T-Mobile and EQT, a purpose-driven global investment organization, today announced they have entered into a joint venture (JV) with EQT’s Infrastructure VI fund (EQT) that will acquire fiber-to-the-home platform Lumos from EQT’s predecessor fund EQT Infrastructure III. The JV will bring T-Mobile’s retail, marketing, brand and customer experience strengths together with EQT’s fiber infrastructure investment expertise. Together they will acquire Lumos’ scalable fiber network build capabilities to deliver best-in-class high-speed fiber internet connectivity to customers across the U.S ..read more

The FCC voted on Thursday, April 25th along party lines to pass its order on Safeguarding and Securing the Open Internet, restoring net neutrality and reestablishing the Commission’s Title II authority over broadband services.  The restored “net neutrality” rules prevent broadband internet service providers/ISPs (e.g. Comcast and AT&T) from favoring some sites and apps over others.  The vote was taken at the FCC’s open meeting for the month of April.  Democrats on the FCC voted to restore net neutrality and Title II rules. The issue will face inevitable court challenges and ..read more

Verizon Consumer: Verizon reported better-than-expected wireless customer results for the Q1-2024, but still lost subscribers.  The U.S. #2 telco consumer revenue the quarter was $25.1 billion, an increase of 0.8% YoY as gains in service revenue were partially offset by declines in wireless equipment revenue.  While Verizon lost 158,000 wireless retail postpaid phone customers in the first quarter, that was an improvement over the 263,000 losses the company reported in the same quarter a year ago.  Verizon had been expected to lose around 201,000 postpaid phone customers in its ..read more

China Mobile, the world’s largest operator in terms of subscribers, recorded operating revenues of CNY263.7 billion ($36.4 billion) in the first quarter of the year, an increase of 5.2% year-on-year, the carrier said in its earnings statement. The company’s net profit increased 5.5% year-on-year to CNY29.6 billion. Also, the telco reported that revenue from telecommunications services was CNY219.3 billion, up by 4.5% year-on-year.  The telco ended the first quarter of the year with a total of 488 million 5G subscribers. China Mobile had reported a net addition of 138 million 5G ..read more

5G for Remote Surgery: This year, surgeons in Florida working with Ericsson, were able to operate on remote patients in Dubai and Shanghai, using 5G technology, according to Mischa Dohler, Ericsson vice president-emerging technologies. A hospital in China used a 5G-enabled robot to perform spinal surgery on patients, and doctors used VR headsets to livestream the operation. The robot implanted over 62 pedicle screws in the patients’ spinal cord.  Here’s a pic of that: Photo by Wang Fei/For China Daily Dohler said he’s working with the White House, FCC, NTIA, Food and Drug Administration ..read more

reported a smaller-than-expected rise in quarterly profit on Thursday as sluggish demand for 5G gear in key markets North America and India continued to weigh on sales. “This will still be a weak year, for the mobile RAN (radio access network) market and we expect, as I said, it to gradually pick up during the year,” CEO Pekka Lundmark told reporters.  A fall in demand for 5G equipment in North America, the largest market for Nokia and Swedish rival Ericsson and market share losses in China have forced both companies to temper expectations and lay off thousands of employees to shed&n ..read more

Huawei rotating chair Eric Xu kicked off the company’s annual analyst summit in Shenzhen underlining a near ubiquitous focus on AI and outlined a broad strategy designed to improve the competitiveness of its products and operations, without sharing specifics or targets. Xu explained the company is pursuing a number of initiatives across multiple tracks to take advantage of new opportunities in AI. In addition to driving advancements in AI to build “thriving ecosystems for shared success”, he said Huawei is actively integrating the technology into its internal management to improve operating ef ..read more

On Wednesday April 17th, broadband officials and experts called for continued pressure to replenish the FCC’s Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) [1.]. Some panelists during Next Century Cities’ bipartisan tech policy conference also urged community leaders to engage with their state broadband offices as NTIA approves states’ plans for the broadband, equity, access and deployment program. Note 1. The Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) is a benefit program from the FCC that helps households pay for broadband for work, school, and healthcare. The program is separate from the ..read more

China’s largest telecom firms were ordered earlier this year to phase out foreign computer chips from their networks by 2027. That news confirms and expands on reports from recent months.  It was reported in the Saturday print edition of the Wall Street Journal (WSJ). The move will hit U.S. semiconductor processor companies Intel and Advanced Micro Devices.  Asia Financial reported in late March that these retaliatory bans would cost the U.S. chip firms billions. The deadline given by China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) aims to accelerate efforts by Beijing ..read more

According to preliminary data from the International Data Corporation (IDC) Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker, global smartphone shipments increased 7.8% year over year to 289.4 million units in the first quarter of 2024 (1Q24). This marks the third consecutive quarter of smartphone shipment growth, a strong indicator that a recovery is well underway. “As expected, smartphone recovery continues to move forward with market optimism slowly building among the top brands,” said Ryan Reith, group vice president with IDC’s Worldwide Mobility and Consumer Device Trackers. “While ..read more