October 28, 2024

October 28, 2024

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FCC hands big win to FirstNet and AT&T in 4.9 GHz battle

AT&T and the FirstNet Authority are sitting pretty after the FCC voted 4-0 to hand over a chunk of the 4.9 GHz band for the operation of FirstNet’s nationwide public safety network. The 50 megahertz of spectrum in question is reportedly worth up to $14 billion. Read More

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CEO Corner

FWA and the Urban Digital Divide

The end of ACP put the kibosh on the business plans of ISPs working to tackle the urban digital divide. I’m aware of a several ISPs working to bring broadband to neighborhoods where the majority of customers qualified for the $30 ACP discount. These business plans only made sense because a chunk of the revenue was guaranteed by ACP. Read More

SpaceX Has a Plan for Starlink to Hit Gigabit Speeds

SpaceX is seeking approval for changes to Starlink that the company says will enable gigabit-per-second broadband service. In an application submitted to the US Federal Communications Commission on October 11, SpaceX claims the requested “modification and its companion amendment will enable the Gen2 system to deliver gigabit-speed, truly low-latency broadband and ubiquitous mobile connectivity to all Americans and the billions of people globally who still lack access to adequate broadband.” Read More

AT&T CEO John Stankey ponders big-picture thoughts about open access networks

AT&T’s CEO John Stankey doesn’t leave work at the office. Instead, he said on an earnings call this week, he likes to think about the future of the telecommunications industry and AT&T’s place in it as he drives home. And one thought that’s been front and center has been the idea that open-access broadband networks might play a big role in structural changes that are happening in the industry. Read More

The Barrier to Closing the Digital Divide

In a finding that will surprise nobody, Pew Charitable Trust analyzed all of state plans related to the Digital Equity Act (DEA). This is the grant program that is aimed at tackling barriers to broadband adoption, such as getting computers into homes, providing training on how to use technology and the Internet, and increasing broadband adoption rates. Pew found that every state and territory says that the primary barrier to closing the digital divide is affordability. Read More

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Remote Transformer Monitoring and Reliability

Get a crystal-clear picture of your distribution transformers, help improve System Average Interruption Duration Index (SAIDI) while reducing O&M costs and the economic impact of outages.

This short demonstration shows you how Ubicquia’s UbiGrid DTM Monitor leverages UbiVu to help better manage electrical grids with real-time data and predictive insights.

Global mobile satellite communication: SpaceX fails and calls for exemption

Satellite systems will soon fill all of the world’s mobile network gaps. Yet Elon Musk’s Starlink service will deliver the promised speed at the cost of others. The company that operates the Starlink satellite service, is fighting for a special permit from the US regulatory authority, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), to offer mobile services for smartphones from space via Starlink satellites. Representatives of the company are also playing hardball in an attempt to negotiate better radio conditions for themselves so that they can offer gigabit internet. The dispute begins in the USA and at first glance only concerns SpaceX, the FCC and local network operators. However, many of the FCC’s decisions in the past have been groundbreaking for other regulatory authorities. It is therefore likely to have consequences for all terrestrial mobile network operators on the planet, and therefore also for all mobile phone users. Read More

T-Mobile relinquishes mmWave spectrum ‘not feasible’ to deploy

T-Mobile has received the FCC’s permission to give up some millimeter wave (mmWave) spectrum that the operator said “is not feasible to effectively deploy … in a way that would benefit the public.” Read More

Thermo Bond, Building Solutions

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T-Mobile interferes with NextWave’s network, FCC finds

T-Mobile’s 5G network is interfering with NextWave’s network in New York City, the FCC found in a pair of new reports. Read More

After Merger, T-Mobile Gets to Keep 800 MegaHertz Spectrum

T-Mobile’s auction of its 800 MegaHertz (MHz) holdings ended without a qualifying bidder, executives said at the company’s earnings call Wednesday. Read More

DOE Grants $5 Million for Two Programs to Strengthen Electric Cooperatives’ Cyber Defenses

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) will grant funding of $5 million to National Rural Electric Cooperative Association’s (NRECA) two programs, the Trusted Industrial Control Cybersecurity Community–Threat Analysis Center (TICCC-TAC) and the Strategic Program for Advancing Rural Knowledge (SPARK), for strengthening electric cooperatives’ cyber defenses. Read More

DHS cyber review board to investigate Chinese hack of US telecom as victim net widens

The Department of Homeland Security said Sunday that a key cybersecurity review panel will investigate a Chinese infiltration into U.S. telecom networks and affiliated wiretap infrastructure, marking a major escalation in an ongoing federal probe into the breaches that have compromised both government officials and staff on presidential campaigns. Read More

Dozens of former officials chart course for next administration’s cyber policies

Dozens of former federal officials from the last five presidential administrations have a plan for how the next administration should address cybersecurity issues — regardless of who takes office in January. Read More

Communications After a Disaster

Having just gone through Hurricane Hellene in Asheville, I got a bird’s eye view of the impact of losing broadband on a community. Read More

Flexible, Essential Smart Grid Solutions

Trilliant provides 30+ years of dedicated technology innovation for utilities worldwide, offering: superior, device-independent head-end system that integrates with all meters and devices; reliable, secure, next-gen network technologies and cellular; mission-critical applications including AMI, Analytics, DERMs, Distributed Automation, Sub-Metering and more. Discover the Power of Choice. trilliant.co

AEP and state regulators agree on counter-settlement for utility rates for tech giants’ data centers

American Electric Power of Ohio, the Ohio Consumers Counsel and the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio, or PUCO, staff are striking a deal on electric rates for data centers. Read More

DTE on pace for more than $4B in reliability, smart grid investment this year

DTE Energy is on pace to invest more than $4 billion this year to strengthen its electric grid and transition to cleaner sources of energy, the company said in its third quarter earnings statement Thursday. Already, the Detroit-based utility has spent more than $3 billion in 2024 to improve reliability and outage restoration. Read More

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October 28, 2024

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