Analyst Angle

Wi-Fi has been with us for decades. It remains one of the most important and valuable technologies in the wireless world. Most technologies have a limited life span. (You remember the fax machine and iPod, right?) But Wi-Fi never seems …

December greetings from Cedar Rapids and Kansas City.  The opening picture is of the Christmas tree perched atop the Quaker Oats plant in Cedar Rapids.  Not only was this a pleasing sight this week, but they were manufacturing a version …

Wireless is evolving with AI, 5G, private wireless, wireless broadband At upcoming events like CES 2025 and MWC 25, we will see some of the new directions the wireless industry is heading. Since its beginning in the 1970s, wireless has …

During the spring of 2020, many telecom stores closed temporarily amid the spread of the coronavirus. Wave7 Research in late March 2020 reported that “an estimated 55% of national carrier stores have been closed, including 75% of Sprint stores and …

In the private 5G market, many applications are waiting for IoT devices to be ready.   RedCap devices are very slow in coming to market…despite standards frozen more than two years ago. Some applications are starting to move ahead with …

What is happening to the world of cable television? Once upon a time, way back in the 1990s, Comcast was one of many tiny cable television providers, run by Ralph Roberts. Back then, the original AT&T acquired Telecommunications Inc. TCI …

Only exclusive licensing of additional mid-band spectrum for full-power use can provide sufficient radio propagation and received-signal strength to deliver the increased cellular data capacity required across entire national networks. Alternatives, including low-power unlicensed, medium-power shared and millimeter wave spectrum …

Private wireless, particularly private 5G, is becoming a hot, new growth opportunity in telecommunications for a variety of reasons. Some of these are long-term while others are short-term. Let’s take a closer look at this sector, who the leaders are …

November greetings from Cedar Rapids and Kansas City.  The picture will be a familiar sight for those in the fiber industry.  Yes, we are getting a second fiber to the home (FTTH) provider for our 28-home community.  The market is getting crowded …

In the 1990’s I was a member of an advisory committee to U.S. Congressman and Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich. That was back in the President Clinton era. Over several years, as I got to know him better, I …

ABI Research explores how AI and 5G are transforming telco security operations Over the last few years, telco operators have been undergoing a slow but sure metamorphosis from simple connectivity providers to digital technology enablers. In part fueled by 5G …

November greetings Cedar Rapids, Kansas City, and Iowa City.  The opening picture was taken from Kinnick Stadium after the first quarter (note the “Hi Kids” sign on the scoreboard – more on the Hawkeye Wave tradition here), where the University of …

Recently, I had an interesting conversation with Mikko Uusitalo who leads the private networks Europe division of Boldyn Networks, a shared networks infrastructure provider. Still learning more about them. So, let’s take a closer look at what they are doing …

Recently I was talking with a friend about the need for the mobile industry to pivot. If we can successfully pivot from the consumer to the enterprise, then the industry can grow for the next 20 or 30 years. But …

Decades ago, wireless was a new treasure trove filled with small companies with big ideas and lots of growth opportunity. Today, after years of consolidation, growth and change, things are very different. After starting with lots of small companies, today …

5G has continued to expand its presence across markets and drive adoption. 5G adoption in the top 30 cellular markets is accelerating, from 1.52 billion to a forecast 4.20 billion by 2029. As 5G coverage and bandwidth have increased, we …

The mobile industry is a strange place.  First, we give our technology a name.   Then a bunch of engineers develop ideas for about ten years.   Finally, we hand the new technology over to the business people and they …

When will significant growth in wireless start-up once again? Today, the wireless industry seems stuck between growth steps. In fact, this problem has been haunting the industry over the past decade. Normally, this happens at the end of one G …

October greetings from Boston, Cedar Rapids, and Kansas City.  It was great to meet with Troy Doom, the CEO of Ice House America, one of Fort Point Capital’s investments (more on the company here) in Boston earlier this month.  Third quarter …

Where is Private Wireless or Private 5G today? Let’s take a closer look at the current state of this new segment. Look at some of what is working, what is not, the risks, challenges and the growth opportunities. There is …

Verizon Value Brands and MobileX both cut a high profile at the All Wireless & Prepaid Expo and the expo also provided a venue for some spirited exchanges between carriers. The conference was held in Las Vegas in late August. …

Open RAN revenue dropped by 83% in 2024 compared with 2023. Whoa. Let’s take a closer look at that. Why did revenue crater? And how will it bounce back? During ’22 and the first half of ’23, DISH was spending …

Recently, the US mobile operators’ trade association CTIA released data from its annual survey of members. Its headline focused on a very large number – 100 trillion megabytes – which CTIA claims was the total amount of mobile data traffic …

Over time, as I have consulted with CEOs, CMOs and senior executives of many communications companies, I have learned as much from them, as I have shared with them. Something different is happening now. Recently, these requests for briefings and …

The integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) into radio systems marks a significant turning point in wireless communication technology. This trend, spearheaded by industry leaders across the entire supply chain, including mobile operators, Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) and chipset suppliers, is …