President-elect Joe Biden and top Democratic allies in Congress, including James Clyburn (D-South Carolina), are focused on significantly increasing federal spending on broadband to improve Internet access and affordability, especially in rural areas. The effort is more urgent as the pandemic continues, and the first step towards this goal is part of the new coronavirus stimulus package. Biden already endorsed the relief bill, passed by the House, that includes $4 billion for Internet access to low-income Americans. Continue reading Biden Reiterates Commitment to Create Universal Broadband

Only two weeks after T-Mobile introduced its OTT pay-TV bundles, the cable industry has taken it to task, stating that its rebundling of networks for different tiers is not allowed under the carriage deals it inked. T-Mobile’s TVision costs $10 per month for 34 networks that included comedy and entertainment but not sports, news or local TV stations. T-Mobile also offered three Live TV tiers, starting at $30 per month. Now, its offerings, priced lower than rivals YouTube TV and Hulu + Live TV, must change. Continue reading Cable TV Partners Push Back Against T-Mobile OTT Service

In July, Comcast reported that its NBCUniversal Peacock streaming service had 10 million subscribers. Now, the company announced, Peacock has 22 million subscribers, adding that it is “a differentiating factor for customers considering Xfinity broadband and is also improving churn.” In the same quarter, Comcast added 633,000 high-speed Internet customers, for its best quarterly results in its history. Comcast stated that, in the first nine months of 2020, cable added more broadband sign-ups than in all of 2019. Continue reading Comcast Posts Strong Q3 with Peacock, High-Speed Internet

T-Mobile, once the smallest of four national telecom carriers, is now on the road to dominate 5G spectrum to the concern of AT&T and Verizon, which have complained to the Federal Communications Commission. In August, Verizon petitioned the FCC to reassess its greenlight for a new lease that would give T-Mobile an additional 10MHz to 30MHz in the 600MHz band in 204 counties. AT&T just added its voice, with a filing supporting Verizon’s point of view. T-Mobile’s purchase of Sprint made it one of now three major carriers. Continue reading AT&T, Verizon Ask FCC to Limit T-Mobile Spectrum Purchase

At the Electronic & Electrical Engineering department of University College London (UCL), Dr. Lidia Galdino and her research team worked with Xtera and KDDI Research to achieve an Internet transmission rate of 178 terabits per second (178,000,000 megabits per second). This speed represents double the capacity of any other system operating today and would enable a user to download the entire Netflix library in less than one second. UCL and its partners achieved this by transmitting data through a much wider range of wavelengths than typically used in optical fiber. Continue reading UCL Researchers Claim Internet Transmission Speed Record

In a 2-1 vote, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled that Charter Communications can charge Netflix and other video streaming services for network interconnection. That overturned one of the merger conditions imposed by the Obama administration when, in 2016, Charter purchased Time Warner Cable and Bright House Networks. FCC chair Ajit Pai set the stage for the court overturning these conditions by not defending their merits in court. The Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) filed the suit. Continue reading Charter Can Charge Video Services for Network Connections

House Majority Whip James Clyburn (D-South Carolina) and former House Energy and Commerce Committee chair Fred Upton (R-Michigan) introduced a bill to speed up distribution of the $16 billion the FCC earmarked to expand broadband infrastructure to rural areas. The FCC currently plans to disburse the money in an October auction, but rural areas today cannot access remote schooling or healthcare resources. Thirty-nine state attorneys general are also pressing Congress to increase broadband funding for these areas. Continue reading House Bill Aims to Speed Expansion of Gigabit Internet in U.S.

As Americans stay home during the coronavirus pandemic, Republican and Democratic lawmakers are revisiting the issue of closing the digital divide, as part of an effort to spur economic recovery and improve the U.S. competitive edge. House communications and technology subcommittee chair Mike Doyle (D-Pennsylvania) noted that, “having affordable broadband — it’s not a luxury, it’s a necessity.” Both parties have stated interest in pushing legislation, noting that the pandemic gave impetus to the issue. Continue reading Coronavirus Unites Washington Over Affordable Broadband

T-Mobile has completed its $30 billion merger with Sprint, creating what the company dubs the New T-Mobile (the formal name will remain T-Mobile). Chief executive John Legere stepped down before the April 30 date in the contract, and his successor, former chief operating officer Mike Sievert, has taken his place. The new business, now with about 100 million customers, plans to use the combined infrastructure to ramp up the transition to 5G, with the capacity to offer speeds up to 15 times faster in the next six years and 14 times the capacity, reaching 99 percent of the U.S. with 5G coverage.  Continue reading T-Mobile & Sprint Complete Merger, John Legere Steps Down

In the transition to 5G, AT&T has focused on the 39GHz millimeter wave radio band, purchasing sizable blocks of this spectrum from FiberTower. Now, the carrier stated that its 39GHz spectrum holdings have more than doubled to 786MHz, which, in principle, should allow it to offer “at least 3Gbps download speeds” across the U.S. The big “if” in this scenario is AT&T’s ability to build nationwide towers to support this short distance mmWave bandwidth. By betting on 39GHz, AT&T will have 800MHz bandwidth in some markets. Continue reading AT&T Continues Its Steps to Create Nationwide 5G Coverage

Although millions of Americans are at home, the Senate did not include money for broadband infrastructure in the $3 trillion stimulus package under consideration. However, the current bill does include some funding to deploy mobile hot spots around the country. Proponents of accessible broadband will try to add that to any upcoming stimulus package. Meanwhile, the U.S. government, along with several Big Tech companies, is providing global access to 16 supercomputers to help researchers discover vaccines to combat the coronavirus. Continue reading Federal Government Considers Plans For Broadband Access

The Global System for Mobile Communications (GSMA), which represents 750 mobile operators as well as hundreds of other telecom industry companies, issued a report on 5G, finding it is now available in 24 markets around the world. The report predicts that 5G is likely to add nearly $2.2 trillion to the global economy between 2024 and 2034. Written by GSMA head of North America Ana Tavares Lattibeaudiere, the report added that, by 2025, 5G will account for 20 percent of all global connections. Continue reading GSMA Report Predicts the Future Impact of Global 5G Rollout

In another win for the FCC, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia announced yesterday that it would not reconsider the October ruling that upheld the repeal of net neutrality rules. Requests had been made by 15 states and a collection of technology and advocacy groups to reconsider the earlier ruling. The net neutrality laws were first issued in 2015 to discourage Internet service providers from practices such as blocking or throttling traffic and enabling so-called “fast lanes” through paid prioritization. In December 2017, the FCC voted to repeal the Obama-era net neutrality laws that were largely supported by tech companies and consumer groups.  Continue reading Appeals Court Will Not Rule On the Repeal of Net Neutrality

Alphabet’s Google Fiber, a service that provides fiber-to-the-premises IPTV content, is shutting down its bundle offering news, sports, local and premium channels. Existing subscribers to Fiber with TV will not see any changes to their service, but new customers won’t have the option. A company blog post explained that the service would return its focus “to where we started — as a gigabit Internet company.” It added that, “customers today just don’t need traditional TV … [because] the best TV is already online.” Continue reading Google Fiber Will No Longer Offer Its Traditional TV Bundle

One of the benefits of 5G, expected to be 100 times faster than 4G networks, is the improved protection of sensitive data. Much of the conversation about 5G networks has focused on the security issues related to Chinese vendors of gear used in 5G networks. But Verizon chief information officer Chandra McMahon noted that “security is designed into 5G and there will be additional [security] technical features.” Another advantage is that 5G providers will rely on the cloud, providing more capacity and flexibility. Continue reading 5G Offers Wireless Carriers More Security, Privacy Options