BROWSING: Policy

NTIA establishes two broadband offices, gets $2.5b in funding requests

The National Telecommunications and Information Administration is gearing up to administer federal broadband funding on a larger scale than ever before, and it seems clear already that there is intense hunger for that resource: The agency said that it has received funding requests worth...

Nokia notches a rip-and-replace win with Union Wireless

Smaller U.S. operators like Union Wireless are in the process of removing Huawei equipment from their networks After several years of discussion at the federal level, including the slow machinations of making funding available, rural and regional U.S. operators are starting the process of removing...

How does C Spire handle the growing need for network security in rural broadband deployments?

C Spire's Chief Information Security Officer: 'Security needs to be aware of where the business is going' For a long time, increasing network availability and speed has dominated the rural broadband conversation; those aspects continue to be part of the ongoing debate around the pending...

How 5G slicing and edge computing will transform smart grids (Reader Forum)

Wireless smart meters have transformed the management of electricity, water, and gas supplies to homes and businesses. By some estimates, smart electricity meters have reduced electricity power consumption by approximately 5% to 15%. In 2020, there were 710 million electricity smart meters installed world-wide...

Detroit named home of public-private smart-city collaboration for ‘urban change’

The World Economic Forum is to establish a new ‘smart cities’ centre in Detroit, in the US, to stimulate the public and private sectors to collaborate on innovation to drive urban change. The new ‘global centre for urban transformation’, headquartered in the Michigan city...

IIC rebrands and refocuses – moves from IoT tech blueprints to IoT business gains

The Industrial Internet Consortium has rebranded as the Industry IoT Consortium. The IIC acronym remains. Explanation for the name change was limited, but claims some “new direction” and arguably reflects the technology sector’s acceptance of the internet of things (IoT) as the common technological...

‘Broadband is essential to full participation in modern life’: Senate passes $1 trillion infra bill

“Access to affordable, reliable, high-speed broadband is essential to full participation in modern life in the United States," reads the bipartisan infrastructure bill that was just passed by the U.S. Senate. Broadband industry groups largely welcomed the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which dedicates...

FCC releases new map of LTE voice, data for four largest US carriers

The Federal Communications Commission has released a new map of mobile network coverage for voice and data from AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile US and US Cellular, in another step toward improving the accuracy of its mapping data. The agency said that this is the first...

New GAO report calls on FCC to analyze small business broadband needs

For years, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) considered the broadband minimum benchmark speed for small businesses to be 25 megabits per second (Mbps) for downloading and 3 Mbps for uploading. However, a recent report published by the United States Government Accountability Office (GAO) confirmed...

Telstra, Optus, TPG under investigation for misleading customers over NBN speeds

Telstra, Optus and TPG have all said that the National Broadband Network Co has not provided 'timely and accurate speed information' Three Australian operators — Telstra, Optus and TPG — are under investigation by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) over allegations of making...

FCC looks to limit robocalling by changing up numbering rules for VoIP providers

The Federal Communications Commission continues to look for additional ways to foil scam and fraudulent robocalling operations, and it's considering changing its rules around who has access to U.S. phone numbers as one of its strategies. The FCC voted unanimously this week to take...

Race, income are key digital divide indicators, according to survey

Allconnect's survey suggests that black, Hispanic Americans are significantly more likely than white Americans to not have internet connection A survey conducted by Allconnect, an online broadband marketplace, revealed that race and income are the biggest factors that determined if a household had adequate internet...

Four things to know about NTIA’s new broadband map

Does the federal government finally have one broadband map to rule them all? Not quite, but it is getting closer. The National Telecommunications and Information Administration recently released a new, public broadband mapping tool that for the first time, overlays a number of different...

Carriers update progress as STIR/SHAKEN deadline hits

Yesterday was a major deadline for implementation of anti-robocalling tools. As part of its ongoing efforts to combat scam and fraudulent robocalls, the Federal Communications Commission had established June 30 as the deadline for network operators to implement the STIR/SHAKEN framework to authenticate that...

NIST tees-up research competition to grow smart manufacturing in the US

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has announced a new competition to support industry-driven consortia to develop new technologies to grow smart manufacturing in the US. The US commerce department said a new Technology Roadmaps (MfgTech) scheme, handled by NIST’s Manufacturing USA network...

Ligado gets 3GPP nod for 5G deployment in the L-band

Ligado Networks said that it has received approvals from the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) on specifications that will allow the deployment of 5G in its L-band spectrum. Specifically, Ligado said that 3GP approved a new 5G New Radio band n24 and some updates to...

‘If this were easy, it would already be done’: Nsight’s insights on rural broadband

"The business models are extremely complex and there is a lot of risk embedded in this," says Nsight's Brighid Riordan Brighid Riordan is the CINO and VP of Emerging Services and Public Affairs for regional telecom company Nsight, which operates the Cellcom wireless brand serving...

Broadband funding, everywhere: A rundown of major federal efforts

One of the biggest barriers to closing the digital divide has long been cost – it simply costs so much to put in the infrastructure that the return on investment takes too long or is simply non-existent, network operators have said. Now, in the...

Senate passes $250b measure to boost US chips, tech R&D

The U.S. Senate has approved a sweeping measure aimed at countering China's technological strength, outlining $250 billion in spending designed to boost U.S. technology research and development and chip production. The bill also includes $1.5 billion in spending in support of "5G innovation", including...

Fixed Wireless Access: The future of mobile is in your living room

The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed inequality in our society — and how lack of Internet connectivity can exacerbate that divide. Across the country, as students were sent home to learn remotely and workers were asked to work from home, those without reliable access to...

NTIA, FCC release coordination info for 3.45-3.55 GHz

In preparation for the auction of the 100 megahertz of midband spectrum at 3.45-3.55 GHz this fall, the Federal Communications Commission and National Telecommunications and Information Administration have released details on the limited locations in which commercial operators will have to coordinate with federal...

FCC puts a pin in 4.9 GHz leasing changes

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...

Well, technically… 5G has been one big, international fight: Internet Consultant Dominique Lazanski (Ep. 41)

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 pushes FCC to make a call on its TracFone merger

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...