Only seven business days after it began, the FCC’s 24 GHz spectrum auction “blow past the $1 billion mark Friday (March 22).” The FCC is auctioning the spectrum “to free up more bandwidth for 5G wireless broadband, to help close the rural digital divide, and to make wireless a stronger competitor to wired broadband. New York and L.A. continue to lead, with bids on licenses there of $28,080,000 and $21,606,000, respectively, with Chicago in distant third with $10,436,000.”
New app could help expand broadband access in Montana
The National Association of Counties has created an app called TestIT to build a better map of broadband access. The app records the speed of upload and downloads and tracks your GPS location. No matter where you are, a tap of the app tells where you do and don’t meet minimu...
Drop Huawei or see intelligence sharing pared back, U.S. tells Germany
The Trump administration has told the German government it would limit intelligence sharing with Berlin if Huawei Technologies Co. is allowed to build Germany’s next-generation mobile-internet infrastructure. In a letter to the country’s economics minister, U.S. Ambass...
Germany to allocate 5G frequencies in the second half of 2019, won’t ban Huawei
Germany’s telecom regulatory body, the Federal Network Agency (BNetzA), announced that it is preparing to allocate frequencies for local 5G networks in the second half of this year. BNetzA said companies will be able to apply for spectrum in the 3.7-3.8 GHz band for use in i...
How New York City will make 5G accessible and affordable
After asking three companies – Neutral Connect Networks, Fiberless Networks, and Edge Fibernet – to experiment with 5G on Governors Island Park, New York City officials have "learned that deploying 5G will be challenging, but the benefits are significant." The tests we...
Taneytown officials consider limits on installation of small cell wireless technology
The Taneytown, MD Mayor and City Council discussed an ordinance "that would place limits on the implementation of small cell wireless apparatuses erected on public grounds in the city." The ordinance "would establish a framework for aesthetic criteria that a small-cell provider wo...
5G’s deployment’s downside? Dip in small cell spend
AGL Media Group reported that there may be other factors affecting small cell rollout, such as regulatory uncertainty surrounding the FCC small cell order. Crown Castle’s Scott Longhurst was quoted stating "we are in a strange 90-day window. Even though the small cell order ...