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FWA adoption surges as speeds dip, Ookla finds

FWA adoption surges as speeds dip, Ookla finds
A new analysis of U.S. fixed wireless access shows subscriber momentum outpacing performance, a signal that capacity and management strategies are under pressure. Fixed wireless access from T-Mobile, Verizon, and AT&T added about 1.04 million net customers in Q3 2025, taking the U.S. FWA base to roughly 14.7 million. T-Mobile remains the U.S. FWA speed leader, posting a median download around 209 Mbps in Q3 2025. Median uploads dipped below 20 Mbps across providers, creating a hurdle for the FCC’s 100/20 benchmark. Urban FWA customers are more likely to meet the FCC’s 100/20 threshold than rural users due to radio geometry and site density.

Federal AI Order to Preempt State Laws

Federal AI Order to Preempt State Laws
The administration plans an executive order to set a single national AI rulebook and override state-level frameworks, a move with immediate implications for telecom, cloud, and enterprise AI strategies. President Trump signaled he will sign an executive order establishing a uniform federal approach to AI governance that preempts state regulations. Reports indicate the order aims to reduce compliance friction by replacing diverse state rules with a lighter-touch national framework focused on competitiveness. State officials from both parties, safety advocates, and labor groups are preparing to fight the order, citing risks related to consumer harm, deepfakes, hiring bias, and child safety. On the other side, Silicon Valley leaders warn that 50-state compliance regimes could deter innovation and blunt national competitiveness.

AT&T sues T-Mobile over Easy Switch AI data scraping

AT&T sues T-Mobile over Easy Switch AI data scraping
This dispute underscores the weakness of today’s data-sharing “plumbing.” Scraping is brittle, hard to audit, and raises legal risk. The industry will likely move toward standardized, consent-driven APIs that let customers securely share specific data fields for comparison and switching. Telecom can borrow from open banking: OAuth 2.0 and OpenID Connect flows, fine-grained scopes, auditable logs, and tokenized access with time limits. TM Forum Open APIs and carrier-to-carrier data-sharing frameworks could underpin such exchanges, while CTIA and GSMA initiatives provide governance. Done right, portability can be fast for consumers and compliant for operators.

FCC approves AT&T–UScellular 5G spectrum deal

FCC approves AT&T–UScellular 5G spectrum deal
The FCC has approved AT&T’s agreement to acquire a portfolio of UScellular wireless spectrum licenses for $1.02 billion, advancing AT&T’s mid-band capacity strategy and reshaping competitive dynamics in U.S. 5G markets. The licenses span select UScellular markets, bolstering AT&T’s holdings in areas where UScellular has long operated, including rural and midwestern regions. With FCC consent in hand, the parties can proceed to closing market by market, subject to routine administrative steps and any local obligations. Mid-band spectrum remains the sweet spot for balanced capacity and coverage. This positions AT&T to better support RedCap devices, uplink-sensitive applications, and the early wave of 5G-Advanced features.

6G Spectrum: Why Mid-Band Decisions Can’t Wait

6G Spectrum: Why Mid-Band Decisions Can’t Wait
Policy choices over the next two years will set the capacity ceiling for 6G-era services through the 2030s. Mobile traffic is overwhelmingly urban, concentrated in a small fraction of national land areas and rising fastest in very dense zones. The GSMA’s new Vision 2040 analysis concludes these levers will not keep pace with demand growth on their own. The modeling indicates countries will need, on average, 2–3 GHz of total mid-band assigned for mobile by 2035–2040 to meet peak urban demand; higher-demand markets trend toward 2.5–4 GHz. Crucially, about 2 GHz needs to be operational by 2030 to avoid early congestion as 6G arrives.

FCC advances upper C‑band auction for 5G

FCC kicks off latest 5G spectrum auction of 2.5 GHz Licenses to fill gaps in Rural Wireless Coverage
The FCC has advanced a rulemaking that would free up a significant slice of upper C-band spectrum for 5G and future 6G services, setting the stage for a high-stakes auction and complex satellite transition by mid-2027. The Commission unanimously approved a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) to clear and auction between 100 and 180 megahertz in the 3.98–4.2 GHz band (upper C-band) via competitive bidding. Because 3GPP band n77 already extends up to 4.2 GHz globally, much of the 5G device and radio ecosystem can support this expansion with minimal modification, accelerating time-to-market for carriers once licenses are granted.

