market entry is. Google has delayed plans for a larger fiber roll-out in Santa Clara, reportedly at least in part because of problems obtaining pole attachment rights. Google’s approach to market entry is unclear. The company had initial efforts to build fiber networks, sought to lease wholesale muni fiber owned by Huntsville, Alabama, and pursued strategic partnerships and acquisitions like the project with Webpass. The four major mobile carriers have also recently rolled out a Wi-Fi calling feature (for compatible phones) for their mobile services—a feature that makes existing Wi-Fi networks available to mobile customers who can make calls and send texts while avoiding use of the carriers mobile network and attendant limitations, like traffic congestion or poor reception. Comcast and Google are similarly experimenting with first” networks, which would allow their “Wi-Fi customers to access Wi-Fi hotspots when accessible (potentially every Comcast router in the State), with an MVNO as a backup network. In a larger sense, this may signal what some have described as a further convergence between wired and wireless networks. In perhaps the most significant development, 5G wireless as a technology that could merge the residential and wireless networks. FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler has announced that the transition to 5G wireless (called fiber” by some) is of the highest importance. Verizon’s Chairman, “mobile President, and CEO recently discussed, in an earnings call, the company’s 5G trials and the technology’s potential. Such 5G networks however, will require up to a ten-fold of the network, i.e., a sharp increase in antenna “densification” numbers, together with a corresponding increase in the need for backhaul.
market entry is. Google has delayed plans for a larger fiber roll-out in Santa Clara, reportedly at least in part because of problems obtaining pole attachment rights. Google’s approach to market entry is unclear. The company had initial efforts to build fiber networks, sought to lease wholesale muni fiber owned by Huntsville, Alabama, and pursued strategic partnerships and acquisitions like the project with Webpass. The four major mobile carriers have also recently rolled out a Wi-Fi calling feature (for compatible phones) for their mobile services—a feature that makes existing Wi-Fi networks available to mobile customers who can make calls and send texts while avoiding use of the carriers mobile network and attendant limitations, like traffic congestion or poor reception. Comcast and Google are similarly experimenting with “Wi-Fi first” networks, which would allow their customers to access Wi-Fi hotspots when accessible (potentially every Comcast router in the State), with an MVNO as a backup network. In a larger sense, this may signal what some have described as a further convergence between wired and wireless networks. In perhaps the most significant development, 5G wireless as a technology that could merge the residential and wireless networks. FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler has announced that the transition to 5G wireless (called “mobile fiber” by some) is of the highest importance. Verizon’s Chairman, President, and CEO recently discussed, in an earnings call, the company’s 5G trials and the technology’s potential. Such 5G networks however, will require up to a ten-fold “densification” of the network, i.e., a sharp increase in antenna numbers, together with a corresponding increase in the need for backhaul.