Khurram Sheikh

Some big announcements this week related to the use of #AI in Telco Mobile Networks. Timing couldn't be better as Spectrum Effect was just this week awarded the patent for the use of AI and Machine Learning Models for classifying interference types in Mobile Operator RAN networks. I have strong conviction on AI's ability to drive more efficient and effective operations of mobility networks and ultimately better outcomes for consumers of the services that mobile networks enable. We are in fantastic company to be joined on this journey with the NVIDIA, Ericsson, Nokia, and T-Mobile announcing their intentions to invest in this space. https://lnkd.in/ebB4BM9X

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Highly Dynamic Spectrum Sharing is a key next step in spectrum sharing’s evolution. Join the conversation at the WInnForum’s new task group on the subject. More below: #spectrumsharing #winnforum #globalinnovation

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I’ve written another piece on US #spectrum policy & #mobile bands - and what should be done in preparation for #WRC27 over the next 3 years. This is part of my ongoing focus on global spectrum-sharing policy, as well as my advisory work with SFTF. This time it has been published via Fierce Network. My view is that the US should directly engage with the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) process at multiple levels, to push for greater understanding and technological innovation in sharing approaches. In particular the focus of IMT (ie #5G & #6G) spectrum should be on regulators assuming a “sharing-native” future in the 2030s, instead of the historic focus of assigning exclusive licences. This should be reflected in any figure IMT identifications & footnotes. In addition, it should be a core part of the various study groups and working parties’ efforts. There also needs to be far more realism about mobile traffic on the international stage - its flattening growth, the many non-credible forecasts, its localisation to specific areas & the impact of aspects such as FWA and indoor use. A critical aspect is dealing with the proposed IMT study bands for WRC-27, which seem “coincidentally” to be exactly the same as those used within NATO for military communications. At the moment, the US #CBRS band is one of the leading examples of dynamic spectrum sharing in practice. The work by NTIA & NSF is also advancing the technological base, including the role of AI. It should be advocating this work more globally, especially at ITU. But first, the mainstream US mobile industry needs to get onboard. #spectrumpolicy #telecompolicy #technology #regulation

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🚀 Starlink’s Direct-to-Cell: With IoT Capabilities for 2025—But Is It a Serious IoT Contender? Starlink's new Direct-to-Cell service is an exciting development for global connectivity. By connecting ordinary LTE-enabled phones to satellites, it promises to eliminate coverage dead zones, potentially reshaping industries that depend on seamless connectivity. However, when viewed through the lens of IoT applications, especially in environments where Low Power Wide Area Networks (LPWANs) like LTE-M and NB-IoT excel, some gaps become evident. The service appears aligned with CAT1, CAT1 Bis, and CAT4 technologies rather than traditional LPWAN protocols. While this enables higher data rates, it misses key advantages like low power consumption, scalability for billions of devices, and deep indoor coverage provided by terrestrial LPWAN solutions with cell towers. For IoT solutions that prioritize battery life and efficient operation for low-bandwidth use cases, LPWAN technologies remain superior in 2025. That said, Direct-to-Cell holds promise for remote IoT use cases where terrestrial LPWAN networks are not available—think disaster recovery, maritime IoT, and unconnected regions. As IoT professionals, the challenge ahead is to combine strengths from both satellite and terrestrial technologies to create solutions that truly work anywhere. For 2025, the sky is no longer the limit; it’s the starting point. #IoT #Connectivity #Starlink #LPWAN #Innovation #DigitalTransformation

