AT&T and Verizon agree to Limit 5G C-Band Spectrum for 6 Months due to FAA Concerns

For the past few weeks, we’ve reported about the delay on Verizon and AT&T’s rollout of 5G service on the C-band spectrum. Originally planned for only 1 month, the delay is due to concerns about interference with aircraft sensors. 

While the FAA still investigates this, there have yet to be any reports of incidents with actual interference. This is known because this particular section of frequency spectrum is already used in almost 40 other countries. All of which have never reported issues. 

The FCC has been involved and even approved use of the C-Band spectrum from 3.7 to 3.98 GHz. This came only after analyzing the aviation industry’s interference claims and finding no evidence to support the claims. The FCC also required a 220 MHz guard band that will remain unused to protect altimeters from interference. That guard band is more than twice as big as the 100 MHz buffer initially suggested by Boeing, the FCC has said.

As detailed in a proposal posted on Wednesday, the carriers (AT&T and Verizon), have agreed  to lower the signals’ cell-tower power levels nationwide and impose stricter power caps near airports and helipads, according to a copy reviewed by The Wall Street Journal. This implementation will last for at least 6 months while the FAA continues to monitor the situation.

“While we remain confident that 5G poses no risk to air safety, we are also sensitive to the Federal Aviation Administration’s desire for additional analysis of this issue,” the companies said in the letter to FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel. Wireless industry officials have held frequent talks with FCC and FAA experts to discuss the interference claims and potential fixes, according to people familiar with the matter.

The FAA welcomed the proposal, but has not yet indicated whether it will agree to it.

The paper also notes that 5G users shouldn’t be significantly affected as carriers already use directional antennas near airports to limit the power of the signals reaching aircraft, and within terminal buildings most people use WiFi.

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Ericsson to acquire Vonage for whopping $6.2B

In a recent move that left some analysts scratching their heads, Ericsson plans to acquire The New Jersey-based Vonage Holdings for about $6.2 billion, representing the Swedish vendor’s biggest acquisition to date.

Vonage was founded in 2001 as a VoIP provider for consumers and grew into a cloud communications provider focused on businesses. In 2020, it reported revenues of $1.25 billion. 

To hear Ericsson tell it, the deal will give it access to more than 1 million developers and a foot into an enterprise market expected to reach $700 billion* by 2030. In addition to consumer use cases, 5G is really designed for enterprises and it can make wireless the primary choice of their connectivity, according to Ericsson President and CEO Börje Ekholm.

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Verizon’s CFO Discusses Progress with C-Band & Fixed Wireless

At the beginning of November, we reported about the stop AT&T and Verizon had to put on rolling out their respective 5G C-band services due to FAA regulations. As the FAA continues to work with the FCC on this, Verizon’s CFO Matt Ellis is confident that the delay won’t linger more than 30 days. Ellis, who spoke during Morgan Stanley’s European Technology, Media & Telecom investor conference, added that the parties are going through a bit of a process to get everyone aligned. Both carriers have voluntarily pushed things back from December 5th to January 5th.

Ellis also talked about how this delay hasn’t kept Verizon from staying on track with their other goals. This includes reaching 100 million PoPs with C-band coverage in the first quarter of 2022. This seems it may hold true based on how the company was tracking in 5G coverage at the end of October. 

While on the topic of C-band, Ellis talked up progress on the fixed wireless (FWA) front for both 4G LTE and 5G mmWave (aka 5G Home). When asked if he thought fixed wireless would be a key 5G killer app, he replied, “Yes, it is. We absolutely believe that to be the case.”

In the third quarter Verizon disclosed figures, adding 55,000 fixed wireless customers for a total of 150,000 as of the end of September. Coverage with 4G and 5G FWA stands at 11.6 million homes, and plans to reach 15 million by the end of the year. That number aims to hit 50 million by the end of 2025. Combined with what Ellis described as high-teen millions on the Fios side, it will be close to 70 million premises passed with home broadband in the next few years.

For the mmWave service, Ellis said that Verizon will have over 30,000 sites by the end of 2021 compared to just 2,000 sites two years ago.

Unlike 5G fixed wireless, which was quickly put into play along with its network rollout, LTE fixed wireless services have been more recently determined on a site-by-site basis – and is only available where Verizon has enough excess capacity. Initially launching last year, LTE coverage first focused largely on rural areas. Over the past year, it has grown to include more suburban and urban locations. It’s “seeing good traction,” Ellis noted.

