The FCC has identified 500 MHz of airwaves that could be used to deliver broadband connections to aircraft. The plan could make in-flight Wi-Fi accessible, cheap, and — most importantly — fast to all airline passengers. Read more »
Sprint is juggling its two competing buyout offers. It’s appointed a special committee to evaluate Dish’s proposal on one hand, but it’s not delaying its wedding date with SoftBank on the other. Read more »
Many technology enthusiasts have a worldview that sees the government as bungling or evil. This is both unfair and not helpful in deciding hard policy choices. Read more »
After nearly four years as FCC chairman, Julius Genachowski is stepping down in “coming weeks”. President Obama will now get to appoint two new commission members in his second term. Read more »
The Democratic chairman is stepping down, according to the Wall Street Journal, just as a Republican commissioner is departing, preserving an administration-friendly majority on the commission. Read more »
A week after clearing the Justice Department, the T-Mobile-MetroPCS merger gains the FCC stamp of approval without a peep of protest. Now the only thing standing in the deal’s way are Metro’s stockholders. Read more »
Federal antitrust lawyers signaled they have no problems with T-Mobile USA’s pending tie-up with MetroPCS. It’s a good sign for the deal as the DOJ has been actively scrutinizing telecom deals of late. Read more »
Google will map street grids, satellite views and even traffic conditions. Now it’s mapping the availability of white spaces, the unused portion of the TV broadcast airwaves that one day could be used for broadband services. Read more »
Nevada became the first state in the country this week to legalize online gambling — but don’t expect this to change the fortunes of companies like Zynga anytime soon. Read more »
The new radio silicon uses the new Weightless specification to tap into the unused airwaves in between TV broadcasts. Such technology could be used to create a cheap data network for the M2M communications. Read more »
According to a regulatory filing, Sprint entertained four possible M&A deals in the last two years apart from Softbank. Dish and MetroPCS are obvious candidates, and the other two could have been T-Mobile and the cablecos. Read more »
Three of the nationwide operators haven’t signed off on the government’s proposal to split time on the federal airwaves between public and commercial users, but they’re willing to consider it. Read more »
The 39 licenses will cost AT&T $1.9 billion, but it will finally be able to deploy full-capacity networks in key markets like Chicago and Los Angeles. Verizon’s wheeling is dealing in 700 MHz is now over. Read more »
AT&T is buying up the remaining piece of Alltel still in operation for $780 million. Though the deal gives AT&T 585,000 new subscribers, judging by the price Ma Bell seems more interested in its airwaves. Read more »
By taking in a huge WCS spectrum haul from NextWave, Comcast and others, AT&T has nearly all the components in place to create a nationwide 4G band for its own exclusive use. Now AT&T just has to build it. Read more »
We now know more details of the FCC’s spectrum sharing plan. It will set aside 100 MHz of spectrum in the 3.5 GHz band and establish priority tiers for federal and local government use. Carriers have to be content with the frequencies left over. Read more »
Dish finally has permission to become a full-fledged cellular network operator, though it remains to be seen whether it will actually become one. The FCC also set the wheels rolling for an auction next year of new 4G licenses that Sprint has been eyeing. Read more »
Twitter has been lauded for its capacity to crowdsource and uncover the “Truth.” Mathias Crawford, a Fellow at Stanford University, says Twitter’s self-correcting skills are vastly overstated and flawed. The company’s influential power could stand to be regulated, he argues. Read more »
Uber may have found a way to work with the city of D.C., which approved legislation that will regulate and authorize startups like Uber to operate in the city. The cooperation between the often contentious startup and the government could provide a model for others. Read more »
Verizon Wireless challenged the FCC’s requirements that it make its data networks available to any competitor through roaming agreements, but in a appeals court decision on Tuesday, the commission prevailed. The unanimous vote means Verizon’s 3G and 4G networks remain open. Read more »
The United Nations may not be trying to take over the internet, but its telecom arm is discussing proposals that could seriously threaten the openness of the network, according to people like Vint Cerf — and could also change the way we pay for it. Read more »
