Items tagged with FCC
Julius Genachowski announced today that he will be stepping down from his post as Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission in the "coming weeks." Thus will end a nearly four-year run for the lawyer and businessman, who was nominated by President Obama and confirmed by the Senate at the end of June in 2009...
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Well, it's good to see the ball rolling on this one already. In January, the US government deemed it illegal to unlock your cell phone without explicit carrier permission - and obviously, that didn't go down too well with consumers. Almost immediately, a petition was started that garnered over 115,000 signatures. President Obama took notice,...
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We've all seen the reports that show the U.S. lagging behind quite a few other nations in terms of national average broadband speed (we're looking at you, South Korea), but the FCC now has a report out that details the best and the brightest available to American citizens. Of course, most people aren't able to look at...
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In what is already a hotly contested issue that will no doubt end in a high stakes showdown, the FCC and its chairman Julius Genachowski (pictured), is proposing a large-scale, free public WiFi network that would be more powerful than current home and office WiFi networks, according to the Washington Post. Essentially, these WiFi networks...
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How do you know we're living in the future? If Wi-Fi in the skies and second-screen experiences aren't enough for you, how about this? While Google has thought up some pretty outlandish things in its history, there's a big difference between cooking something up on a drawing board, and submitting something to the FCC for clearance. Google...
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Say what you will about the inefficiencies of government, but FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski has evidently been busy of late. While things like "Internet expansion" generally get shoved aside in place of things like "debt ceilings," Genachowski has been doing a fine job of keeping some of our interests in the...
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There was a bit of Alltel left over after the Verizon Wireless acquisition back in 2009, and now AT&T is gobbling up the rest. AT&T announced that it will purchase Alltel and its licenses, network assets, retail outlets, and subscribers (such as they are, at 585,000 people) for $780 million. Alltel operates in...
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Folks have long since argued about what government aspects are too wasteful, and which ones don't actually have a positive impact. But as technology fans, it's hard to knock this idea: FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski has called for at least one gigabit community in all 50 states by 2015. It's a new challenge that...
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It doesn't appear there will be any delaying Research In Motion's plans to launch at least one BlackBerry 10 device at the end of the month, as scheduled. In addition to the numerous leaked photos of RIM's upcoming products, a new BlackBerry device is now listed with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). The...
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With CES 2013 just around the bend, a few of the fancier items are beginning to surface early courtesy of FCC filings that are being unearthed. Generally speaking, a product destined for a U.S. reveal will scurry through the FCC's testing lair just days or weeks prior to its official announcement. And that seems to be...
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When it comes to flying in the U.S., and dealing with either the FCC or the FAA, "red tape" comes to mind. It's a heavily regulated industry, and with safety at the forefront, there's at least somewhat of an excuse. But, it's still no fun to deal with, particularly if you're waiting for Wi-Fi to come to your favorite...
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The Pebble smartwatch is most certainly in the limelight. After raising bookoodles of money on Kickstarter, the crowdfunded smartwatch has garnered the attention of the masses in a major way. And now, after it missed its September ship date, it's in the spotlight for another reason: ruining Christmas for some. All...
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One of the more annoying parts of flying, outside of the ridiculous TSA security process and the notoriously packed flights, is the whole "turn your phones off" thing before taking off. While the skeptics would argue that it's just a myth that a phone could wreck a plane's GPS system, the FAA takes the "better safe...
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By May 15, 2014, all four of the nation's top wireless carriers (AT&T, Verizon Wireless, Sprint, and T-Mobile) will support emergency texting. U.S. Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski said all four of these carriers have committed to major deployments of text-to-911 in 2013. The rollout is scheduled to be available...
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Mega e-tailer Amazon may be putting the cart before the horse in accepting pre-orders for its new line of Kindle Fire and Kindle Fire HD tablets. How so? Well, it's come to light that Amazon's new slates have not yet received approval from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), which is a requirement to sell any wireless product. It...
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Verizon Wireless customers have reason to celebrate today, at least the ones using Android devices. Following an investigation, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) ruled that VZW is not allowed to block third-party tethering apps on Android devices, and must also pay a $1.25 million fine to settle the...
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For too long, the download/upload speeds advertised by ISPs fell far short of real-world performance, but things have been improving of late. According to the FCC’s “Measuring Broadband America” 2012 report, ISPs were delivering an average of 96% of advertised speeds during peak traffic times, which is up significantly from...
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It's kind of a curious thing that Nintendo is the only console maker out of the big 3 to have announced a new generation model, the Wii U, which will be released in the fourth quarter of this year. Microsoft and Sony so far have preferred to keep their next-gen console plans close to their respective chests while they squeeze out a few more...
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Did you know that the FCC hasn’t updated its guidelines regarding maximum radiation levels in mobile devices since 1996? FCC chairman Julius Genachowski is apparently aware of this, because he’s looking to launch a formal inquiry into the matter. In a statement that was circulated to news outlets, the FCC...
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The end looks nigh for LightSquared. The company that intended to hook up with Sprint for 15 years (or more) in order to redefine the 4G landscape in the United States is on the brink of disaster, and according to a Wall Street Journal report, the cards could fold as early as tomorrow. Reportedly, Philip Falcone's...
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Due to unresolved interference issues, Sprint has terminated its 15-year 4G network agreement with LightSquared. We heard rumors this might be coming, and now, Sprint has made it official. The announcement comes after LightSquared was unable to find a resolution to interference issues found by the Federal Communications Commission which cited...
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Not really surprising, but things aren't looking so good for LightSquared. The company has been fighting for what feels like ages to get their wholesale LTE network approved despite staunch opposition from naysayers who contend that the network will interfere with GPS usage, and they've seemingly been losing more and...
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