FCC Archives | Page 4 of 6

According to the Federal Communications Commission, callers must receive the recipient’s permission before leaving “ringless voicemails.” The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has unanimously concluded that these quiet voicemails are subject to the same Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) provisions that prohibit robocalls without authorization. Each year, the FCC receives numerous consumer complaints about ringless voicemail. As a result, the Commission has made it clear that robocalls, including ringless voicemail, are unlawful if they are made without the recipient’s prior affirmative consent. This decision took effect on the same day that it was made public, November 21, 2022. Any non-emergency call made to a wireless telephone number utilizing an automatic telephone dialing system or an artificial or prerecorded voice is now forbidden under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, which safeguards customers against unwanted robocalls. This decision comes five years after All About the Message, LLC (AATM) petitioned the…

News Roundup

A quick roundup of the news in Telecoms | Week #37

By Aiste Kryzanovske September 16, 2022

FCC to tackle space debris problem New regulations have been proposed by the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to address the escalating space debris issue. The regulatory body hopes to cut the 25-year period when low Earth orbit (LEO) satellites are permitted to linger in space after their mission ends to no more than five years. The probability of this space debris colliding with something important such as a working satellite would be reduced if this unused equipment were to be deorbited sooner. Read more at: https://tinyurl.com/2p9aj6jk TalkTalk establishes two new wholesale divisions TalkTalk has revealed the launch of two new wholesale businesses. The first focuses on business-to-business wholesale services, while the second focuses on the consumer market sector. The Business Wholesale Services segment will provide resellers, aggregators and system integrators with premium and high bandwidth services. Meanwhile, the company’s nearly one million home clients will be served by the…

News Roundup

A quick roundup of the news in Telecoms | Week #32

By Aiste Kryzanovske August 12, 2022

CMA probes ViaSat acquisition of Inmarsat The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) of the UK has said that it is starting its own investigation into ViaSat’s acquisition of Inmarsat. The two operators had initially expressed their expectations that the transaction would conclude in the middle of 2022, with input from different regulatory organizations. By October 5, the CMA is anticipated to decide if a thorough probe into this transaction is necessary. The merged corporation will initially operate a fleet of 19 satellites in various orbits and spectrum regions, with ten more in the works. Read more at: https://tinyurl.com/y8zcwwtz FCC stops subsidies for SpaceX Starlink The FCC has refused to approve the Starlink proposal, stating that it was uncertain if the technology could reach the advertised speeds in its current state. The regulator highlighted that Ookla’s most recent projections indicated a reduction in the speeds Starlink may offer in 2022. According…

News Roundup

A quick roundup of the news in Telecoms | Week #29

By Aiste Kryzanovske July 22, 2022

Google and Oracle experience data center outages due to UK heatwave Following a record-breaking heat wave that blasted Britain on Tuesday, data centers used by Google and Oracle Corp. have both failed. Both businesses attributed the disruptions to “cooling systems” issues. Both Google and Oracle have shut down equipment, causing interruptions to their cloud services, in order to prevent irreparable damage to physical components and thereby creating a lengthy outage. On Tuesday, when the outages started to spread through London, temperatures in the UK reached 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit). Read more at: https://tinyurl.com/3t2xm2a5 FBI and Verizon Network enter $400 million contract Verizon and the FBI have signed a new $400 million deal, with the telecoms giant assisting to increase the data bandwidth for the law enforcement organization. New features include a worldwide Virtual Private Network and faster data transmission rates using 4G and 5G wireless connectivity within the…

News Roundup

A quick roundup of the news in Telecoms | Week #26

By Vilija Simkiene July 1, 2022

UK telecoms sector agrees to help customers in need The UK government and operators have approved a new deal to help customers who are struggling to pay their broadband and mobile bills. Andrew Glover, chair of the Internet Service Providers’ Association (ISPA), stated, “The telecoms sector knows that people are facing real challenges with the cost-of-living crisis. Our members are determined to do what they can to help their customers through this period and, together with the government, we will work to raise greater awareness of the support available.” Among other measures, telcos have agreed to allow vulnerable customers to switch to cheaper tariffs without charge or penalty, or adjust their plans to make payments more manageable. Read more at https://tinyurl.com/msjxsp2f Sinch achieves HIPAA compliance for its voice, fax and UCaaS services Sinch has announced that it has successfully achieved third-party validation of its compliance with the Health Insurance Portability…

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

FCC flags Russia’s Kaspersky as a security threat

By Aiste Kryzanovske March 30, 2022

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has named Kaspersky Lab, a Moscow-based cybersecurity business and developer of popular antivirus software, as one of the organizations posing an unacceptable danger to US national security. Kaspersky is the first Russian company to be added to the list, which is currently dominated by Chinese telecoms companies. The FCC has now released its most recent list of untrustworthy vendors, which includes, for the first time, a non-Chinese company: Kaspersky. Kaspersky joins Huawei Technologies, ZTE Corporation, Hytera, Hangzhou Hikvision Digital Technology Company, Dahua Technology Company, China Telecom (Americas) and China Mobile International USA on the list. Once a company has been included on the list, it is illegal for that organization to use federal subsidies, which are distributed through the FCC’s $8 billion yearly Universal Service Fund, or to buy any of its products or services. Domestic consumers, with the exception of government employees,…

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 #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…