AT&T added 349,000 net postpaid phone customers, which was far better than Wall Street expectations, and saw record low churn in Q1, CEO John Stankey said Wednesday as the carrier reported quarterly results. Stankey apologized for the nationwide wireless outage that hit customers Feb. 22 (see 2402220058). Compared to Verizon, whose shares sunk after it reported results Monday (see 2404220042), AT&T was up 1.88%, closing the day at $16.82.
Howard Buskirk
Howard Buskirk, Executive Senior Editor, joined Warren Communications News in 2004, after covering Capitol Hill for Telecommunications Reports. He has covered Washington since 1993 and was formerly executive editor at Energy Business Watch, editor at Gas Daily and managing editor at Natural Gas Week. Previous to that, he was a staff reporter for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and the Greenville News. Follow Buskirk on Twitter: @hbuskirk
CTIA and its major members agreed that grants of special temporary authority (STA) are the best method of getting “inventory” spectrum into play, in reply comments posted Tuesday in docket 24-72. Others continue to stress the benefits of dynamic sharing and other mechanisms (see 2404090045). The FCC sought comment in March as the agency marked the one-year anniversary of its general auction authority expiring.
Verizon CEO Hans Vestberg sees little possibility that Congress will continue the affordability connectivity program, he told CNBC Monday as the carrier released Q1 results. House Democrats hope they can force a vote on a bill that would keep the ACP alive (see 2404170066). Vestberg told an analysts' call Verizon is happy with its roll-out of C-band spectrum and offered an update about how the company is using AI to improve efficiency.
CTIA and the major wireless carriers urged the FCC to clarify that the Telephone Consumer Protection Act doesn’t apply to robocalls and robotexts from wireless service providers to their subscribers, in reply comments posted Monday in docket 02-278. Consumer and public interest groups argue that providers shouldn’t receive special treatment (see 2404050044). Commissioners approved a Further NPRM in February seeking comment on the wireless provider exemption (see 2402160048).
Most ex parte meetings on the net neutrality order have focused on Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel and her fellow Democrats Geoffrey Starks and Anna Gomez, with about twice as many meetings as with the Republicans, based on our count. Industry officials said that’s not surprising, saying Commissioners Brendan Carr and Nathan Simington certainly will dissent and have little leverage to seek changes. Commissioners vote Thursday.
When people started discussing 5G 10 years ago, Mischa Dohler, Ericsson vice president-emerging technologies, said he was asked why anyone needs the next generation of wireless. Dohler, who spoke Thursday at a Competitive Carriers Association conference streamed from Palm Springs, California, said he has spent the last 10 years finding answers to that question.
The FCC approved Thursday waiver requests from 11 additional parties seeking permission to launch early deployments of cellular vehicle-to-everything (C-V2X) technology in the 5.895-5.925 GHz band. The FCC has yet to finalize rules for C-V2X in the band -- an item pending since November 2020, when the commission approved an order opening 45 MHz of the band for Wi-Fi, while allocating 30 MHz C-V2X technology (see 2011180043).
FCC commissioners approved fines against the then four national wireless carriers for failing to safeguard data on their customers' real-time locations, industry officials said Wednesday. Commissioners were reportedly still finishing their statements. The notices of apparent liability were approved in 2020 under former Chairman Ajit Pai (see 2002280065). The FCC proposed the largest fine, $91 million, against T-Mobile, followed by AT&T, $57 million; Verizon, $48 million; and Sprint, $12 million. T-Mobile subsequently acquired Sprint. “It’s time to hold [the carriers] accountable and make them pay for this behavior -- and by that I mean the more than $200 million in fines proposed by the last administration,” Rosenworcel said last year (see 2306140075). The FCC didn’t comment.
FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez and carrier executives warned of challenges from the pending expiration of the affordable connectivity program and negative implications for the broadband access, equity and deployment program, speaking Wednesday at a Competitive Carriers Association conference streamed from Palm Springs, California. Gomez said she supports the proposed 5G Fund, circulated by Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel last month (see 2403260052), and is focused on concerns raised by CCA and others.
Proponents of revised net neutrality rules are urging FCC commissioners to further tighten provisions on 5G network slicing, one of the more contested items in the proposed rules (see 2404050053). But officials on both sides said it’s not clear how many changes will be made to the order, prior to an expected 3-2 vote next week. Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel may need to make some concessions because the rules likely won’t pass without support from her fellow Democrats Geoffrey Starks and Anna Gomez.