AT&T said today that it will work with Commnet Broadband, NTUA and NTUA Wireless to expand the FirstNet first responder network to serve the Navajo Nation. As part of the same project, AT&T also will deploy commercial LTE service in…
Rural Wireless
Wireless Testbed Will Focus on Rural Applications
Ericsson and the National Science Foundation-funded Platforms for Advanced Wireless Research (PAWR) program have struck an agreement under which the vendor will provide its radio access network (RAN) and related equipment and services to the Agriculture and Rural Communities (ARA)…
RWA Releases Open RAN Resource Guide
Washington, D.C. – Today, the Rural Wireless Association (RWA) released its Open RAN Resource Guide (Guide) which is designed to help RWA members navigate the Open RAN landscape. The Guide, coordinated by RWA’s Technology Committee, is available to the public and…
Silver Star Exiting Cellular Services in Star Valley
Thayne, WY April 19, 2022 – Silver Star announced today that the company would discontinue its cellular service in Star Valley, WY, effective December 30, 2022. In 2005 Silver Star began offering cellular service to fill a need in the…
CFO: T-Mobile Expects Strong Growth in Rural Areas
The way T-Mobile sees it, about 40% of the U.S. population lives in smaller markets and rural areas – and the company expects to see strong growth in those areas moving forward. Those markets now represent one third of the…
CEO/CTO: Cellcom 5G Launch is Just the Beginning for its Wide Spectrum Holdings
Regional wireless operator Cellcom’s 5G launch in parts of three largely rural Wisconsin counties is just the beginning of the carrier’s 5G plans. We talked to Cellcom CEO Brighid Riordan and CTO Rick Brooks about those plans. Cellcom is relying…
FCC Attempts to Explain Rip-and-Replace Shortfall: Large Carriers Could Get Squeezed Out
The FCC today released a public notice listing all the companies that applied for funding to rip-and-replace Huawei equipment deemed to be a national security risk. In the notice, the commission also offered its take on why requested funding was…
Midco, Land O’ Lakes Collaborate to Bring Fixed Wireless to Rural Minnesota
News late last week from Midco and Land O’ Lakes illustrates how getting stakeholders to work together can bring broadband to areas where deployment costs are prohibitive. Midco said it has deployed fixed wireless from three towers in rural areas…
T-Mobile Goes Bigger, Expands Fixed Wireless Service Across Texas
T-Mobile has expanded its Home Internet fixed wireless access (FWA) service in 57 communities across Texas. According to a T-Mobile spokesperson, this includes new markets, as well as markets where the company had FWA previously to a more limited number…
FCC Precision Ag Task Force Recommendations Would Expand Broadband Buildout Requirements
At the same time that the government is making unprecedented funding available for broadband, it also is considering setting more ambitious broadband goals. A new set of ambitious goals came this week from the FCC Precision Agriculture Task Force which,…
AT&T Inks Connected Cow Deal: Cows Swallow Biometric Sensors
Sometimes truth is stranger than fiction, as news today from AT&T about connected cows illustrates. In a development reminiscent of the 1960s sci-fi movie “Fantastic Voyage,” AT&T has inked a deal to provide wireless connectivity for smaXtec, developer of sensors…
Private Wireless Network Comes to the Farm, Enabling Precision Agriculture
Private wireless networks are poised to play an important role on the nation’s farms, potentially creating opportunities for rural network operators, as news this week from Inland Cellular and edge computing provider Trilogy Networks illustrates. We talked to Venky Swaminathan,…
