Items tagged with FCC
Federal Communications Commission (FCC) chairman Tom Wheeler has asked the wireless industry to voluntarily support the addition of features that would make it more difficult and/or less desirable for for thieves to steal mobile phones. A couple of the measures the FCC would like to see smartphone makers and wireless carriers adopt include remote lock and remote wiping."If implemented, these features will result in more consumers using these powerful features which, in turn, will mark a key milestone in combating smartphone theft," Wheeler said in a statement.It's also being recommended that the ability to call 911 remains possible even when a phone is locked, and that these features be added...
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Today is a good day: net neutrality rules are now active. Despite the fact that some companies have initiated legal action against the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) for its approval of net neutrality rules, the US Court of Appeals has worked in its favor by refusing to put a halt on things, stating "petitioners have not satisfied the stringent requirements". Since the FCC approved net neutrality back in February, there's been a ton of excitement from regular consumers and much angst from the biggest ISPs. About a month after the approval, AT&T, Verizon, and others, decided to go to court to slow the process of instating net neutrality rules down. On multiple occasions, those...
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AT&T's loathing of the FCC's Open Internet Order isn't as strong as its desire to acquire satellite TV provider DirecTV. As such, the telecom is expected to put into writing a promise to abide by the FCC's net neutrality rules in order so that the government organization will be comfortable in green lighting the proposed $48.5 billion merger. This is a big deal for AT&T, a major telecom that's been vehemently opposed to the agency's net neutrality rules, or at least the way it went about implementing them. The FCC earlier this year was successful in reclassifying broadband Internet as a utility under Title II of the Communications Act of 1934, thus giving itself the power it needed to...
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A Bloomberg report that came out on Memorial Day was right on the money when it came to Charter’s ambitions to take on cable juggernaut Comcast. Bloomberg learned that Charter would scoop up Time Warner Cable (TWC) for $195 per share, valuing the transaction at roughly $55 billion. Charter confirmed the acquisition this morning, valuing each TWC share at approximately $195.71. The transaction has an equity value of $55.76 billion, but TWC has long-term debt of $22.64 billion which value the entire whole shebang at over $78 billion. The TWC acquisition will vault Charter from fourth place in the U.S. cable market to second place, right behind Comcast. The combined companies will have an estimated...
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It looks as though North Carolina’s municipal Internet fight is about to get a bit nastier. North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper has “gone to the mattresses” in order to stop the FCC from exerting its power over state affairs. But before we get into this latest development, we need a bit of a backgrounder. The towns of Chattanooga, Tennessee and Wilson, North Carolina were at a time home to underdeveloped and poor-performing Internet solutions from companies like Comcast and Time Warner Cable. When neither ISP expressed any willingness to offer customers faster Internet speeds, both towns took action to build their own respective fiber networks. Citizens benefited from well-priced...
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Late last week, we reported on the lack of sympathy FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler has for Internet Service Providers (ISPs). While ISPs complain about how net neutrality -- and especially Title II classification -- could stifle innovation and hurt competition, Wheeler's response was a simple: "You don't have a lot of competition." Not that we'd expect it to, but nothing has changed with either Wheeler's or the FCC's stance since those comments were made. On Friday, the agency responded to a May 1 request by ISPs and related groups to delay the roll out of these major changes -- and sticking to its guns, the agency denied it. Flickr: The Cable Show It's not so...
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Long before the FCC passed its net neutrality rules, the agency's chairman, Tom Wheeler, didn't instill much confidence in those who favored them. This hinged on comments Wheeler previously made -- some of which made it sound like he didn't properly understand why net neutrality was important. Fueling this anxiety further was the fact that Wheeler once worked for the National Cable & Telecommunications Association. Leading up to the passing of net neutrality rules, though, opinions of Wheeler began to do a 180°. Refreshingly, Wheeler's comments were legitimate, and at the end of February, he and two commissioners voted in favor of net neutrality. Since then, a lot has...
