HUNT VALLEY, MD.--Fresh off the rollout of a multistandard DTV receiver chipset with support for ATSC 3.0 at the International CES 2019 in Las Vegas, Mark Aitken, president of ONE Media LLC and VP of Advanced Technology at Sinclair Broadcast Group is greatly encouraged about the prospects for ATSC 3.0.

Taking center stage for ONE Media at the annual consumer electronics extravaganza was the rollout of a receiver chipset capable of receiving 12 different digital television standards, including 3.0.

But Aitken’s enthusiasm extends well beyond the favorable reception the receiver chipset received at the show. The exhibit also featured a new broadcast radio head designed to integrate the inherent efficiencies and effectiveness of one-to-many OTA broadcasting into 4G and 5G wireless data networks.

Aitken–a long-time proponent of offloading the one-to-many portion of wireless network operators’ traffic to broadcast—says the broadcast radio head was favorably received by representatives of wireless networks and their suppliers in Las Vegas.

In this, the first of a two-part interview, Aitken talks about the multistandard DTV receiver chipset, the new broadcast radio head, LTE Broadcast and 5G and how 5G standards development envision integration of multiple wireless networks. He also provides an update on his offer to give away 1 million of new receiver chips to any vendor that promises to build them into mobile and portable devices.

(An edited transcript.)

TVTechnology:How would you characterize the reaction coming out of CES 2019 to ONE Media’s rollout of two multistandard DTV receiver chips with support for ATSC 3.0?

Mark Aitken: I would say I was startled by the level of activity and positive feedback.

What I mean by that is we had various meetings set up with Korean, Taiwanese, Chinese, Indian and U.S. companies—makers of dongles, set-top boxes, TV sets and gateways.

The discussions were not just about the chip. The other thing that was in the room as a backdrop for the chip was Saankhya had almost a dozen different applications of software-defined receivers. They ran the gamut from USB dongles and tablets to satellite radios and modulators.

Alongside of that was a product we are in the process of developing as a direct result of our conversations on the convergence of broadcast and broadband. We showed a prototype broadcast radio head.

TVT:What’s that?

MA: A broadcast radio head is a small, outdoor-mount utility device, not at all unlike an LTE radio head, except supporting broadcast.

We were involved in designing that for a customer deployment. The idea is pretty simple–a box that can sit on a tower alongside LTE and 5G that is designed to tie into the data network, the intelligent network of a telecom operator. In the 4G world, it’s the “EPC” [Evolved Packet Core]. In 5G, it’s the new 5G Core architecture.

The point is we are headlong into defining the interconnect of Next-Gen Broadcast to the world of telcom as a supplemental download or auxiliary download or however you want to view it—but a broadcast spectrum-enabled device that allows the conveyance of telcom data across an ATSC 3 waveform.

By the way, I almost hate to say ATSC 3 because with the implementation that is being prototyped and coming into a proof of concept we are supporting parts of the ATSC 3 standard that are extensions that will be enabled and signaled via the bootstrap. So, we are already evolving the standard.

TVT:So, from a wireless operator’s point of view, does this broadcast radio head fulfill what you have talked about for a long time: a technology that enables an operator to offload its one-to-many data traffic to broadcast, thus preserving a significant portion of its wireless network?

MA: Absolutely. It is being designed as a replacement to the very poorly conceived, very poorly implemented multicast mode in the LTE environment.

It’s known to the consumer as LTE Broadcast. It’s eMBMS [Evolved Multimedia Broadcast Multicast Service].

But eMBMS is a unicast-enabled multicast mode of operation, and it is unicast-enabled because it can’t stand on its own as a broadcast waveform. It lives in the unicast environment and demands the ability to do lost packet replacement knowing there is going to be lost packets replaced versus a designed broadcast standard that is meant to stand on its own.

We are doing all of the plumbing. We are involved in India, not just with the chip development, but we are also a member of the telecom standards organization in India, TSDSI [Telecommunications Standards Development Society, India].

They are working at defining the standard that would allow anybody to a take a non-3GPP [Third Generation Partnership Project] broadcast radio—and I call it a radio because that’s how the telcom guys like to think of it—and tie it into a 3GPP access network. We are defining all the attributes that allow this non-3GPP radio to be integrated into that network.

TVT:What about 5G? It seems like you will be going head to head against what operators plan for 5G broadcast.

