mwc2019 – Steve Blum's Blog

We’ll know in 2020 what kind of service and customer enthusiasm lies beneath U.S. 5G hype

29 October 2019 by Steve Blum
5G, mwc2019, sprint, t-mobile, verizon

5G service will begin to enter the mainstream consumer market in the United States next year. Senior technology officers from all four major U.S. mobile carriers talked about their plans for moving beyond test markets and technology demonstrations last week at the Mobile World Congress trade show in Los Angeles. With consumer devices – smartphones, particularly – on the market and cell site construction and upgrades picking up pace, success will finally be judged on subscriber uptake and revenue, rather than on whose marketing pitch is the cleverest.… More

Privacy is too complicated for California to understand, mobile industry panel says

28 October 2019 by Steve Blum
ab375, becerra, mwc2019, privacy, public policy

California’s consumer data privacy law will be the default privacy standard across the U.S., at least for the coming year, and that’s upsetting the Washington, D.C. crowd. A panel discussion on privacy legislation at the Mobile World Congress trade show in Los Angeles last week featured three industry lobbyists, the head of an industry front organisation and a Federal Trade Commission lawyer. All of them are based in D.C., and shared Beltway-centric advice on who should be calling the shots.… More

Samsung’s 5G small cell in a box solves aesthetics problems, for some people and some applications

24 October 2019 by Steve Blum
mwc2019, pole attachment, samsung, small cells

The most interesting thing on the exhibit floor at the Mobile World Congress trade show in Los Angeles might have been the dullest. Because it was so dull.

Samsung introduced a 28 GHz 5G small cell unit that packs antennas and electronics into a small, anonymous box that can be strapped to, say, a streetlight pole. According to a Samsung rep at the show, Verizon has already signed up to buy it.

As small cell facilities go, the box is tiny – two-thirds of a cubic foot, or about the size and shape of a toolbox.… More

FCC chair Pai makes the case for rural 5G and basic broadband infrastructure subsidies

23 October 2019 by Steve Blum
fcc, mwc2019, pai, public policy, rural broadband

Ajit Pai was at his geeky best yesterday as he played the big room at the Mobile World Congress trade show in Los Angeles. The Federal Communications Commission chair focused on topics he knows well – spectrum, network security, infrastructure deployment, service access – and mostly steered clear of weaknesses that have rightly drawn down a deluge of criticism on him: local government operations, common carrier/net neutrality policy and a taste for industry cheerleading.… More