WCA January 2018

Telecom news

on the outside of the building. With the ability to connect multiple access points in a row, or create a meshed network, the technology aims at economical fibre rollouts “to a street corner or neighbourhood.” Ø Vodafone Germany has begun offering mobile data speeds of 1 Gbps to customers with com- patible smartphones in Düsseldorf and Berlin, with Hamburg and Hanover to follow shortly. As reported in TeleGeography (17 th October), the company has unveiled its first gigabit-capable handset, the Huawei Mate 10 Pro, and has activated its first gigabit base stations. Since May, Vodafone Germany has offered mobile data speeds of up to 500 Mbps over its LTE-A network by using tri-carrier aggregation (3C) technology in the 800 MHz, 1,800 MHz, and 2,600 MHz frequency bands, with 20 cities able to access those speeds. UK-based Vodafone has also started deploying fibre optic networks in commercial areas of Düsseldorf, enabling local businesses to access speeds of up to 1 Gbps. The rollout, carried out in partnership with Deutsche Glasfaser Business and the city of Düsseldorf, follows the announcement in September of Vodafone Germany’s three- pillared “Gigabit Offensive” campaign, which will see up to 100,000 companies in some 2,000 business parks provided with gigabit fibre broadband speeds. Ø According to Turkey’s Minister for Transport & Communications, Ahmet Arslan, the country is in final negotiations with Airbus Defence & Space for a contract to build two communications satellites, Turksat 5A and 5B. Turksat 5A will go to 31 degrees East orbital position, while 5B will be positioned at 42 degrees East where there is said to be strong demand for capacity. Turkey wants 5A to be launched in 2020 and 5B the following year, both somewhat later than initially planned. As noted by Advanced Television (9 th October), Airbus is also reported to have submitted a bid for Turkey’s next-generation Turksat 6A satellite, although this craft is not part of the 5A/5B contract.

in neighbourhoods, creating a risk to public health from radiation and electromagnetic frequencies emitted by cell towers. After Mr Brown’s decision was posted online, Ellen Marks, a San Francisco- based leader of the California Alliance for Safer Technology, e-mailed Ms Seipel: “I am thrilled that Governor Brown showed strength and stood up to this powerful wireless industry and said no – you are not going to do this in my state!” Ø Joel Moskowitz, director of the Center for Family and Community Health at a unit of the University of California (Berkeley), responded in the same vein: “The Governor’s veto of SB 649 protects Califor- nians from exposure to millimetre radiation from as many as 50,000 new cell towers.” As reported by the Mercury News , Mr Moskowitz said that more than 180 scientists and doctors signed a declaration calling for a moratorium on the increase of cell antennas required for 5G deployment, “as we are concerned about the health effects including neurological impacts, infertility and cancer.” Ø The sponsors of SB 649, State Senator Ben Hueso and Assemblyman Bill Quirk, called the health concerns overblown, saying the cell towers are safe. Elsewhere in telecom . . . Ø Nokia has unveiled its hybrid Wireless Passive Optical Network (PON), claiming an industry first which enables operators to offer gigabit broadband services to customers using WiGig wireless technology, thus eliminating the need to extend fibre all the way to a home or building. The Finnish vendor demonstrated at Broadband World Forum in Berlin in October, with product availability planned for this year. The fixed-wireless solution inte- grates the PON technology with WiGig, a high-speed 60 GHz standard known as 802.11ad, which mounts on telephone poles, streetlights or building facades. Beamforming brings connections of up to 1 Gbps to user premises located up to 300 metres away via wireless PON units mounted

Now it further warns that Canada could soon risk the same retrans blackouts that the ACA claims have been plaguing the USA. Ø For their part, broadcasters counter that most carriage deals are struck without incident; and, reported Mr Eggerton, that those which meet impasses “are simply the expiration of contracts where the MVPD is not willing to pay the price broadcasters argue their must-have programming deserves.” Re-emerging in California, anxiety about radiation from cellphone towers scuttles a wireless industry initiative Governor Jerry Brown of California on 15 th October vetoed a bill backed by the USA mobile industry that would have made it easier to install microwave radiation antennas. Senate Bill 649 proposed to scale back the permitting process for antennas and other equipment in an effort to meet demand for wireless services. Mr Brown wrote in a signing statement that – while he saw the value in “extending this innovative technology rapidly and efficiently” – the bill took too much control away from cities and counties. As reported by Tracy Seipel of the Bay Area newspaper Mercury News , the bill was primarily supported by the Cellular Telecommunications and Internet Association, the main trade group for the USA wireless telecom industry. The group had claimed it would help boost the economy. (“California: Gov Jerry Brown Vetoes Bill Easing Permits on Cellphone Towers,” 16 th October). “Yet the bill alarmed many local government officials around the state,” wrote Ms Seipel. “They worried if SB 649 became law it would cap how much they could charge phone companies for leases at $250 a year. Others raised concerns about the risk to public health from cell towers.” She noted the assertion by grass-roots activists and scientists that, if the bill were to become law, a projected 50,000 new cellular antennas would be installed on public buildings and utility poles

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Wire & Cable ASIA – January/February 2018

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