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FCC Announces $9 Billion Fund for Rural 5G

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Dec 6, 2019, 3:17 PM by Rich Brome

The FCC this week announced that it plans to make up to $9 billion available to carriers to deploy 5G in rural areas where building new coverage wouldn't otherwise make economic sense. The money will be be allotted from the Universal Service Fund, which aims to bring communication services to everyone, a key function of the FCC. The new fund will utilize a reverse auction, and at least $1 billion is earmarked for deployments that support precision agriculture. Other details have yet to be finalized. The new fund replaces a similar initiative for rural 4G deployments, called Mobility Fund Phase II (MF-II). The FCC was in the middle of carrying out MF-II but abruptly canceled the program when its own tests found that carriers had overstated their own existing coverage. Accurate maps of existing coverage are critical to programs like MF-II — and the new 5G fund — that aim to fill in major coverage gaps.

Dec 1, 2021
Qualcomm will make a big push to bring high-speed mmWave 5G to more affordable phones in 2022, according to comments made by CEO Cristiano Amon during a Q&A session at the company's Snapdragon Summit event in Hawaii today. For a phone to support mmWave 5G, multiple specialty antenna modules need to be added, which can raise a phone's price by $50 – 100.

Hyatt Launches Apple Wallet Room Keys

Dec 10, 2021
Hyatt has launched phone-based digital room keys at its first six hotel properties. iPhone and Apple Watch users can now choose to add their hotel room key to Apple Wallet and forego any physical room key.

Verizon Signs $8.3 Billion Deal to Expand 5G Network

Jul 16, 2021
Verizon has entered into a multi-year, $8.3 billion deal with Ericsson to expand Verizon's 5G network. The deal covers new mid-band coverage in the C band, as well as continued build-out of existing low-band and mmWave networks.

T-Mobile Maps its Expanded High-Speed 5G Coverage

Jul 29, 2021
As T-Mobile continues to expand its 5G network, PCMag reports that the company has updated its coverage maps to differentiate between its faster "Ultra Capacity" 5G and its slower but more widely-available "Extended Range" 5G. T-Mobile's 5G Ultra Capacity network uses a mid-band frequency (2.5 GHz, AKA band 41, which was inherited from Sprint) that offers faster data speeds than most sub-6 GHz 5G, and much better coverage than mmWave 5G.

FCC Kicks Off Third Auction for Mid-Band 5G

Oct 5, 2021
The FCC today started Auction 110, the third in a series of auctions to sell licenses for valuable C-band (mid-band) radio frequencies that offer a good mix of data speeds and coverage when deployed for 5G networks. All three major US wireless carriers have registered and qualified to bid in the auction.

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