When it comes to LTE, he pointed out that customer premises equipment (CPE) was upgraded over the summer to add support for the C-band, when available. “So those customers who are in those first 46 markets that the C-band will get turned on, will have the opportunity to step up from the 4G Home to the C-band version of that as well.”

Like with Fios, fixed wireless is not limited to residential customers. For example, Verizon is delivering 5G fixed wireless to certain Walgreens locations under a network-as-a-service deal in late 2020 covering 9,000 retail stores. 5G Business Internet FWA service expanded to 57 U.S. cities last month, while 5G Home was available in 60.

During Wednesday’s event Morgan Stanley analysts pointed out that Verizon has been highlighting the idea of being the go-to provider for broadband nationwide and asked Ellis about the potential to bundle home and mobile service thanks to fixed wireless access. He said it expands where Verizon can offer broadband, which right now is mainly restricted to the carrier’s Fios footprint.

“We get to take the ability to provide broadband from being a regional play to a nationwide play, and that’s tremendously exciting when we think of what we can do with that,” Ellis said. “Across the different technologies getting up towards 70 million homes by the end of 2025 we think that gives us the opportunity to play in this space in a way that nobody does so far.” He added, “How we market to our customer base in terms of offering those products together is a significant part of the growth opportunity.”

On a related note, T-Mobile has also gotten into the FWA game, and is targeting service to rural areas with LTE and 5G. In September T-Mobile’s FWA tally stood around 600 locations in the U.S., while its mid-band 2.5 GHz 5G footprint now covers 200 million Americans.

In terms of home broadband getting attention, Ellis referenced the recently signed $1 trillion infrastructure bill that includes $65 billion for broadband. Verizon expects to benefit from this via their fixed wireless services. “What I think it shows obviously is the importance of broadband in people’s lives and access to every aspect of the digital economy,” he said. Verizon’s been building out Fios as part of that “fixed wireless access gives us the opportunity to also be part of the solution there.”

Ellis emphasized that he believes the bill shouldn’t favor a specific technology.

“Let’s let the marketplace determine the right solution in each geographic location,” he said, noting that aside from fiber to the home, fiber to a cell site with FWA service provides a compelling product at a great price for customers as well.

Also top of mind is Verizon’s pending $6.9 billion acquisition of TracFone, which Ellis said is set up to close before the end of the year. There are still two hurdles outstanding, including a vote by the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) that’s on the agenda for a review vote Thursday, as well as FCC approval.

With the Tracfone deal Verizon is aiming to compete more directly in the prepaid space, where its current presence is tiny compared to main competitors but would jump to the leading position in terms of subscriber figures. Tracfone would bring roughly 20 million customers under the Verizon umbrella, a good portion that are already riding on the carrier’s network under a wholesale deal. For the roughly one third of TracFone subscribers that aren’t already on the Verizon network, Ellis said consumers will get an upgrade while Verizon benefits from cost savings as well.

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T-Mobile Certifies the Sierra Wireless XR Series Routers on the 5G Network

Sierra Wireless, a world leading IoT solutions provider, announced today that its AirLink® XR Series cellular routers architected for 5G performance, are certified to operate on T-Mobile’s 5G network – the largest, fastest and most reliable in the United States. This includes the models XR80 and XR90. 

The supercharged AirLink XR90 is purpose-built for public safety and transit with available dual-5G cellular radios and dual independent 4×4 MIMO Wi-Fi 6 antennas. It is the highest performing, most flexible router in the Sierra portfolio. The AirLink XR80 is optimized for fixed and mobile applications. The available dual-5G cellular radio and 5X4 MIMO Wi-Fi 6 delivers flexibility for customized configurations. 

These solutions deliver the full performance of 5G across any network (5G, Wi-Fi 6, Ethernet) enabling customers to leverage the higher data speeds and lower latency of 5G, required for real-time video streaming in mission-critical and high performance business-critical environments. Security is designed into the routers with device to cloud security including secure boot, cryptographic keys, and support for WPA-3. Each model can accommodate expansion modules and are purpose-built for rugged environments. 

In addition, both are fully-supported, out-of-the box solutions complete with integrated device management, advanced mobility reporting and 24/7 technical support. AirLink Connection Manager delivers complete VPN security and their AirLink Professional Services maximizes your system performance and customer satisfaction. 