MA: Well, these go hand-in-hand. What we are doing is providing an invaluable supplemental feed that is actually aligned with the 5G standard.

TVT:Let me clarify what I was asking. I guess it’s a matter of perspective because I know some broadcasters—and you specifically—have talked about 3.0 being an integral part of a future 5G network. But I don’t know if the wireless industry has shown it is receptive to that and will let broadcasters play in their sandbox.

MA: Look, part of this is a matter of who owns the spectrum. Part of this is a matter of who controls the network.

So, the 3GPP spectrum I am talking about is “TS22.261, Release 16.” http://www.3gpp.org/news-events/3gpp-news/1831-sa1_5g. There are all kinds of pieces to this puzzle, but it [broadcast spectrum] is one of the many.

TS22.261 is the 3GPP technical standard and system aspects that define service requirements for 5G systems. It’s known as Release 16, and it’s not finished yet. But from its inception, Release 16 has continued to address the requirements to work in conjunction with 3GPP and non-3GPP systems.

There is an absolute recognition that 3GPP doesn’t live in the world by itself. There are other standards, and the true nature of 5G has nothing to do with specific spectrum.

You say 5G, and there are some people who think it is 20 GHz, or it is millimeter wave or it’s 60 GHz. People jump to the spectrum side of it, and there is some spectrum that is being opened up for advanced radios.

But at its heart, 5G is about convergence. 5G is about multi-radios. 5G is about how do we assemble all of the available radio assets into a unified environment? How does a telco fully utilize WiFi, how does it fully utilize all the efforts that are going on in CBRS [Citizens Broadband Radio Service].

How do all of these things get pulled together in one place? That is what this 5G spec is all about. It’s about convergence. It’s about heterogeneous networks—that’s the fancy term. Hybrid networks is an easier one to think about. And we have talked for so long about this convergence of broadcast and broadband—I don’t know how many different ways I have tried to describe it, but it goes much deeper than simply it’s [3.0 is] IP-enabled.

But I can tell you that if it weren’t IP-enabled, there would be no discussion on the table.

Great, it’s IP-enabled. That means the same stuff that flows across the carrier’s [spectrum] can flow across our spectrum. Check that box off. Well, how do you control that? How do you put that as an active, living mechanism under the control of a network operator? We are doing that work.

And I say all of that because if you walked into the room [at CES] and you could have the big screen TVs and the very same 3.0 chip doing ATSC 3 on one screen and ATSC 1 on another screen. If you wanted, it could have been DVB-T, DVB-T2 or ISDB-T. It could have been some of the advanced DVB satellite [standards]. It could be any of those.

But the point is in the background of that was this whole vibrant discussion of what if broadcasters were doing something more than television. There’s a shock.

I always have to draw people’s attention to the fact that ATSC was building a television standard. We were engaged in ATSC because we wanted a broadcast standard.

What you have in ATSC 3 is a broadcast standard, a broadcast television standard, but by nature of elements that were foundational—and by the way ours, I mean down to the IPR [intellectual property rights]—we ensured that we were not precluded from doing the other things we knew were possible with a newly baked, green field broadcast standard. Now we are beginning to explore those areas.

TVT:What sort of things?

MA: A very simple example, if you want high-speed mobility, an 8K FFT [fast Fourier transform] is not good enough. 8K gets you up to 100-plus mph. But what if you want a broadcast standard that can operate at Autobahn speeds or will support bullet trains? What if you have a broadcast standard that is more than just automobiles?

Well, you need a 2K or 4K FFT—neither of which are in the ATSC 3 standard, but are fully possible if you want to create a modulator that will do a 4K FFT for example—and a receiver that will process a 4K FFT.

Guess what. We have a software-defined radio. So, we can literally create a waveform on the front end and demodulate that waveform on the backend because both ends of that are software-defined.

We are doing simple stuff first, but it will advance to different coding techniques, different modulation schemes. We are crawling. We are just starting down the road.

So, in the background in this room [at CES], there was this radio head on a big tripod and an antenna attached to it that was demonstrating to people that there are products being envisioned and prototyped and that are going to be deployed that fit directly into the mobile network operator environment.

I choose those words carefully because it wasn’t until we were having discussions with one of the major providers to the telco industry, as we are describing this, that they said you are describing an architectural element.

