AT&T Looks to Expand 5G Reach, Though Concerns Remain
*By Conor White*
The race to build vast 5G networks may bring the promise of faster internet speeds and greater connectivity, but it's also sparked some controversy.
One source of complaint: those who shout "NIMBY", or Not in My Backyardーresidents who fear that their towns and lives will be disrupted as such vast infrastructures get built.
Melissa Arnoldi, president of technology and operations for AT&T, told Cheddar that those concerns can be assuaged. She pointed to an upcoming project in San Jose, Calif.ーwhere the company partnered with the city to ensure a smooth, safe transitionーas an example.
"We \[said\], 'Look, we will make sure that the equipment we deploy meets their standards, we will make sure it's not obtrusive to the consumers, and that it's deployed in a very safe way.'"
The San Jose agreement follows similar protests in the state. Residents of Piedmont, Calif., have been [fighting against] (https://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2018/01/25/consumerwatch-5g-cellphone-towers-signal-renewed-concerns-over-impacts-on-health/) new cell towers for months, citing health concerns.
But locals aren't the only ones raising issue. Recent reports suggest that 5G could create a Wi-Fi gap, favoring those in urban cities over people who live in rural areas. [According to the FCC](https://www.axios.com/5g-digital-divide-19b70d34-4978-44df-a1cb-ae9222d113ef.html), 31 percent of rural Americans still don't have fixed broadband service, compared to just 2 percent of city residents, and some fear that divide could get worse with new technology.
But AT&T said in a [press release](http://about.att.com/story/5g_to_launch_in_more_us_cities_in_2018.html) last week that a greater 5G presence will actually bridge that disparity. Expanding to cities like Charlotte and Raleigh, NC, and Oklahoma City by the end of 2018 is one way the company hopes to do that.
The wireless giant's push for 5G only intensified after AT&T's acquisition of Time Warner, now known as WarnerMedia, in June.
"One of the key case uses for 5G will be 4K and 8K," explained Arnoldi. "So when you think about transmitting, for example, we did a trial with the U.S. Open on 4K, where we could actually help them broadcast signalsーlive broadcastsーwithout any wires."
John Stankey, CEO of WarnerMedia, has already promised the company will be aggressive in delivering new content to consumers, a necessary move in light of reports that rival Verizon is negotiating with Apple and Google to stream live TV. Verizon is also plotting its own 5G expansion around the country, signifying the rising tide of competition.
Arnoldi said she's optimisticーand excitedーabout the company's future.
"I think if you look at the content we have access to from a WarnerMedia perspective and the technology that AT&T Communications has, I think we're going to have a lot of exciting use cases in the future."
For full interview, [click here] (https://cms.cheddar.com/videos/VmlkZW8tMjEwOTg=).
Former Cisco Systems CEO John Chambers learned all about technology’s volatile highs and lows as a veteran of the internet’s early boom days during the late 1990s and the ensuing meltdown that followed the mania. And now he is seeing potential signs of the cycle repeating with another transformative technology in artificial intelligence. Chambers is trying take some of the lessons he learned while riding a wave that turned Cisco into the world's most valuable company in 2000 before a crash hammered its stock price and apply them as an investor in AI startups. He recently discussed AI's promise and perils during an interview with The Associated Press.
Tesla reported a surprise increase in sales in the third quarter as the electric car maker likely benefited from a rush by consumers to take advantage of a $7,500 credit before it expired on Sept. 30. The company reported Thursday that sales in the three months through September rose 7% compared to the same period a year ago. The gain follows two quarters of steep declines as people turned off by CEO Elon Musk’s foray into right-wing politics avoided buying his company’s cars and even protested at some dealerships. Sales rose to 497,099 vehicles, compared with 462,890 in the same period last year.
OpenAI could now be the world’s most valuable startup, ahead of Elon Musk’s SpaceX and TikTok parent company ByteDance, after a secondary stock sale designed to retain employees at the ChatGPT maker. Current and former OpenAI employees sold $6.6 billion in shares to a group of investors, pushing the privately held artificial intelligence company’s valuation to $500 billion, according to a source with knowledge of the deal who was not authorized to discuss it publicly. The valuation reflects high expectations for the future of AI technology and continues OpenAI’s remarkable trajectory from its start as a nonprofit research lab in 2015.
Tom’s Guide Editor-in-Chief Mark Spoonauer breaks down Apple & Amazon's latest product drops—what's hot, what's hype, and what really matters for users.
Police in Northern California pulled over a self-driving Waymo taxi after it made an illegal U-turn. But without a driver behind the wheel, they could not issue a moving violation ticket.
With satellites already in orbit, defense contractor L3Harris is standing by to accelerate Trump's executive order. We take an inside look at the technology
Electronic Arts, the video game maker of “Madden NFL,” “The Sims,” and other popular titles, is being acquired and taken private for about $52.5 billion in what could become the largest-ever buyout funded by private-equity firms.
YouTube will offer creators a way to rejoin the streaming platform if they were banned for violating COVID-19 and election misinformation policies that are no longer in effect.
