Gary Lerude, MWJ Technical Editor

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AT&T plans to have nationwide 5G coverage by the first half of 2020, using the 700 MHz FirstNet public safety network it is building. With limited handsets and coverage, 5G in the mmWave bands will initially be marketed to business customers.

Ericsson plans to build a “fully automated smart factory” in the U.S. to manufacture advanced antenna systems and small cell radios for 5G. The new facility will begin operations in early 2020.

In our latest industry chat, market analyst Earl Lum and I sat down to compare notes about the wireless industry and what caught our attention at #IMS2019. Listen to our conversation on this episode of the Microwave Journal podcast.

In a move to restore profitability, MACOM is terminating 250 staff — 20 percent of the workforce — and closing seven product development facilities, expected to save $50 million annually.

Meet the three young women who received Custom MMIC's Women in Engineering scholarship and have now completed their first years at college.

The FCC announced the winners of the 28 and 24 GHz Spectrum Frontiers auctions, (known as auctions 101 and 102) on Monday, June 3. Not surprisingly, Verizon took most of the 28 GHz licenses. At 24 GHz, AT&T and T-Mobile fought for the best position.

The FCC announced the conclusion of the 24 GHz “Spectrum Frontiers” auction, which raised $2.0 billion for 2,904 of the 2,909 licenses offered. This follows a similar auction of 28 GHz spectrum, which concluded on January 24 (2019) and raised $702 million for 2,965 of the 3,072 licenses offered. The winners of both auctions will be announced within a few days.

At the SATELLITE 2019 conference in Washington, D.C., I recorded this interview with Matt Desch, CEO of Iridium Communications. Desch was named the 2018 Satellite Executive of the Year, recognizing the $3 billion Iridium satellite upgrade.

The U.S. Commerce Department is granting limited exceptions to the export ban imposed on Huawei. Aimed at mobile operators using Huawei equipment and owners of Huawei phones, the 90-day reprieve is not a lifeline for U.S. component suppliers. Most interesting, the exception allows Huawei to continue to engage in 5G standards development through recognized standards bodies.