Policy

Set-top box leasing costs U.S. consumer $20 billion annually With an eye on driving competition in cable TV, Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler on laid out a proposal to open the set-top box market to end costly leasing agreements …

Regulators evaluating three potential carrier candidates The mobile telephony market in South Korea may have a new player soon as the government confirmed it plans to decide this week whether to award a fourth mobile carrier license. The country’s Ministry …

25 Mbps down, 3 Mbps up is unnecessarily fast, senators say A group of six U.S. senators this week told the Federal Communications Commission its current broadband benchmark of 25 megabits per second download speeds, 3 Mbps upload speeds could …

Norwegian regulator Nkom running the carrier auction process The Norwegian Communications Authority (Nkom) plans to hold the second phase of its 1800 MHz spectrum auction later this month, the regulator said in a statement. In the second phase of the …

US Department of Transportation, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration running point on autonomous vehicles funding initiative Federal government officials this week announced a plan to commit $3.9 billion in funding over the next decade to bolster research and development of …

Incentive auction proceedings hit broadcaster milestone, with claimed ‘robust’ participation The Federal Communications Commission’s planned 600 MHz incentive auction process reached a milestone this week as the broadcaster application deadline passed, with apparently positive results. Television broadcasters interested in giving …

In its annual broadband status report, the Federal Communications Commission determined U.S. broadband deployments are not happening in a “reasonable and timely fashion.” The commission says the 34 million residents still without quality broadband is not acceptable. The study found 10% …

LAS VEGAS – Last year was the year sponsored data burst on the scene as Verizon Wireless, AT&T Mobility and T-Mobile US all announced plans to offer free data services. But, it was the launch of T-Mobile US’ controversial “Binge On” service, …

Yahoo could face up to $750 million in fines from potential class of 500,000 Sprint users As many as 500,000 Sprint customers could take part in a class action lawsuit approved this week by a Chicago federal judge related to …

FCC broadband report claims cable, fiber offer faster broadband options, DSL lags Cable and fiber connections continue to outpace advertised broadband speeds provided by digital subscriber line services, according to a new report from the Federal Communications Commission. The FCC …

Many individuals and governments consider Internet access an imperative for economic development. More than half of the world doesn’t have reliable access to the Internet. Initiatives like Internet.org are attempting to change that, but not without backlash. Internet.org is a …

18th FCC mobile competition report cites broad choices in not drawing conclusion Despite its stated goal of ensuring a competitive domestic mobile telecom market, the Federal Communications Commission’s latest annual report on the subject did not provide any definitive conclusion …

Each carrier will operate 10 megahertz in the 900 MHz band for provisioning 4G LTE services Thai mobile operators True Move and Jasmine both won licenses to operate spectrum in the 900 MHz band; and each of the winning telcos obtained …

The Federal Communications Commission, in the wake of adopting net neutrality rules, wants to better understand services that allow customers to stream certain types of content without detracting from data buckets. One of the tenants of net neutrality is certain …

On this episode of HetNet Happenings, RCR Wireless News Managing Editor Sean Kinney takes you inside the recent IEEE Globecom showcase held in San Diego. In the first segment, Kinney is joined by Ed Tiedemann, IEEE Globecom general chairman and …

Brazilian service providers want national courts to rule OTT services like WhatsApp illegal Beginning at 8 p.m. Central Standard Time on Dec. 16, Facebooks’ over-the-top messaging service WhatsApp was shutdown in Brazil on the order of a judge. About 12 …

Verizon Wireless is in the process of deploying 400 small cells in San Francisco before the Super Bowl next year, which will be hosted in the bay front metro. In a recent interview with a local ABC affiliate, Verizon Wireless …

Frontier Communications will spend $160 million to settle a dispute with the state of West Virginia regarding allegations of false advertising and poor broadband performance. In a document produced by the attorney general of West Virginia, styled as an assurance …

Winning spectrum bidders to be announced in March The Spanish government postponed plans to award mobile spectrum in the 2.6 GHz and 3.5 GHz bands to January 2016, according to local press reports. The Spanish authorities also said they expect …

FCC grants T-Mobile US permission to sell spectrum to Verizon The Federal Communications Commission rejected a complaint by SiriusXM claiming T-Mobile US was responsible for solving interference issues near its towers. As part of the ruling, the FCC gave T-Mobile …

Democrat FCC Commissioner Rosenworcel now awaits full Senate vote on new term Jessica Rosenworcel won unanimous approval from the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee for reappointment to the Federal Communications Commission. The full Senate will now take up the …

The UK regulator said spectrum auction will wait for the implications of the Three-O2 merger U.K. telecommunications regulator Ofcom decided to postpone its planned spectrum auction for licenses in the 2.3 GHz and 3.4 GHz bands until the European Commission reaches a …

Wireless infrastructure is part of Hillary Clinton’s $275 billion dollar plan to invest public funds in key sectors of the American economy. The leading Democrat in the Presidential race said this week she wants to “build on the Obama Administration’s …

Are LTE-Unlicensed and Wi-Fi really pitted against one another from a technological perspective, or has the debate been hijacked by parties protecting business interests? Depending on who you ask, LTE-U is either a new system leveraging unlicensed spectrum that will …