SpaceX Asks Starlink Customers for Support in Battle with DISH

By Leslie Stimson, Inside Towers Washington Bureau Chief

SpaceX is asking customers for help in its fight with DISH Network over 12 GHz frequencies used to operate its Starlink internet broadband network. Some Starlink customers received an email this week urging them to contact the FCC and members of Congress in order to support SpaceX in the ongoing dispute, reports The Verge. SpaceX and OneWeb use the 12 GHz band for their satellite broadband networks. The FCC in January 2021 opened the door for the band being used for 5G. DISH and RS Access submitted studies on ways their networks could use the band. RS Access was founded in 2018, to acquire spectrum in the 12.2-12.7 GHz band and operate wireless networks. The companies also formed a “5G for 12 GHz Coalition,” along with other companies, to lobby the Commission to change its rules and open up the band for 5G. Continue Reading

Battle Lines Clear Over Pole Attachment Disputes

By Leslie Stimson, Inside Towers Washington Bureau Chief

The FCC opened a can of worms when it invited comments concerning public input on establishing clear standards for how utilities and attachers must share in pole replacement costs. Comments in the Second Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking were due Monday evening.   The agency wants to further streamline its pole attachment rules before billions in broadband dollars start flowing. The FCC asked questions such as who should pay the cost of pole replacement when that isn’t determined by a new attachment request, and whether utilities benefit from various types of pole replacements. It asked if it should require utilities to pay a proportional share of all replacement costs. Continue Reading

EU’s Proposed Connectivity Infrastructure Act May Require Big Users to Pay

By John Celentano, Inside Towers Business Editor

UPDATE The European Union has been working to bolster the flailing 5G rollout among EU-based mobile network operators like Vodafone, Deutsche Telekom, and Telefónica. An outcome of that effort suggests the EU wants Big Tech’s largest platforms, namely the U.S.-based companies, Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Meta, Microsoft, and Netflix, to help cover the cost of 5G deployments in Europe. The EU argues Big Tech companies generate a disproportionate volume of mobile data traffic and should contribute towards the cost of building and operating the mobile networks to handle that traffic. To that end, the European Commission plans to present a new Connectivity Infrastructure Act in the fall, according to POLITICO. Continue Reading

These States Regulate Pole Attachments

By Leslie Stimson, Inside Towers Washington Bureau Chief

The state of Florida recently certified to the FCC that it implemented its regulatory authority over pole attachments. The Commission said certification by a state preempts the FCC from accepting pole attachment complaints. The FCC compiles and occasionally publishes a list of states that have provided certification. This list supersedes the last one published by the Wireline Competition Bureau in 2020.   The following states have certified that they regulate the rates, terms, and conditions for pole attachments in their state: Alaska, Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Florida, Idaho, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Utah, Vermont, Washington, and West Virginia.

5G Usage Outlook Has Big Implications for Wireless Infrastructure Demand

By John Celentano, Inside Towers Business Editor

The new Ericsson Mobility Report is here! This highly regarded and oft-cited annual analysis quantifies and forecasts a myriad aspects of the global wireless business. The June 2022 issue presents 2021 baseline data with an outlook to 2027. Two major variables drive the need for wireless infrastructure: coverage and capacity. These variables are a function of 1) the number of devices connecting to the network (that’s the coverage part), and 2) the amount of data traffic that each device uses (the capacity part). The product of these two variables is the total traffic demand on the network. This figure tells network planners how, where and when they must expand and upgrade the network to meet that demand. Continue Reading

