With a broad boost from U.S. Reps. Anna G. Eshoo and Jackie Speier (D-Palo Alto, Hillsborough), a large coalition of Western cities and counties are waging a legal showdown with a shuttered federal government in the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals over control of 5G wireless installations. Eshoo's bill, H.R. 530 -- called the Accelerating Wireless Broadband Development by Empowering Local Communities Act of 2019, "essentially resets the clock on the FCC's new rules by erasing what the federal government has implemented in the under-the-wire maneuver." Eshoo noted "5G is essential for our country's communications network and economy, but it must be deployed responsibly and equitably."
Partnership to develop 5G base station chip
Sivers IMA, developer of mmWave products, said that it will create a 5G base station chip with RF power product company Ampleon, which it expects to bring to market by the end of 2019. Both companies will jointly develop the product, with Ampleon being the main sales channel to Ti...
State leaders meet in Elkins to discuss economic strategy, high-speed broadband access
During an Elkins-Randolph County Chamber of Commerce meeting last week, state legislators brought up the need for high-speed broadband connectivity. State Sen. Greg Boso called on Verizon and AT&T to "at least build the infrastructure so that it encourages them to branch off of th...
Autonomous vehicle expert says 5G make driverless cars safer
Dean Bushey, the general manager of self-driving car company Voyage, said that 5G technology will help make autonomous vehicles safer. "Right now, anything over a hundred milliseconds of latency is going to cause our cars to disrupt. So anytime we can get lower latency, higher ban...
US Census Bureau finds stark rural-urban broadband divide
The latest American Community Survey by the U.S. Census Bureau reinforces how stark the digital divide is between urban and rural areas. Among counties where fewer than 60% of homes lacked broadband internet subscriptions, 88% were mostly or completely rural. Lack of access was al...
Georgia senators seek 5G wireless legislation
To make way for faster wireless internet, Georgia lawmakers are pushing for statewide rules governing where and how cellphone companies can install their equipment on public land. A Senate study committee voted unanimously to pursue statewide regulations to promote 5G wireless tec...
New Hampshire towns might start making their own broadband
The town of Bristol has voter permission to spend $98,500, and hopefully another $33,000 next year, combined with a $132,000 grant from the Northern Border Regional Commission, to build three miles of fiber backbone through its main business district. The system, which will enter ...