FCC Commissioner Nathan Simington visits UMD 5G Secure Test Bed

Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Commissioner Nathan Simington visited the 5G Secure Test Bed housed at the University of Maryland on Oct. 20, 2022. He attended a meeting hosted by CTIA, the Cellular Telecommunications and Internet Association, which included a CTIA presentation on 5G security, followed by a tour of the test bed and a demonstration of its capabilities by ISR Visiting Research Engineer Wayne Phoel and researcher Daniel Ndiki. ISR Director Ankur Srivastava (ECE/ISR) gave welcoming remarks.

Along with Simington, the event’s participants included additional FCC personnel and six representatives from CTIA, including Scott Bergmann, Senior Vice President, Regulatory Affairs, who delivered remarks. Also in attendance were industry representatives from AT&T, Ericsson, US Cellular, SecureG, and TMO. University of Maryland attendees included Clark School of Engineering Dean Samuel Graham, Jr., and wireless security experts Professor John Baras (ECE/ISR) and Professor Sennur Ulukus (ECE/ISR).

Simington is one of four current FCC Commissioners. The FCC is an independent U.S. government agency overseen by Congress. It is the federal agency responsible for implementing and enforcing America’s communications law and regulations.

The 5G Secure Test Bed is dedicated to commercial 5G networks. It was launched in January 2022, and is one of several similar CTIA test beds in locations around the country. The UMD location leverages personnel with extensive experience in wireless security.

“At the University of Maryland, we pride ourselves on training the next generation of engineering leaders and conducting research that advances network and device performance and security,” said ISR Visiting Research Engineer Wayne Phoel. “This industry collaboration greatly enhances our ability to meet those objectives.”

| Learn more about the 5G Secure Test Bed |

Published October 27, 2022