Weekly News: Vodafone Idea leads in rural areas of India
January 12, 2020
1. Vodafone Idea leads in rural areas of India
2. Nokia reaches 63 5G contracts globally
3.T-Mobile US testing 5G across full 600 MHz range
4. Wi-Fi Alliance stakes its claim to the 6 GHz band
5. FCC chief highlights 5G hurdles
Vodafone Idea leads in rural areas of India
Vodafone Idea is the leading mobile operator across rural areas of India, according to the latest statistics from Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI).
Vodafone Idea has 193.67 million subscribers in rural India, representing 37.64 percent share of rural subscribers. Reliance Jio has 355.22 million mobile phone customers in rural India, representing 27.76 percent share.
Bharti Airtel has 138.34 million mobile phone users in rural areas, accounting for 26.88 percent share. BSNL has 39.65 million customers in rural India, representing 7.7 percent share.
Eight service areas have more than 50 percent share of rural subscribers in their total number of subscribers.
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Nokia reaches 63 5G contracts globally
Finnish vendor Nokia announced that it has reached a total of 63 commercial 5G contracts worldwide.
The company said that some of the customers include AT&T, KDDI, Korea Telecom, LG Uplus, NTT DOCOMO, O2, SK Telecom, SoftBank, Sprint, STC, T-Mobile US, Verizon, Vodafone Italy and Zain Saudi Arabia.
“Our global end-to-end portfolio includes products and services for every part of a network, which are helping network operators to enable key 5G capabilities such as network slicing, distributed cloud and the industrial Internet of Things. We are delighted that our technologies are helping to shape the delivery and deployment of 5G technologies worldwide and the myriad benefits these will bring to businesses and consumers alike.” said Tommi Uitto, president of mobile networks at Nokia.
Rival vendor Ericsson Ericsson currently has 78 commercial 5G agreements or contracts with unique communication service providers, of which 24 are live networks.
Also, Huawei said in September 2019 that it had reached 50 5G contracts globally.
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T-Mobile US testing 5G across full 600 MHz range
T-Mobile US has been granted permission to test 5G New Radio across a broader swath of 600 MHz spectrum than it has licenses for, in areas of Los Angeles, California; Dallas, Texas; Seattle, Washington; and Las Vegas, Nevada. The carrier said that it wants to test 5G NR across wider 600 MHz bandwidths in densely populated areas with multiple vendors.
T-Mobile US has been granted permission to test 5G New Radio across a broader swath of 600 MHz spectrum than it has licenses for, in areas of Los Angeles, California; Dallas, Texas; Seattle, Washington; and Las Vegas, Nevada. The carrier said that it wants to test 5G NR across wider 600 MHz bandwidths in densely populated areas with multiple vendors.
According to documents filed with the Federal Communications Commission, the carrier was granted testing permission for a two-year period. T-Mobile US had already been granted such permission for 5G testing in currently unused 600 MHz spectrum at other sites in Los Angeles by the FCC; the new testing will expand the number of sites in Los Angeles and add the four other markets.
The application includes four sites in the Seattle area, 22 in California, 10 in Las Vegas and one site in the Dallas area, in spectrum between 617-652 MHz and 663-698 MHz.
T-Mobile US is already a major holder of 600 MHz spectrum licenses, including licenses in each of the markets mentioned. The carrier said in its application that being able to access the additional spectrum — which it said “would otherwise remain temporarily unused” will allow it to “gain a better understanding of the new innovative services that the 600 MHz band can offer during the technology development phase of the various advanced features and functionalities of 5G NR.”
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Wi-Fi Alliance stakes its claim to the 6 GHz band
The 6 GHz band is expected to be made available in unlicensed form soon and the Wi-Fi Alliance thinks it’s a good fit for Wi-Fi 6.
While wifi most commonly uses the 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands, it’s always keen for more. With the advent of 5G and the auction of other higher frequency bands for mobile, especially the mid 3 GHz bands, wifi has increasingly come into direct competition with cellular for bandwidth. 5G seems to have a limitless appetite for such stuff, so the Wi-Fi Alliance seems to be planting its flag early for the 6 GHz band.
Specifically this takes the form of a sub-brand called Wi-Fi 6E, which will be used to designate devices that support connectivity over that frequency. The Alliance reckons regulators will offer up this band in unlicensed form fairly soon and it will represent a rare opportunity for the wifi ecosystem to expand its spectrum portfolio.
“6 GHz will help address the growing need for wifi spectrum capacity to ensure wifi users continue to receive the same great user experience with their devices,” said Edgar Figueroa, CEO of the Wi-Fi Alliance. “Wi-Fi Alliance is introducing Wi-Fi 6E now to ensure the industry aligns on common terminology, allowing wifi users to identify devices that support 6 GHz operation as the spectrum becomes available.”
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FCC chief highlights 5G hurdles
US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) chairman Ajit Pai (pictured, left) pointed to high costs, limited spectrum availability and a shortage of construction staff as key constraints on 5G rollouts in the country.
Pai said the FCC had “a lot of irons in the fire” on the spectrum front, with work underway to open airwaves in the 2.5GHz, 3.5GHz, 3.7GHz, 4.9GHz, 5.9GHz, 6GHz and mmWave bands. But he noted “every single band has incumbents,” making it increasingly difficult to bring new spectrum to market.
The chairman called on Congress to act on spectrum policy, asking politicians to create federal legislation to streamline small cell siting regulations.
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