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Some very interesting choices in the latest National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) funding round from its Wireless Innovation Fund. The focus is on #OpenRAN RUs (radio units) and there’s some very forward-looking ideas for #5G and also #6G. Airspan Networks got 4x the cash of any of the other eight applicant, which is interesting given its financial challenges in recent years, and recent restructuring (it was taken private a few months ago). It’s a potential key player for 3rd party 5G RUs in specific domains (eg indoor, rail, military, specific capabilities) where MNOs get their CU/DU from a single major vendors, but want still supplier diversity in the RAN. DeepSig, Inc. is working on spectrum-sensing built into the RAN, a concept which I wrote about recently (see link in comments). That’s potentially really important in various #spectrumsharing scenarios, as well as for interference detection and mitigation. There seem to be three projects focused on “upper midband” radio components and also MIMO for future 6G in 7-24GHz - it seems that Otava, Inc , NYU WIRELESS and Analog Devices are all looking at that. [NB - I’ll be looking at any changes to US spectrum policy & new bands / auctions under the new administration, in coming months]. SecureG is developing a way to identify radio hardware components uniquely - something that gets more important for supply chain verification & security in a multi-vendor network. The Episys Science award references 3GPP Sidelink (which is for device-to-device connectivity) in the context of OpenRAN. I’m not sure exactly what that refers to, but I suspect it’s for defence-sector 5G / 6G networks, where connections may be important in places & situations without traditional MNO infrastructure. Rampart Communications has its own physical layer technology for wireless & looks to be pushing it as a future 6G protocol, talking about its spectral efficiency. It also has a defence background. Skylark Wireless is working on combining SDR and MIMO within an OpenRAN RU. There’s also notable line in the press release around MNO partnerships as well “Applicants were required to partner with a mobile network operator to help produce products that will be commercially viable”. It’s unclear if that just means mainstream commercial MNOs, or if it can also include private networks, integrators & specialist network operators. Overall, this further underscores US interest in OpenRAN and a domestic / sovereign supply chain - and also the growing importance of cellular networks in sectors like the military. https://lnkd.in/ea5xsBbY

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The future of wireless services of all types is likely to involve more spectrum-sharing and other more sophisticated approaches to #spectrum assignment and management. This applies to #5G, #6G, #WiFi, #satellite, audiovisual and various classes of aviation and martime networks, as well as government and defence usage. Sharing will occur based on multiple dimensions - location, duration, directionality, power and obviously frequency. That, in turn, will require a range of key enablers, including technological components such as spectrum databases, sensing systems, better transceivers, mapping tools, cross-technology signalling and much more. There will also need to be streamlined regulatory processes, spectrum marketplaces, and a whole variety of use-cases for AI + spectrum. There will also be a need for more international cooperation and (hopefully) eventual harmonisation. The evolution of spectrum-sharing is a central theme for me at the moment, and something that regularly crops up in my discussions with regulators, operators, vendors and investors. I've written a guest article for my client CRFS (a spectrum-sensing vendor) which discusses this in more detail. https://lnkd.in/esxTh_Yf

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Great news for operators! A more rational CBRS DPA activation methodology has been approved. This will ensure more uptime for broadband fixed wireless providers because channel grants will not be suspended as often. Though there are 15 possible CBRS channels losing one or more does not guarantee that an operator can easily get a replacement or a replacement channel adjacent to other channels. Adjacency is required by many smaller radio vendors to concatenate channels that enable effective broadband speeds and it helps even the efficiency of larger vendors. For those using GAA because they have no PALs or are supplementing their PAL bandwidth with GAA, losing channels forces more users on the remaining GAA channels and thus, interference. This act proves that spectrum sharing is viable and not detrimental to incumbents when deployed with reasonable controls.

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JUST RELEASED: stc's white-paper highlights 5G network densification as a strategy to enhance connectivity, coverage and capacity through macro and small cells, supported by AI, Machine Learning, beamforming, and massive MIMO. It presents AI-driven planning strategy to address the challenges of providing 5G connectivity to urban, suburban and remote areas. Furthermore, it motivates discussion on ways to enable new use cases, such as IoT, AR/VR, and autonomous systems. Please, enjoy your reading. 💟 Reach out to us to discuss growth opportunities in the telecom industry 💟 To gain monthly insights on #technology and #innovations, subscribe to #global5gevolution newsletter (https://lnkd.in/ge9gsyjE) and tune in for the latest edition on “5G Monetisation” 💟 Or subscribe to #global5gevolution YouTube channel (https://lnkd.in/g8M7YvKq) and tune in for the latest episode on “Cyber Space Robotic 5G” ; click comment box #5G #6G #AI 💟 Follow us on Kaneshwaran Govindasamy & Global 5G Evolution

