T-Mobile’s free 5G service for emergency responders goes live

T-Mobile has launched its “Connecting Heroes” initiative which gives free 5G connectivity to emergency responders.

Yesterday, the company teased a new “Un-carrier” announcement would be made today. Now we know what it is.

Connecting Heroes was first announced last year as part of T-Mobile’s merger with Sprint. T-Mobile pledged to give emergency responders 10 years of free wireless service.

Mike Sievert, CEO of T-Mobile, says:

“When we’re...

By | 22 May 2020 | 5G

AT&T is ditching its controversial 5G-E branding

AT&T has announced that it is ditching its controversial 5G-E branding following claims that it's misleading.

One morning, some AT&T customers woke up to find a "5G-E" icon in their status bar. Many probably fist-pumped the air in the belief that they've been upgraded for free to this latest generation mobile network people have been talking about.

In reality, 5G-E is a LTE network. AT&T argued that it wasn't misleading as the "E" stands for "Evolution" and...

By | 21 May 2020 | Consumers

Over 2,000 complaints were sent to the FCC relating to COVID-19

FCC chairman Ajit Pai has revealed that the telecoms regulator has received over 2,000 complaints relating to COVID-19.

Speaking to the House Energy and Commerce Committee on Tuesday, Pai said the FCC has received around 2,200 complaints relating to the pandemic. Of the complaints, around 1,400 have received a response so far.

Approximately 500 of the complaints were specifically filed under the Keep Americans Connected pledge which the FCC announced in response to the...

By | 20 May 2020 | Broadband

FCC chief wants Congress to prevent spectrum auction by changing law

fcc ajit pai t band spectrum auction congress telecoms

FCC chairman Ajit Pai has called on Congress to change a law which mandates a spectrum auction that he believes is against America's interests.

“An FCC auction of the T-band is a bad idea. But as of today, the law mandates that we do it,” Pai said in a statement. “It’s unfortunate that Commission resources must be dedicated to laying the groundwork for an auction that will likely fail.”

The FCC is currently legally-obliged to auction off space in the 470-512MHz...

By | 19 May 2020 | Connectivity

UK gov faces human rights lawsuit for granting Huawei 5G role

The UK government is facing a lawsuit from human rights activists following the decision to grant Huawei a role in 5G networks.

Lawyers representing two Uyghur activists will send a letter warning the British government of court action if it presses on with the plan to grant the Chinese telecoms giant a role – claiming it breaks UK human rights and EU procurement rules.

The activists campaign against Beijing’s treatment of Muslim minorities, predominantly in the...

By | 18 May 2020 | 5G

Trump extends Huawei ban order until at least May 2021

President Trump has extended an executive order banning Huawei’s telecoms equipment until at least May 2021.

The executive order, first issued last year, bans US companies from using Huawei’s equipment over alleged security risks.

While the renewed order does not specifically name any company, US lawmakers have repeatedly shared their concerns that Chinese telecoms vendors like Huawei and ZTE are controlled by Beijing and pose a national security threat – an...

By | 14 May 2020 | 5G

O2 and Virgin Media confirm historic £31 billion merger

The rumours proved to be true: O2 and Virgin Media have confirmed their intention to merge in a £31 billion deal.

Telefonica and Liberty Global, owners of O2 and Virgin Media respectively, have put out a joint statement today confirming the 50-50 joint venture which “brings together Virgin Media, the UK’s fastest broadband network, and O2, the country’s largest mobile platform.”

Jose Maria Alvarez-Pallete, CEO of Telefonica, said: “Combining O2’s number one...

By | 7 May 2020 | 5G

Cybersecurity expert warns MPs that delaying 5G will harm Britain

A cybersecurity expert has warned that delaying the 5G rollout due to concerns about Chinese vendors poses a greater threat to Britain.

Emily Taylor, CEO of Oxford Information Labs, told a sub-committee examining the security of the UK’s 5G network:

“The risk to the country is, if we decide we are so unhappy with the idea of a high risk vendor being in our infrastructure – despite the fact that vendor has been in our infrastructure for the past 15 years – we are...

By | 29 April 2020 | 5G

Twitter updates its rules to counter 5G COVID-19 misinformation

Twitter has updated its rules to counter the spread of misinformation about 5G causing COVID-19 which has led to burnt towers and the abuse of engineers.

On Wednesday, Twitter updated their policy to ban the following:

"Unverified claims that incite people to action, could lead to the destruction or damage of critical infrastructure, or could lead to widespread panic, social unrest, or large-scale disorder, such as “The National Guard just announced that no more...

By | 23 April 2020 | 5G

Standards body ETSI begins exploring TCP/IP alternatives for 5G

Standards body ETSI has established a new Industry Specification Group (ISG) which aims to define an alternative to TCP/IP for 5G.

TCP/IP was first developed in the late 1970s before wider adoption occurred in the 80s. The suite of internet protocols provides end-to-end data communication specifying how data should be packetised, addressed, transmitted, routed, and received.

With a new generation of mobile network rolling out, ETSI wants to explore a modern alternative...

By | 14 April 2020 | 5G