We said, you are absolutely right. This is building a mobile network operation a bit differently. It’s just the primary architectural element is broadcast, not unicast. It’s not to the exclusion of unicast.

TVT:A couple of years ago at the ATSC annual meeting, you made an offer to provide 1 million ATSC 3.0 mobile receiver chips for free to mobile or portable device makers. Did your CES chipset rollout get you any takers?

MA: We had a couple of conversations with dongle manufacturers who wanted to know how they would take advantage of our offer. So, we’ve now got two vendors with whom we’ve had that first level of discussion. We are getting down to how we make that happen.

I can’t give you all the details of that, but the criteria for that was simply that it’s a party that commits to putting a million of these chips into mobile and portable devices, and that is a fairly broad range of products. And they may not all be ATSC 3.

In Part II,  Mark will discuss his concept of a "broadcast market exchange," content security within ATSC 3.0 and Sinclair's plans for Next Gen TV deployment in 2019. 

For a comprehensive list of TV Technology’s ATSC 3.0 coverage, visit our ATSC3 silo.

WAYNE, N.J.—Independent cable TV station CN2 in Rock Hill, S.C., this summer acquired a JVCKenwood ProHD Portable Bridge bonded LTE hotspot for live news updates to its daily newscasts and website.

With the Bridge and the new BR-DE900 ProHD decoder, CN2 is delivering live material to viewers for the first time, said David Bain, technical manager, adding that the setup will likely be used later this month for live coverage of the Rock Hill Christmas Parade.

CN2, which is owned and operated by Comporium Communications, has two channels serving the tri-county area of York, Lancaster and Chester.

The cable channel produces a weekday newscast at 6 p.m. and “CN2 Today,” a daytime newsmagazine three times each week. Most live content is shared on the CN2 website.

For the parade, CN2 will record multi-camera coverage and edit footage in post to be viewed later. However, one camera will be paired with the Bridge to provide live coverage of the event on the CN2 website, said Bain. A similar setup was used for a recent school board debate.

The Portable Bridge streams signals from Connected Cam, 4KCam, ProHD and JVC PTZ streaming cameras. It uses Peplink’s SpeedFusion VPN bonding technology to combine multiple cellular, wired and Wi-Fi connections.

More information is available on the JVC website. 

WAYNE, N.J.–At the 2018 NAB Show New York, JVC will debut the SFE-CAM Dockable Bridge, a Dual Link bonded LTE uplink that connects directly to its 800 and 900 Series cameras. It supports live HD streaming from multiple JVC cameras to HD-SDI decoders or IP video server at the station, as well as Facebook Live or other CDNs.

Featuring Peplink’s patented SpeedFusion VPN Bonding technology, the SFE-CAM Dockable Bridge—an upgraded version of the ProHD Dockable Bridge introduced last year—combines multiple cellular, wired, and Wi-Fi connections to create a robust and secure VPN connection, making it ideal for live ENG reports or webcasts, according to JVC.

The self-contained SFE-CAM Dockable Bridge, positioned between the battery and ProHD GY‑HM850/890 or CONNECTED CAM GY-HC900 camera body, plugs into the camera’s USB or LAN port. It can also be detached and used with other IP-enabled CONNECTED CAM, 4KCAM, ProHD, and JVC PTZ camera models. Plus, the SFE-CAM Dockable Bridge functions as a secure, battery-powered hotspot in the field, and its Wi‑Fi‑First feature bonds to local or public hotspots when available to reduce cellular data charges.

Equipped with dual cellular modems with redundant SIM slots, the SFE-CAM Dockable Bridge accepts SIMs from Verizon, T-Mobile, AT&T, and Sprint. It aggregates up to four different network links (LTE x 2, plus Wi-Fi or Ethernet), and supports global LTE coverage for worldwide operation. Other features include internal MIMO high efficiency antennas, two RJ-45 connectors for wired LAN/WAN connections, and a built-in GPS receiver for tracking the unit’s location with the ProHD Bridge Command Center.

“The SFE-CAM Dockable Bridge Bridge is the best choice for stations that rely on run-and-gun coverage,” said Edgar Shane, general manager of engineering, JVC Professional Video. “It connects directly to our 800 and 900 Series cameras, so you don’t need to carry additional equipment. You get a reliable, convenient, and affordable live broadcast alternative to microwave and satellite.”

Available in versions for Anton/Bauer or V‑mount batteries, the SFE-CAM Dockable Bridge is available now and has an MSRP of $3,495.