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Speaking at TechCrunch Disrupt in New York on Monday, FCC chairman Tom Wheeler went on record with his thoughts on the now-dead $42 billion bid by Comcast to absorb Time-Warner Cable (TWC), saying that he thought Comcast CEO Brian Roberts made a "really good decision" in choosing to end the takeover attempt rather than continue the fight. The punditry at large thought that Philadelphia-based Comcast's bid for its New York City rival — which was launched in February 2014 — would sail through antitrust reviews, however, the FCC virtually sealed its doom when they called for a hearing, a disruptive process that carried with it great implications for failure. Wheeler himself indicated...
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As expected would happen, AT&T along with several other telecoms and cable companies have reportedly filed a stay request to prevent the Federal Communications Commission from reclassifying broadband Internet service as a public utility under Title II of the Communications Act, a piece of legislation that's over 80 years old.The FCC made the ruling back in February, and by reclassifying broadband as a public utility, the government arm gave itself power to implement net neutrality rules. At the same time, FCC chairman Tom Wheeler made it clear that the fear mongering over implementing dated legislation to regulate broadband may make for "a good sound bite, but is misleading when used to describe...
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The opposition to the $45 billion Comcast-Time Warner Cable merger is growing. Late last week, we reported that the Department of Justice (DOJ) antitrust division is damn near close to recommending that the deal be nuked. The DOJ’s recommendations could ultimately lead to a lawsuit aimed at stopping the deal in its tracks. For its part, Comcast contends that a merger with TWC would be good for consumers. “There is no basis for a lawsuit to block the transaction,” said Comcast spokeswoman Sena Fitzmaurice last week. Fitzmaurice went on to add that the deal would “result in significant consumer benefits -- faster broadband speeds, access to a superior video experience, and more competition in business...
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The assault on the FCC’s net neutrality rules is well underway and a bill introduced by Rep. Doug Collins (R-Ga.) may strike the killing blow. As we noted yesterday, a telecom trade group filed a lawsuit this week, alleging that the FFC’s reclassification of broadband Internet as a utility violates federal law. But FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler was confident that the FCC’s move, which gives the Internet protection in the form of the Title II Communications Act, would prove to be unassailable in the courts. Image credit: NYC Rolling RebellionThe rule’s ability to withstand legal challenges won’t matter if the Resolution of Disapproval succeeds. The resolution, which is backed by 15 Republican lawmakers,...
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Well, that didn’t take long. It was only a week ago that FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler predicted lawsuits would challenge the FCC’s classification of broadband Internet service as a utility – and fail. Today, the United States Telecom Association set out to prove him wrong. The industry trade group filed a lawsuit that asserts the reclassification violates federal law. “In challenging the legality of the FCC’s Open Internet order, USTelecom believes the FCC used the wrong approach to implementing net neutrality standards, which our industry supports and incorporates into everyday business practices,” said USTelecom President Walter McCormic in a statement today. The FCC published its reclassification...
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Not everyone is happy with the Federal Communications Commission's decision to reclassify broadband Internet service as a utility under Title II of the Communications Act of 1934; an 81-year-old law intended to regulate the telecommunications sector. In particular, wireless carriers, Internet service providers, and republicans are miffed at the FCC's actions and plan to take matters to court. No worries, says FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler. Wheeler gave a speech at Ohio State University where he emphatically stated that the net neutrality rules, as laid out by reclassifying the Internet as a utility, will stand up to legal challenges. He's not denying that there will be...
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Leading up to the FCC's approval of net neutrality rules last month, it had been clear that companies opposing the move wouldn't be resting on their laurels for too long afterwards. In particular, AT&T's CEO Randall Stephenson said that there 'will be litigation', and as it happens, he meant it. AT&T's Randall Stephenson; Flickr: Dan Farber Yesterday, trade group USTelecom, of which AT&T and Verizon are members, issued a petition to the US Court of Appeals to help thwart net neutrality rules from becoming active (which is set to happen 60 days after the FCC ruling). In the petition, USTelecom stresses that the FCC could have been overstepping its bounds with this move, going...
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The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) today made available the full text of its Open Internet Order following the reclassification of broadband Internet as a utility in a recent 3-2 vote. It's a long read -- exactly 400 pages from start to finish, and it includes dissenting opinions from Republican commissioners. This is the first time the full text has been available for mass consumption. Commissioners Ajit Pai and Micheal O'Rielly were the two biggest dissenters to the FCC's decision to reclassify the Internet under Title II of the Communications Act of 1934. Their opinions are spelled out in detail in the order, including 64 pages written by Pai and 16 pages by O'Rielly. We're still...
