Rural Carrier Tells Congress It Needs Funds to Replace Foreign Equipment

Instead of naming the policy to replace insecure communications network equipment “rip and replace,” it should be called “replace and then rip,” so networks are not disrupted. That’s what Pine Belt Wireless President John Nettles told lawmakers Friday during a hearing on securing the nation’s telecom supply chain.

The House Energy and Commerce Telecommunications and Technology Subcommittee is considering several bills concerning 5G security. One bipartisan measure, H.R. 4459, would authorize $1 billion to help rural telecom carriers rip out and replace any equipment from foreign suppliers deemed a security threat.

Though many U.S. carriers have removed equipment from Chinese telecoms Huawei and ZTE from their communications networks, “It’s still a significant issue for smaller carriers,” said Subcommittee Chair Mike Doyle (D-PA). “We must help smaller carriers remove suspect equipment for the betterment of the country.” Continue Reading

Not Much Agreement on C-Band Here

From left: Amit Nagpal, Aetna Consulting; Andrew Clegg, Google; Peter Pitsch, C-Band Alliance; John Hunter, T-Mobile; Veena Rawat, GSMA; and Bob Weller, NAB.

Panelists discussing C-Band’s future locked horns during a panel discussion of the Americas Spectrum Management Conference this week. The issue is key, as FCC Chairman Ajit Pai and Commissioner Michael O’Rielly said at the conference they hope the agency acts later this fall on the issue. Google Spectrum Engineering Lead Andrew Clegg said his company’s plan concerns allowing shared use of the portion of the C-band spectrum that remains after a chunk is auctioned for wireless use. “You repack remaining users, and allow point-to-multipoint use,” in what remains, Clegg said. “You no longer have the luxury of these huge protection zones.” He claimed Google’s plan will work and not cause harmful interference with earth stations. Broadcasters support the C-Band Alliance plan. CBA Head of Advocacy and Government Affairs Peter Pitsch called C-band the “goldilocks” of spectrum for 5G. The CBA plan calls for re-purposing and auctioning 200 MHz of the band, although he said the group is looking at possibly re-purposing more than that. “The problem is, it’s used to distribute broadcast programming to nearly 120 million homes. Think of all the folks getting ESPN and NPR. They still want that. This situation cries out for a market-driven, de-centralized process, which is what the CBA plan provides.” He also said the CBA plan offers the quickest path to free up the spectrum. Continue Reading

Pai Promotes Tribal Application Window to Get Free 2.5 GHz Access

The FCC has launched several initiatives to expand broadband access on tribal lands. Chairman Ajit Pai was especially excited to tell attendees of the National Tribal Broadband Summit on Monday about one plan to give tribes priority access to spectrum in the 2.5 GHz band, the largest contiguous block of spectrum below 3 GHz in the country. Today, the 2.5 GHz band isn’t used in most of the West because technological advances have rendered the band’s original intended uses outdated, and arcane rules left it underused. This summer, the agency removed obsolete restrictions on this band, allowing greater flexibility in how the spectrum can be used. The Commission is giving rural Indian tribes an exclusive window to obtain this spectrum to serve rural tribal lands. “Before any commercial auction of this spectrum, tribes can obtain this spectrum for free,” he said. Pai says this is the first time in the FCC’s history the agency has given tribes a “priority window” to obtain spectrum for wireless broadband. Continue Reading

Verizon Seeks Relief from Excessive Small Cell Fees

By Leslie Stimson, Inside Towers Washington Bureau Chief Some telecoms are pushing back at what they consider exorbitant fees to site small cells in a public right-of-way. Verizon recently sought relief from the FCC to settle a dispute with Clark County, Nevada. The carrier sought a declaratory ruling from the agency, arguing the fees prohibit the provision of telecom services because they do not, “reasonably approximate the county’s actual costs,” are not limited to the county’s “reasonable costs,” and are discriminatory. Verizon asked the FCC to declare that the county may not charge recurring fees that exceed the reasonable annual rate of $270, as set forth in the agency’s Small Cell Declaratory Ruling. Verizon told the FCC it tried, “numerous and prolonged attempts to negotiate” with Clark County, but was not able to do so. That’s why it turned to the Commission. The carrier has deployed 418 wireless facilities in the county, including 99 small cells. But it wants to deploy “hundreds” of small cells over the next three years to upgrade its 4G network and layer on 5G. Verizon said in a statement, “deploying within the county rights-of-way and on county-owned assets is key to that effort.” Continue Reading

Pennsylvania Joins State Effort to Block T-Mobile-Sprint Deal

Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro is the latest state attorney general to oppose T-Mobile's Sprint merger. Shapiro said this week he’s joining a lawsuit to block the “anticompetitive megamerger,” making him the 18th attorney general to challenge the deal.

In July, the Department of Justice approved the transaction, on the condition that the new combined entity, to be called the “new T-Mobile,” sell some of its spectrum licenses and other businesses to Dish Network so Dish can create a viable fourth competitor. The FCC, too, approved the deal in a split vote, however the telecom transaction is not final. Continue Reading

AT&T CEO Says Selling Towers Will Help Pay Down Debt

Randall Stephenson, chairman and CEO of AT&T, told investors the carrier may soon divest itself of AT&T’s 5,600 tower inventory to continue to pay down debt following the acquisition of Time Warner. Stephenson made the comments at the Goldman Sachs Communacopia Conference in New York where he discussed the company's strategy going forward in 2019.

AT&T has paid down $9 billion in net debt in the first half of 2019, reducing its net debt by $18 billion since the acquisition was completed. The company, in a recent quarterly statement, increased its full-year free cash flow target by $2 billion to $28 billion in an effort to reduce its net debt-to-adjusted EBITDA ratio to the 2.5x range by the end of 2019.

Stephenson cited increases in demand for connectivity and bandwidth as a growing trend where the carrier would like to focus their assets. A direct path to the consumer, he said, gives AT&T a competitive advantage now that it’s a content provider. Continue Reading

FCC Authorizes SAS Deployments in 3.5 GHz CBRS Band

The FCC, in coordination with the National Telecommunications and Information Administration and the Department of Defense, on Monday certified that five Spectrum Access Systems (SAS) satisfied the Commission’s laboratory testing requirements and are approved to begin their initial commercial deployments in the 3.5 GHz CBRS band (3550-3700 MHz ). The approved SAS are operated by: Amdocs, CommScope, Federated Wireless, Google, and Sony.

The companies will conduct field tests and the Commission will assess whether each SAS can operate under actual deployment conditions. Each company must tell the agency when its deployment begins and whether it will operate with an approved Environmental Sensing Capability. The notification must include a primary point of contact for incumbent operators to report potential interference issues to the SAS. Initial commercial deployments must last at least 30 days and test several CBRS devices. The companies must report results to the government for final review. Stakeholders plan full commercial launches to begin in the fourth quarter of this year.

The promise of the CBRS band is that new entrants will use dynamic spectrum sharing to co-exist with federal U.S. Navy radar systems operating along the coasts. Using SAS to let them know when a channel is occupied will enable new entrants to operate on different CBRS channels to avoid interfering with naval operations. The news opens the door to a market opportunity for operators, enterprises and industrial players, according the CBRS Alliance, an industry organization focused on driving the development, commercialization, and adoption of OnGo™ shared spectrum solutions. AT&T, Charter Communications and Verizon have developed technology and services to support the use of OnGo. Commercial services are planned for thousands of sites. Continue Reading