JVC will demonstrate the SFE-CAM Dockable Bridge at its booth N333 at NAB Show New York, Oct. 17-18 at the Javits Convention Center. 

By now you’ve heard a lot of buzz about the new wireless mobile technology called 5G (for 5th Generation) which promises blazing fast speeds and other benefits. Later this month the standards committee 3GPP will be finalizing the standard architecture specifications, paving the way for commercial rollouts and so it’s the perfect time to gaze into our crystal ball and predict some ways 5G will affect the television business.

BUILDING ON THE FACTS

If we’re predicting the future, let’s start with some facts. 5G is anticipated to offer significantly improved download data rates when compared with 4G LTE. 4G (without LTE enhancements) tops out at about 100 Mb/s in a perfect environment. I am sitting here in the shadow of a cell tower and getting 78Mb/s on my iPhone with a 4ms ping time. 5G is predicted to support 10Gb/s, or 100 times faster speeds with latency under 1ms. Even discounting for real-world scenarios, this is a significant step up and has many implications.

One major difference in the technology is the higher bandwidth will require higher frequency (millimeter wave band) which requires smaller and more frequent antenna placement and has a signal which is more easily disrupted. 4G signals can travel 10 miles or more from the tower; 5G cells are much smaller, measured in hundreds of feet, so many more transmitter sites will be needed, though they will be significantly smaller and can be located anywhere, even on a telephone pole. In a big win for the carriers (and for 5G fans, but not for local authorities), the FCC voted on March 22nd to not require local historical and environmental assessment reviews to help speed this process, clearing the road for deployment.

CRYSTAL BALL TIME

5G wireless technology is likely to impact the telecommunications industry in many ways – but will also have an impact on how we produce and distribute television:

1. Faster Mobile FTP – Okay, so this one is simple. If you’ve ever been on the road with a crew who needed to shoot and send back raw materials or edited pieces to the station from a Starbucks WIFI, you know that it can take a while. It would not be today’s primary method for delivering a late-breaking news story. After 5G rolls out, tethering a phone will be become our primary method for non-live backhaul.
   
   
2. Unbonded Cellular – The days of bonding three or more 4G LTE modems together to get the required bandwidth to deliver high quality are nearing their end. 5G will permit a single modem to do the work, reducing the size of the devices as well as minimizing the encoding latency. By the way, today’s modems are incompatible with 5G so if you are buying cellular bonding equipment now, you’d better plan on a shorter amortization cycle or find equipment that features a replaceable modem. Modems will be built directly into cameras – oh yeah, we’ve got that already, they’re called cell-phones!
   
   
3. 16K Facetime – Speaking of cellular phones, they already have very high-resolution cameras and superfast processors. With 5G, the quality of our Skype calls with grandma may soon be better than today’s professional cameras and transmission systems. Smartphones are light, inexpensive and pervasive – equip them with a zoom lens (available for under $100) or simply ask your audience to shoot material for you. I am betting this will become the primary method of live newsgathering. (Don’t believe smartphones are good enough? Steven Soderbergh begs to differ.)
   
   
4. REMI2 via Internet - There’s been a lot of buzz about producing sports remotely from a home-base located control room via REMI (REMote Integration). Imagine covering a concert or sporting event with five fixed position smartphones all live into the control room at the station or production center. Electronic cropping of the super-high-resolution video (check out Sony Hawkeye or MEVO for the concept) would provide panning and zooming. Almost zero cost for coverage.
   
   
5. Cable Overlay – There are reasons why AT&T is bundling video with your cell subscription, why they are attempting to buy Time Warner, and why Verizon stopped rolling out its FiOS service to homes, but is expanding fiber to the telephone poles. Once deployed to an area, 5G provides AT&T, Verizon, and to a lesser extent T-Mobile/Sprint, with a potential nationwide cable network without having to pull cables into the home. Bet on the current MSOs to up the bandwidth of their cable-modems and transition their video offerings to IP to stay relevant. Oh, by the way, did I say QAM is dead? (actually, I did!)

TIMING – A DOSE OF REALITY

None of these things happen overnight and naysayers have valid points about the near-term prospects. Sprint released the first WiMAX (LTE) smartphone in the US in June of 2010, and even after eight years this month, LTE is only rolled out to 86.5 percent of the U.S. market. It takes a long time and a lot of money to build out all those towers, even if they are easier to install thanks to the FCC.

