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.”
Need for data has region preparing for upgrade
Pennsylvania is preparing for the rollout of 5G cellular data service, where Crown Castle East Area director Karmen Rajamani said "people are using their devices in a different way now. When you first started, it was to make phone calls — not a lot of data demand there. But, incre...
Legislature looks to bring broadband to rural ‘black holes’
Areas like Keller, WA, which are known as "black holes" in the internet world, are the targets of a broadband proposal announced Wednesday by Gov. Jay Inslee during a press conference in Olympia. If the Legislature signs on, it could mean a new state broadband office within the Wa...
Sprint preps Atlanta for 5G with massive MIMO deployment
Sprint’s "bridge to 5G"—a technology known as Massive MIMO—is going to be out in full force during the Super Bowl in Atlanta next month. "It’s full of all kinds of goodness," said Heather Campbell, network director for the southeast region at Sprint. "It’s allowi...
Broadband expert says USDA shutdown is hurting rural internet expansion
Through its Rural Utilities Service program, the U.S. Department of Agriculture provides rural development grants to municipalities and local governments applying to expand or construct broadband infrastructure, and the agency invested $228 million last year across 22 states. But ...
Surgeon performs world’s first remote operation using '5G surgery' on animal in China
A surgeon in China has performed the world's first remote operation using 5G technology. The doctor in the southeastern province of Fujian used the next-generation network to control robotic arms while performing surgery on an animal. During the 8 January operation, the surgeon re...
Germany weighs banning Huawei from 5G amid heightened scrutiny
Germany is exploring ways to ban the use of Huawei Technologies Co. products in the country’s telecommunications infrastructure, according to a government official, extending the Western backlash against the Chinese tech firm over security concerns. The official stated that ...