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 those sepia-tinted shades, set the date for #TBT and enjoy the memories!
600 MHz auction totals not up to expectations, first stage ends abruptly
The first stage of the Federal Communications Commission’s 600 MHz incentive auction proceedings came to an abrupt halt Tuesday afternoon as forward-bidding activity dropped below the level needed to continue the proceedings. The auction did manage to hit more than $23 billion in total “winning” bids, but at a slowing pace of less than $1 billion in new winning bids per round was not expected to come near the more than $88 billion in total auction proceeds to pay television broadcasters the $86 billion they wanted for the spectrum assets being offered up or the fees needed to clear and repackage license holders. The FCC has so far been fairly quiet on the auction’s current status, only noting the process would move to stage two with a lower clearing target. “The FCC will release a public notice announcing details about the next stage, including the clearing target for stage two, and the time and date at which bidding in stage two of the reverse auction will begin,” the government agency noted. Stage one of the proceedings had cleared a total of 126 megahertz of spectrum, with up to 100 megahertz of spectrum available for bid. Stage two is expected to see the FCC go back to a reverse auction process targeting broadcasters, with the intent of seeing how much they are looking for in terms of compensation for 114 megahertz of total cleared spectrum, with up to 90 megahertz of spectrum made available for a second stage of forward bidding. Walter Piecyk from BTIG previously noted in a recent report he expects the auction proceedings won’t end until a fourth stage, which will see a total of 84 megahertz of spectrum up for bid and just 70 megahertz set aside for licensed use. FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler had previously acknowledged the government agency may need to conduct further reverse auction stages should forward auction bidding not meet the current clearing target. … Read more
Ericsson preps for 5G deployments
Ericsson is preparing for the roll out of “5G” technologies beginning as soon as next year, releasing equipment tapping into plans for the so-called “new radio” standard and expected need for expanded multiple-input/multiple-output antenna support. The vendor said its AIR 6468 equipment moves to commercialize 5G NR equipment with massive MIMO support in a package that also supports advanced LTE technology. While a 5G standard is still seen as years away, Ericsson claims its solution is the first to support commercial deployments.
The platform is geared towards allowing carriers to support 5G technologies while continuing to support current LTE networks that are the backbone of 4G networks. That flexibility was highlighted by comments from carriers in support of the Ericsson announcement. “As we accelerate toward 5G, it’s beneficial to have a flexible radio platform that can be deployed not only for LTE, but also versions of future 5G NR standards,” said Tom Keathley, SVP for wireless network architecture and design at AT&T, in a statement. … Read more
Ericsson investors eye ouster of chairman after CEO Vestberg steps down
In July, former Ericsson CEO Hans Vestberg stepped down after seven years at the helm of the Swedish telecom infrastructure vendor. EVP and CFO Jan Frykhamar has stepped in as interim CEO while a search for a permanent replacement takes place. But now, according to a report by Swedish media outlet Svenska Dagbladet, two major shareholders are moving to get rid of Ericsson Chairman Leif Johansson. Two Swedish-based investment groups, Industrivarden and Investor, which control a combined 36.5% of board voting rights, want Johansson out, according to the report. Svenska Dagbladet quotes an unnamed investor as saying: “That Leif Johansson has to go is clear. The only thing that has saved him so far is that they have been forced to fire the CEO as well.” Johansson is the former president and CEO of Volvo and a member of the European Round Table of Industrialists since 2002. He also serves as chairman of the international advisory board of the Nobel Foundation and has worked in leadership roles at AB Electrolux. Prior to his resignation, Vestberg told investors negative trends that hurt financial performance during the first quarter intensified during the second quarter, leading to declines in the company’s sales and operating income. Ericsson’s sales slipped 11% year-on-year during Q2, or 7% when adjusted for comparable units and currency fluctuations. The infrastructure giant sold $6.3 billion worth of products and services, reporting sales declines for all three of its business units: networks, global services and support solutions. … Read more
Verizon turns up carrier aggregation
As the big four U.S. carriers – Verizon Wireless, AT&T Mobility, T-Mobile US and Sprint – attempt to outdo each other with promotional plans and splash TV advertisements, there’s a more subtle advancement of technology. Yesterday, Verizon Wireless made waves by announcing increases in data throughput in 461 markets on the back of carrier aggregation.While this is a major network upgrade, Verizon Wireless is not alone in its use of carrier aggregation, which essentially combines spectrum bands to provide a wider channel. Carrier aggregation is the key feature of 3GPP’s Release 10, which standardized LTE-Advanced. Here’s more technical information on that. But, back to the other carriers. On the same day Verizon made its big announcement – forestalled by a countdown clock on the Verizon Wireless homepage – Sprint said it is testing three-channel carrier aggregation in Chicago with device and equipment partner Samsung. The carrier said it had deployed 3CCA capabilities across 500 cell sites in Chicago, with each site supporting three 20-megahertz channels of spectrum from Sprint’s vast 2.5 GHz spectrum portfolio. The 60-megahertz of total spectrum is said to provide download speeds of more than 230 megabits per second using commercial Samsung devices like the Galaxy Note 7, Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 Edge. T-Mobile US is also testing 3CCA based on an astute Reddit user based in Dallas. Per an accompanying screenshot, the user’s device was connected to T-Mobile US spectrum in the 1900 MHz, 2100 MHz and 700 MHz bands. … Read more
