Commercialization of 5G “continues to be strong,” Qualcomm CEO Steve Mollenkopf told his company's annual meeting Thursday, his last before his June retirement when he will be replaced by President Cristiano Amon. “We're early on” but 2020 “was the year that 5G really started to ramp,” Mollenkopf said. More than 140 operators have launched it in nearly 60 countries, and 270 more operators “are investing, making their plans known to go to 5G,” he said. Qualcomm expects a billion 5G connections in 2023, “two years faster than that same mark in 4G,” he said. Adoption of 5G smartphones remains "strong,” said Mollenkopf. Industry sold 225 million 5G smartphones in 2020, he said. “We expect that to grow to 500 million at the midpoint in 2021 and continue to grow.”

Citizens broadband radio service band use is accelerating, and Verizon is using the band in 70 metropolitan areas, RootMetrics reported Thursday, detecting no use by AT&T or T-Mobile. “CBRS spectrum will play an important role in the mobile network marketplace, boosting capacity for both 4G LTE and 5G networks in highly populated areas,” RootMetrics said. Main uses are for wireless capacity in urban markets, rural fixed broadband and private wireless networks, the report said.

TVU Networks and China Unicom are developing technology for collection, transmission, distribution and management of 4K and 8K Ultra HD video over 5G millimeter-wave networks, they said Thursday. Increased bandwidth, reduced latency and flexible configuration of the 5G mmWave band can enable capacity and transmission of future applications such as high-resolution video and immersive augmented and virtual reality, they said. China Unicom will be the exclusive mobile service provider at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing.

Experts welcomed a proposed FCC notice of inquiry on open radio access networks during an Open RAN Policy Coalition webinar Tuesday. The draft NOI, set for a vote March 17 (see 2102240063), will help “white board … what these opportunities are” and figure out gaps, said Jayne Stancavage, Intel global executive director-digital infrastructure policy. “It is an important step to sort of gather these thoughts.” The world won't necessarily be divided into two 5G -- one built on ORAN and another on equipment from the major Chinese carriers, she said. “The operators are taking different steps on different timelines, and some will go one path, some will go another,” Stancavage said: “Some might go with traditional architecture.” Uptake rates will vary, she said: Variations on when enough spectrum is available for 5G will mean different timelines. As ORAN becomes more prevalent, Huawei and ZTE will also likely incorporate it, said Christopher Roberti, U.S. Chamber of Commerce senior vice president-cyber, intelligence and security policy. Government funding of ORAN research would help accelerate deployment, said Mehran Hadipour, Robin vice president-business development and tech alliances: “It would really open the floodgate … and get a lot more ORAN infrastructure in place. You have to reduce the transition costs by creating open standards … then also add models that bring incremental revenue.” Roberti wants funding from Congress: “The administration should continue to foster open, public-private dialogues … with like-minded governments.” The launch of 4G “was the dawn of Netflix and Facebook,” Roberti said. “With 5G, we’ll have to see.” There will be gradual growth and then “a huge explosion … things that we can’t imagine right now, but we won’t be able to live without in two years,” he said. Providers are trying to figure out how ORAN fits with the way they deliver service, Hadipour said. “It’s beyond just deploying antennas and ORAN infrastructure on top of that,” he said: “It has really become, 'How can I integrate this new model and technology into my infrastructure?’” Meanwhile, Mavenir asked the FCC to add five paragraphs to the ORAN NOI, saying it “does not go far enough in determining whether there are barriers to entry caused by control over and manipulation of the supply chain,” per a filing posted Wednesday in docket 21-63. Mavenir spoke with aides to all four commissioners.

“Move quickly” to grant licenses to winning bidders in the C-band auction to allow “rapid deployment” in the band, T-Mobile representatives urged aides to acting FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel. Recognizing a 2.5 GHz auction is “unlikely” before the October 3.45 GHz sale, a filing posted Tuesday in docket 19-348 encouraged "the steps necessary to begin the 2.5 GHz band auction soon after the 3.45 GHz band auction concludes.” Temporary changes to allow E-rate funds for remote learning is a welcome step, but the commission should consider making the changes permanent, T-Mobile said (see 2102180020). The FCC's data collection order also "suffers from fatal flaws" and should be stayed "until the results of the [emergency broadband benefit program] are clear," if not reconsidered or vacated, the company added (see 2102260039).