Verizon has announced 5G rollouts to fixed locations in five cities this year including Sacramento and Los Angeles. AT&T will launch in 12 cities with mobile coverage likely to be delivered through hot-spots. The first consumer 5G smartphones should start rolling out after Mobile World Congress in February 2019.

Another date to watch is the FCC’s first spectrum auction for 5G scheduled to begin in November. Enthusiasm among participants will indicate interest and the level of competition we can expect going forward. It may also set the stage for new, unexpected players to emerge.

SUMMARY

5G is likely to enter our lives before this time next year and begin to have significant implications for our business. Now is the right time for broadcasters to start assessing their preparations, evaluating their impending purchases and workflows with an eye toward the 5G future.

Larry Thaler is the President of Positive Flux, a consulting firm that specializes in helping media companies take advantage of the rapid changes occurring in the industry. He can be reached viaTV Technology.

OTTAWA and GATINEAU, QUEBEC, CANADA—The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission today directed all wireless service providers to implement a wireless public alerting system on their LTE networks by April, 2018.

This system will allow emergency management officials, such as fire marshals and police agencies, to warn Canadians on their mobile devices of dangers to life and property. The alerts will be sent to mobile devices connected to LTE networks, which are available to over 97 percent of Canadians, the CRTC said. Service providers have also been tasked by the CRTC to work with their federal, provincial and territorial counterparts to develop an awareness campaign and test schedule.

In Canada, as in the United States, emergency alert messages are issued by federal, provincial and territorial governments and emergency management officials to warn the public of imminent threats, such as fires, tornadoes, floods, water contamination and Amber Alerts. The CRTC has been working with wireless providers since 2014 on the development and implementation of emergency alerting technical requirements. A standard was approved in August of 2015. Pilot projects based on the standard were conducted last year. A progress report is due to the CRTC in July, with a final report coming in Oct. 3, 2017, “detailing a proposed awareness campaign and test schedule.”

The exact launch date for the distribution of alerts will be announced once the wireless industry has met the applicable standards and all required functionalities are in place. Once alerts are distributed to mobile devices, Canadians will hear the same alert tone as they currently do while listening to the radio or watching television. Alerts on mobile devices will also trigger a unique vibration cadence when an alert is issued, and will contain a bilingual banner.

The wireless public alerting standard adopted by Canada has been adopted by governments across the world for emergency alerts services, including the European Union, the United States, Israel, Chile and Japan.

Canadian broadcasters and television service providers have distributed emergency alerts since 2014. As a result, the vast majority of Canadians currently receive emergency alerts through radio and television. The CRTC created an interactive map identifying which Canadian radio and television stations distribute alert messages; a list of cable and satellite companies that distribute these messages is also included.

Public Safety Canada is the lead department responsible for emergency management and coordinates the development of policies for public alerting with federal, provincial and territorial stakeholders.

NEW YORK—Verizon is taking to the air to enable its 4G LTE network. The carrier on Thursday announced its Airborne LTE Operations initiative. Verizon said the initiative, which has been brewing for two years, included a series of successful technical trials around the country involving both manned and unmanned aircraft.

Verizon said it also did an early adopter simulation exercise in Cape May, N.J., using unmanned aircraft systems to demonstrate how its 4G LTE network can be used by first responders and emergency management personnel enhance disaster recovery efforts.

Verizon said it will launch a new suite of services next year on Verizon’s ThingSpace and IoT platforms to help developers and businesses create and manage a ALO-enabled applications, backed by its secure cloud and analytics capabilities.

The Airborne LTE Ops initiative—ALO—includes a new device certification process, available now, which sets forth requirements to enable access to wireless connectivity for unmanned aerial vehicles and unmanned aerial systems on Verizon’s 4G LTE network.

The carrier said it is collaborating American Aerospace and Sierra Wireless on aerial long-range applications beyond line of sight.

Verizon’s network team began work to develop the technology for in-flight LTE operations in 2014. This year, Verizon asked American Aerospace Technologies to test connectivity between aerial platforms and Verizon’s 4G LTE network. The initial controlled trial was conducted with a 17-foot wingspan unmanned aircraft.

Verizon said the aerial platform tested advanced aerial inspection techniques that can be applied nationwide.

