Policy

UK telcos to pay almost £200 million per year to use 900 MHz, 1800 MHz bands U.K. telecom regulator Ofcom has published revised annual fees for mobile operators, which determine the amount of money they must pay to use certain parts of …

FCC has fined service providers more than $40M this year for 911 failures Keeping up its aggressive penalization of carriers who fail to properly handle 911 traffic, the Federal Communications Commission on Sept. 24 fined Sprint, Hamilton Relay and InnoCaption …

Says FCC support of municipal infrastructure is “borderline socialism” FCC Commissioner Michael O’Rielly recently spoke to the Prosperity Caucus, a DC-based organization founded in 1986 by Regan-era Republicans, about how the regulatory agency lacks economic pragmatism. During the Commissioner’s remarks …

The UK regulator said the transaction will not create asymmetries in the market UK telecoms regulator Ofcom has approved the transfer of Qualcomm’s L-band spectrum to local mobile telephony operators Vodafone and 3UK. In August, Qualcomm’s subsidiary Qualcomm UK Spectrum …

Hearing about the latest concerning data breach seems to be an increasing occurrence, and, following from that, cybersecurity is an increasingly hot topic. Cable and Internet provider Comcast is no exception; the company this week agreed to pay a $33 …

Broadband is right up there with water, sewer and power, according to report WASHINGTON – President Obama’s Broadband Opportunity Council released its 40-page report on Monday, declaring, “Today, broadband is taking its place alongside water, sewer and electricity as essential …

Wheeler: Broadband access is key to economic opportunity, advancement Despite criticism, FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler used the fall conference of the National Telephone Cooperative Association to push the Federal Communication Commission goal of universal broadband access. “Simply put, in the …

UN commission is focused on bridging the digital divide In a report released Sept. 21, the United Nations Broadband Commission for Digital Development found that 4.2 billion people, 57% of the world’s population, don’t have regular access to the Internet. …

Consumer protection body levies fines on apps designed to detect skin cancer and improve eyesight WASHINGTON – The Federal Trade Commission has settled charges with an app company, which claimed its product could improve users’ eyesight. Under the terms of …

WASHINGTON – The Federal Communications Commission’s Wireline Competition Bureau has announced plans to release data on the Special Access Market for the first time ever. The bureau said in a statement it, “will start to make industry data gathered earlier this …

Goal is for more accurate reporting and tracking of outage information WASHINGTON – The Federal Communications Commission has voted to propose new rules designed to tighten the outage reporting rules with new requirements for submarine cables. The goal, as stated by …

WASHINGTON – Two Democratic members of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation have sent letters to the CEOs of 18 major automakers asking that they conduct a comprehensive overview of vehicles’ vulnerabilities to hacking, and elaborate on what …

In question is the carrier’s Music Freedom program, which removes data limit for music-streaming services WASHINGTON – Is the T-Mobile US Music Freedom program breaking the law? Technically, yes, according to FCC Commissioner Ajit Pai, who spoke on the issue at …

The city levies 9% amusement tax on streaming services like Netflix, Spotify, Hulu and more Mobile commerce, including content streaming platforms, have quickly moved from novelty to ubiquity; as traditional tax revenue streams move from stores into the ether, some …

Analyst: Intent of program isn’t possible given current wireless sector environment Do regulations have a shelf life? In general, yes, as the things they were meant to regulate evolve and change over time, the rules lose applicability. The telecom space …

FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler ‘supremely confident’ 600 MHz auction will begin on March 29 LAS VEGAS – Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler is very confident that the scheduled 600 MHz incentive auction process will indeed begin as planned on …

Officials: Carrier claims that network voice service is “unbeatable” are not substantiated A recent print and Web advertising campaign by Vodafone makes claims about the carrier’s U.K. voice service that the Advertisement Standards Authority this week banned. Specifically, Vodafone marketing …

Google could face up to $6B in fines if found in violation of European laws WASHINGTON – The battle between Google and the European Commission intensified this week with Google giving its formal reply to the commission’s statement of objections, …

Regulators want to expand the Lifeline Assistance Program to include broadband Internet access WASHINGTON – The Federal Communications Commission is seeking comment on its plan to expand the Lifeline subsidy program to include broadband Internet services in addition to the existing wired …

Money is part of Connect America Fund to foster rural broadband WASHINGTON – The Federal Communications Commission announced that 10 communications service providers accepted $1.5 billion from the federal government as part of the regulatory agency’s Connect America, a subsidy designed to encourage …

Copper or fiber, past or future? Is new FCC rule a ‘major step back?’ WASHINGTON – Bruce Mehlman, U.S. Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Tech Policy under the George W. Bush administration and Internet Innovation Alliance founding co-chairman, spoke with …

As 600 MHz auction approaches, FCC continues to clarify rules and procedures WASHINGTON – Ahead of the 2016 incentive auction, wireless trade association CTIA said it wants the Federal Communications Commission to hold multiple mock auctions as a means to …

Fatal fire call to 911 delayed, blamed on cell towers This week a fatal fire broke out in Forestdale, Ala. While deadly fires aren’t a unique phenomenon, unfortunately, blaming the fatality on the cell tower is somewhat less common. According …

Preferred Communication Systems, Inc. and North Sight Communications, Inc., have agreed to team up to optimize their spectrum deployment in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. The two companies together hold 9.15 MHz of ESMR cellular spectrum on the Islands. …