BROWSING: Policy

The Federal Communications Commission has delayed the implementation of new leasing rules for the 4.9 GHz band used by public safety that were passed under the Trump administration, and it will reconsider them. In the fall of 2020, the FCC had voted along party...

This week, I'm joined by Dominique Lazanski, a consultant who deals mostly in international Internet governance and cybersecurity policy. Dominique talks about China's push to create a less centralized global internet based on native products that reflect China’s policy agenda, and critically, where 5G...

Verizon has requested that the Federal Communications Commission "move expeditiously" to approve its acquisition of TracFone, arguing that the deal will benefit both TracFone and its customers. In a filing with the FCC, Verizon noted that it has been six months since the deal...

The Emergency Broadband Benefit program, which provides subsidies of $50-$75 per month for internet service, has enrolled more than one million U.S. households in the first week of the program being available, according to the Federal Communications Commission. “The high demand we’ve seen for...

What impact will the Emergency Broadband Benefit have on broadband affordability? A pair of recent surveys shed some light on how much the program, which provides direct payments to broadband providers to help defray the costs of broadband service, could help with issues of...

The Federal Communications Commission this week officially launched two pandemic relief programs designed to improve access to and affordability of broadband services. Families across the U.S. can now apply for the Emergency Broadband Benefit Program, which will make available up to $3.2 billion to...

The Competitive Carriers Association says that it has conducted analysis of awards in the Rural Digital Opportunities Fund and found that as much as $1 billion of the more than $20 billion, 10-year program may end up being directed to areas which already have...

As Dish Network works to delay T-Mobile US' plans to sunset the former Sprint CDMA network on which many of Dish's Boost Mobile customers still rely, the Rural Wireless Association has joined with seven other groups in sending a letter to the Federal Communications...

SpaceX has been granted permission to fly its low-earth-orbit Starlink satellites at a reduced altitude, in part to improve the performance of the company's satellite-based broadband service. The Federal Communications Commission granted the changes to SpaceX's satellite broadband operations over protests from companies including...

Microsoft and Siemens have signed up to the Open Industry 4.0 Alliance, a two-year old consortium of “European” industrial companies geared to drive cross-vendor interoperability for factories and warehouses. They join as “heavyweights” of the IT and OT sides of the conjoined industrial IoT...

Romanian has signed-off on a bill to ban Huawei, other Chinese vendors from its 5G networks Romania can now be added to the growing list of countries, particularly in Europe, that is moving to deny Huawei and other Chinese vendors from involvement its 5G network...

Based on a national survey conducted between Jan. 25 and Feb. 8 of this year, the Pew Research Center found that approximately 7% of U.S. adults don't use the internet. According to Pew, age is the biggest determinant of internet use with other major...

The new version of the Zeetta Networks platform, which provides a dashboard for managing multiple private enterprise networks, as a “single pane of glass”, has already been tested as well in “large scale” smart city initiatives in the UK, including in Bristol (Bristol is...

WISPA exec called the infrastructure plan 'right on target' On Wednesday, President Joe Biden introduced a monumental $2.3 trillion infrastructure and jobs package that aims to reshape the American economy. The infrastructure plan is far reaching, and includes, among many other things, $174 billion for electric vehicles,...

The FTC believes that Qualcomm’s licensing practices demonstrate anticompetitive behavior In September 2020, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) petitioned the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit for a rehearing of the August 2020 decision of a panel of that court in siding with Qualcomm on...

The Federal Communications Commission this week levied its largest-ever fine against a robocalling operation: $225 million, against two companies which the agency says transmitted around 1 billion robocalls shilling short-term health insurance. The FCC said that many of the calls made in the first...

The Federal Communications Commission plans to hold an auction of spectrum at 3.45-3.55 GHz by the end of this year, putting additional midband spectrum in play for 5G services. Auction 110, set to begin in early October, will offer up to 100 megahertz of...

As we head into the second year of online trade shows, Zoom-based networking and virtual happy hours based on the contents of our own liquor cabinets, the Competitive Carriers Association is looking to engage online conference-goers to its Mobile Carriers Show with both content...

The Federal Communications Commission has released its first official list of equipment vendors which it says pose "unacceptable risk to national security or the security and safety of U.S. persons." The five vendors named on the list are: Huawei, ZTE, Hytera Communications, Hangzhou Hikvision...

Nokia has announced a five-year deal with the University of Technology Sydney (UTS) to build and run a 5G innovation facility at the university’s Tech Lab campus in Sydney, Australia. The new lab will see Nokia and UTS test 5G use cases with partners...

The European Commission has published a major review of funding for 5G-based and 5G-related industrial transformation, including €10 billion of new public-private partnership (PPP) funding to drive the region’s digital and green agendas, and a series of “ambitious” recommendations to raise venture funding in...

The Federal Communications Commission is considering opening up a "formal conversation" on how it can support development and deployment of Open Radio Access Network technology. At the commission's March 17 meeting, members will vote on a notice of inquiry on Open RAN that will...

5G is scheduled to launch in the Dominican Republic later this year Earlier this month, The Dominican Institute of Telecommunications (Indotel) launched the tender of 5G frequencies in the 700 GHz and 3.6 GHz band, with nationwide deployment scheduled to begin on November 3rd 2021....

The FCC is working on how it will make available $3.2 billion that Congress appropriated to help subsidize broadband costs during the Covid-19 pandemic -- but would you believe it if someone offered you "free internet", or would you assume it was a scam?...