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Verizon follows AT&T in dropping Huawei smartphones
Verizon is the latest carrier to drop its plans to sell phones from Chinese handset maker Huawei, according to sources cited in Bloomberg. The move follows a similar decision from AT&T earlier this month, supposedly prompted by pressure from the US government over security concerns. The government is also pressing Verizon to end any collaboration with Huawei on standards for a 5G network.
White House says it’s not considering a national 5G network
Yesterday, Axios reported that the Trump administration was considering the option of a government-controlled 5G network. Documents obtained by Axios showed that Trump's national security team had proposed a couple of options, including one where the US government funds and constructs a single network, aimed at protecting US networks from Chinese cyberattacks. However, Recode now reports that those documents were outdated and their proposed plans are not actively being considered by the administration.
FCC chairman opposes proposed government-run 5G network
It turns out former Verizon lawyer turned FCC chairman Ajit Pai's loyalties reside not with the president, but -- surprise! -- with the telecom industry. Pai has come out against the proposed government-run 5G network that's been floating around lower levels of the Trump camp. In a statement this morning, Pai said:
Trump team considers a government-run 5G network
How would you protect the US against Chinese cyberattacks? Would you push for stricter security standards, or new encryption technology? The Trump administration's national security team has another idea: a government-controlled 5G network. Axios has obtained documents showing that the team is pushing for a centralized, secure 5G network within 3 years. This would create a secure communications avenue for self-driving cars, AI, VR and other budding technologies. Just how it would be built is another story, however.
Motorola's 2018 lineup may include an iPhone X lookalike
Someone might have just spoiled Motorola's 2018 in a big way. Droid Life has posted a trio of leaks which, if accurate, hint at some big changes to the Lenovo brand's smartphone lineup. The headliner would be the Moto X5, and it's not hard to see why: the device reportedly includes a 5.9-inch, 18:9 aspect ratio display with an iPhone X-style notch. There's no visible fingerprint reader, for that matter, so the X5 is either relying on face detection (the dual front cameras could help with this) or has a fingerprint reader tucked under the screen.
AT&T will launch real mobile 5G in 12 cities this year
Now that the industry has settled on a spec for 5G, carriers are racing to use it -- and AT&T hopes to be one of the first. It just unveiled plans to launch spec-based mobile 5G (not the fixed-in-place kind) to everyday consumers in 12 cities by late 2018. It's not specific about where those markets are or which devices will be the first to adopt the faster speeds, but the arrival of the 5G spec has kicked off the start of hardware development.
All 50 states opt in to AT&T’s FirstNet public safety network
FirstNet, the nationwide broadband network for first responders, will be the official public safety network for all 50 US states. The network has been a very long time coming. Having been initially proposed following the 9/11 attacks, the FCC approved LTE to be the standard on which it would function back in 2011. In March, AT&T was selected by the First Responder Network Authority to build and run the network and in June, the company began sending its plans to state governments for review. States had until yesterday to decide whether they would opt in or out of the program and all 50 decided to approve it. Washington DC, Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands also opted in while American Samoa, Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands have until March 12th to make their decisions.
The first 5G spec has been approved
Carriers like AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile are pushing for the implementation of 5G by 2019. Yet, despite the flurry of 5G pilot announcements and spectrum purchases, none of them really know what they'll be working with. But, that's about to change, as the 3GPP (the organization that oversees cellular standards) has agreed on the specification for Non-Standalone 5G NR (New Radio) at a meeting in Lisbon, Portugal, reports Fierce Wireless.
Verizon will launch 5G home internet access in 2018
Verizon's 5G wireless will soon become a practical reality... if not quite the way you might expect. Big Red has announced that it's launching residential 5G broadband (that is, fixed-in-place wireless) in three to five markets starting in the second half of 2018. Most details aren't nailed down at this point, but the rollout will begin in Sacramento, California.
Honda’s connected cars will communicate over 5G
When it's not busy making billion-dollar acquisitions to expand its robotics line-up, Japanese mobile carrier SoftBank is pursuing its other hobby: smart cars. Central to this endeavour is its partner, and fellow Japan native, Honda. Last year, the two announced plans to make cars emotive using cloud-based tech based on SoftBank's Pepper robot (think Knight Rider's KITT). The fruits of that colloboration are beginning to emerge, in the guise of the auto-maker's AI-assisted NeuV and Sports EV concepts. With the clock ticking down to Honda's 2025 deadline for driverless cars, the duo are moving on to the next phase in their connected cars project, which is all about 5G.
