The Federal Communications Commission has adopted new rules requiring satellite operators in low-Earth orbit to dispose of their satellites within five years of completing their missions. The new rules shorten the decades-old 25-year guideline for deorbiting satellites post-mission, taking an important step in a new era for space safety and orbital debris policy. The FCC […]

Three mid-range spectrum bands offer the greatest potential for addressing the spectrum imbalance facing the US commercial wireless industry, according to a new Accenture study commissioned by wireless industry association the CTIA. The report, Spectrum Allocation in the United States, analyses the current state of radio spectrum allocation, the increasing need for licensed spectrum in […]

South Africa has notified the local telco operators of its intention to end 2G and 3G cellular services by 2025. The operators, including Vodacom, MTN and Telkom, say this could be too soon and have asked for further consultation. The operators say further discussions are needed in order to ensure that consumers will not be […]

South Africa’s minister of communications Mrs Khumbudzo Ntshavheni has published the government’s draft proposals for trading of cellular frequency spectrum in the country. The new proposals, which have been discussed for years, are contained in a draft ‘next-generation radio frequency spectrum’ policy document, which was published for public comment. Linked to the suggestions are proposed […]

The FCC has issued the results of its recent 5G spectrum auction (No. 108) revealing that, as  expected, T-Mobile took the majority of 2.5 GHz licences on offer. Out of the total $428 million bid in the auction, T-Mobile paid $303.4 million to secure its capacity. The next in line bidder was PTI Pacifica, and […]

The latest FCC auction for 5G spectrum, ended after 73 bidding rounds and generating $427.7 million in overall bids – which is widely less than expected. Pre-auction estimates had, from some experts, been predicted to reach $3 billion. The auction (No. 108) covered the 2.5 GHz band and involved 7872 licences out of the 8017 […]

ICASA, South Africa’s communications regulator, has started the process to make more spectrum available for the nation’s broadband demands. Specifically, ICASA has published an “information memorandum” in the Government’s official gazette setting out its plans to initiate a “second phase” of spectrum licensing in the so-called “low and mid radio frequency bands”. These radio bands, […]

The fast-developing 6 GHz IMT ecosystem is poised to play an important role in supporting 5G rollouts worldwide, a new report from mobile industry trade body the GSMA has revealed. However, whilst 6 GHz ecosystem developers are standing by to meet consumer demand, regulatory decisions at next year’s World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC-23), and subsequently by […]

India’s competing telcos spent more than $19 billion (€18.7bn) in the government auction of 5G spectrum. Reliance Jio Infocomm, Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea have spent seven days competing with each other to make the majority of the acquisitions, purchasing 71 per cent of all offered spectrum, which the government said totally exceeded its expectations. […]

The US’s Federal Communications Commission has opened bidding in its latest mid-band spectrum auction to support next generation wireless services – including 5G. Auction 108 makes available 8,017 new flexible-use, county-based overlay licences in the 2.5 GHz band. These licences are in areas with unassigned 2.5 GHz spectrum—mostly rural parts of the country—following disposition of […]