Yet another added benefit to your remote access and out of band management – an embedded LPWA cellular radio, connected through Sierra Wireless Global Connectivity, provides an always-on link to ALMS (AirLink Management System (ALMS), is a cloud-based management platform which includes remote device management and mobility-focused reporting through AirLink Premium). This unique capability ensures the ongoing operational success of these 5G deployments.

“The XR Series is our fastest, most intelligent, flexible, and secure router yet,” said Tom Mueller, Vice President of Product Enterprise Networking, Sierra Wireless. “The XR Series routers are purpose-built for advanced, mission and business-critical 5G applications. With a passively cooled industrial design, future-proof flexibility offering single and dual 5G as well as Wi-Fi 6 radio options, always-on connectivity, rapid response, and strong multi-layered end-to-end security, they boast best-in-class reliability. When you combine this performance with T-Mobile’s industry-leading 5G network , it’s easy to see why you should choose Sierra Wireless to enable your next-generation applications.”

For more information about these products, contact your friends at 5Gstore!

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SureCall’s Fusion4Home Max Booster Named as CES 2022 Innovation Awards Honoree

The Fusion4Home Max includes everything needed to boost cell signals in your home

Fremont, Calif. – November 17, 2021 – SureCall, the technology leading cell phone signal booster manufacturer, today announced that its most powerful residential booster, the Fusion4Home Max, has been named a CES® 2022 Innovation Awards Honoree.

The CES Innovation Awards program, owned and produced by the Consumer Technology Association (CTA)®, is an annual competition honoring outstanding design and engineering in 27 consumer technology product categories. An elite panel of industry expert judges reviewed submissions based on innovation, engineering and functionality, aesthetic and design. This year’s awards program received a record high number of over 1,800 submissions.

“We are honored to have been recognized as an innovation leader, not only in our industry but across the consumer electronics space,” said SureCall CEO Hongtao Zhan. “The Fusion4Home Max is truly an engineering breakthrough and is critical for the challenging needs of today’s cellular users. It delivers improved signal quality and strength for everyone in the home, and the cutting-edge technology transforms users’ connectivity more than any other home cellular signal booster.”

As the first home cellular booster to feature SureCall’s patented Extended Range TechnologyTM (ERT), the Fusion4Home Max is SureCall’s strongest all-carrier residential booster is purpose-built for areas with the weakest cellular signals — such as rural and suburban homes and areas with partially blocked signals. SureCall’s ERT works by overcoming the signal loss between the outside antenna and the inside of your home or building, resulting in the best signal quality that then delivers greater coverage area and faster data speeds for all North American carriers.

The CES 2022 Innovation Awards honorees can be found at CES.tech/innovation.

Order the Fusion4Home Max from 5Gstore – in stock now!

Installation example

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T-Mobile Reaches Goal of 5G Coverage for 200M Americans

T-Mobile has reached one of its goals for the end of this year – to provide its “Ultra Capacity” 5G network to more than 200 million Americans. This is the network they’ve built out on the midband 2.5GHz spectrum – something repurposed from the Sprint network. In comparison to 4G LTE, the bandwidth speeds are considerably faster – at least from what they’ve seen on compatible smartphones. 

In the announcement made Monday, they also said that its “Extended Range” 5G network, which operates on the low-band spectrum (and therefore slower than the “Ultra Capacity” 5G), is now available to 308 million people across 1.7 million square miles.

The news hasn’t come without some skepticism however, as The Verge reported T-Mobile’s coverage statistics are theoretical. Adding that the company reported subscriber numbers of just over 100 million at the end of 2020.

No matter the case, what T-Mobile has been able to accomplish in a short time is nothing to be overlooked. Just check out the RootMetrics study that shows their 5G to be the most widely available, reliable, and fastest compared to its competitors. 

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5G Stats from RootMetrics Favors T-Mobile

As T-Mobile’s lead in the 5G race soars – both in speeds and reliability – AT&T and Verizon’s positions are too close to call at this time. This is according to newly released data from RootMetrics (refer to the November Scorecard). Tests were completed in about 60 cities, out of a total 125 they will eventually incorporate for later tests. T-Mobile US had the most 5G availability in 42 cities, AT&T led in 25 markets and Verizon in 4.

