Advanced Television

Spectrum

Italy: €50 subsidy for DVB-T2 compatibility

Italy’s Ministry of Economic Development has established guidelines for the provision of subsidies to buy TV sets and decoders compatible with the DVB-T2 HEVC/MPEG-4 standards. The total budget is €151 million and the pay-out should start from November 2019, after the end of an ongoing public consultation process. The guidelines propose that the €50 contribution […]

June 20, 2019From Branislav Pekic in Rome

FCC opens up 2.5 GHz for 5G

FCC Chairman Ajit Pai has revealed that the Commission is to open up the 2.5 GHz band for 5G. In a blog post, Pai explained that this was the single largest band of contiguous spectrum below 3 GHz, but that much of this public resource had been unused for decades, partly because the technology that […]

June 20, 2019By Colin Mann

Verizon encouragement for CBA plan

“Prompt access to [C-band] is now critical” for 5G over the US, says Verizon’s CEO Hans Vestberg. He met with FCC Chairman Ajit Pai last week and in a follow-up letter to the FCC, stated that he had encouraged the FCC to “move forward quickly to make spectrum in the 3.7 to 4.2 GHz band […]

June 17, 2019By Chris Forrester

FCC on CBA: “Working on deliberative process”

Ajit Pai, the Chairman of the FCC, along with two of his key Commissioners, met with the FCC oversight committee on June 12th at the US Senate on Capitol Hill, and were specifically questioned on the C-Band Alliance’s scheme to reassign 180 MHz of spectrum for 5G over the US. What followed were very timely […]

June 13, 2019

UK boost for 5G, mobile deployment

£40 million is to be invested in 5G testbed and trial projects across UK industry as part of Government plans to improve mobile connectivity. Previous investment in the 5G testbeds and trials programme has driven work in the healthcare, tourism, transport and broadcasting sectors. The latest investment will support similar work in the logistics and […]

June 13, 2019By Colin Mann

CBA files FUEL auction plan

The C-Band Alliance (CBA) has submitted its FUEL (Flexible Use and Efficient Licensing) auction plan to the Federal Communications Commission on June 11th to cover the proposed reallocation of 180 MHz of satellite spectrum for 5G use. The comprehensive White Paper has been issued following extensive meetings with the FCC on June 6th-7th, and the […]

June 12, 2019By Chris Forrester

FCC 5G auctions raise over $2.7bn

The FCC has concluded the bidding in Auction 102, the Commission’s second auction of millimetre wave spectrum suitable for 5G, which is providing licences in the 24 GHz band. With the closing of bidding in this auction along with the closing of bidding in Auction 101 for 28 GHz band licences, the FCC has now […]

May 29, 2019

Positive response to C-Band Alliance proposals

Analysts responded positively to the C-Band Alliance’s (CBA) plans for releasing up to 180 MHz of satellite C-band spectrum. One suggested the scheme was now entering the “homestretch”. Barclays’ Nick Dempsey explained that around 178 million people in the US could benefit from the first batch of 3 suggested spectrum allocations which the CBA is […]

May 23, 2019

CBA provides C-band plan details

The C-Band Alliance (CBA) of Intelsat, SES, Eutelsat and Telesat) has provided extremely detailed plans of its proposals to free up C-band spectrum over the US. The Alliance, in its submission to the Federal Communications Commission on May 21st, says that it could release nine licence blocks of spectrum each of 20 MHz, which overall […]

May 22, 2019By Chris Forrester

EC harmonises 26 GHz for 5G deployment

The European Commission has adopted the Implementing Decision to harmonise the 26 GHz frequency band for wireless networks, which it says is a big leap towards the deployment of 5G across Europe. The decision finalises the EU-wide coordination of all three pioneer bands (700 MHz, 3.6 GHz and 26 GHz) needed for 5G rollout in […]

May 16, 2019