Bidding in the second stage of the FCC’s forward auction for 600 MHz spectrum has ended after just one round. According to the FCC, bidding concluded without meeting the final stage rule and without meeting the conditions to trigger an extended round. The FCC’s Incentive Auction dashboard indicated that stage two ended with underwhelming proceeds of…
T-Mobile, FCC Settle Over ‘Unlimited’ Dispute
The FCC on Wednesday announced that it has reached an agreement with T-Mobile over the carrier’s failure to disclose restrictions on its “unlimited” data plans. According to a release from the FCC, T-Mobile has agreed to pay a fine and provide benefits to consumers totaling at least $48 million. The FCC said its investigation found…
CTIA Highlights Days 1 and 2
Long Delayed 600 MHz Incentive Auction Kicks Off
After multiple delays and a lot of wrangling between broadcasters and regulators, the FCC’s 600 MHz incentive auction finally kicked off Tuesday night. At 6 p.m. ET, the window closed for participating broadcasters to make their initial bids in the reverse auction, wherein the the FCC will price out the available spectrum in a reverse…
Tuesdays with Roger: LightSquared, Twilio and the Regulatory Environment
Judge Orders WhatsApp Blocked in Brazil
RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — WhatsApp is blocked throughout Brazil following a judicial order requiring cell phone operators here to disable the messaging app for 48 hours. The order a criminal court in Sao Paulo state went into effect at midnight. The order resulted from criminal proceedings haven’t been made public. In a statement, the…
Ericsson, Kathrein Put Small Cells Under Foot
Ericsson and Kathrein have teamed up to create a small cell that mounts to a manhole cover. Ericsson and Kathrein developed the solution for Swisscom. The in-ground antenna system aims to enhance capacity in high traffic areas. Kathrein has started to market the new system worldwide. Swisscom developed the concept of a micro cell in…
AT&T Says Net Neutrality Rules Stifling Innovation
AT&T says the FCC’s net neutrality rules may be hampering the carrier’s efforts to bring new services to its customers. AT&T’s Senior Vice President of Regulatory Bob Quinn said Wednesday that his company has avoided offering some new services because of worries it might be in violation of the FCC’s rules, according to a report…
ITU: Mobile Broadband Growing Rapidly, Getting Cheaper
More people in the world now connect to the Internet over a mobile broadband connection than do over a fixed connection. According to the International Telecommunication Union’s (ITU) annual report, growth in the penetration of active mobile broadband subscriptions has skyrocketed from 37.2 percent to an estimated 47.2 percent over just the last year. …
FCC Proposes Improvements to Wireless Emergency Alert System
The FCC today issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) that aims to improve the Wireless Emergency Alert (WEA) system. The Commission said the new rules are intended to promote the wider use and effectiveness of WEA as state and local authorities convey emergency information to their communities. Among other measures the rules propose increasing…
Verizon Gets TTY Waiver from FCC
Verizon customers could be seeing Wi-Fi calling in the near future. The FCC on Wednesday handed Verizon a waiver of the Commission’s requirements to support text telephony (TTY) over wireless IP networks, which would set the stage for the carrier to begin offering Wi-Fi calling. In a filing, the FCC said the waiver expires…
Report: LightSquared Close to Transferring Ownership of Its Spectrum
The saga of LightSquared continues as the company now moves to transfer control of its spectrum to new owners. LightSquared is close to having U.S. regulators approve a deal that would see JPMorgan Chase & Co., among others, take over ownership of its airwaves, according to a Bloomberg report. FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler has reportedly…
Report: Wireless Network Engineers Can Expect Pay Bump in 2016
If you’re a wireless network engineer, you could be in for a big pay raise. The 2016 Salary Guides from staffing specialists Robert Half Technology and The Creative Group show that base salaries in the technology and creative fields are expected to increase 5.3 percent and 3.8 percent, respectively, in the coming year. But some…
Sprint Slams Verizon’s Position on Roaming
Sprint calls bull on Verizon’s claim that reasonable roaming agreements reduce network investment. In an ex parte filed with the FCC on Wednesday, Sprint argued that Verizon seeks to deny competitive carriers access to commercially reasonable data roaming rate based on network build-out, regardless of the Commission’s requirements. Sprint said that Verizon and Mobile Future’s…
