Tag archive: FCC

According to a recent article at Public Knowledge, cables companies are pushing the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to reconsider a rule regarding the encryption of the basic cable tier. During the early nineties, a rule was adopted by the FCC to make sure cable companies kept a portion of the broadcast stations completely unencrypted. Commonly known as “basic cable” by the public, these stations can be accessed without the… Read More

This week the FCC is working on overhauling its Lifeline service, which is a program that currently provides discounts to low income households so they can have access to cheap phone service. One of the FCC's main goals in the new order is fraud reduction and better accountability, but there is also a push to modernize the program with the inclusion of making broadband available for those in the low income bracket. Lifeline is part of the… Read More

As mentioned within a press release earlier today, the first commercial ”Super Wi-Fi” network was launched in Wilmington, North Carolina. Called the “first FCC-approved smart city”, the city is utilizing the white space spectrum located between TV channels to provide wireless access across a public portion of Hugh MacRae park. Due to the lower frequency band, these Wi-Fi signals can travel through varied terrain… Read More

Mobile operator AT&T got a bit of a holiday present from the Federal Communications Commission: the FCC has approved its $1.9 billion purchase of 700 MHz spectrum blocks from Qualcomm, a move that will help AT&T build out its LTE 4G network. “This spectrum will help AT&T continue to deliver a world-class mobile broadband experience to our customers,” said AT&T's senior VP for federal regulatory issues Bob… Read More

The Nokia Lumia 800 has been cleared for sale in the US by the FCC, just a week after its little brother, the Lumia 710, was announced by T-Mobile. Of the two, the Lumia 800 is the more desirable model, thanks to its higher specification and sleek design, reminiscent of the doomed Nokia N9. Spotted by AllThingsD, the filing unfortunately gives nothing away concerning when it'll launch, or which network will carry it. When the Lumia 710… Read More

Watching television is about to get a lot less obnoxious. No, they didn't cancel “Jersey Shore,” sadly. It's something better. The Federal Communications Commission on Tuesday passed a new regulation, the Commercial Advertisement Loudness Mitigation Act (CALM), which requires cable and satellite TV broadcasters to maintain the same volume between shows and commercials. “Most of us have … experienced this ourselves:… Read More

As reported earlier this year as a alternative to data caps, AT&T has begun sending messages to all smartphone owners that are among the top five percent of data users on the network. This was first spotted by a Cult of Mac user and posted on the popular Apple blog. After sending the text message warning of the decreased speed, AT&T throttles that account down to 2G (EDGE) speeds for the remainder of the billing cycle. The majority of… Read More

There is no doubt that governments, corporations, groups, and individuals use the power of technology for good and evil. Speaking at the United States Holocaust Memorial Council, FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski connected the hardships of those who endured Nazi oppression in Europe during and before World War II to any person alive today. Much like how the Nazis used the latest technology to further their horrible goals, technology can be… Read More

Now that both the Justice Department and the Federal Communications Commission have come out against AT&T's proposed $39 billion merger with T-Mobile, the company is scrambling to find a way to make the deal go through—even as it braces for the possibility of failure. AT&T has withdrawn its merger application from the FCC to focus solely on the Justice Department's objections to the deal, and reports have AT&T looking to… Read More

In a surprising move AT&T and T-Mobile owner Deutsche Telekom are bracing for a deal collapse. Both the FCC and Department of Justice oppose the buyout, and AT&T is taking some precautionary actions just in case the deal doesn’t go through. The fact that AT&T and Deutsche Telekom waiting until the night before Thanksgiving to release the news is a sign that they were hoping this news wouldn’t be seen by many people. The biggest… Read More

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski will allegedly come out against the proposed AT&T acquisition of T-Mobile USA, saying that the deal is not in the public interest, reports the Wall Street Journal, citing persons close to the matter. Genachowski is reportedly asking the other four FCC commissioners to approve an administrative hearing, during which AT&T and T-Mobile would be forced to convince the panel why… Read More

In a party-line vote of 52-46, Senate Democrats successfully blocked a Republican-led effort to overturn the Federal Communications Commission's net neutrality regulations, which are set to go into effect later this month. The attempt to block the implementation of the FCC's net neutrality rules was pushed forward by Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX), who, along with her fellow Republicans, argues that greater federal regulations… Read More

One of China’s largest wireless providers will be making its way to U.S. consumers sometime in the new year. In an interview with Bloomberg, president of China Telecom Americas' Donald Tan revealed the MVNO (mobile virtual network operator) service will be competitively priced and will target Chinese-American tourists, students, and business travelers. Basically, this option will work by giving its users one line that works in the United… Read More

The broadband gap continues to plague much of the country, leaving vast stretches of America with limited or no Internet connection. And these Internet oases are becoming more than just a frustration for consumers: They are beginning to seriously affect academic and professional lives. Internet access was recently determined to be a human right, and the fact that a third of U.S. citizens go without high-speed connections is somewhat shocking.… Read More

Occurring on early Friday, a handful of T-Mobile customers were treated to a test of the Personal Localized Alert Network (PLAN) that occurred before any scheduled public test. Originally reported by Lance Ulanoff over at Mashable, the test involved a startling noise that played on his HTC Radar 4G that was similar to the alert siren heard when the Emergency Broadcast System is tested on a television, likely taking T-Mobile customers by… Read More