DISH Loses Spectrum Auction Bidding Credit Appeal

By Leslie Stimson, Inside Towers Washington Bureau Chief

A federal appeals court said the FCC was correct when the agency ruled that two companies tied to DISH Network were ineligible to receive $3.3 billion in bidding credits that were available to small businesses that took part in a 2014 spectrum auction. SNR Wireless LicenseCo LLC and Northstar Wireless failed to show that the Commission violated a remand order in a prior ruling by not properly negotiating with the companies over how to secure “de facto” independence from DISH. So ruled Judge Patricia Millett of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, reported Bloomberg. New Street Research Policy Analyst Blair Levin writes in a note for analysts that while the appeal process can continue, “it is all but done.” That means the FCC would soon be free to re-auction the licenses that were turned back into the Commission when it challenged the DISH/DE relationship, saying it was “contrary” to its rules. Continue Reading

DISH and T-Mobile Expand Network Partnership Pending DOJ Approval

Pending approval by the Department of Justice, DISH Network (NASDAQ:DISH) and T-Mobile (NASDAQ:TMUS) have signed an amendment to the 2020 Master Network Services Agreement (MNSA) that provides customers of DISH's retail wireless brands, including Boost Mobile, access to T-Mobile's nationwide 5G network. 

The agreement stipulates that T-Mobile will help DISH in migrating DISH's 3G CDMA customers to 5G handsets. In turn, DISH will pay T-Mobile "not less" than a total of $3.3 billion through January 21, 2027.  The Term Sheet will not be effective unless it receives DOJ approval by August 14, 2022.

Analyst Jonathan Chaplin of New Street Research said, “If approved, we believe the deal will increase EBITDA and FCF at Boost materially. This should in turn improve access to capital, helping alleviate the most significant issue weighing on the equity. We see no reason why the deal won’t be approved.” Continue Reading

Rogers, Shaw to Sell Freedom Mobile to Quebecor

By John Celentano, Inside Towers Business Editor

Rogers Communications (NYSE: RCI), Shaw Communications (NYSE: SJR) and Quebecor Inc. announced after markets closed on Friday a deal to sell Freedom Mobile to Montreal-based Quebecor for approximately $2.2 billion. The deal is intended to appease federal regulators opposed to Rogers proposed takeover of Shaw. Quebecor is a diversified media and telecommunications company serving customers in Québec and eastern Canada. The sale to Quebecor covers all of Freedom Mobile's branded wireless and internet customers, infrastructure, spectrum, and retail sites. More importantly, it expands Quebecor’s reach into key markets in Ontario, and Alberta and British Columbia in western Canada.  Toronto-based Rogers made a $20-billion bid for Calgary-based Shaw on March 15, 2021, as Inside Towers reported. Rogers and Shaw are competitors but as part of the proposed acquisition, Rogers offered to divest Shaw's Freedom Mobile unit to allay competition concerns. The Freedom Mobile deal comes after Canada’s antitrust regulator reiterated its opposition of Rogers' plan to purchase Shaw, expressing concerns that the acquisition would result in greater market concentration and less wireless competition in Canada. Continue Reading

Service Outage in Arizona Results in Death of Man Unable to Summon Help

Damage to equipment owned by Frontier Communications left residents in remote Apache and Navajo Counties without cell or internet service for approximately 48 hours. As AZCentral.com reports, a man in need of medical assistance died on the way to the hospital after onlookers were unable to use their cell phones to call for help. By the time Good Samaritans were able to flag down an ambulance, the responders were too late to save the individual's life. Authorities added that a young child who accidentally impaled herself with a curtain rod was also stranded without emergency care, but that incident did not result in a fatality.

St. Johns Police Chief Lance Spivey spoke negatively about Frontier, saying that this sort of crisis is not unusual. "My hope is that Frontier leaves the area, goes out of business," he said. "They have jeopardized public safety. If this was to happen in the Valley, it'd be different because there's so many more people that live down there there'd be outrage and all kinds of stuff. But we're small and rural so we get stuck with a company that really doesn't care. They put dollars above names, above people." Continue Reading

How Is the Current Economy Impacting the Tower Business?