Sprint tests CA at 2.5 GHz
As it continues to test three-channel carrier aggregation, Sprint this week reports that a recent trial using the LG G5 smartphone achieved peak data throughput speeds of 275 megabits per second. The company said the carrier aggregation testing is part of its preparation for LTE Plus, a term the Overland Park, Kansas-based carrier uses to describe the metros where it provides peak speeds above 100 Mbps, taps into its 2.5 GHz spectrum assets and employs two-channel carrier aggregation using spectrum in the 800 MHz, 1.9 GHz and 2.5 GHz bands. LTE Plus is available in 237 markets. Carrier aggregation, part of the LTE-Advanced standard, essentially combines noncontiguous spectrum to create a wider channel, which allows for more capacity. “Our holdings of more than 160 megahertz of 2.5 GHz spectrum in the top 100 U.S. markets give us more capacity than any other carrier in the U.S. In combination with our densification and optimization strategy we futureproof our network for our customers,” Günther Ottendorfer, Sprint COO of technology, said. “This capacity enables us to reach very high speeds, as well as provide innovative unlimited data plans to our customers while keeping pace with the growing demand for data.” … Read more
NI’s co-ounder and CEO set to retire
James Truchard, CEO and co-founder of National Instruments and known to many as Dr. T, is set to retire in January, the test and measurement company announced in a statement. Truchard will be replaced by current COO and CFO Alex Davern. Truchard has been NI’s CEO since founding the company in 1976 with fellow University of Texas at Austin researchers. Truchard is set to remain with the company as chairman of the board. “It is the right time for me to retire as CEO,” said Truchard said in a statement. “I have worked with Alex Davern for more than 20 years. He is an exceptional leader and business strategist, with a demonstrated track record of success. I have complete confidence in Alex and the rest of the senior leadership team at NI to continue delivering on our consistent track record of innovation, growth and profitability.” The 22nd annual NIWeek was recently held in Austin, Texas, with attendance from more than 3,200 engineers. Truchard took to the stage in NI’s opening keynote to introduce new tools for developing massive multiple-input/multiple-output systems, the underpinnings of “5G” systems and time-sensitive networking, as well as its second-generation vector signal transceiver. :It has always been my goal for NI to be a company built to last,” Truchard said. “Over the last decade, in the face of a weak industrial economy, I have focused my efforts on helping to ensure that we were making the long-term strategic investments necessary to set NI up for future growth. … Read more
CableLabs looks into the “near future” of VR, AR
Virtual reality gaming. Real-time digital collaboration “walls” for remote work. Interactive, 3D digital projections for learning. Those are a few of the possibilities for the connected home envisioned in a new aspirational video from CableLabs. Phil McKinney, president and CEO of CableLabs, said such a video might seem unusual for a research and testing organization like CableLabs. But McKinney took his cue from experiences with forward-looking videos during his time a decade ago as CTO at Hewlett-Packard, when six such videos were produced, including Roku’s Reward that looked forward to the days of augmented reality games. For Cablelabs, McKinney said, the “Near Future” video “puts a lot more focus on telling the story of what kind of services do we foresee being in the gigabit or multi-gigabit home.” In the video, a father rides home in his self-driving car, which promptly begins a data upload once it pulls into the driveway. Inside, a mother is in a live work meeting via a “collaboration wall” that displays necessary information while in an immersive virtual reality. Their daughter is having a virtual reality chat with her grandmother, and eventually the entire family joins in a multiplayer game that turns their home into a white-washed laser-tag-like environment. The video focuses on augmented reality gaming and person-to-person interactions, learning and other futuristic services, many of them enabled by VR glasses and nary a wire to be seen. These possibilities aren’t just a vision for what the cable industry could provide, McKinney noted; the video is meant to be a vision of what other companies can build if the home network can support next-generation wired and wireless network speeds. McKinney said DOCSIS 3.1 is in early deployment stages for some cable operators, and that the technology is expected to expand across the country within the next two years to offer one-gigabit, two-gigabit or up to 10-gigabit symmetric upload and download speeds. … Read more
Check out the RCR Wireless News Archives for more stories from the past.