CCA Urges FCC to Modernize ‘Unachievable’ TTY Rules
The Competitive Carrier Association (CCA) is asking the FCC to issue a declaratory ruling confirming that it is not “achievable or readily achievable to provide IP-based LTE and Wi-Fi-based mobile wireless services that are compatible with a text telephone (TTY), the kind of device used by the deaf. In a statement, CCA said it…
T-Mobile Urges FCC to Hobble Dish in Next Auction
T-Mobile says Dish’s conduct in the AWS-3 auction should result in repercussion should the satellite provider decide to participate in the upcoming broadcast incentive auctions. In an ex parte filing, T-Mobile argues that Dish and its Designated Entites (DEs) “abused” the competitive bidding process in the AWS-3 auction. “The Commission should therefore prohibit Dish and…
Nokia Networks and Rearden Testing pCells with Tier-1 Carriers
Nokia Networks and Rearden LLC have agreed to jointly test Artemis pCells in the coming year. The companies will deploy the technology with wireless operators, initially in large indoor venues and other areas that see a lot of dense traffic. Nokia says the pCell can enhance capacity if TD-LTE network, while remaining compatible with unmodified…
ITU Approves 5G Roadmap and ‘Vision’
The wireless industry is one step closer to a 5G future, as member countries of the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) on Thursday approved a roadmap for the development of 5G standard. According to a press release, the plan includes an overarching “vision” for 5G, along with “the goals, process and timeline for its development.” The…
AT&T, Ericsson and Altair Tackle IoT Power Consumption
AT&T, Ericsson and chipset company Altair are collaborating on a more power-efficient Internet of Things (IoT). The companies announced yesterday demonstration of an LTE Power Saving Mode on commercial LTE Internet of Things (IoT) chipset platform at the GSMA Mobile 360 event in Atlanta, Georgia. AT&T is running the demonstration, which runs on Ericsson networks…
New Budget Includes Directive To Clear More Spectrum
The latest compromise budget deal includes a bill that aims to clear more spectrum. The Spectrum Pipleline Act of 2015 orders that an additional 30 MHz of spectrum be cleared in 10MHz contiguous blocks below 3GHz and auctioned. The Act also requires the FCC and NTIA to identify an additional 100 MHz of spectrum to…
Senate Passes Controversial Cybersecurity Bill
The Senate on Tuesday overwhelmingly approved the Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act (CISA), which would allow companies to share consumer data with the government in the event of cyber attacks. The CISA aims to improve sharing of information on cyber threats between companies, and allows companies to share customer information with the Department of Homeland Security…
FCC Moves Towards New Rules Around High-Band Spectrum
The FCC today issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) that proposes new rules for wireless broadband operating in frequencies about 24 GHz. The NPRM proposes to create new flexible use service rules in the 28 GHz, 37 GHz, 39 GHz, and 64-71 GHz bands. The NPRM proposes to make these bands available using a…
Ruckus Acquires Cloudpath for Secure Wi-Fi Onboarding
Ruckus Wireless on Thursday announced that it has acquired Cloudpath Networks, a privately held provider of secure Wi-Fi onboarding software, headquartered in Westminster, Colorado. Cloudpath has been working on secure Wi-Fi onboarding since 2006 and has focused on certificate-based Wi-Fi security with its automated, self-service software. Financial terms of the deal were not immediately made…
IoT Panel Offers Perspective on ‘Back to the Future Day’
Today was/is the day that Marty McFly arrived in the future. It was the world of October 15, 2015 that the time-travelling Deloreann from 1985 arrived to a world of hoverboards and Pepsi Perfect. And while there was a bit of science fiction in Back to the Future II, today’s world is argueably more advanced…
Ericsson Pitches Lean Carrier Tech for Faster Downlink
With an eye toward 5G Ericsson today announced a solution that it says will lead to speedier mobile downloads. The Swedish telecommunications equipment vendor says its proprietary “Lean Carrier” solution addresses intercell signaling interference, introducing a design that will improve data speed and app coverage for users. Ericsson says the solution is running live in thousands of…