By John Celentano, Inside Towers Business Editor

With the U.S. economy being buffeted by inflation and rising interest rates, we wanted to gauge the impact on the tower business, both in leasing operations and M&A activity. Inside Towers reached out to Michael DeMita, Chief Executive Officer at Tower Capital Advisors, LLC for his perspectives. We asked Clayton Funk, Managing Director at Houlihan Lokey to comment, as well. How does inflation affect tower growth revenues, i.e., fixed escalators in North America vs CPI-indexed escalators internationally? DeMita: Inflation certainly puts pressure on tower companies to find a way to increase profits as lease escalations are falling behind the current inflation rate. The average escalation in carrier leases and tower ground leases is just under 3 percent per year/15 percent per term and has been 2 percent per year/10 percent per term for new builds for several years. Without lease-up or amendment activity, though still quite active, existing revenue is losing ground every year. Continue Reading

WIA Names Patrick Halley President and CEO

 

The Wireless Infrastructure Association (WIA) today named communications policy veteran and association leader Patrick Halley as the organization’s incoming President and Chief Executive Officer, effective August 1, 2022. Halley replaces Jonathan Adelstein, now with DigitalBridge.

Halley joins WIA from USTelecom – The Broadband Association where he serves as Senior Vice President of Policy & Advocacy and General Counsel, and leads the association’s policy development and advocacy efforts before the White House, the FCC and other regulatory agencies, courts, and in state capitals. 

“We are extremely pleased to announce Patrick Halley as our next President and CEO,” said WIA Board Chairman Jeffrey Stoops, President and Chief Executive Officer of SBA Communications Corporation. “Patrick’s broad regulatory, legal and trade association experience in telecommunications makes him the ideal person to lead WIA into the future. He has deep knowledge of, and experience in, advocacy, which is the primary mission of WIA, and is a proven manager and motivator of his team members. On behalf of the WIA Board of Directors, I welcome Patrick to his new role and express my excitement about the future of WIA under his leadership.” Continue Reading

Wireless Franchises Unite and Litigate Against Sprint/T-Mobile Merger

In April of 2020, T-Mobile merged with Sprint for $26 billion. At the time, some industry analysts voiced concerns about the deal undermining competition as well as its potential harmful impact on smaller dealers and vendors. Since then, some wireless providers who worked with the two companies before the transaction, have banded together to litigate against the now consolidated T-Mobile, calling for remuneration from the deal’s impact on their respective companies.

Called Wireless Franchisees for Justice, the group was created to call attention to “the troubling treatment of T-Mobile’s dealers following the merger that was approved under false pretenses.” The group says the impact of T-Mobile’s actions “spans across the country and led to massive job losses and had devastating impacts on small and medium-sized businesses.” Its stated goal is to “right some of the wrongs and reverse the predatory and anti-competitive business practices of T-Mobile.”

All together, the total damages sought are roughly $500 - $600 million. The group, with litigation spanning 20 states, cites a total of 382 stores closed and 2,578 jobs lost. Continue Reading

More Unqualified, Than Qualified Bidders So Far in 2.5 GHz Auction

By Leslie Stimson, Inside Towers Washington Bureau Chief

The FCC says the bulk of short-form applications to bid in the upcoming 2.5 GHz auction of flexible-use licenses are deficient. The agency will give the companies time to correct their paperwork. Thirty-nine applications are complete and have been accepted. Some of these entities include AT&T, Carolina West Wireless, Pine Belt Cellular, T-Mobile, and UScellular. These entities will become qualified bidders once they’ve submitted an upfront payment. That deadline is 6 p.m. on June 23.   Under the Commission’s two-phased auction application process, a winning bidder must submit a longform application after the close of the auction to demonstrate its qualifications to hold a Commission license and, if a bidding credit is requested, its eligibility for the bidding credit. In the event that an applicant is found unqualified to be a Commission licensee, or ineligible for claimed designated entity benefits, it will be liable for any obligations incurred as a result of its participation in the auction. Continue Reading

