BROWSING: Policy

FCC says carriers can block unwanted texts, creates database for reassigned phone numbers

The Federal Communications Commission this week gave carriers its blessing to continue their efforts to block unwanted text messages, but opponents of the action expressed concerns that the move will allow censorship or alteration of messages. The FCC ruling declared that both text and multimedia...

(Another) New group comes out against Sprint, T-Mobile US merger

A combined Sprint, T-Mobile US would lead to price hikes, 4Competition group says The latest group to come out against the proposed mega-merger of U.S. carriers Sprint and T-Mobile US, called 4Competition, is made up of some relatively heavy-hitters in the domestic telecoms space, including...

FCC sets rules for second round of mmWave auctions in 2019

Regulator to open up mmWave frequencies in 37 GHz, 39 GHz and 47 GHz bands With an auction of millimeter wave frequencies in the 28 GHz band going on current, the U.S. Federal Communications Commission, in a meeting today, set the rules for a further...

Women in digital – European countries ranked for gender gap in digital realm

The European Commission (EC) has reviewed and rated countries in Europe for gender equality in the digital economy. Finland, Sweden, Luxembourg and Denmark came top. Italy, Greece, Romania and Bulgaria came bottom. Of the big three European economies, the UK ranked in fifth, just behind...

FCC to investigate Mobility Fund coverage mapping

With more than $4.5 billion at stake over the next decade, the Federal Communications Commission has launched an investigation into the accuracy of maps representing national carriers' LTE coverage in rural areas that would potentially qualify for federal subsidies. The accuracy of those maps in...

What is Society 5.0? Japan’s model for a digitally-inspired ‘imagination society’

“The kaleidoscope has been shaken, the pieces are in flux.” It is a phrase written for a different time, and another sphere – a generation ago, which seems like a lifetime, to mark a political transformation, which now seems so slight Because the future is...

Europe reveals four-step AI plan, €20 billion AI funding target, €66m robotics fund

The European Commission (EC) has stepped up its strategy to foster AI in the region, with a four-step plan and a target of €20 billion of private and public investments by the end of 2020, and €20 billion per year afterwards. The EC will contribute...

Auction 101 creeps toward $600 million in bids

Bidding in the Federal Communications Commission’s current auction of millimeter wave spectrum hit a lull yesterday, although it bounced back this morning with a round garnering $21 million in bids. Auction 101 has now raised nearly $580 million in bids, with three additional rounds of...

Solving the e911 problem: Locating emergency callers accurately (Reader Forum)

Nearly 80 percent of all 911 calls originate from a wireless device. This is not surprising, given that over half of households in the U.S. have given up landline phones and rely solely on wireless devices. This is a rapid increase from 15 percent...

Auction 101 sees post-holiday bidding spree

Bidders in the Federal Communications Commission's current auction of millimeter wave spectrum seemed to be in the mood to shop this week, with the auction seeing increased action as it closes out its first week of four daily rounds of bidding. Auction 101 has...

How intent-based networking provides business value (Reality Check)

The new network is different than the old network. And the way it’s managed is different, too. Until now, management has been on a device-by-device basis, but volume and complexity have made that method unsustainable. Automation and orchestration drive network management today, bringing greater...

Millimeter wave spectrum auction hits $145 million in bids

The Federal Communications Commission’s auction of millimeter wave spectrum for 5G service has raised more than $145 million in bids. Fourteen rounds of bidding have been completed over five days, and now the auction bidding takes a break for the Thanksgiving holiday. Auction 101 includes just over...

USDA awards $91 million in rural broadband funding

USDA's Telecommunications Programs awarded grants and loans to increase rural broadband access The U.S. Department of Agriculture has announced $91 million in funding to expand rural broadband access, through a combination of grants and loans for 19 projects. Most of those projects revolve around fiber networks,...

German regulator publishes final draft conditions for 5G auction

5G auction conditions outline national roaming, coverage areas Germany’s communications regulator Bundesnetzagentur has published the final draft conditions for the country’s 5G auction. These draft conditions include increased coverage requirements and an expectation that German telcos would cooperate on national roaming. Bundesnetzagentur’s President Jochen Homann said the...

Industry weighs in on a national data privacy framework

In recently released comments, network operators and other telecom players expressed general support for federal data privacy regulation -- especially if the alternative is a patchwork of state or even local guidelines. The U.S. Department of Commerce's National Telecommunications and Information Administration asked for public...

Analyst Angle: The Wild West of automotive IoT

In every new market, tech executives step into unknown territory. We’re watching the automotive IoT market with interest because it’s a wide-open business model. There’s a lot at stake in the automotive market, as safety is a key factor, and dealers, insurance carriers, mobile...

FCC’s millimeter wave auction raises $62 million in early bidding

mmWave auction bidding continues today After five rounds of bidding, the Federal Communications Commission's auction of millimeter wave spectrum for 5G service has raised more than $62.2 million. Two more rounds of bidding are scheduled for today, after bidding in Auction 101 was temporarily suspended...

Failure to back C-V2X will cost Europe, warn Vodafone, Ericsson and BMW

Vodafone, Ericsson, and BMW have warned the European Commission (EC) its current stance on vehicular communications, which precludes 5G technologies in favour of a single purpose Wi-Fi variant, will throw the region way off track in terms of digital infrastructure and economic development. In a...

German officials eyeing Huawei in 5G security debate

The U.S. and Australia excluding Huawei from 5G deployments According to reporting from Reuters, high-level German government officials are making a push to exclude China's Huawei from the build-out of 5G in the industrial hub. In response, Huawei is planning to a open a lab...

Analyst Angle: US and China lead while regulation and competition policy impede Europe in 5G

US, China, Japan and Korea are seizing global leadership in 5G with support of coherent and helpful industrial policies in those nations across the entire mobile ecosystem including technology development, spectrum licensing, site acquisition and operator consolidation. All these nations will launch 3GPP standard-compliant...

Power to the people – how blockchain will democratise the energy market

Will blockchain help to democratise power generation and power consumption? It is a tangential, and tech-minded, question, which came out of the central narrative at European Utility Week 2018 in Vienna this week about the decentralisation, decarbonisation, and digitisation of the energy market. The theory is...

Free trade in tech helps economies grow (Reader Forum)

Over the past few decades, the liberalization of trade has allowed small and mid-sized enterprises to expand into global markets, while information communications technology (ICT) has become a key driver of global competitiveness, both for individual companies and for countries seeking to grow their...

FCC asks industry to report on network resiliency

The Federal Communications Commission is re-examining a voluntary framework on network resiliency that was put together two years ago and asking mobile carriers to report on how they used that framework and whether they are doing all they can to promote rapid network recovery...

GSMA raises 5G spectrum warning

Key 5G spectrum decisions need to be made ahead of WRC-19 Operators and regulators need to work more closely through the process of allocating 5G spectrum, otherwise some countries could be left behind as commercial 5G networks go live throughout 2019 and beyond, according to...