Safe Connections Act

AT&T needs freedom to address its copper network, including parts that are more than 100 years old, but regulation requires that the network keep operating, Chris Sambar, executive vice president-technology operations and head of network, said Tuesday during an AT&T Policy Forum. Sambar said he plans meetings at the FCC this week when he will discuss the cost for AT&T and other carriers of keeping copper lines operating.

DOD is starting part of its work on the national spectrum strategy on its own. At a meeting Wednesday, it will launch an initiative investigating dynamic sharing in the lower 3 GHz band, as a continuation of the Partnering to Advance Trusted and Holistic Spectrum Solutions (PATHSS) process. DOD announced the meeting last month (see 2404080063), but it has received relatively little attention. A former NTIA official saw no reason for concern.

Ericsson will make an additional $50 million investment in its USA 5G Smart Factory in Lewisville, Texas, the company said Monday. Ericsson said it has already invested $100 million. The factory “ensures we are working closely to secure fast and agile deliveries to meet US customer requirements, and it has been exciting to see the growth and innovation of our state-of-the-art facility in just a few short years,” said Yossi Cohen, president of Ericsson North America. Ericsson is accelerating production of advanced massive multiple-input and multiple-output radios and its radio access network compute platform, “all proudly made in the USA,” he said.

Incompas supports the FCC’s proposed 5G Fund but agrees with others who argue the agency should wait on making awards until after funding is released for the broadband access, equity and deployment program, a filing posted Friday in docket 20-32 said. FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel circulated an order on the fund in March (see 2403200071). Allowing NTIA to complete the BEAD allocation “will give the Commission a better understanding of where gaps in wireless 5G service exist and will help ensure that funding efforts are not duplicated and that USF funding will reach the areas where there is still a funding need,” Incompas said.

Mexico's 5G auction, set for 2025, “faces hurdles as high spectrum fees deter operator interest,” GlobalData told investors Thursday. The auction will offer licenses in the 600 and 1427-1518 MHz bands, including some covering small geographic areas, and unused licenses in the 800 MHz, 1.7/2.1 GHz, 1.9 GHz and 2.5 GHz bands, the firm said. “Concerns linger as past spectrum license returns highlight the financial strain on operators, potentially impacting the auction's outcome,” GlobalData said.

Qualcomm remains hopeful the FCC will approve final rules this year for cellular vehicle-to-everything (C-V2X) in the 5.9 GHz band, but the technology is moving forward in the interim, with the agency approving more than 50 waivers already, John Kuzin, Qualcomm vice president-spectrum policy and regulatory counsel, said Wednesday during a Broadband Breakfast webinar. Qualcomm is a longtime proponent of the technology (see 1801220024).

T-Mobile’s 2.5 GHz spectrum has “about a 30% propagation advantage” over the C-band bought mainly by Verizon and AT&T, T-Mobile Chief Financial Officer Peter Osvaldik said at a MoffettNathnson financial conference Tuesday. “C-band is great” and T-Mobile bought some licenses in the 2021 auction, which it plans to deploy in dense urban areas as a “fourth dedicated 5G layer,” Osvaldik said. The wireless industry can’t change the physics of spectrum, he said. The week after EchoStar reported earnings, with questions about its continual financial viability (see 2405080057), analyst Craig Moffett pressed Osvaldik on whether he sees a buying opportunity. “If hypothetically speaking, some company that owns a lot of spectrum were to suddenly unravel, and mid-band spectrum came on the market, is that something where you would say, 'I always want more spectrum?'” Moffett asked. “If there was a hypothetical spectrum availability out there, we'd approach it very similar to any other opportunity” Osvaldik replied. T-Mobile would consider the spectrum, the price and “what sort of returns can we generate on it versus other ways to create capacity than just buying more spectrum,” he said. Osvaldik said the carrier would look at that opportunity the same way it does when investing in fiber (see 2404250047) or at a potential a deal with UScellular (see 2405090053). T-Mobile is analyzing the subscribers it picked up from its acquisition of Ka’ena, including brands Mint Mobile and Ultra Mobile. “We just closed,” Osvaldik said. “We've got to run it through all of our subscriber reporting rules.” The biggest question the company gets is whether actor Ryan Reynolds, who owned part of Mint, will remain. “There's so much creative work there that he's done so fabulously, so we'll continue to have a relationship with Ryan,” Osvaldik said.

Carriers are using AI and machine learning (ML) in potentially transformative ways, experts said Tuesday during day two of Fierce Network’s Cloud Native 5G Summit. But speakers also reminded attendees AI is in its early stages and has a ways to go before providers fully embrace it.

The House is set to vote as soon as Tuesday night on a revised version of the NTIA Reauthorization Act (HR-4510) under suspension of the rules, the office of Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., said Friday night. The House Commerce Committee-cleared measure would elevate the NTIA administrator from assistant secretary to undersecretary of Commerce. It also proposes other steps aimed at improving coordination of federal spectrum (see 2307270063). Chamber leaders pulled HR-4510 from consideration in early March amid objections from leaders of the House Armed Services Committee over the fight between NTIA and DOD about allowing 5G use of the 3.1-3.45 GHz band (see 2403060062). In addition, the House will consider the Senate-passed FAA Reauthorization Act (HR-3935) amid questions about whether backers of additional funding for the FCC’s affordable connectivity program and Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Reimbursement Program will attempt to attach money for those initiatives to it. Senate Communications Subcommittee Chairman Ben Ray Lujan, D-N.M., and other senators unsuccessfully sought an amendment aimed at including $6 billion for ACP and $3.08 billion for rip and replace in HR-3935 (see 2405100046).

NCTA representatives discussed concerns about Samsung Electronics America’s request for a waiver for a 5G base station radio that works across citizens broadband radio service and C-band spectrum (see 2309130041), speaking with an aide to FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel. Earlier, NCTA raised questions as well (see 2404090058). Samsung’s proposed radio threatens the utility of the CBRS band because of Samsung’s design choice not to use a filter between the C-Band and the CBRS band,” said a filing last week in docket 23-93. “The Commission could not justifiably grant Samsung’s waiver request without setting a precedent that future parties would rely on for other radios in these frequencies and many others,” NCTA said. Among those represented at the meeting were Comcast, Charter Communications and Cox Enterprises.