Editor’s Note: RCR Wireless News goes all in for “Throwback Thursdays,” tapping into our archives to resuscitate the top headlines from the past. Fire up the time machine, put on the sepia-tinted shades, set the date for #TBT and enjoy the memories!
Huawei says it doesn’t need the US to succeed
ORLANDO–As Huawei faces intense regulatory scrutiny that could potentially see the Chinese infrastructure giant barred from selling equipment in the U.S., the company’s Vice President of Sales for America told rural carriers assembled at the Competitive Carrier Association’s Annual Convention that Huawei doesn’t need the U.S. market to succeed. Huawei’s Bill Levy said: “I was listening to [FCC] Commissioner [Brendan] Carr talk, so I switched my final thoughts to something that he was talking about. I think the U.S. is behind right now in the 5G deployment. I think that when you look at the 2 million base stations that he was referring to in China that are being deployed, Huawei has deployed 90% of those base stations. Huawei is going to be a $100 billion company this year. We invest $15 billion annually into our R&D department. This is going to sound—I’ve got to finish this thought. I don’t want people to say, ‘Oh, god. It’s so arrogant what he just said,’ but Huawei doesn’t need the USA. That doesn’t mean we’re leaving the USA. But it means that the company is going to be successful no matter what happens with all the political stuff that’s going on here in the U.S. Me personally, the folks in this room, we have very good partnerships. We’re not going anywhere. We’re loyal to our customers.” … Read more
Testing Verizon’s 5G TF
Verizon’s official launch of its 5G fixed wireless access service is only two days old, but Mike Thelander and Emil Olbrich of Signals Research Group are already on the ground in Houston, Texas, field-testing the live network’s capabilities. Houston is one of four initial launch markets for the Verizon 5G Home internet service. Speaking to RCR Wireless News from Houston, Thelander, CEO and founder of SRG, started off with the caveat that he hasn’t had a chance to analyze the data yet, so his remarks were observational — but nonetheless said that Verizon’s 5G TF radio interface at 28 GHz is performing as-advertised, and in fact described the 5G TF air interface as “very phenomenal.” Thelander said that he and Olbrich have been testing both the outdoor and indoor CPE, driving around the Houston area to locate 5G access points and then conduct testing under a variety of scenarios: line-of-sight and non-line-of-sight, with trees and buildings between the CPEs and the 5G TF cell sites. Verizon, he noted, has been hands-off other than providing the CPEs and nudging the two in the general direction of some sites. Those comments came during a panel discussion largely focused on VoLTE and IMS investment strategies for rural carriers. … Read more
Deutsche Telekom, Telefónica Deutschland focus on fiber for 5G
German carriers Deutsche Telekom and Telefónica Deutschland have announced an agreement to speed up the deployment of 5G networks and reduce cost. Under this new deal, the two companies have agreed to connect at least 5,000 Telefónica Deutschland mobile base stations with Deutsche Telekom’s fiber-optic network in the long term. DT said it can “dedicate the captured synergy effects directly to its own network expansion.” Deutsche Telekom and Telefónica Deutschland had signed a mobile backhaul contract in 2011. The new agreement builds on this contract and expands the partnership significantly. “This agreement is an important step toward ensuring the future viability of Germany’s mobile communications infrastructure,” said Dirk Wössner, managing director of Telekom Deutschland. “Everyone will win from this cooperation, because Deutsche Telekom and Telefónica can both capture synergies. The resources that we save will be dedicated directly to our own network upgrades and the development of 5G. Deutsche Telekom is building and operating the largest fiber-optic network in Germany by far.” … Read more
802.11ax gets a new name
The Wi-Fi Alliance this week introduced a new generational naming format that effectively rebrands iterations of the 802.11 standard. Wi-Fi 6 refers to the 802.11ax standard; Wi-Fi 5 designates 802.11ac; and Wi-Fi 4 equates to 802.11n. 802.11ax is supported by several commercial products, including a Charter home router and a Ruckus access point, with more in the pipeline. The latest enhancement to Wi-Fi features uplink and downlink OFDMA, 8×8 multi-user MIMO and 1024 QAM. Wi-Fi Alliance President and CEO Edgar Figueroa characterized the branding refresh as meant to be more consumer friendly than the IEEE designations. “For nearly two decades, Wi-Fi users have had to sort through technical naming conventions to determine if their devices support the latest Wi-Fi. Wi-Fi Alliance is excited to introduce Wi-Fi 6, and present a new naming scheme to help industry and Wi-Fi users easily understand the Wi-Fi generation supported by their device or connection.” Earlier this year Dennis Huang, director of product marketing for Ruckus, an Arris company, told RCR Wireless News Wi-Fi 6 marks a shift from a “contention-based resource allocation protocol” to “deterministic Wi-Fi.” … Read more
Carriers gear up for mmWave auctions
Three of the big four U.S. mobile operators—AT&T, T-Mobile US and Verizon Wireless—will take part in the U.S. Federal Communication Commission’s upcoming millimeter wave auctions, which cover frequencies in the 24 GHz and 28 GHz bands. Auction 101, which covers the 28 GHz band, is set to kick-off on Nov. 14, and be immediately followed by Auction 102 covering the 24 GHz licenses. The 28 GHz licenses will be offered in two 425 megahertz blocks allocated by county; the 24 GHz licenses will be offered in seven 100 megahertz blocks based on generic blocks in each Partial Economic Area. Complete applications for Auction 101 have been submitted by: 8538 GREEN STREET LLC, Arctic Slope Telephone Association Cooperative, Aries Wireless LLC, AT&T Spectrum Frontiers LLC, Beyerle, David E, Central Broadband 24/28 GHz Consortium, Cityfront Wireless LLC, Connection Capital, LLC, Crestone Wireless L.L.C., Day Management Corporation, High Band License Co LLC, Horry Telephone Cooperative, Inc., Howard, Judith, Inland Cellular LLC, LICT Wireless Broadband Company, LLC, NEIT Services, LLC, Nsight Spectrum, LLC, Panhandle Telephone Cooperative, Inc., Pine Belt Cellular, Inc., Public Service Wireless Services, Inc., RNB Spectrum, LLC, Roller Network LLC, Townes 5G, LLC, Union Telephone Company, Universal Electrical Contractors, Williams, Leslie. … Read more
Check out the RCR Wireless News Archives for more stories from the past.