Russia’s new internet blacklist agency is busy naming “illegal” sites ISPs must block. But the government says search engines should not be blocked for pointing to those sites with excerpts of illegal content. Read more at paidContent »
Weblogs and social channels not affiliated with newspapers can breathe a sigh of relief. Tweets and blogs don’t have enough heft to be considered ‘news’ media like print, says the judge leading recommendations to heighten UK ‘press’ standards. Read more at paidContent »
People don’t expect trustworthy online journalism like they do in print, says the judge making recommendations about British media. His view may seem antiquated to some, but it may see digital publishers dodge new regulation. Read more at paidContent »
The nine-month-long inquiry in to British press standards says newspapers’ ethical standards have caused ‘havoc’, so a new self-regulator is required to hold them to better account. Read more at paidContent »
FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski wants to grant Dish’s wish for an LTE network, but he’s attached a few caveats. He proposes that Dish rein its network, and the satellite provider is none too pleased. Read more »
Verizon has begun selling off its extra 700 MHz licenses per its agreement with the FCC to give up spare 4G spectrum in exchange for the cableco airwaves. So far there’s been no blockbuster sale, though and AT&T has yet to make a move. Read more »
AT&T isn’t against Softbank taking over Sprint. Ma Bell just wants to get something out of the deal, according to Public Knowledge’s Harold Feld. Also Sprint’s buying a majority stake in Clearwire doesn’t give it the direct control of the 4G operator that we thought. Read more »
The FCC wants to kick off an incentive auction in 2014 that would buy back TV airwaves from the broadcasters and sell them to mobile operators at a premium. The plan isn’t without critics, but in general it was lauded by both consumer groups and carriers. Read more »
AT&T wants to rejigger a useless hunk of airwaves for LTE use, but to do so it needs special dispensation from the FCC. Today chairman Julius Genachowski signed off its plan and officially set the ball rolling toward opening the WCS band for 4G. Read more »
Wi-Fi, 4G, smart grids and the Internet Of Things are leading to a radiowave logjam, the European Commission fears. It wants license holders to hand over spectrum usable by a new generation of waveband-sharing technologies. Read more »
The Justice Department is giving Verizon clearance to close its $3.9 billion acquisition of the cable companies’ 4G airwaves. While it is imposing conditions on their joint-marketing agreements — basically non-compete pacts — to resell each others wireline and wireless services, the concessions are relatively minor. Read more »
A new agency that charges “TV-like” internet services to have their content standards regulated has proved controversial in the industry. But ATVOD has been given wholehearted backing to continue its work. Read more at paidContent »
Verizon may well gets it 4G spectrum and its co-marketing agreements from the cable operators, though it will be forced to make some minor compromises to get the deal approved. WSJ reports that regulators wants to put a five-year timeline on Verizon’s pact with cable. Read more »
Distributors are passing the buck and regulators are openly contradicting each other. UK VOD services may take heart as another regulator decision is overturned. But the rulings and counter-rulings leave liability for internet video in flux. Read more at paidContent »
By buying NextWave, AT&T removes the biggest obstacle to its plan to convert the Wireless Communications Services band from a worthless patch of airwaves to highly valuable 4G spectrum. The deal will cost AT&T $600 million but would pay dividends in new LTE capacity. Read more »
In an aggressive proposal, the President’s Council of Advisors on Policy and Technology not only wants the administration to double the amount of federal spectrum being targeted for new mobile and wireless networks, but it also wants to make a good portion of those airwaves shared. Read more »
A protest against Russian proposals to block websites deemed illegal has brought out the web’s big beast, after the bill was passed by the lower house of the country’s parliament. Read more »
In terms of mobile data, our smartphones are far more reliant on Wi-Fi. So why are carriers so single-mindedly focused on acquiring new licensed spectrum and building expensive 3G and 4G networks, when they could implement more Wi-Fi and tap into other sources of unlicensed spectrum? Read more »
Regulators should view Verizon planned pact with cable as a merger, not as a joint venture, argues the Consumer Federation of America. Seen in that light, the CFA said, the government will have little choice but to reject Verizon’s acquisition of the cable operators’ 4G spectrum. Read more »
