New and existing Booth Mobile customers who preorder the Celero5G smartphone online through Oct. 31 can get it for $279 including talk, text and data for a year, plus a specially designed phone case, said Dish Network Thursday. The Celero5G will be available at Boost Mobile-branded retail locations and in national retail later this fall, it said. “The Celero5G fills a void in the mobile device market, providing an affordable 5G option that's packed with the features customers want,” said Dish. It has a 6.52-inch screen, four cameras, 36 hours of battery life and 4GB RAM/ 64GB ROM memory that's customizable with an SD card up to 2 TB, it said.
The 3.45 GHz auction, which starts Tuesday, could hit $30 billion in proceeds, LightShed’s Walter Piecyk told investors Thursday. The analyst bases that estimate on an average price of $1.00 MHz/POP, which is less than the $1.10 paid for C-band spectrum or the $1.82 bid in the recent Canadian auction of 3.5 GHz spectrum. AT&T and Verizon are likely to “both acquire the maximum allowable 40 MHz of spectrum for $12 billion each,” he said. The band has better propagation characteristics than C-band and was included in new iPhones starting last year, he said. “Operators will likely be able to deploy the new spectrum sooner than most of the C-Band, due to the multi-year clearing process of satellite operators.” Piecyk sees T-Mobile’s spectrum advantage narrowing. “T-Mobile’s 127 MHz spectrum depth lead over its closest competitor shrunk to 45 MHz following two FCC spectrum auctions,” he said: “Verizon can effectively eliminate this spectrum deficit altogether by integrating up to 80 MHz of General Access [citizens broadband radio service] spectrum into its network.”
China slammed the FCC Wednesday for moving on the rip-and-replace program for Chinese gear (see 2109270023). “Considering the grave pandemic and economic situations in the U.S., the $1.9 billion could be used better in areas in urgent need,” said a Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesperson. “The U.S. has kept smearing and slandering Huawei and other Chinese companies, but is unable to present any solid evidence to support its accusations. The so-called ‘national security’ is only a clumsy excuse of the U.S. to impose ‘national bullying’ and practice trade protectionism.”
Motlow State Community College in southern Tennessee is giving away Samsung Galaxy A32 5G smartphones with a year of free T-Mobile service to 2,100 students on its four campuses to “enhance online education” during the COVID-19 pandemic, said the school and the carrier Monday. The phones are preloaded with the Motlow learning management system so students can connect with their coursework remotely, they said. All services, such as unlimited hot spots, talk, text and data, are included and funded by “sources blended to support students negatively impacted by the pandemic,” they said.
ACT|The App Association cited the importance of broadband maps, finalizing rules for the 6 GHz band and other issues in a conversation with FCC acting Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel, said a filing posted Monday in docket 21-233. ACT urged making more spectrum available for 5G and Wi-Fi: “Resolve remaining issues in its 6 GHz band proceedings as soon as possible based on the well-developed record” that “proposed unlicensed use will not result in harmful interference,” the group said.
The Wireless Infrastructure Association said Thursday it joined the National Spectrum Consortium, with the goal of increasing “industry collaboration" on R&D of 5G and "5G-based technologies.” One focus will be telecom workforce development, WIA said.
NEC and Xilinx are collaborating on NEC’s 5G radio units for global deployment beginning in 2022, they said Thursday. The radios will support a wide range of 5G frequencies, including C-band spectrum, they said. Embedded Xilinx componentry will enable advanced signal processing and beamforming, and add open radio access network support, they said. Beamforming is an electromagnetic technique for promoting faster, more reliable 5G connections.
Worldwide 5G subscribers hit 429 million in Q2, based on data from Omdia, 5G Americas said Wednesday. That’s up 124 million in the first half of the year, the group said: “5G remains on pace to triple the number of connections in 2020 and is forecast to reach 692 million globally by the end of the calendar year.” North America had 44.6 million by the end of Q2, up 17.9 million for the year.
The O-RAN Alliance and two of its members said they resolved issues about possible ramifications of the U.S. decision to list three Chinese alliance members on the Commerce Department's entity list. Equipment vendors Nokia and Ericsson had halted activities with the alliance over concerns about possible penalties (see 2109030053). The alliance said Sept. 13 its board "approved changes to O-RAN participation documents and procedures." It's up to individuals members "to make their own evaluation of these changes, [but] O-RAN is optimistic that the changes will address the concerns." The alliance didn't comment on what the changes were. Ericsson told us Tuesday it's now "satisfied" the alliance "found a solution that resolves the issue." Nokia said Wednesday it's "delighted" the alliance's work can now continue and will resume its technical contributions.
Nokia representatives spoke with staff, at FCC request, to answer technical questions on gear set to be deployed in the C-band, said a filing posted Wednesday in docket 18-122. “Commercial base stations in C-band are meant to provide wideband coverage for macrocells” and “operate close to the Commission regulatory power limits,” Nokia said: It fielded questions on power levels, out-of-band emissions and antennas, speaking with staff from the Wireless and International bureaus and Office of Engineering and Technology.