LAS VEGAS – With a significant win in gaining a government mandate on 3G data roaming in their back pockets, rural operators are now faced with the unenviable task of figuring out their plans for so-called “4G” networks.At this week’s Rural Cellular Association event...
AT&T Mobility (T) is looking to further expand its spectrum holdings in the 700 MHz band, having filed plans with the Federal Communications Commission to purchase lower 700 MHz B-Block and C-Block licenses from Whidbey Telephone Co. Financial terms of the proposed deal were...
The push for LTE in rural markets gained further momentum as Cellular South Inc. reported a partnership with Samsung Telecommunications America to build an LTE network using the carrier’s 700 MHz spectrum holdings. In addition to the network, Samsung will also provide a pair...
Editor's Note: This article originally appeared in our September Special Edition, Behind the Scenes, a focus on integrated subscriber and network management systems. To download the complete Special Edition, click here. Net neutrality – a concept or policy initiative that seemingly began as the...
One small issue with Verizon Wireless’ plans to roll out nationwide LTE services using its 700 MHz spectrum was the fact it did not control 700 MHz spectrum covering Alaska, until now.The nation’s largest wireless carrier said it has reached an agreement with Triad...
As it tries to draft a national broadband communications plan, The Federal Communications Commission is seeking comment on how broadband access touches a variety of segments in the United States, including first responders and small and disadvantaged businesses, as well as local and state...
The wireless industry suddenly faces a delay of its own, with digital TV legislation likely headed to the White House soon that will force wireless carriers to wait about four months longer to access 700 MHz spectrum licenses purchased for nearly $20 billion from...
The state of New York may have struck out for the time being in building a statewide public-safety communications network, but New York City continues to make progress on a network of its own.State officials have cancelled a $2 billion contract with M/A-COM, claiming...
Vice President-elect Joe Biden's prophecy has been realized: The new president will indeed confront a crisis of global proportions during his first six month's in office. In fact, the moment of reckoning has already arrived for Barack Obama. It is the DTV transition -...
Public-safety organizations asked President-elect Barack Obama to exclude spectrum designated for first responders in any plan to delay the transition to digital television next month.The Obama-Biden transition team last week asked congressional leaders to postpone the Feb. 17 DTV cut-over in light of inadequate...
Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin Martin, with time dwindling to move top policy priorities as a new administration prepares to assume power in January, is laying the groundwork to win approval by mid-December of final rules for highly controversial public-safety and wireless broadband auction...
The mobile-phone industry has dropped a legal challenge to the open-access condition imposed on a third of the 700 MHz spectrum auctioned by the Federal Communications Commission earlier this year. Wireless industry trade association CTIA appealed the agency's C-Block open-access rule last year -...
An association of rural wireless providers petitioned the Federal Communications Commission to re-impose a spectrum cap in light of the growing market presence of AT&T Mobility and Verizon Wireless in the mobile phone industry."In the absence of a spectrum cap, Verizon and AT&T will...
Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin Martin signaled the agency is prepared to fix a roaming snag faced by wireless providers delayed in constructing networks because spectrum licenses won at major auctions remain occupied by commercial and government users. ...
Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin Martin is coming under mounting pressure to back off a controversial plan to auction a national wireless Internet license that would require the winning bidder to provide free broadband service, open access and filtering to block obscene content. But...
The Federal Communications Commission begrudgingly agreed to a brief public comment extension on a controversial free-wireless Internet plan. The plan is opposed by major mobile-phone carriers, which fear interference to their operations, and Republican lawmakers, because of license conditions they claim will lead again...
Two key House Republicans urged the Federal Communications Commission not to attach conditions to advanced wireless services-3 spectrum and to forgo approval of final rules for that band until after the 700 MHz D-Block re-auction. "We think your proposed rules could repeat this mistake...
The Federal Communications Commission is rushing toward auctioning too much spectrum in too short a period of time and is going to be disappointed with the results. While auctioning 25 megahertz of AWS-3 spectrum and designating a portion of that spectrum for "free" wireless...
Comments on what the FCC should do with the 700 MHz D Block ran the gamut, with some urging the agency to tighten its rules on a public-private sharing of the spectrum while others recommended the D Block be auctioned without any conditions whatsoever.The...
FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION CHAIRMAN KEVIN MARTIN APPEARS DETERMINED to win approval for a free, family-friendly national wireless broadband plan, despite being forced to delay an upcoming vote on the measure after concerns were raised about potential interference to mobile-phone systems and about a content-filter...
VERIZON WIRELESS' PLAY for Alltel Communications L.L.C. may not necessarily trigger a classic battle over whether the government should block the deal, but rather could ignite considerable controversy over whether roaming, divestiture and other conditions should be imposed on a merged entity already boasting...
Editor's Note: We get a lot of e-mails in response to our weekly Worst of the Week columns, and we read and enjoy each one (at least, the ones that agree with us). However, last week astute reader Dave Baird sent us an...
Hello! And welcome to our Thursday column, Worst of the Week. There's a lot of nutty stuff that goes on in this industry, so this column is a chance for us at RCRWirelessNews.com to rant and rave about whatever rubs us the wrong way....
THE FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION SET A JUNE 20 DEADLINE for public comment on D-Block revisions, but already the agency has begun receiving suggestions from industry, public safety and academics. Most filings focus on how D-Block rules can be restructured to attract bidders capable of...
