NTT Docomo remains Japan's largest telecommunications company. The operator is heavily involved in 5G, 6G and Open Radio Access Network activities, and is part of a group investigating future high-altitude platform stations. Read more...

Japanese operator SoftBank is part of the SoftBank Group, which describes itself as "a capital provider driving the Information Revolution."  It is strongly focused 5G and 6G. Read more...

Amazon, Google, Facebook and Microsoft continue to lobby for the opening of mid-band spectrum resources for unlicensed and flexible use, with varying positions on licensing rules for mmWave bands. All four OTT players are positioning, in varying degrees, to move into telecom networks markets as vendors supporting 5G, edge computing… Read more...

Facebook is interested in a broad range of spectrum resources across mid-band and mmWave frequency ranges. It considers that making spectrum accessible to a wide range of use cases will require it to be made available through a balance of unlicensed, lightly licensed, and licensed spectrum allocation regimes. Read more...

Google has broad interests in spectrum resources across a range of bands that are predominantly unlicensed. Read more...

The big news for 2020 and 2021 was the global Covid-19 pandemic. It brought challenges for mobile operators as people increasingly relied on mobile and broadband networks to work, study and stay in touch. Read more...

High Altitude Platform Stations (HAPS) are currently positioned as a complement to both terrestrial and satellite networks, but will they ultimately compete more directly with traditional operators? For at least one player in the market this will not be the case, as Alphabet’s Loon solar-powered balloons prove to be unviable. Read more...

The satellite industry entered WRC-19 with trepidation but declared itself satisfied with the result. Fears over 5G interference have receded, helping them pursue another key policy goal: being part of the emerging eco-system for the new mobile generation. The conference also finalised a momentous change - bringing competition to safety at… Read more...

The Wi-Fi and cellular industries are set to clash again at WRC-23 with the main battle over licensed and unlicensed mid-band spectrum. Read more...

WRC-23 is likely to be more important for OTT players than any previous WRC in terms of protecting and expanding their interests in license-exempt spectrum. Facebook, Google and Microsoft are focused on unlicensed spectrum and the three will not favour IMT identifications across a range of mid-band frequency ranges that… Read more...