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As someone who once served as the governor of Florida, it stands to reason that presidential hopeful Jeb Bush has seen and heard some downright wild ideas, as most politicians probably have. But the one that's apparently so far out there as to be deemed the "craziest idea" of all is the Federal Communications Commission's decision to regulate broadband Internet as a utility. "The idea of regulating access to the Internet with a 1934 law is one of the craziest ideas I've ever heard," Bush said, according to Time. "Just think of the logic of using a 1934 law that was designed when we did have a monopoly for wire line service as the basis to regulate the most dynamic part...
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What we had hoped for has come true: The Federal Communications Commission has approved net neutrality rules. Make no mistake, this is a hugely important move, and an almost surprising one given just how much it caters to keeping the Internet open. With these rules, ISPs will be unable to throttle the data that passes through their pipes, and they certainly can't charge companies for "fast lane" privileges. The Internet will be open, free... period. Well, you know, we can just ignore the fact that the government will continue to do whatever eavesdropping it wants - but that's totally unrelated to what net neutrality is about. Today's ruling means that Internet access in the US will fall under...
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The road to net neutrality and winning the Internet, as it were, won't be one that's quickly or easily traveled. On the bright side, Federal Communications Chairman (FCC) Tom Wheeler earlier this month announced quite plainly that the FCC will propose reclassifying the Internet as a utility under Title II of the 1934 Communications Act, putting it into the same category that power companies fall into. Doing so would give the FCC the power it needs to regulate Internet so that it stays free and open, but as you can imagine, telcos and ISPs aren't particularly happy about this. In fact, AT&T Chairman and CEO Randall Stephenson warned that litigation is...
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Thanks to the efforts of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and its Chairman Tom Wheeler, you shouldn't have too much trouble unlocking your cellphone post contract and taking it to another carrier. It's certainly legal, which was a bit of a gray area two years ago. But Wheeler and all four major wireless carriers in the U.S. came to an agreement that effective today, allows mobile phones to be unlocked upon request. If for some reason they can't, then they must "provide the necessary information to unlock their devices for their customers and former customers in good standing and individual owners of eligible devices after the fulfillment of the applicable postpaid service...
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We reported earlier this week that the FCC was expected to issue a new net neutrality proposal this week, and as we can now see, it hasn't taken long to get a follow-up. In fact, FCC chairman Tom Wheeler has gone the extra mile by penning his own piece for Wired so that we could learn about this new proposal in layman's terms. As we hoped, the FCC will in fact be proposing that our Internet access will be classified as Title II, which would put it in the same category that power companies fall into. As far as many people are concerned, including myself, Title II is the only way we can guarantee that our Internet remains "open", free of so-called fast lanes. Flickr: Stephen Melkisethian In his...
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Well, here's some long overdue progress. It's expected that on Thursday, FCC chairman Tom Wheeler will issue a proposal that works in net neutrality's favor, and fortunately, a vote will take place just a few weeks later. Wheeler's proposal would make our Internet access a Title II utility. That means that it'd be regulated in much the same way as public utilities, such as power, but it's expected that this proposal will stop short of having any oversight on pricing. Flickr: Stephen Melkisethian One of the greatest benefits of putting our Internet access under Title II is that fast lanes will not be allowed, which is to say that companies will not be able to pay ISPs more for improved traffic...
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For many Americans seeking high-speed Internet access for their homes, options are often very limited. In the Raleigh, NC area I have access to exactly two players when it comes to reliable high-speed internet for my home: Time Warner Cable and AT&T. Time Warner Cable’s highest speed tier in my area gives me 50 Mbps downstream and 5 Mbps upstream speeds. On the AT&T front, I can’t even get U-Verse at my address, so I would be limited to 6 Mbps downstream speeds via DSL (reliable information on upstream speeds is quite elusive, although they likely aren’t very good). With limited choice and often dismal upstream speeds, it’s no wonder that many people are excited to hear that newcomers...
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