Cities with the most 5G coverage were also reported. Specifically, RootMetrics reported cities where each of the carriers had achieved the most extensive amount of 5G coverage. This includes:

  • El Paso, Texas (98% 5G coverage by T-Mo) 
  • Indio, California (96.8% 5G coverage by AT&T) 
  • Rockford, Illinois (91.7% 5G coverage by Verizon)

The cities where each carrier clocked the fastest speeds thus far during RootMetrics testing were: 

  • Kansas City, Missouri, where T-Mobile US achieved a blazing 273.3 Mbps 
  • Ann Arbor, Michigan, where Verizon’s network registered median 5G download speeds of 98.3 Mbps 
  • Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where AT&T saw median 5G download speeds of 71 Mbps

In this round of testing, Patrick Linder, CMO of RootMetrics, said in a statement, “We…witnessed firsthand just how dynamic the 5G race can be, with a new leader for speed and a shift in the reliability standings since our testing in the first half of 2021. With another 65 markets to test and all carriers aggressively continuing 5G deployment and optimization, things could certainly change again as we continue our 2H 2021 testing.”

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Verizon and Amazon Team Up to Deliver High Speed Data Services to the U.S.

Providing high speed Internet to everyone in the U.S. has seemed to be a nationwide goal for decades. Until recently, that goal hasn’t been anywhere near achieved. Much like the current space race, Amazon is battling Elon Musk’s satellite project with their project Kuiper to make this goal a reality. 

Project Kuiper is what runs Amazon’s low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite network. Teamed with the folks at Verizon, the project has been funded at around $10 billion. Eventually, this will provide more than 3,000 satellites, which would offer reduced latency by operating closer to the Earth. 

Target sectors for the satellite-enhanced Verizon Business network include manufacturing, agriculture, energy and transportation.

“Smart farms, bringing technology to agriculture, and connecting the last mile of rural America will be at the forefront of helping our industry to provide food for billions around the globe.” said Betsy Huber, president of agriculture promotion body National Grange, “Ensuring connectivity in rural areas will be key to making these endeavors a success.”

To read more about this subject, check out the full article at IoT World Today. 

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5Gstore Ships 250,000 Orders

Do you know what the Friday of last week was for 5Gstore? One of the biggest milestones in our orders history! We did it! We hit 250,000 orders!

Jim T. of Blue Springs, Missouri placed his order at 5Gstore.com on Friday, November 5, 2021. Jim ordered Cel-Fi GO M Smart Signal Booster Kit for Vehicles. He will be receiving his order FREE of charge as a thank you gift from 5Gstore. Thank you, Jim, for making Friday a historic day at 5Gstore.com.  Jim is an RVer and excited to use this device to improve his signal.

We, as a company, have been waiting months for this to happen. During that time, our CEO created an employee contest to see who could guess the date when we’d hit this great milestone. The winner would receive a $500 bonus and 5Gstore would also donate $500 to the charity of their choice. The chosen charity is The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research 

When our CEO posted this content on social media, he was contacted by one of our vendors who offered to match the gift to the charity of the winner’s choice!

Thank you to all of our employees for their hard work in getting us there. We also would like to thank our new and repeat customers for ordering from 5Gstore.com.

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Can T-Mobile Profit Off Its Competitors’ Delay?

As we had originally reported last week, AT&T and Verizon have delayed 5G rollout on the C-Band spectrum for a month. We’ve now learned that T-Mobile could be capitalizing on this moment to gain a larger lead on 5G service availability over its competitors. You see, unlike AT&T and Verizon, T-Mobile is not broadcasting over any frequencies that are suspected of causing interference (including Sprint’s repurposed 2.5GHz/ 2500Mhz WiMax band). 

The delay helps T-Mobile lock in 5G customers before Verizon and AT&T have improved their coverage, Blair Levin, an analyst with New Street Research, said in a note. “A one-month delay will not have a material impact,” Levin wrote. “But the question remains whether the delay will continue to a point at which it will hurt Verizon and AT&T while benefiting T-Mobile.” 

Despite the delay however, Verizon appears to remain optimistic about providing C-band coverage to millions of Americans by early 2022 (according to Rich Young, a spokesperson from Verizon). Mobile carriers have permission to use the C-Band beginning Dec. 5. The FCC awarded wireless network providers access to the radio bands in a February auction. Verizon spent $45 billion on the airwaves in question, and AT&T devoted $23 billion in an FCC auction. With this data, and news according to an article by Forbes recently, it seems that T-Mobile is on track to likely profit from this delay.

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