Huawei Tempts West With New Inventions, Wants IP Protection

By J. Sharpe Smith, Inside Towers Technology Editor

Song Liuping, Huawei's Chief Legal Officer, talks IP protections.  (photo captured from video courtesy Huawei) Huawei continues its penchant for technological innovation and the pursuit of patents, even though it is banned by several countries in the West. During its "Broadening the Innovation Landscape 2022" forum held last week at its Shenzhen headquarters, Huawei announced a batch of key inventions as part of its biennial "Top Ten Inventions" Awards.  The awarded inventions range from an adder neural network that reduces power consumption and circuit area to an "optical iris" that provides a unique identifier for optical fibers. The optical iris is designed to help carriers manage their network resources, cutting time and costs associated with broadband deployment, according to Huawei.  “Inventors have joined Huawei over the past few years after receiving their PhDs,” Song Liuping, Huawei's Chief Legal Officer, said. “They are full of passion, eager to take on challenges, and work hard to solve real world problems. As a result, they have made major breakthroughs in many domains.” Continue Reading

Stop Use Recall on Select 3M Lanyards/Immediate Action Required

Late yesterday, 3M issued a Stop Use Recall on Select 3M™ DBI-SALA® ShockWave™2 Arc Flash Shock Absorbing Lanyards. 3M stated the product should be removed from service until inspection is performed although no reports of injuries or accidents have occured. The company issued the following statement:  “As part of 3M Fall Protection’s ongoing commitment to delivering high quality safety equipment, we are notifying our customers of the following information related to specific 3M™ DBI-SALA® ShockWave™2 Arc Flash Shock Absorbing Lanyards. During an internal review, 3M Fall Protection has identified a potential manufacturing issue with a limited number of devices. This manufacturing issue could result in the lanyard not performing properly in the event of a fall, which could result in severe injury or death. Please reference Appendix A for products that are impacted by this notice. There have been no reports of injuries, accidents, or complaints associated with this issue.”  A copy of this notice can be found here.

Administration Chooses First Four States to Tap $10B Broadband Fund

By Leslie Stimson, Inside Towers Washington Bureau Chief

The Treasury Department has started approving broadband grants to states from a $10 billion fund approved under the American Rescue Plan’s Coronavirus Capital Projects Fund (CPF). A key priority of the program is to make funding available for reliable, affordable broadband infrastructure and other digital connectivity technology projects. The Treasury Department said Tuesday that Louisiana, New Hampshire, Virginia, and West Virginia are the first states to be approved to receive funds under the American Rescue Plan and will connect over 200,000 homes and businesses. The state plans approved in this first group are designed to meet or exceed symmetrical download and upload speeds of 100 Mbps.  The Treasury Department said it designed its guidance “to prioritize connecting families and businesses with poor and inadequate service – particularly those in rural and remote areas.” States must also explain why communities they have identified to be served with funds from the CPF critically need those projects. Continue Reading

T-Mobile Buildout Eyes 1.9 GHz Band Next

By J. Sharpe Smith, Inside Towers Technology Editor

In the two years since the Sprint merger, T-Mobile has pushed forward with the deployment of its 5G network and is ahead of schedule and ahead of the competition, Neville Ray told the UBS Future of 5G Event live webcast last week.  T-Mobile’s next “big push” will be to roll out 5G in the PCS 1.9 GHz band, according to Ray. Together with the carrier’s AWS portfolio (1710-1755 and 2110-2155 MHz), it has 110 MHz of FDD spectrum. Ray updated the audience on the carrier’s mid-band 2.5 GHz TDD spectrum coverage plans, which included 225 million people as of Q1. Its goal is to extend that number to 260 million by the end of the year, and 300 million by the end of 2023. T-Mobile now has an average of 100 MHz of spectrum across a nation dedicated to 5G in the mid band, which Ray said is more than AT&T and Verizon combined, and the T-Mobile 5G spectrum is expected to double by the end of 2023. Continue Reading

T‑Mobile Brings Voice to Standalone 5G

T-Mobile has proclaimed to have achieved another wireless first, launching commercial Voice Over New Radio (VoNR) service in limited areas of Portland, OR and Salt Lake City, UT, with plans to expand it to more areas this year. 

