WASHINGTON, June 12, 2019 — Congress should make it easier for small wireless internet service providers to acquire spectrum and deploy broadband in rural areas, said speakers at a Wednesday panel hosted by the Wireless Internet Service Provider Association. Fixed wireless’ cost-effective deployment has made it the most rapidly growing sector of the broadband industry,… Keep Reading
WASINGTON, June 4, 2019 – Next generation Wi-Fi – sometimes called Wi-Fi 6 – will boast many of the capacities of the hype-driven 5G wireless standard, except that the capabilities of Wi-Fi 6 are already ready to deploy, said speakers at an event on Monday. The event, entitled “Next Generation Wi-Fi: Accelerating 5G For All… Keep Reading
BROADBAND BREAKFAST INSIGHT: Whether or not the government vacates spectrum, Utah Sen. Mike Lee's bill is an important exercise in government accounting for the value of resources that it uses. Sen. Lee Introduces Government Spectrum Valuation Act, from Sen. Mike Lee: Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, introduced the Government Spectrum Valuation Act Monday, a bill designed… Keep Reading
With the sudden resignation of National Telecommunications and Information Administrator David Redl on Thursday, the U.S. Commerce Department's NTIA has updated its web page for Diane Rinaldo, formerly the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Communications and Information, and the now-acting administrator of the agency. From the web site: Diane Rinaldo was sworn in as Deputy Assistant Secretary… Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, October 15, 2018 - The Phoenix Center on Friday released a new report on how the existence of a “transaction window” could help facilitating market-based repurposing of electromagnetic spectrum. The eight-page report, “Expediting Spectrum Repurposing Through Market Transactions,” presents an economic model for a two-stage process: First, incumbent licensees are would be granted a… Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, June 28, 2018 – The CEO of T-Mobile on Wednesday defended his company’s proposed merger with Sprint against skeptical senators, claiming the merger is necessary in order for the U.S. to win the race for 5G wireless service against China. A Senate subcommittee hearing investigating the competitive effects of the proposed merger on the… Keep Reading
BROADBAND BREAKFAST INSIGHT: The role of wireless, which is one key piece of the broadband puzzle for rural areas, will be considered at the New America Foundation on Tuesday at Noon, together with Kelsey Guyselman, policy advisor at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, and an array of industry players. Spectrum as… Keep Reading
BROADBAND BREAKFAST INSIGHT: A great summary of what to take away from the Trump administration's blocking of Broadcom's acquisition attempt for Qualcomm, an action that appears to be have been taken quite precipitously. According to The New York Times' story on the subject, "A presidential action against foreign investment in an American company is rare and… Keep Reading
BROADBAND BREAKFAST INSIGHT: Here, Microsoft is taking the initiative to address the communications failures and other challenges in Puerto Rico. Microsoft is aiming to use its particular variant of TV "white spaces" to allow greater communication capabilities during a time of widespread power outages. Using TV White Space technology in Puerto Rico and the US… Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, June 2, 2017 - The Wireless Internet Service Providers Association and 17 other organizations and companies on Thursday urged the Federal Communications Commission to finalize rules governing the Citizens Broadband Radio Service. “We write today to encourage the FCC to remain committed to the rules it adopted in 2015 and affirmed in 2016, and… Keep Reading
Wall Street and K Street are separated by a mere 225 miles, but for many companies they are worlds apart. In particular, industry observers would do well to compare everything said to policymakers with statements by the same competitors made to Wall Street investors. Defense companies, for example, warned policymakers that sequestration would spell the… Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, December 16, 2013 - Last Thursday's testimony, by the full group of Federal Communications Commissioners at the House Energy and Commerce Committee, restores the pulse of the nation's technology and communications policy issues to a "low-tension" state. We've seen this perennial cycle before: first, an issue stirs immense conflict among the agency's five members.… Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, September 6, 2013 - The National Telecommunications and Information Administration of the Commerce Department on Friday announced that it had awarded planning grants for seven states and two territories to help prepare for the First Responder Network Authority, or FirstNet. The awards, to Massachusetts, Minnesota, North Dakota, Puerto Rico, South Carolina, Texas, Virginia and… Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, July 24, 2013 — The House Subcommittee on Communications and Technology held a hearing Tuesday on the upcoming spectrum auction, focusing primarily on possible restrictions on larger carriers and efforts to ensure that broadcasters are treated fairly. The question of whether or not to impose restrictions on AT&T Inc. and Verizon Communications Inc. dominated much… Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, July 2, 2013 - The Institute for Local Self-Reliance released a fact sheet describing the basic principles behind wireless internet technology and policy on June 17. The fact sheet defines the basic terminology associated with wireless internet such as fixed wireless and data caps. It describes the differences between licensed and unlicensed spectrum and… Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, June 27, 2013 - Witnesses from government agencies and private industry underscored the importance of making more efficient use of radio-frequency spectrum, including sharing and utilization of new technology, at a hearing on Thursday afternoon. In his opening remarks at the Communications and Technology Subcommittee of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, Rep.… Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, June 26, 2013 – Spectrum policy, technology training and elevating the levels of broadband adoption and usage dominated a panel discussion here Wednesday, dubbed “The X-Factors of Tech Policy Today: Keeping Pace in the Broadband Race,” and hosted by the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies. During the panel at the event, Rick… Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, June 17, 2013 – President Barack Obama on Friday introduced several new initiatives to facilitate more efficient use of radio-frequency spectrum in order to encourage further development of wireless broadband. In addition to investments totaling to $100 million in the development of spectrum-sharing technologies and advanced communications, Obama also directed federal agencies to make… Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, June 12, 2013 - Concerns over spectrum policy and data privacy dominated the conversation between AT&T Chairman and CEO Randall Stephenson and Sen. Mark Pryor, D-Ark., at a Wednesday panel on “Accelerating the Mobile Technology Revolution” at the Brookings Institution. Stephenson praised the approach that the Federal Communications Commission has taken with the incentive… Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, May 22, 2013 – Addressing spectrum demands and encouraging mobile innovation are the two keys to advancement in communications, said Federal Communications Commission Acting Chairwoman Mignon Clyburn at the Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association 2013 convention in Las Vegas, Nevada, on Monday. Clyburn highlighted a number of strategies the FCC has enacted or plans to… Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, May 16, 2013 - On Thursday, Democratic Representatives Henry Waxman, Anna Eshoo, and Doris Matsui of California, plus Edward Markey of Massachusetts, Diana DeGette of Colorado, and Mike Doyle of Pennsylvania issued a letter to outgoing Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski, responding to Republican members of the Energy and Commerce Committee. Republicans on… Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, Thursday, February 21st, 2013 – The broadband policy news and events service BroadbandBreakfast.com held its February 2013 Broadband Breakfast Club event “Data Caps, the Spectrum Crunch and the Wireless Home” this past Tuesday, February 19th, 2013 at Clyde’s of Gallery Place. Speakers included: Keynote: Ruth Milkman, Chief, Wireless Telecommunications Bureau, Federal Communications Commission Panel: Roger Entner, Founder, Recon Analytics Nick Feamster, Associate Professor in… Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, Wednesday, January 30th, 2013 – The broadband policy news and events service BroadbandBreakfast.com will hold its February 2013 Broadband Breakfast Club event: “Data Caps for Wireless Broadband, the Spectrum Crunch and the Wireless Home” on Tuesday, February 19th, 2013 at Clyde’s of Gallery Place, 707 7th St. NW, Washington, DC 20001 from 8 am… Keep Reading
LAS VEGAS, January 9, 2013 - When President Obama came to office nearly four years ago, the transition to digital television hadn't yet been completed. Now, airwaves once used by broadcasters have been cleared for use by wireless companies. And the Federal Communications Commission is going forward on the next stage of this transition. The… Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, December 21, 2012 - The Nation Cable and Telecommunications Association, the trade group representing cable operators serving more than 90 percent of the nation's households, on Friday released a statement criticizing the Data Cap Integrity Act introduced by Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore. “Regrettably, this ill-conceived legislation ignores the substantial pro-consumer benefits of usage-based pricing," according to the NCTA… Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, December 20, 2012 - On Thursday Senator Ron Wyden, D-Ore. proposed a data caps bill that encourages transparency for customers so they can further understand their data usage and to ensure that innovation is not hampered by a cap on data. The non-profit organization Public Knowledge has championed public attention on, and further investigation of, data caps. They support… Keep Reading
WASHINGTON Tuesday June 12, 2012 - Last week the Federal Communications Commission moved forward with white spaces reform free of challenges from the microphone industry, they took on special access reform and held a meeting of experts to address the future of wireless mHealth innovation. Broadbandbreakfast has some notes on each of these stories. … Keep Reading
