Safe Connections Act

CableLabs joined NYU Wireless, New York University’s research center, to advance development of 5G, a NYU Polytechnic School of Engineering news release said. CableLabs joins Intel, Qualcomm, Samsung and nine others in the industry in the partnership with NYU Wireless, in pursuit of faster connections and greater access. The FCC recently began exploring the potential of mobile services in the millimeter-wave radio spectrum, which NYU Wireless is working on to develop fundamental science and mathematical channel models needed to develop 5G equipment, said NYU.

Satellite-hosted payloads will lower the barrier of entry into space, satellite operators said on a panel Monday at satellite week in Washington.

As the Internet of Things gains traction and popularity, more spectrum needs to be used for wireless data, industry officials said in recent interviews, but they weren't sure just how much more will be necessary to keep things running smoothly. With the global race for 5G on, but at least 10 years away from a mainstream rollout, officials said the IoT can get by using LTE Advanced and LTE Unlicensed for a while, but eventually 5G will be necessary to keep up with coverage. 5G, the next generation of wireless networks, is in the prototype stage, with companies doing trials and demonstrating devices (see 1503040048). The IoT and 5G were topics at last week's Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.

It could be up to 10 years until 5G is fully deployed as the main mobile broadband technology in the U.S., analysts and wireless industry officials said in interviews and at a major show in Barcelona this week. One of the main topics at the Mobile Wireless Congress is 5G. Major infrastructure vendors made announcements about progress on 5G research and other organizations planned to collaborate.

4G Americas and the 5G Infrastructure Association-Public Private Partnership (5G PPP) signed a memorandum of understanding agreeing to cooperate in various areas as industry moves toward a “5G” world. The groups said Monday they'll cooperate on “basic system concepts for 5G spectrum frequencies to support the global regulatory process and preparation of future global 5G standards by identification of common interest and consensus building.”

Spectrum allocations above 24 GHz that the FCC has identified for possible wireless use “present an important opportunity to open large contiguous blocks of spectrum,” but the commission also should continue to examine bands below 24 GHz since those are the bands where 5G services “are expected to emerge first,” AT&T said in a filing posted Friday. Most other industry stakeholders also encouraged the FCC in separate filings to proceed with caution on rulemakings for spectrum above 24 GHz. The FCC, in an Oct. 17 notice of inquiry, identified six sets of bands above 24 GHz for possible wireless use: the local multipoint distribution service (LMDS) bands, the 39 GHz band, the 37/42 GHz bands, the 57-64 GHz and 64-71 GHz bands, the 71-76 GHz bands, the 81-86 GHz bands and the 24/25 GHz bands. Reply comments on the NOI were due Feb. 17.

PCIA is not taking any position on net neutrality or whether the FCC should reclassify broadband as a Communications Act Title II service, PCIA President Jonathan Adelstein said Tuesday during a news conference. The former commissioner left before the agency took up the first set of rules in 2010. AT&T and Verizon executives have warned that reclassification will mean less investment in networks.

Spectrum will increasingly be shared in the next decade, said speakers at a spectrum conference Thursday sponsored by PricewaterhouseCoopers, but frameworks for this type of sharing need to be established. Some questioned whether auctions are the best way to allocate spectrum or if they’re an outdated model.

FiberTower said it opened a millimeter wave spectrum technology laboratory in Silver Spring, Maryland. The lab will focus on "research and development in the wide-area licensed millimeter wave bands, and is especially focused on the revolutionary small cell backhaul and 5G mobile access technologies that are emerging in these bands,” the company said in a news release. “These bands are key to current 4G and LTE small infrastructure proliferation, and due to their low-latency and high spectrum re-use capabilities, such millimeter wave enabled sites will be the core infrastructure sites from which 5G operations will be deployed.” At its October meeting, the FCC approved a notice of inquiry on new technology developments that could increase the viability of operations above 24 GHz (see 1410170048) .

The FCC should make sure the U.S. plays a leadership role in global efforts to promote international harmonization of frequency bands to be used for 5G, Samsung said. The company filed comments in docket 14-177 in response to a notice on inquiry on the future of spectrum above 24 GHz (see 1501160037). Some bands, including 28, 39 and 37/42 GHz, should be targeted for licensed use and 5G, Samsung said. “Samsung’s vision for 5G is a global vision, and Samsung believes that a global effort will be necessary for 5G services to reach their full potential,” the company said. “In a 5G world, international harmonization will be more important than ever before, and Samsung asks the Commission to take a leadership role in promoting international harmonization for 5G.” CEA said the spectrum could play a big role in mobile broadband, but reminded the FCC that it will also be used for other purposes. “CEA members have deployed parking assistance, blind spot detection, collision avoidance, and automatic cruise control using radar in the 28 GHz/79 GHz bands,” CEA said. “The mmW bands at 24 GHz, 28 GHz, 39 GHz and 70-80- 90 GHz are being used to provide important backhaul, satellite, and other point-to-multipoint services that should not be foreclosed under new rules.”