You searched for FCC | Page 15 of 17

Telecom News

AST SpaceMobile to test direct-to-smartphone satellite broadband

By Aiste Kryzanovske May 5, 2022

The US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has given AST SpaceMobile, a five-year-old company located in Midland, Texas, permission to test a satellite that has the potential to deliver cellular broadband access for smartphone users in the US and throughout the world. According to the business, it is developing the first and only space-based cellular broadband network that will be immediately accessible by regular mobile phones. SpaceMobile, the company’s proposed network, intends to provide 4G/5G access to everyone on the world, on land, at sea, and in the air. No matter where they are, mobile customers will be able to seamlessly roam from terrestrial networks to the space-based network. AST SpaceMobile is launching BlueWalker 3, a test satellite meant to interact directly with mobile phones using 3GPP standard frequencies. The FCC has granted the business an experimental license for BlueWalker 3 space-to-ground testing in the United States. At least…

Telecom News

SoftBank Group announces an evergreen fund for underrepresented founders

By Aiste Kryzanovske March 16, 2022

SoftBank, a Japanese corporation, has announced the creation of an expanded evergreen fund dedicated solely to supporting Black, Latinx and Native American entrepreneurs in the United States. SoftBank’s $100 million Opportunity Growth Fund for underrepresented founders was announced in June 2020, and this pledge is a continuation of that fund. Up till now, the initiative has already benefited 70 businesses. About 55% of the first portfolio firms were formed by Black people, 40% by Latino people, and 5% by Black and Latino people. Despite this, the SoftBank Opportunity portfolio favors men, with only 13% of companies in the portfolio having been started by women of color. SoftBank Group announced a pledge to invest in underrepresented creators in the face of rising racial inequality, and the SB Opportunity Fund was formed in less than 24 hours. SoftBank is now doubling down on its first investment by making this initiative…

News Roundup

A quick roundup of the news in Telecoms | Week #6

By Aiste Kryzanovske February 11, 2022

Samsung introduces S22 flagship smartphones At its most recent Galaxy Unpacked presentation, Samsung Electronics announced a new lineup of premium smartphones. The S22 series has three 5G models, including the top-of-the-range Ultra edition, which includes features from Samsung’s previous Note handsets. With an Armor Aluminum frame used in all three versions, Samsung promises a highly durable phone. In addition, to lessen the environmental impact of the smartphones, the business has used recovered fishing nets and post-consumer trash in numerous components such as the speaker and keys. Read more at: https://tinyurl.com/yc7efuay FCC to tackle broadband discrimination The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has announced the creation of a new task force charged with establishing regulations that encourage equitable access to broadband as the organization prepares to crack down on digital discrimination. The task group will focus on developing regulations that prevent discrimination in broadband deployment based on a community’s income, racial or…

News Roundup

A quick roundup of the news in Telecoms | Week #2

By Aiste Kryzanovske January 14, 2022

AWS announces 3 new Local Zones AWS has announced that AWS Local Zones in Atlanta, Phoenix and Seattle are now generally available. Customers in these three metro regions can utilize these new Local Zones to deliver apps that require single-digit millisecond latency to end users or for on-premises deployments. The company presently has 17 Local Zones spread over 16 metropolises. Each zone provides select services inside Local Zones near population centers, typically where Amazon does not already have a data center footprint. Read more at: https://tinyurl.com/4ahzesr3 The Club collaborates with Google Cloud The Club, HKT’s loyalty program and digital enterprises arm, has inked a collaboration agreement with Google Cloud to build a hyper-personalization platform named ‘Copernicus.’ This platform will be integrated throughout The Club’s business pillars into its digital environment. The Club hopes to give clients a personalized online digital experience by combining the network and database with Google Cloud…

News Roundup

A quick roundup of the news in Telecoms | Week #1

By Aiste Kryzanovske January 7, 2022

Verizon and AT&T delay 5G rollouts After initially refusing to postpone the launch of their new 5G service which had been set for January 5, 2022, AT&T and Verizon have decided to delay the rollout by two weeks. According to airline industry representatives, a last-minute draft agreement was first negotiated with AT&T and subsequently with Verizon. Aviation officials are concerned that the new technology will interfere with flight altitude-measuring equipment. Read more at: https://tinyurl.com/2p8sbzc7 Amazon, Cisco and Lockheed Martin collaborate on a space mission Callisto, a tech demonstration payload, will be deployed onboard NASA’s Orion spacecraft during its unmanned Artemis I trip around the Moon, thanks to a collaboration between Cisco, Amazon and Lockheed Martin. The goal is to determine if voice and video communication technology can assist astronauts and increase their mission efficiency and situational awareness. The Callisto payload has bespoke hardware and software created by the three companies…