Fox Sports will broadcast the Big East men’s basketball tournament live in 5G for the first time from Madison Square Garden, said the network Tuesday. This will result in a “crisper and more reliable feed with less on-site cabling,” said Fox. The tournament begins Wednesday at 3 p.m. EST on FS1 and the championship game is 6:30 p.m. EST Saturday on Fox.

Dish Network is buying Republic Wireless, a mobile virtual network operator on the T-Mobile network. Dish, which is building a stand-alone 5G network, gets some 200,000 subscribers, the Republic Wireless brand and other assets, Dish said Monday. "Republic has created a loyal following and established a brand known for innovation, customer service and value. We plan to build upon that," said John Swieringa, Dish chief operating officer. Citi’s Michael Rollins told investors more deals are possible: “DISH could pursue an acquisition of TDS and US Cellular that could provide DISH with immediate rural coverage, significant revenue and subscriber scale that can leverage the T-Mobile wholesale deal for national coverage (which could be cheaper than its current roaming arrangements), a healthy spectrum position in its markets, and additional assets that could [be] held or be monetized,” he said. Dish hopes the deal will close in Q2.

AT&T has $30 billion available after the C-band auction, where it was the second-highest bidder, Chief Financial Officer John Stephens told a Deutsche Bank virtual investor conference Monday. AT&T bid $23.4 billion and is likely on the hook for an additional $4 billion (see 2103040034). The carrier had $10 billion in cash Dec. 31 and secured almost $15 billion in financing, he said. Spending has “been managed, been well thought-out,” he said. The 80 MHz of C band that AT&T is getting “leaves us in a very healthy competitive position,” he said. Half of that is in the part that will be made available first, he said. “We'll continue to evaluate opportunities." Stephens said spinning off about one-third of its video distribution business to TPG (see 2102240046) means AT&T can more easily focus "more directly on our real pillars of 5G connectivity and fiber and software-based entertainment and customer experience.”

Former President Donald Trump criticized Rivada Networks’ support for the U.S. government to make spectrum reserved for 5G available to carriers on wholesale, drawing pushback from the company. Trump’s Thursday criticism of Rivada came via a statement from his Save America PAC that hit back at company adviser and former White House Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove over a Wall Street Journal opinion piece in which he panned Trump’s Conservative Political Action Conference speech. Rove “has been losing for years, except for himself,” Trump said. He “came to the Oval Office lobbying for 5G for him and a group. After a lengthy discussion with Rove and Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, I said no, they’re not qualified. Our Nation can do much better!” Rove registered in 2019 as a lobbyist for Rivada amid public attention focused on the company’s wholesale push (see 1904220024). Trump’s reelection campaign in August said his second-term agenda would include a push for building a “National High-Speed Wireless Internet Network,” which officials compared to Rivada’s proposal (see 2008270051). Rivada during the Trump administration “advocated for, and still" supports a request for proposals "to determine the best way to share DOD spectrum between military and commercial uses,” a spokesperson said. “An open and competitive RFP would have determined who was qualified or not, but the previous administration never issued one. Nor did [Trump] take any other steps to allocate or share most of the DOD-controlled mid-band spectrum. We are hopeful that the current administration can do much better.”

MoffettNathanson’s Craig Moffett warned Friday of continuing financial pressures on AT&T and Verizon due to going big in the C-band auction (see 2103040034). This “left AT&T’s balance sheet in shambles,” he wrote investors: “Remarkably, their DirecTV ‘sale’ makes their leverage worse, not better. And Verizon’s leverage is now even higher than AT&T’s.” The auction “will be felt for years,” he said: “Carriers will be forced to make hard choices between dividends, diversification strategies, and capital investments in the very 5G network that the auction was intended to support.”