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Exponential Frontiers personify the boundaries of advancement pushed forward by the power of synchronous s-curve convergence and cascading breakthroughs. At #MobileFutureForward, we'll delve into how these frontiers encapsulate the potential for a paradigm shift in how we live, work, and interact, driven by the Quantumverse. Join us on Sept 5th to engage in a captivating dialogue that transcends boundaries. https://lnkd.in/gzeB2Uw

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Response Post: Having a backup solution is absolutely critical, and CSG offers a great value. What makes it even better is when you pair it with their always-on, Backup Plus product from Bigleaf. You never have to worry about your circuit failing over and waiting for your phones, POS, or IoT devices to kick back on. With Backup Plus’ seamless failover from Bigleaf, you’re not failing over – YOU’RE ALWAYS ON, baby! Let’s go! 🔥 #CSG #Verizon #AlwaysOn #BackupPlus #Bigleaf #SeamlessFailover #Connectivity #BusinessContinuity

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#creativedestruction 𝘘𝘶𝘰𝘵𝘦 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘭𝘦 𝘣𝘺 Michael Robuck: “𝘙𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘤𝘩 𝘢𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘺𝘴𝘵 𝘚𝘢𝘮 𝘉𝘰𝘸𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘋𝘈𝘚 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘰-𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘦𝘤𝘩𝘯𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘨𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘭𝘢𝘳𝘨𝘦-𝘴𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘷𝘪𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘭𝘶𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘪𝘳𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘴, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 “𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘷𝘢𝘵𝘦 5𝘎 𝘪𝘴 𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘤𝘳𝘰𝘴𝘴 𝘷𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘴 𝘥𝘶𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘥𝘷𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘦𝘤𝘩𝘯𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘨𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘮𝘮𝘞𝘢𝘷𝘦, 𝘭𝘰𝘸-𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐𝘰𝘛 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴”.” Of course DAS (and possibly MORAN) will be the go-to solution for large scale environments, in which the solution actually fits the use case. But that is a max of 5% of the market, the remaining 95% would be better served by an alternative solution. The challenge has been and continues to be, DAS has been overused and acts as a HAMMER to solve for use cases it is not a good fit for. Innovation continues to be somewhere between slow and non-existent, embracing value creating solutions is marginalized, and we continue to look to the next technology evolution (5G, 5G Advanced, 6G, #6Greset) to solve the problem that has been facing the Enterprise for the last 10 years. Protecting revenue, margins, growth, network differentiation, etc., etc., etc. are the justifications for continuing the failed model, all while continuing to perpetuate the issues that work against everyone’s best interest. 𝘋𝘈𝘚 𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘭𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘩𝘢𝘴: ✔️ 𝘚𝘵𝘪𝘧𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘐𝘯𝘯𝘰𝘷𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘌𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘦 4𝘎/5𝘎 𝘊𝘰𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘵𝘺 ✔️ 𝘓𝘪𝘮𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘶𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘛𝘰𝘵𝘢𝘭 𝘋𝘦𝘱𝘭𝘰𝘺𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘓𝘰𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 (𝘛𝘋𝘓) ✔️ 𝘋𝘳𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘶𝘱 𝘛𝘊𝘖 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘣𝘰𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘌𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘔𝘕𝘖 ✔️ 𝘔𝘪𝘴-𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦: 𝘩𝘶𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘤𝘦𝘴, 𝘤𝘢𝘱𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘭, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦. 𝙄𝙩 𝙞𝙨 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙖 𝙢𝙖𝙩𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙤𝙛 𝙄𝙁 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙗𝙚 #𝙘𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙫𝙚𝙙𝙚𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙪𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 , 𝙗𝙪𝙩 𝙒𝙃𝙀𝙉? More on the topic of #creativedestruction will be shared on my @linkedIn page in the coming days and weeks. https://lnkd.in/gkXnGTRd

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The dynamics of higher power are very interesting – there are two scenarios. If higher power applied to both GAA and PAL, enterprise/indoor systems are potentially at risk of higher interference (needs more careful analysis given 2 categories of devices, but I suspect there are workarounds and may not be as large as feared). If higher power is applied to PAL only and not GAA, then interference to enterprise or indoor networks will be limited (intra-PAL will coordinate leaving a possibility of interference in case of adjacent PAL/GAA assignments; intra-GAA does not change from present model). Higher PAL power would better justify the money spent on spectrum licenses and a differentiating feature over GAA aside from access hierarchy!

