A new report from the Phoenix Center questions whether 5G has been the huge boon for the U.S. economy that the wireless industry claims. The report, released Wednesday, comes as the Trump administration launches a push to make 600 MHz of midband spectrum available for licensed use (see 2505270045). It disputes findings from a January study released by CTIA that each additional 100 MHz of midband spectrum set aside for carrier use will add $260 billion to the national GDP, generate $390 billion in consumer benefits and create 1.5 million jobs (see 2501230041).
The FCC approved an order and Further NPRM Thursday aimed at squelching “bad labs,” continuing work started in the last administration. Commissioners also decided the agency would look well beyond its initial plans of considering the 12.7 and 42 GHz bands for satellite broadband spectrum. Those items were approved 4-0, as were updated foreign-ownership rules (see 2505010037).
SpaceX is now launching about 2,000 Starlink satellites every 12 months and may exceed that this year, Quilty Space said Wednesday. The company has kept up that deployment rate even as it introduced larger satellite iterations, which didn't fit as well on its Falcon 9 rocket, Quilty said. As the number of satellites on each Falcon 9 launch dropped from 60 to 22, SpaceX's launch rate has increased, the analysis said. It said SpaceX's introduction of direct-to-device Starlink satellites in May 2024 modestly slowed broadband deployment, taking eight months to launch 1,000 broadband satellites. SpaceX has started conducting more Falcon 9 launches with the V2 Mini version of Starlink, which has 22% less mass, so 29 can fit on each Falcon 9, Quilty said: That satellite iteration is likely to be the last generation of Starlinks to fly on the Falcon 9 before SpaceX moves to V3s, which are designed to launch on the company's Starship rocket.
Thirty-eight percent of YouTube's monthly active users worldwide watch traditional TV and film content on the service, Ampere Analysis said Wednesday. Music and music videos are the most popular content type on YouTube, with 56% of monthly active users worldwide consuming music-related content, it said. The growing number of full-length shows and movies being uploaded to YouTube by studios, producers and broadcasters runs the risk of cannibalizing some audiences, it said. But the reach and scale of YouTube opens up new revenue streams via ad-share agreements with the platform, it said.
The rapid decline in submarine cable wholesale bandwidth prices, which had slowed globally due to supply chain and geopolitical issues, is picking up speed again, TeleGeography wrote Tuesday. It said price erosion is accelerating on some key global routes, as high-capacity submarine cables enter service, but remains slow on other subsea cable routes, where systems have been delayed. Wholesale prices for the U.S.-Latin America route are falling briskly due to the imminent launch of the Google-built Firmina cable and upgrades to existing systems, the analysis said.
House Commerce Committee Chairman Brett Guthrie, R-Ky., and Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Cruz, R-Texas, offered positive but different interpretations of President Donald Trump’s apparent endorsement Tuesday (see 2505200058) of the spectrum language cleared in the lower chamber's One Big Beautiful Bill Act budget reconciliation package (HR-1). The two leaders were vague about whether Trump’s statement makes it more difficult for Cruz and other senators to press for potential changes to the spectrum proposal (see 2505130059). Meanwhile, the House Rules Committee was still debating Wednesday afternoon plans for bringing HR-1 to the floor.
The Coalition for Emergency Response and Critical Infrastructure (CERCI) and AT&T disagreed sharply on the Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials’ request that the FCC launch an NPRM on rules for the 4.9 GHz band (see 2502070020), including increasing the equivalent isotropically radiated power (EIRP) limits to make the band more attractive for 5G. Reply comments were due Thursday in docket 07-100.
The FCC on Friday announced commission approval of Verizon’s $20 billion acquisition of Frontier, in an action by the Wireline Bureau (see 2505160024). The approval came immediately after Verizon filed a letter at the FCC agreeing to get rid of diversity, equity and inclusion programs, a recurring focus of President Donald Trump. DEI defenders criticized the order. Industry officials told us one reason FCC Chairman Brendan Carr probably didn’t seek a commissioner vote was because of the DEI provisions and concerns about opposition from the two Democratic commissioners.
Verizon told the FCC it’s working with NATE, which represents infrastructure builders, on concerns the group has raised about pricing and other issues as the agency considers the carrier’s proposed $20 billion acquisition of Frontier (see 2409050010). “Verizon agrees to include line items in its pricing matrix that allow for site specific conditions to be added, including explanations as to what they represent,” said a filing Thursday in docket 24-445.
NextNav on Wednesday called on the FCC to move forward with an NPRM looking at its proposal for positioning, navigation and timing (PNT) in the 902-928 MHz band as an alternative to GPS. Others urged the FCC to encourage multiple alternatives as a backup to GPS. Reply comments were due Wednesday on a notice of inquiry that commissioners approved 4-0 in March (see 2503270042). Numerous commenters sharply criticized the NextNav proposal.