News Roundup

A quick roundup of the news in Telecoms | Week #52

By Vilija Simkiene December 31, 2021

Xiaomi unveils new flagship smartphones The Chinese tech giant Xiaomi has introduced its new flagship smartphones, the Xiaomi 12 and Xiaomi 12 Pro, which will go on sale in China from December 31st. The global launch of the Xiaomi 12 is expected to follow in early 2022. According to the company’s press release, the Xiaomi 12 and Xiaomi 12 Pro are powered by the latest Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 processor, and feature industry-leading DisplayMate A+ OLED displays and powerful imaging capabilities. During the presentation, Xiaomi CEO Lei Jun indicated that the new smartphone would be a direct competitor to the iPhone 13. Read more at: https://tinyurl.com/58byr3fu Telefónica acquires Ericsson 5G equipment to replace Huawei Telefónica, Spain’s leading telecommunications group, has bought 5G network equipment from the Swedish manufacturer Ericsson to replace some Huawei gear that it has deployed in Spain. According to the local newspaper Expansion, Telefónica had initially rolled out…

News Roundup

A quick roundup of the news in Telecoms | Week #47

By Aiste Kryzanovske November 26, 2021

Verizon gets approval for TracFone purchase Verizon stated in September 2020 that it will attempt to acquire TracFone Wireless, a pre-paid mobile phone operator, for $6.25 billion. The FCC approved the transaction last week, attaching restrictions that would safeguard TracFone customers in a variety of ways, including ensuring inexpensive 5G handsets and avoiding price rises, all of which will be evaluated on a regular basis by an independent agency. Verizon is also required to participate in the Lifeline program, which provides subsidies to low-income subscribers. TracFone is now one of the major carriers supporting the Lifeline program, with 1.7 million low-income subscribers participating across the country. Read more at: https://tinyurl.com/jxrh6p5v Tata Communications launches GlobalRapide Tata Communications, a worldwide digital ecosystem facilitator, has announced Tata Communications GlobalRapide, an end-to-end managed UCaaS that enables organizations to provide workers with technologically enhanced, sophisticated and intelligent collaboration experiences. With this new solution, Tata Communications…

News Roundup

A quick roundup of the news in Telecoms | Week #43

By Aiste Kryzanovske October 29, 2021

VMware announces RAN intelligent controller This week, VMware released several of their initiatives aimed at bolstering and solidifying the company’s telco cloud plans. The debut of the RAN intelligent controller is one of the recent announcements (RIC). The VMware RIC will be accessible in two deployment models: centralized and distributed, and will be capable of abstracting the underlying RAN architecture and providing RAN programmability via xApps and rApps. Wireless operators, according to VMware, are ready to transition from relatively inflexible conventional RAN infrastructures to more heterogeneous, multi-vendor virtualized RANs. Read more at: https://tinyurl.com/2nxkde8x Verizon teams up with Project Kuiper Verizon and Amazon’s Project Kuiper, a low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite network, have established a collaborative partnership to provide broadband solutions for unserved and underserved populations. Project Kuiper and Verizon have begun to establish technical specifications and define early business strategies for a variety of connection offerings for US consumers and…

Telecom News

A quick roundup of the news in Telecoms | Week #35

By Aiste Kryzanovske September 3, 2021

Verizon launches Verizon 5G Edge with Microsoft Verizon has partnered with Microsoft to introduce the aptly named Verizon 5G Edge with Microsoft Azure Stack Edge cloud computing platform, fulfilling their stated commitment when they announced their cooperation last October. The platform can provide corporate clients with an on-premises, private edge compute solution that supports the ultra-low latency necessary for real-time enterprise applications. The collaboration with Microsoft provides 5G Edge to companies, lowering latency at the edge and allowing important, performance-sensitive applications to respond more rapidly and effectively. Read more at: https://tinyurl.com/8bz3rwdf FCC warns about fake broadband subsidy website The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) alerted the public about the discovery of a website that fraudulently promised to enroll customers in the agency’s Emergency Broadband Benefit (EBB) Program and encouraged individuals who visited the site to take precautions against fraud. A website named WiFi Freedom USA mimicked the government’s sign-up page, offering…

Telecom News

SK Telecom introduces subscription services, purchases KCP, and more

By Aiste Kryzanovske August 31, 2021

SK Telecom, South Korea’s leading mobile carrier, recently launched a new subscription service and also purchased a 20% stake in Korea Content Platform (KCP), a US-based joint venture of Korean terrestrial broadcasters. In addition, the company began monitoring marine pollution with Hoseo University and the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute. On Sunday, SK Telecom announced that it had finalized the acquisition of a 20% shareholding in KCP for $25.8 million in order to expand the content portfolio and audience base of its over-the-top (OTT) platform Wavve. According to industry experts, the presence of KCP in the United States will aid in the creation of synergy with Wavve. In addition, the company has introduced a suite of subscription services, named ‘T Universe’, for its clients, which appear to be a collection of ecommerce services. While there will be several subscription packages available, the main one is called Universe Pass,…