Qualcomm Technologies and Ericsson said they achieved the world’s first low-band 5G data session using a commercial modem. The test took place in in T-Mobile’s lab in Bellevue, Washington, using the 600 MHz band, the spectrum T-Mobile bought in the TV incentive auction and plans to use to deploy 5G nationwide. “This is a key step toward achieving our vision of 5G for All,” said Neville Ray, T-Mobile chief technology officer, Thursday. “If regulators approve our merger with Sprint, we’ll have the crucial mid-band spectrum and resources needed to supercharge our network and deliver broad AND deep, transformational 5G across the U.S.”

Former FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler attempted to blow up some 5G myths in a Brookings report Tuesday. “The 5G discussion, with all its permutations and combinations, has grown to resemble an elementary school soccer game where everyone chases the ball, first in one direction, then another,” Wheeler wrote. Widely misunderstood is that 5G is both revolutionary and evolutionary, he said. “The details of the new applications that will use the network are still in the imagination stage,” he said: “How they will function, however, is not. The ubiquitous Internet Protocol will be the language of both the network architecture and the applications that run on it. Thanks to IP, 5G will be able to run multiple concurrent application layers -- each tied together by IP -- as opposed to legacy telecom networks that could only perform tasks sequentially.” Wheeler questioned whether the Trump administration is paying enough attention to 5G security, which he said must be part of the network from the beginning. “5G is not just about Huawei,” he said: “The security of 5G is an ecosystem that must be protected in its whole. The supply chain that makes up 5G runs the gamut from radio networks, to the integrated chipsets in that network, and the devices that will use the network (not just phones, but also billions of IoT devices).”

FCC Chairman Ajit Pai stressed the importance of 5G security. “5G will affect our militaries, our industries, our critical infrastructure, and much more,” he told Congreso Latinoamericano De Telecomunicaciones Thursday. “Procurement and deployment decisions made now will have a generational impact on our security, economy, and society.” The world can’t make “risky choices and just hope for the best,” he said, per prepared remarks. “We must see clearly the threats to the security of our networks and act to address them. And the more that the United States and our regional allies can work together and make security decisions based on shared principles, the safer that our 5G networks will be.” Pai said he supports principles approved in May by the Prague 5G Security Conference (see 1905030052).

Representatives of the 5G Automotive Association asked the FCC to act on its waiver request to allow vehicle-to-everything technology (C-V2X) in the 5.9 GHz band, in meetings with an aide to FCC Chairman Ajit Pai and Chief Julius Knapp and others from the Office of Engineering and Technology, said a filing posted Tuesday in docket 18-357. Pai was ready to circulate an NPRM on the band for the June 6 commissioners' meeting, but postponed seeking a vote after the Transportation Department asked for a delay (see 1905150053). After earlier endorsing an NPRM (see 1904080048), the 5GAA representatives said C-V2X operations in the band “can make American roadway travel safer, smarter, and more efficient. Because the Commission’s rules do not currently permit C-V2X operations in the 5.9 GHz band, we discussed how a grant of the waiver request … would help remove the most significant regulatory roadblock standing in the way of stakeholders deploying this technology.”

Ericsson said it plans to build its first fully automated factory in the U.S. to manufacture radios that will “boost network capacity and coverage, including rural coverage, as well as 5G radios for urban areas.” The Swedish company is one of the few alternatives to Huawei for 5G gear. U.S. policymakers are concerned about the use of Huawei equipment (see 1906190054). “We continue to focus on working closely with our customers and supporting them in the buildout of 5G globally and in North America,” said Fredrik Jejdling, Ericsson executive vice president-head of networks, Wednesday. “We conclude months of preparations and can move into execution also in the U.S.” The location hasn’t been announced. It will employ about 100 workers, the company said. “Building 5G equipment in the United States is good for our economy, good for the supply chain, and good for the rapid rollout of the next generation of [U.S.] wireless connectivity,” said FCC Chairman Ajit Pai.

