PolicyTracker

Sovereignty, defence, competition and the transatlantic alliance were recurring themes across ten panel discussions and several keynote speeches at the EU Space Forum. Topics covered included the EU Space Act, next-generation satellites, space diplomacy and Europe’s PNT network (positioning, navigation and timing). The tagline for this year’s event was “Urgency and Ambition: Europe at a Crossroads”. It was not difficult to understand why.

FWA is a way of delivering high-speed internet to homes or enterprises over a wireless connection rather than through a cable line or fibre. The use of 5G represents an improvement in performance over 4G and other wireless technologies. The use of 5G has brought FWA’s network speeds closer to those offered by fixed infrastructure. Our new research note, “The success of 5G-based fixed wireless access“, explains how FWA works and its growth in the market.

After 22 days, the US’s AWS-3 auction has finally concluded, raising $3.5 billion. It’s the first auction since the regulator, the FCC, regained its authority to hold auctions last year and suggests there is still plenty of interest in bidding for spectrum. However, despite the unique range of bidders and the billion-dollar proceeds, few have discussed where the money is going – on “Rip and Replace”.

This edition of the conference featured a fun poll exercise that neatly exposed the political sensitivity around the DNA. Attendees were asked: “How do you rate the success of 5G in Europe compared to other regions?” According to the results, 57 percent said Europe is on a par with other regions, 6 percent said Europe is ahead, and 35 percent said it is behind.

In early May, as part of its preparations for the FIFA World Cup, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) named a frequency coordinator for the US venues and waived two of its own rules: the distance-separation requirement that keeps low-power audio equipment clear of TV transmitters, and the power ceiling that limits how that equipment may operate in the TV bands and the 600 MHz duplex gap.

Firstly, it’s important to understand how SpaceX wants to go public. SpaceX is offering less than 5% of shares to the public, well below the typical 15–20% for a major IPO. It’s a decision that creates artificial scarcity: limited supply creates price pressure before a single trade is made.

The webinar brought together Gerard Pogorel, professor emeritus of economics at Telecom Paris; Philippe Lefebvre, a former senior policy officer at the European Commission; and Tony Shortall, director of economic consultancy Telage. You can watch it below. The DNA proposes an unlimited radio spectrum licence duration by default, subject to periodic reviews, and this drew the most criticism from the panel.

Last week, we highlighted the increased use of hybrid licensing in the mmWave bands. One other key point that emerges from our latest research is that while regulators may be doing lots of thinking about the mmWave bands, actually awarding or making firm plans to award spectrum remains rare. Of the countries that have awarded, are planning to award or have considered awarding mmWave spectrum, 26 and 28 GHz are the most popular bands.

Regular travellers, whether by car, train or bus, may sense that their mobile signal sometimes drops out. But is this a one-off occurrence or does it always happen? It’s hard to test regularly, especially if you are driving and need to keep your attention on the road! SignalTrackerPro gives you an accurate picture of coverage by running speed and signal tests automatically in the background for a defined period. The results are shown on a map.

PolicyTracker‘s latest research into regulatory approaches to mmWave spectrum is based on a dataset which covers 148 licences or proposed licences in 58 countries. It shows slow progress in releasing mmWave bands with only 36 countries on board so far, even though the first 5G award was made eight years ago in South Korea. Recently, several countries, including Poland, Belgium and Iceland, have delayed mmWave awards due to a perceived lack of demand.