Promise of 5G wireless seen in long-distance dig before FCC vote

Bloomberg

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler took a seat, grasped a set of controls, and guided an excavator — that happened to be 1,400 miles away.
By moving dirt in Dallas through a remote hook-up from the FCC’s Washington offices earlier this year, Wheeler showed the promise of what could be the largest and most lucrative expansion of the internet yet.
The agency is to take a major step toward boosting wireless speeds 10-fold with a vote to open little-used airwaves to purposes as varied as remote surgery, lightning-fast video downloads and factory robotics.
The network that will flow over the frequencies in the next few years will be known as 5G, or fifth generation, to succeed the 4G networks that carry music and movies to smartphones today.
“These are huge blocks of spectrum that will deliver amazing applications to Americans,” said Meredith Attwell Baker, president of CTIA, a trade group for wireless companies including the top four U.S. carriers, AT&T Inc., Verizon Communications Inc., Sprint Corp. and T-Mobile US Inc. “This is a critical first step to ensure the U.S. is in a position to lead the world in 5G.”

New Antennae
The airwaves involved were of little use until recently, because even though they carry a lot of data they don’t travel far and can be stopped by walls or even by rain drops.
Engineers have begun to figure out how to aim and focus the transmissions to overcome these frailties, sending signals to new types of antennae that resemble compact smoke alarms rather than roadside towers.