WASHINGTON April 6, 2012 – Last week the National Telecommunication and Information Administration (NTIA) announced their finding that 95 megahertz (MHz) of spectrum residing in the 1755-1850 MHz band can be repurposed for commercial wireless use. NTIA’s report was in response to a 2010 Memorandum from the president asking the Department of Commerce through NTIA to… Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, Friday March 23, 2012 – On Tuesday March 20th federal regulatory administrators, state health and broadband officials and private health IT and technology experts met in Washington to discuss “Maximizing US Health IT and Broadband Investment” at BroadbandBreakfast.com’s monthly breakfast and panel discussion. In the session, the speakers agreed that there is both humanitarian and… Keep Reading
WASHINGTON March 8th, 2012 – Last month Congress passed one of the more important pieces of legislation regarding the future of wireless access and innovation in our country. The bi partisan legislation has already garnered support from many of the stakeholders and parties involved. Given that we have not covered this legislation up to date,… Keep Reading
WASHINGTON January 17, 2012 – BroadbandBreakfast.com kicked off a new year of the Broadband Breakfast Club fresh off the heals of the Consumer Electronics Show in Vegas with a Breakfast on “The Wired Home and Wired Policy” featuring the Presidents of four major technology and telecommunications trade associations and the Wireless Telecommunication Bureau Chief of… Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, December 5, 2011 - With its proposed merger facing roadblocks on two fronts, AT&T has withdrawn its Federal Communications Commission application in order to focus on the Department of Justice’s antitrust suit. One of the ways that AT&T may try to gain the DOJ’s approval would be to sell off parts of the company… Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, November 25 2011 – As we all sit and digest post Thanksgiving, Broadband Breakfast can finally wrap up some stories that we have been interested in over the past couple of weeks but have not had time to get around to. We wanted to draw attention to a couple of the stories below and… Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, Friday October 28, 2011. The Federal Communication Commission unanimously voted to overhaul its outdated the Universal Service Fund and reform its intercarrier compensation fund at yesterday morning’s Open Commission Meeting. The FCC predicts that an effort to expand high speed internet to rural America over the next six years, will increase economic growth by… Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, August 31, 2011 - With the Justice Department's announcement on Wednesday that it will contest AT&T's proposed acquisition of T-Mobile, the attention should now turn to what some consider the deal's key driver: getting more wireless spectrum into the hands of broadband providers. Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, July 20, 2011- Both AT&T and Verizon taken steps to to deploy their 4G LTE networks in recent months, with Sprint and T-Mobile heavily advertising their existing 4G technologies. With rampant speculation regarding the iPhone 5 industry watchers have predicted that consumers would be clamoring for the faster speeds promised by LTE. "Not so," says consumer research firm Retrevo. Keep Reading
WASHINGTON July 13, 2011 - The Federal Communications Commission approved a Notice of Proposed Rule Making that would aim to improve the ability of first responders to locate mobile and Voice over IP (VoIP) callers who contact 911 during its July meeting on Tuesday. The Commission passed by a unanimous vote a Notice of Proposed Rule Making on improving the accuracy of location information for wireless and Voice over IP (VoIP) services. The NPRM seeks to establish a standard for VoIP location information. Keep Reading
WASHINGTON July 7, 2011- National Telecommunications and Information Administration Administrator (NTIA) Lawrence Strickling testified as the sole witness during at Subcommittee on Communications and Technology hearing on the use of federal government spectrum on Wednesday. “With increased access to broadband, businesses will grow faster and create more jobs, students of all ages will have greater access to education and job training, and public safety officials nationwide will finally have access to state-of-the-art, secure, interoperable mobile communications,” said Strickling. “The end products of the President’s National Wireless Initiative promise to help grow the economy in several ways.” Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, June 9, 2011 – The Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation passed a deficit reducing measure Wednesday to reallocate the D-Block spectrum to public safety and gain federal funding to realize a nationwide, interoperable public safety broadband network. The measure, known as the Strengthening Public-safety and Enhancing Communications Through Reform, Utilization, and Modernization (SPECTRUM) Act of 2011, is seen by proponents as a way to both reduce the federal deficit and honor first responders who lost their lives due to communications network failures during the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. Keep Reading
WASHINGTON June 2, 2011 - Cisco predicted the next four years of global broadband consumption via virtual forum when it unveiled its annual visual networking index Wednesday. Each year Cisco produces a networking index that predicts internet use and broadband consumption for the next five years. While a number of firms produce similar reports, Cisco’s has consistently proven among the most accurate in recent years. Keep Reading