WISP vs Starlink Speeds: Ookla 2025

WISP vs Starlink Speeds: Ookla 2025
New performance data shows U.S. WISPs are getting faster, but low‑Earth orbit players like Starlink are advancing just as quickly—and the competitive gap in rural markets is narrowing. Based on Speedtest Intelligence data from Q1 2021 to Q2 2025, eight of the larger WISPs—Starry, Resound Networks, Nextlink, Wisper Internet, Unwired Broadband, GeoLinks, Etheric Networks, and Rise Broadband—improved speeds, with download gains outpacing uploads. Starry led by a wide margin with a 202 Mbps median download in Q2 2025, followed by Resound at 99 Mbps and Nextlink at 68 Mbps; GeoLinks trailed at 23 Mbps. Crucially, only a minority of WISP users consistently achieve the FCC’s 100/20 Mbps fixed broadband benchmark.

5G net neutrality: Jio urges TRAI flexibility

Jio 5G Nears 50% of Mobile Base
5G standalone networks change the service model. Operators can carve the network into slices with distinct latency, reliability, and throughput characteristics validated by 3GPP standards. That enables ultra-reliable low-latency communications for factory automation, connected vehicles, remote operations, and mission-critical services. It also enables differentiated quality for cloud gaming, broadcast-like video, and IoT control loops when combined with edge computing and time-sensitive networking. Jio’s position is that treating all traffic identically under a single “internet access” umbrella can inhibit these new uses. A ruleset that preserves open internet principles for consumers yet explicitly allows specialized services with assured QoS for enterprises is what the company seeks.

FCC upper C-Band auctions for 5G and 6G

FCC upper C-Band auctions for 5G and 6G
The FCC is circulating a proposal to reconfigure and auction a significant slice of upper C-Band spectrum, with a vote slated for November and a public comment period to shape the details. The draft notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) seeks input on auctioning up to 180 MHz of upper C-Band in the contiguous United States for licensed mobile broadband, with a floor of at least 100 MHz mandated by Congress for auction by July 2027. Commissioner Brendan Carr frames the objective as maximizing mid-band capacity for 5G and setting the stage for 6G, while maintaining aviation safety.

U.S. Broadband Speeds Rise as Digital Divide Narrows

U.S. Broadband Speeds Rise as Digital Divide Narrows
According to the latest Speedtest Intelligence findings from Ookla, the share of states where at least 60% of tested fixed-broadband users achieve the FCC’s 100 Mbps down/20 Mbps up benchmark rose sharply between late 2024 and the first half of 2025. That count climbed from 22 states (plus Washington, D.C.) to 38 states (plus D.C.), signaling faster last‑mile networks and better in-home performance for a sizable portion of U.S. households. Progress on equity also accelerated. In the first half of 2025, 33 states reduced the performance gap between urban and rural users—while 17 saw the gap widen versus the second half of 2024.

Direct-to-Device Satellite (NTN): Lynk–Omnispace Merge with SES

Direct-to-Device Satellite (NTN): Lynk–Omnispace Merge with SES
A planned merger between Lynk Global and Omnispace aims to fuse spectrum assets, satellite technology, and SES’s multi-orbit infrastructure to scale 3GPP-compliant direct-to-device services worldwide. The combined company will pair Omnispace’s globally coordinated S-band holdings, about 60 MHz anchored by ITU filings and aligned to non-terrestrial network standards—with Lynk’s patented multi-spectrum D2D platform. SES, already an investor in both firms, will become a major strategic shareholder and provide access to its GEO and MEO assets and ground network to improve coverage, resiliency, and time-to-market. Lynk has already launched commercial messaging and alerting in small markets with a handful of LEO spacecraft.

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