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Open RAN keeps moving forward towards 6G. While we are still working towards a definition of 6G, I talked to Ravi Sinha at the O-RAN ALLIANCE about how open RAN is evolving towards 6G. What changes should we expect? We talked about RIC, AI-based automation, connection-aware services, satellites, sustainability, interoperability and much more. You can read the transcript or watch the video here: https://lnkd.in/etwwM8v7 Conversation timestamps 01:15 Introduction: upcoming open RAN report, future development of Open RAN 03:45 Ravi introduces himself 04:38 Open RAN and 6G 05:30 O-RAN Alliance, distributed architecture, CU/DU, RIC, service-based architecture 10:31 How 6G will change open RAN 11:59 The Next Generation Research Group-6G (nGRG) at O-RAN ALLIANCE, spectrum allocations 19:02 Terahertz, mmWave, 6 GHz and sub-6GHz 23:25 Splits, RIC, AI 24:17 Open RAN and non-terrestrial, satellite networks 28:24 Support for multiple air interfaces, beyond 4G, 5G and 6G 30:48 RIS 33:30 Energy efficiency, AI 38:36 RIC, RAN management and optimization 40:59 Non-real-time, near-real-time and real-time RIC 44:35 xApps, rApps; greenfield vs brownfield 46:25 Flexibility in Open RAN, RIC 48:19 Chipsets, accelerators, dedicated or optimized hardware 52:49 Multivendor RAN 54:54 Use case for open RAN in 6G 59:29 Is open RAN going to become the default RAN of the future? #AI, #RIC, #SMO, #xApps, #rApps, #disaggregation, #virtualization, #metaverse, #digitaltwins, #sustainability, #energyefficiency, #security, #RAN

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The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India(TRAI)'s recent recommendation to introduce experimental authorization for spectrum in the 95 Gigahertz to 3 Terahertz range could spark innovation among entrepreneurs. This move may lead to the development of new technologies and services utilizing the Terahertz range, such as vehicle radars that significantly enhance road safety. This is especially crucial for India, which has the highest number of road fatalities in the world. #TechForGood #Entrepreneurship

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💪 The journey to universal #broadband access takes more than funding - it takes innovation. AFL’s recent licensing agreement with CommScope to produce Prodigy® universal FTTH hardened connectivity solutions will help simplify #FTTH deployment. Continue reading Part One of this two-part #blog series to learn more! 🔗 https://bit.ly/4hL0hCS #WeAreAFL #BEAD #BABA #broadbanddeployment

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Freewave's satellite solutions go beyond cellular and private networks. Failover and regulatory compliance of your remote data is critical to your network optimization. For just "dollars per day", why would you risk what your data is telling you? #freewave #satellitesolutions #criticalremotedata #iiot #dataplatform

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It's devastating to see the damage caused by the California wildfires. T-Mobile is doing everything we can to help affected communities and first responders stay connected. Here are a few updates:  🔘 T-Mobile and Starlink opened up our T-Mobile Starlink Direct-to-Cellular service in impacted areas, delivering wireless emergency alerts, SMS, and enabling 911 texting, even without commercial power.  🔘 We’ve restored over half of the sites affected by power loss and are working to support the rest with portable generators.  🔘 We are collaborating with federal, state, and local officials to ensure critical connectivity, including deploying Wi-Fi routers at key locations.  Additional details on community support can be found here: https://lnkd.in/gnpXud6B

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The FCC is considering requests from carriers to extend pole attachment rights to light poles. Read the article for more information on why. I am curious whether there is any connection to the article I posted the other day about Nokia pushing long distance mmWave for fixed wireless. Either way- it seems to me that in the post Chevron case landscape, that this may be an overstepping of the FCC's legislative authority and may have to be addressed by Congress first. Additionally, not all light poles are owned by utilities, so would non-utility light poles be subject to any such order? From a practical perspective, I also question why this topic is of such an interest to the carriers. In many cases, they chose to build their own poles to attach equipment to in the ROW rather than installing on existing poles immediately nearby. https://lnkd.in/gHFKu6H4

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