“Standalone 5G is the future of wireless, and because it isn’t anchored to LTE, it will be capable of delivering a new level of performance with incredibly fast speeds, real-time responsiveness and massive connectivity. Now that Standalone 5G is beginning to carry voice traffic with the launch of VoNR, all services are possible on 5G,” said Neville Ray, T-Mobile President of Technology. Continue Reading

Rosenworcel Explains the “Why” Behind the “Rip & Replace” Funding Gap

By Leslie Stimson, Inside Towers Washington Bureau Chief

On June 15, the FCC must be able to verify the suspected $3.7 billion gap in Rip & Replace reimbursement funding. Senators Roger Wicker, (R-MS) Ranking Member of the Commerce Committee, and committee member Gary Peters (D-MI), asked Rosenworcel for an initial analysis of why the reimbursement requests exceeded the $1.9 billion Congress appropriated to reimburse small carriers for removing and replacing suspect gear from Huawei and ZTE from their networks. They also asked when the agency will determine the final amount eligible for reimbursement, and what will happen if demands outstrip available support. Continue Reading

Gigabit Speeds Achieved in FWA Test

By J. Sharpe Smith, Inside Towers Technology Editor

As fiber and wireless jockey for a piece of the FCC Rural Development Opportunity Fund (RDOF) payout, Resound Networks and Airspan Networks Inc. have achieved fixed wireless access data speeds that may make wireless an even more competitive choice to close the digital divide. Using 6 GHz spectrum at a distance of over three miles in real-world testing, the two companies achieved speeds of 1 Gbps download and 500 Mbps upload, using Airspan’s Mimosa A6 and C6x WiFi 6E OFDMA (orthogonal frequency-division multiple access) technologies.  “This test demonstrates the importance of this eagerly anticipated band to deliver fiber quality services via wireless in rural areas nationwide,” said Tyson Curtis, CEO of Resound Networks, which is a wireless ISP that serves New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas. The test exceeded Resound Networks' gigabit-tier distance expectations by 50 percent, he added. Continue Reading

Talking Top 5G Stocks

By John Celentano, Inside Towers Business Editor

Disclaimer: Inside Towers does not recommend either the buy or sell of any securities. Our analysis presented herein is for discussion purposes only.  For more in-depth financial reporting related to the wireless infrastructure business, subscribe to Inside Towers Intelligence. In a special report, Investor Place offered some perspectives on what it believes are the Top 5 must-have stocks to ride the 5G wave.  No. 1: Cisco Systems (NASDAQ: CSCO)  Cisco is the go-to supplier for networking and IT gear used in 5G networks. In February 2022, CSCO announced its go-to-market strategy for Cisco Private 5G to enhance productivity for Enterprises with mass-scale IoT adoption. Private 5G enables connectivity for a full range of use cases in diverse vertical markets such as manufacturing, transportation, university campuses and hospitals. No. 2: Corning (NYSE: GLW) Corning’s Optical Communications division is the premier supplier of optical fiber cables and components used in wireline and wireless carrier networks, data centers and Enterprises. Fiber is in such demand for 5G builds that many suppliers and contractors must order in quantity months in advance. Continue Reading

What Do You Think About Competition in the Communications Market?

By Leslie Stimson, Inside Towers Washington Bureau Chief

The FCC wants to know what you think about competition in the communications marketplace. The data will inform its quarterly report to Congress. The agency must assess competition to deliver voice, video, audio, and data services among providers of telecommunications, providers of commercial mobile service, multichannel video programming distributors, broadcast stations, providers of satellite communications, internet service providers, and other communications services providers. It must consider all forms of competition, including “the effect of intermodal competition, facilities-based competition, and competition from new and emergent communications services.” Continue Reading