BROWSING: Policy

Chinese operators ordered to replace foreign chips by 2027

The order has dealt a blow to U.S. semiconductor firms Intel and AMD According to reports from The Wall Street Journal, China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology have told Chinese telecom operators that they must remove foreign chips from their networks by 2027. The GSMA’s Mobile...

mmWave takes centre stage in 2024 (Reader Forum)

As 2024 progresses, the momentum behind mmWave fixed wireless access (FWA) technology shows no signs of slowing down. 2023 witnessed several milestones proving mmWave's potential to deliver faster data speeds, lower latency, and higher bandwidth compared to other wireless technologies. With expanded global deployments...

DoD, NTIA set for a spectrum-sharing ‘moonshot’

'All the greenfield is gone': Federal government wants a 12-18 month push with industry, academia to develop cutting-edge sharing tech The Department of Defense and NTIA are spearheading a dynamic spectrum-sharing framework "moonshot" with industry and academia to develop and test cutting-edge dynamic spectrum-sharing approaches...

FCC takes ‘cautious’ approach to network slicing in proposed net neutrality rules

Draft rules decline to broadly classify network slicing technology The draft net neutrality rules that the Federal Communications Commission will vote on later this month, don't take a position on whether network slicing technology would fundamentally and inherently be regulated by those rules. The draft...

FCC to vote on reinstating net neutrality broadband rules

Vote will take place on April 25 The Federal Communications Commission is set to vote—again—on net neutrality regulations. The reinstatement of the Title II regulation of broadband internet access service is expected to pass, with Democrats in control of the fully-seated FCC. The vote will...

DOJ takes Apple to court over smartphone monopoly

Apple is not 'making its own products better,' says Attorney General Merrick Garland, but 'other products worse' The U.S. Department of Justice and 16 state and district attorneys general have filed a lawsuit against Apple, accusing the tech giant of monopolizing the smartphone market. The...

FCC’s Rosenworcel reignites rural 5G plan with added Open RAN focus

According to the FCC's new broadband coverage map, more than 14 million homes and businesses lack mobile 5G coverage This week, Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel urged the agency to “relaunch” the 5G Fund for Rural America, which earmarked up to $9 billion for...

FCC approves rules for NTN direct-to-device service

The Federal Communications Commission has unanimously approved a new rules framework on satellite-based, cellular communications directly to end-user devices—or "supplemental coverage from space" (SCS). The new rules provide guidance to "enable collaborations between wireless carriers and satellite operators to make sure smartphone users stay...

NTIA releases implementation plan for National Spectrum Strategy

The National Telecommunications and Information Administration has released the implementation plan for the Biden administration's National Spectrum Strategy, which aims to kick off working groups on three candidate bands this month and have technical work to be completed by the end of next year....

Republicans introduce spectrum pipeline bill that favors high-power, licensed use

New bill requires at least 1,250 megahertz of spectrum between 1.3-13.2 GHz be auctioned for full-power, licensed commercial use It has been slightly more than a year since the auction authority of the Federal Communications Commission was allowed to lapse, and a new, Republican-backed bill...

FCC approves seven AFCs for 6 GHz

Setting the stage for standard-power use of the unlicensed 6 GHz band, the Federal Communications Commission has officially approved seven applicants for automated frequency coordination (AFC) systems. Systems from Qualcomm, Broadcom, Comsearch, Federated Wireless, Sony, Wi-Fi Alliance and the Wireless Broadband Alliance were all approved...

Biden admin announces $1.5B to support chip manufacturing

Projects in Vermont and New York include factory refurbishment The Biden administration has announced $1.5 billion in potential funding to support multiple semiconductor manufacturing projects in New York and Vermont. The Department of Commerce and GlobalFoundries have signed a non-binding agreement of terms for the...

NTIA awards $42 million to a consortium of carriers, vendors and labs for Open RAN

"The best way to assess integration across the industry is to go big," writes AT&T's VP of RAN Technology AT&T and Verizon are heading up a federally funded, $42.3 million project focused on Open RAN interoperability, network performance and security, as well as new...

NTIA Spectrum Policy Symposium: Spectrum, collaboration and the global tech race

The U.S. is in global race for leadership in wireless technologies, and the implementation of the country's new National Spectrum Strategy will impact the direction of spectrum policy for decades. That strategy and its implementation is the focus of the National Telecommunications and Information...

FCC, FTC tout robocall enforcement

The Federal Trade Commission and the Federal Communications Commission said that a an ongoing joint effort to undermine and reduce spam and scam robocalls is bearing fruit. The two agencies have been jointly focusing on robocall enforcement; the FTC calls its program "Operation Point...

‘Each year without an auction … digs the US deeper into a hole’: CTIA presses for FCC auction authority, speedy execution on spectrum plans

'NTIA has less than two years to get the U.S. back on track," telecom industry group's CEO writes The United States' leadership in spectrum policy, 5G and reaping the economic benefits of the most advanced mobile networks are in jeopardy and have to get back...

Congress seeks to continue broadband service subsidies

ACP Extension Act would continue monthly broadband service subsidies for more than 20 million households In the wake of the Federal Communications Commission announcing wind-down procedures for the Affordable Connectivity Program, a bipartisan group of Senators and House members have put forward legislation that would...

FCC warns that ACP faces wind-down without more funding

As Congress works to hash out a federal budget, the Federal Communications Commission is warning that the Affordable Connectivity Program, which provides monthly subsidies to help American families pay for broadband services, will have to end unless it receives an additional influx of funding. Federal...

CHIPS funding to expand facilities in Colorado, Oregon

The Biden administration announced an agreement with semiconductor producer Microchip Technologies to expand its domestic production capacity of legacy chips, supported with $162 million in financial incentives funded through the CHIPS and Science Act. This is the second agreement announced as part of the...

WRC wrap-up: Spectrum harmonization, and eyes to the skies

GSMA hails "groundbreaking spectrum decisions" from WRC-23 The World Radiocommunications Conference of 2023 (WRC-23) has wrapped up its weekslong meeting in Dubai, emerging with a global consensus on harmonization of spectrum bands for mobile services as well as regulations for high-altitude platform stations and spectrum...

Congress passes bill that would get T-Mo its 2.5 GHz licenses

Bill is headed to President Joe Biden's desk Congress has passed a bill that would enable T-Mobile US and other winners in the most recent auction of 2.5 GHz licenses to take ownership of spectrum licenses that were acquired during a 2022 auction but have...

‘There are no easy spectrum allocation choices’: White House spectrum strategy identifies a pipeline of five candidate bands

National spectrum strategy identifies five bands totaling nearly 2,800 megahertz, with emphasis on the midband The Biden administration has proposed a long-awaited spectrum pipeline of five candidate bands for near-term study and development, totaling 2,786 megahertz with an emphasis on midband spectrum and bolstering technology...

‘We all have to be careful’: GenAI is fueling voice and text-based scams

Artificial intelligence is being explored to improve customer service with smarter chatbots, dispatch network technicians more efficiently and automate simple, highly manual network operations tasks. It's also being co-opted by bad actors to fuel smarter robocall and text scams, according to Transaction Network Services....

The FCC wants to increase minimum broadband speeds to 100/20 Mbps

How fast should internet access be, to be considered "broadband"? The Federal Communications Commission wants to increase the minimum required speed for broadband, which it currently considers to be at least 25 Mbps upstream and 3 Mbps downstream, to 100/20 Mbps. That minimum broadband speed...