Matt Daneman

The breakup of the Iridium/Qualcomm mobile supplemental coverage from space (SCS) partnership (see 2311090077) could point to ongoing questions about monetization of the direct-to-handset service. Globalstar's SCS service partnership with Apple failed to drum up notable interest in iPhone 14s, and the Iridium/Qualcomm deal seems to have followed a similar path, satellite and spectrum consultant Tim Farrar told us Monday. He said Android OEMs likely foresee a challenge to selling more phones as a result of the messaging capability.

Existing international space rules are clearly inadequate, but less clear is what to do about that, experts said Tuesday at a Princeton University/Stimson Center space governance conference. Instead of new treaties, the U.S. focus for years has been on implementation and interpretation of existing ones -- a focus numerous countries have echoed, forestalling any push for updating the space governance regime, said Brian Weeden, Secure World Foundation (SWF) program planning director. "It was hard enough to get the U.S. and Soviet Union to agree" on the Outer Space Treaty, and it would be impossible to get new core principles agreed upon today given how many more countries are interested in space now, he said.

Broadband providers and allies are heavily lobbying the 10th floor regarding the pending digital discrimination order on the FCC's November agenda (see 2310240008), raising red flags and pushing for changes, per docket 22-69 filings Monday. Fans of the draft order are also calling for changes.

Look to June as a major tipping point when Dish Network has sufficient scale in its 5G network and enough devices on that network to start turning a corner, company officials said Monday in a call with analysts as it announced Q3 financial results. Chairman Charlie Ergen said he was decreasingly optimistic about an 800 MHz deal with T-Mobile but hadn't written the prospects off. Liberty Latin American said it was buying Dish spectrum assets and 120,000 prepaid mobile subscribers in the Caribbean for $256 million, with Dish saying the deal frees it up to focus more on the continental U.S.

When trying to gauge how fully utilized nonfederal spectrum is, no commercial-use band should be off limits, multiple trade groups said Friday in FCC docket 23-232 reply comments. Numerous comments argued that the fact that a band is licensed for exclusive use doesn't mean it's automatically being used to maximum efficiency. Commissioners unanimously approved the spectrum usage notice of inquiry at their August meeting (see 2308030075).

6G poses a variety of practical engineering challenges that need addressing, from aggregation of numerous spectrum bands to integration of satellite coverage into terrestrial wireless networks, Mingxi Fan, communications systems design general manager at Taiwanese semiconductor maker MediaTek, said Thursday at the Brooklyn 6G Summit. Also a question mark is timing of 3rd Generation Partnership Project work on 6G, said Wanshi Chen, 3GPP Technical Specification Group RAN1 chairman.

Mobile networks face the danger of "running out of steam by the end of the decade" in terms of available capacity, given skyrocketing data demand, Peter Vetter, Nokia Bell Labs Core Research president, said Wednesday at the 2023 Brooklyn 6G Summit. Even absent new use cases, 6G will require access to more spectrum to fill that capacity hole, he said. One potential hurdle is possible skepticism among regulators globally about the need for spectrum for 6G due to a perception that 5G spectrum hasn't been used and 5G's potential hasn't panned out as expected, GSMA senior spectrum adviser Veena Rawat said. Every World Radiocommunication Conference sees calls "for spectrum for a G -- 3G, 4G, 5G," Rawat said. Fabiano Chaves, Nokia's head-spectrum standardization, North America, said most administrations understand the need for study of some bands for terrestrial mobile, with the hang-up being which bands and how much spectrum is needed.

The citizens broadband radio service spectrum-sharing model is easily adoptable by other nations, but there needs to be more work proselytizing about it internationally, spectrum experts said Tuesday at a CBRS seminar by New America's Open Technology Institute about spectrum sharing in private wireless networks. CBRS is a route for regulators and agencies like NTIA to work with overseas counterparts on pushing sharing models, said Scott Harris, NTIA senior spectrum adviser. He said the U.S. needs to boost such international engagement and the private sector needs to encourage regulators overseas to have those conversations.

States are holding off on putting numbers on paper as to what their extremely high-cost per location thresholds are in the broadband equity, access and deployment program, with many states saying their threshold numbers won't come until after they see subgrantee bids. That per interviews and our analysis of BEAD draft initial proposals filed thus far with NTIA. Those threshold numbers likely will differ substantially from state to state, some deployment experts tell us. The threshold number will serve as the tipping point where states can consider non-fiber bids, as beyond that threshold amount fiber is too expensive.

Charter Communications is warning some states that it won't be interested in broadband equity, access and deployment (BEAD) program opportunities there. States that closely follow NTIA proposed guidelines regarding internet tiers, pricing and labor practices "just won't be attractive states for us to bid in," CEO Chris Winfrey said Friday as the company announced Q3 financial results. He said Charter "will focus our investments in the states that allow us to retain flexibility to run the business, properly respond to market demand and ultimately earn a healthy return."