The FCC Technological Advisory Council heard about efforts to close the digital divide, and its challenges, at Friday's meeting, TAC's first for 2019. Fifth-generation wireless was a focus of the meeting. Alianza adviser John Barnhill said the biggest rural need is coverage, but 5G's strength is in speed, and rural markets also carry particularly high backhaul, interconnect and antenna costs. So 5G "is not a silver bullet" for rural connectivity, and the fix will require a mix of satellite, Wi-Fi, LTE, better antenna designs and rural funding that incentivizes investment in lower density areas, he said. New York University Wireless founding Director Ted Rappaport said 5G "is the best thing that ever could have happened to rural." He said millimeter-wave spectrum and a line of sight in a rural area can accomplish the same as mid-band spectrum in a more urban area, and fixed point-to-point backhaul using the 27, 37 and 39 GHz bands could replace aging copper. Carriers could be motivated by regulatory approaches that emphasize that kind of deployment, he said. "No one's going to do it on their own." Dyna's Martin Cooper, co-chair of a TAC group, said the rural digital divide threatens to be a "digital chasm" for education, with one possible response being private enterprise being incentivized for rural deployment by allowing use of schools and libraries as cellsites. He said the FCC could prioritize rural spectrum availability to operators providing coverage for education. AT&T Assistant Vice President-Standards and Industry Alliances Brian Daly said projections point to 10 million 5G subscriptions in the U.S. by year's end, and that by 2024, such networks will carry 35 percent of the globe's mobile traffic. Carriers are involved in 95 5G U.S. city deployments now, he said. Daly said the potentially billions of IoT devices in the field within a few years will easily outstrip IPv4 capacity. He said deploying 5G with IPv6 would still support IPv4 but also handle that traffic.

Sprint’s third 5G device, the Samsung Galaxy S10 5G, went on sale Friday in Atlanta, Dallas, Houston and Kansas City and will be available in Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, Phoenix and Washington, D.C., in the coming weeks, said the carrier. Customers can get $250 off a purchase with a new line of service; others can pay $40.28 monthly for the device with $0 down on a Sprint Flex lease plan, it said.

Aviation associations updated the FCC on their look at potential interference to flight operations in the 4.2-4.4 GHz band by expanded use of the nearby C band for 5G. The commercial aviation industry continues testing “to better evaluate the impact of unwanted emissions into radio altimeters,” the groups said. “As radio altimeters provide essential safety of flight information during the most critical phases of flight, it is vital that the testing accurately reflect any potential impact the aircraft will experience during take-off and landing, or when conducting extended low altitude operations, as are common with helicopters,” said the filing in docket 18-122. “This has added complexity to the assessment with the various proposed 5G and other new entrant services, and it is anticipated that the results from this effort will be shared with the Commission in the coming months as the work develops.” The Air Line Pilots Association, Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association, Aerospace Industries Association, General Aviation Manufacturers Association and International Air Transport Association were among those signing the filing, posted Thursday.

Huawei CEO Ren Zhengfei said trade sanctions imposed by the Trump administration will cut the company’s revenue this year by about $30 billion, on CNBC Wednesday, but downplayed the threat. In one month, smartphone shipments slowed by 40 percent, he said. Huawei is still growing at a 20 percent rate, he said. In the Chinese market, the consumer business hasn’t declined, Ren said. “There might be declines overseas.” Huawei can withstand the hit, he said. “We believe that $30 billion U.S. will be a very small thing,” he said.

Claims that 5G will harm other services, including weather forecasting, are wrong, GSMA said. In the U.S, questions were raised in particular about the 24 GHz band (see 1906170023). “The mobile industry has already demonstrated within leading international standards bodies that 5G can be used safely alongside other services, including weather sensing services, commercial satellite, radar and other applications using adjacent airwaves,” said a Monday news release: “The GSMA is confident that 5G services and weather sensing services can co-exist, and warns against giving credence to those claiming a negative impact from 5G networks on weather forecasting data.”