“This latest trial demonstrated how emerging technology combined with wireless networks can improve safety and security,” said Mike Haberman, vice president of Network Operations for Verizon. “A nationwide reliable 4G LTE network is the foundation for the future of mobile IoT in the air.”

As a result of the successful trial, Verizon deemed its 4G LTE 700 MHz network safe for in-flight wireless connectivity, which led to the creation of device and service requirements as part of Verizon’s ALO initiative.

Together with AATI, Verizon is also exploring next steps in in-flight cellular services for UAVs nationally on its 4G LTE network. Once federal regulations allow UAV operation beyond visual line-of-sight (BVLOS), new tests will focus on BVLOS command-and-control cellular network communications for long-distance UAVs.

Once Verizon certifies that the device has met Verizon’s Open Development requirements for wireless connectivity and usage on Verizon’s LTE network, aerial devices may be used for multiple applications by embedding the device on the UAV itself, as an add-on device to the UAV or even in conjunction with a low-altitude flying manned aircraft—in accordance with the operators’ compliance with other applicable rules. Devices certified by Verizon will be listed on the company’s Open Development portal.

Via the ALO initiative, Verizon hopes to leverage its ThingSpace open dev platform across multiple sectors, including pipeline and high voltage line inspection as well as agricultural and first responder applications.

Verizon has been actively lobbying for commercial UAV use on Capitol Hill. Its Labs division has participated in trials conducted under the Federal Aviation Administration’s Pathfinder initiative and NASA’s UTM program.

The carrier has 113.2 million retail wireless connections nationwide.

Also see...
July 14, 2016
“AT&T to Launch Flying Cows aka LTE Drones”
Big Bell AT&T is dreaming of fortifying its wireless network with flying cows. Flying “COWS,” that is, or “Cells on Wings,” essentially, LTE cell sites carried on drones. The carrier announced that it launched a program this week to explore what it could do with unmanned aircraft systems.

Sept. 28, 2015
“LTE-Unlicensed Spectrum Group Forms”
‘Evolve’ is the name taken on by a newly formed coalition of wireless carrier groups advocating for development of unlicensed LTE technology, or LTE-U, also known as “LAA,” or “Licensed Assisted Access.”

June 3, 2015
“Unlicensed 3.5 GHz LTE Explored”
Regulators are trying to circumvent potential problems with LTE-U, a version of the cellular transmission standard intended for unlicensed use. The issue emerged from proceedings to accommodate new technologies for the 3.5 and 5 GHz bands. The Federal Communications Commission released a fact-finding Notice in May on LTE-U and LAA, or Licensed Assisted Access, which enables LTE-U to operate on a licensed frequency, but on an unlicensed basis.

Dec. 12, 2014
“Investigating Interference Between 4G LTE and Broadcast”
here are a growing number of cases where there has been actual or alleged interference to 4G LTE installations. These situations have occurred largely at co-located transmitter sites where FM stations and wireless carriers share the same site or the same tower. I looked at some of the causes of this interference and to give some background about 4G LTE systems that are now being deployed.

Flying COW update, at Wireless Estimator—“Industry’s first successful flying COW live test is made by AT&T, Feb. 22, 2017.“

DALLAS—Big Bell AT&T is dreaming of fortifying its wireless network with flying cows. Flying “COWS,” that is, or “Cells on Wings,” essentially, LTE cell sites carried on drones. The carrier announced that it launched a program this week to explore what it could do with unmanned aircraft systems.

Its national drone program will be led by Art Pregler, also AT&T’s director of National Mobility Systems and previously director of its National Cell Site Programs for more than 15 years. Pregler also logged several years in various positions with the U.S. Air Force. AT&T’s John Donovan, chief strategy officer and group president of technology and operations, announced the drone initiative in a blog post.

“We’re already using drones to perform aerial inspections of our cell towers, and this week at our SHAPE Conference in San Francisco, we'll demonstrate that capability live,” he wrote.

“Connecting drones to our nationwide LTE network lets us capture data and feed it directly to our systems. In turn, this can allow us to make changes to our network in real time.”

The so-called “Flying COWS” also could be employed at “large events or even rapid disaster response,” he said.

Further, AT&T's IoT team is working on “how in-flight drones can use our LTE network to send large amounts of data in real-time. This capability may benefit areas such as insurance, farming, facility and asset inspections, and even delivery service companies.”