Qualcomm rejects Broadcom’s buyout bid
Last week, wireless chip manufacturer Broadcom made a $130 billion bid to buy out rival Qualcomm. The unsolicited proposal was expected to be rejected by Qualcomm, and as of this morning, it has been. The company's board of directors unanimously voted against Broadcom's bid saying that it undervalued Qualcomm.
Sony's autonomous concept would make a great party bus
Sony's concept vehicle is all about entertainment on the go. Naturally. Its SC-1 (translated) is more or less a shuttle outfitted with high-res image sensors, displays, AI, 5G data connectivity via Docomo, alternative fuels, LIDAR and a bevy of ultrasonics onboard. It can be operated autonomously, or driven, and Sony claims that the image sensors placed around the car are sensitive enough (and the displays inside high-quality enough) that you could drive the buggy at night without headlamps.
AT&T's Netgear mobile hotspot promises twice the speed of LTE (updated)
AT&T has just announced the first mobile hotspot router, the Netgear Nighthawk, that can connect to the telecom company's "5G Evolution" network, which AT&T claims offers up to twice the speed of typical 4G LTE. The service is only available in parts of Austin and Indianapolis, and previously only to Samsung S8 users. The Netgear router will cost $50, and you'll need to have at least a $20 per month data plan to use it.
Qualcomm’s 5G dreams are closer to reality
A year after Qualcomm introduced its first 5G modem, the Snapdragon X50, the company is making another next-generation mobile push. Qualcomm announced today that it's made the first 5G data connection using the X50, which reached gigabit speeds using the 28 GHz millimeter wave spectrum. Additionally, the company is also debuting its first 5G smartphone reference design, which will help guide phone makers as they start working on next year's devices.
'Hovering' antennas promise speedy 5G phone networks
Wireless networks already have to deal with increasingly crowded waves, and that's only going to get worse when 5G rolls around. Any boost to the signal could lead to a big jump in performance, especially when you're using very high frequencies that are more prone to interference. But how do you provide that boost? Researchers have an idea: 'hover' the antenna. They've developed millimeter wave antenna arrays that are almost entirely separated from the substrate you'd usually mount them on, preventing that substrate from weakening the signal like it does with conventional antennas.
Columbia researchers might have the key to wireless VR
The millimeter wave frequency has the potential to do a lot. So far it's helping power 5G cell networks, but research from Columbia Engineering could expand that to self-driving cars and virtual reality headsets. It's a little dense, but the key bit is that the team figured out a new nonreciprocal way to transmit the waves, by using "carefully synchronized high-speed transistor switched that route forward and reverse waves differently." The school says it's basically like two trains charging head on on the same track, with them switching tracks at the last possible second.
AT&T brings fixed 5G trials to three more cities
AT&T is expanding its fixed wireless 5G trials to new cities around the US in a bid to master the technology before its official standards are released. In addition to the previous test city of Austin, the company will roll out trials in Waco, Texas; Kalamazoo, Michigan; and South Bend, Indiana by the end of the year.
EE says it'll also sue Ofcom to mould 5G spectrum auction as it sees fit
It seems a couple of UK carriers would rather tie the impending 5G spectrum auction up in litigation than let any of their competitors get their own way. Following in the footsteps of Three, EE's now threatening its own legal challenge against Ofcom in an attempt to get the regulator to release more spectrum earmarked for 5G services this time around, rather than holding separate auctions for different slices of the airwaves further down the road.
Three will sue to stop EE and Vodafone dominating connectivity
Three's dissatisfaction with how Ofcom plans to operate the upcoming 4G and 5G spectrum auction has finally gone beyond an exhausting war of words. The carrier has long threatened to take legal action against the UK telecoms regulator, should it not address what Three believes to be an anticompetitive set of rules to guide the auction. The Telegraph reports that Three has hand-delivered a letter to Ofcom, notifying the regulator of its intent to seek a judicial review. The letter is just another threat in and of itself, but it signifies the carrier is indeed preparing to take the matter to court.
Samsung's latest LTE modem supports faster-than-fiber speeds
If you're in the market for the Galaxy S9 next year, it could have a modem that's faster than your home fiber connection. Samsung has unveiled a co-called 6CA (carrier aggregation) modem that can handle download speeds as high as 1.2 Gbps, fast enough to download a full-length HD movie in 10 seconds.
