition commented: “The success of this Challenge, like the success of 5G itself, depends on engaging a broad set of diverse stakeholders.” Prioritize “real-world applications rather than basic research,” the coalition urged: “Clarify the terms, scope and goals of the challenge to support open and interoperable interfaces.”

Most businesses already have wireless local area networks, but AT&T is now seeing “a wave of upgrades driven by new technologies,” said AT&T's Manish Malhotra at the Fierce Wireless Wi-Fi Summit Wednesday. Speakers said many businesses find they need to use a variety of technologies and the line between 5G and Wi-Fi is blurring. Edge computing is increasingly important, said Malhotra, AT&T assistant vice president-intelligent LAN product management. “The basic idea here is to bring computing power close to the IoT device.” Employees are more productive with seamless wireless connections, and routine tasks can be completed “without running back to a central wired terminal,” he said. Wi-Fi 6 and 5G offer high speeds, increased capacity and lower latency, and 5G will also be used for in-building LANs, he said. “The selection of a particular technology will depend on a variety of factors, such as the use case, size of the venue, availability of devices ... and physical layout,” he said. Wi-Fi, 5G and other technologies are converging, agreed Luke Lucas, T-Mobile senior manager-engineering business development. “All technology and all frequencies are good for the consumer” based on the “design and needs of the particular location,” he said. Customers need a “customized solution” but first need to figure out their goals, Lucas said: “We’re synthesizing all of this together.” Some businesses need private LTE, while others can rely on Wi-Fi or 5G, said Tiago Rodrigues, Wireless Broadband Alliance CEO. Integrating 5G with Wi-Fi can lead to faster deployments, he said. Carriers need to find other revenue streams to pay for their investments in 5G, said Tuncay Cil, chief strategy officer at Assia, a broadband solutions vendor. Someone needs to pay for the more than $81 billion bid in the C-band auction, he said. “If the service providers cannot make money, these services will not be delivered,” he said: “It’s not like the service providers are hoarding cash.”

CTIA representatives urged quick FCC action approving rules for a 3.5 GHz auction, in a call with an aide to acting Chair Jessica Rosenworcel. “The C-Band auction was powerful evidence of the need for licensed, exclusive-use mid-band spectrum for 5G, and auctioning the 100 megahertz of spectrum at 3.45-3.55 GHz under a substantially similar framework is critical for the development of 5G,” said a filing posted Wednesday in docket 18-122.

Qualcomm is sampling the Snapdragon X65 5G modem-RF system, the first 10 Gigabit 5G and the first 3rd Generation Partnership Project release 16 modem-RF system, which the company said will bring consumers “fiber-like browsing speeds and low-latency” over 5G. Tight modem-RF integration and advanced modem-RF technologies will result in faster data speeds, improved coverage and call quality, and support for all-day battery life, said the company Tuesday, saying next-generation applications include cloud- and edge-based computing, highly responsive multiplayer gaming, rich entertainment, immersive 360-degree video and instant apps. It also announced the Snapdragon X62 5G modem-RF System, a modem-to-antenna technology for mainstream adoption of mobile broadband applications. “The 5G transition presents the biggest opportunity for Qualcomm as mobile technology is poised to benefit virtually every industry,” said CEO-elect Cristiano Amon, calling Snapdragon X65 a "significant milestone." Connectivity up to 10 Gbps and support for the latest 5G specifications will help enable new 5G use cases for premium smartphones and open "a new realm of possibilities for 5G expansion across mobile broadband, compute, XR, industrial IoT, private networks and fixed wireless access,” said Amon. Also Tuesday, Qualcomm bowed its second-generation 5G Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) platform, powered by the X65 system, that will allow mobile operators to offer fixed broadband service. With extended-range 5G millimeter-wave, extended-range 5G sub-6 GHz and sub-6 GHz support, Qualcomm sees FWA accelerating delivery of 5G to consumers as a plug-and-play alternative to DSL, cable or fiber. The platform includes a reference design to help manufacturers commercialize 5G fixed wireless access devices quickly and deliver a reliable internet connection with peak speeds of 10 Gbps. The platform will help operators offer a “last mile” broadband option that's widely available across urban, suburban and rural environments using their 5G network infrastructure, Qualcomm said.