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☆ US FCC votes to expand vehicle, drone radar operations
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-18 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

WASHINGTON, May 18 (Reuters) - The Federal Communications Commission on Thursday voted to expand the use of vehicle drone and other short-range radar operations. The decision by the U.S. telecommunications regulator will support technologies to detect children left behind in hot cars and driver assistance features like pedestrian detection and lane departure warnings as well detecting the breathing of premature infants in intensive care units. The decision will also assist drones in construction, emergency rescue and commercial applications, the FCC said. Reporting by David ShepardsonOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ U.S. forms team to set national strategy on flying air taxis
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

WASHINGTON, May 16 (Reuters) - The Biden administration said Tuesday it has formed an interagency team to develop a national strategy on advanced air mobility efforts like flying taxis. Electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft (eVTOL) have been touted as the future of urban air mobility. The low-altitude urban air mobility aircraft has drawn intense interest around the world as numerous eVTOL companies have gone public. The U.S. Transportation Department said the team includes NASA, Transportation Security Administration, Federal Aviation Administration and Federal Communications Commission. Reporting by David ShepardsonOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Twitter’s new encrypted message feature criticized by security and privacy experts
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-11 | by ( Brian Fung | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

In addition, encrypted messages may only be sent between two individuals, not groups. Both participants must either have exchanged direct messages in the past, or the recipient of an encrypted message must already follow the sender. Twitter’s former chief information security officer, Lea Kissner, publicly pleaded with Twitter’s current engineering team to improve the feature quickly. And it announced that its goal is to provide a similar level of protection as other privacy-preserving apps that come highly recommended by security experts, such as Signal. The lack of so-called end-to-end encryption makes Twitter’s implementation largely meaningless, security experts said.

☆ Former FCC Chair Newton Minow, who called 1960s TV 'vast wasteland', dies at 97
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-07 | by ( Bill Trott | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

On May 9, 1961, he addressed the National Association of Broadcasters convention and had some stark criticism for television executives. "When television is good, nothing - not the theater, not the magazines or newspapers - nothing is better," Minow said. "I can assure you that what you will observe is a vast wasteland," he said. The speech draft had referred to a "vast wasteland of junk" but Minow excised "of junk" so as not to offend his audience too deeply. Minow headed the FCC for two years and in 1965 became a partner at the Chicago law firm of Sidley Austin.

☆ Newton N. Minow, F.C.C. Chief Who Deemed TV a ‘Vast Wasteland,’ Dies at 97
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-06 | by ( Robert D. Mcfadden | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Newton N. Minow, who as President John F. Kennedy’s new F.C.C. chairman in 1961 sent shock waves through an industry and touched a nerve in a nation addicted to banality and mayhem by calling American television “a vast wasteland,” died on Saturday at his home in Chicago . His daughter Nell Minow said the cause was a heart attack. “Stay there without a book, magazine, newspaper, profit-and-loss sheet or rating book to distract you, and keep your eyes glued to that set until the station signs off,” Mr. Minow said. And endlessly, commercials — many screaming, cajoling and offending.

☆ U.S. will not extend July 1 5G airplane retrofit deadline
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-02 | by ( David Shepardson | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

REUTERS/Sam WolfeWASHINGTON, May 2 (Reuters) - U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg told airlines on Tuesday the Biden administration does not plan to extend a July 1 deadline for airlines to retrofit airplane altimeters to address potential interference, the department confirmed. Buttigieg told airlines on a call the department does not plan to extend the deadline and urged them to work aggressively to continue retrofitting airplanes. Last year, Verizon (VZ.N) and AT&T (T.N) voluntarily agreed to delay some C-Band 5G usage until July 1 as air carriers worked to retrofit airplane altimeters. Separately, the FAA on Tuesday proposed seven airworthiness directives (ADs) for many Boeing (BA.N) aircraft due to the potential for 5G C-band interference. They require revising aircraft flight manuals by June 30 to prohibit some landings and include specific operating procedures for calculating landing distances and certain approaches when in the presence of 5G C-band interference.

☆ These are investor Mario Gabelli's favorite value stocks
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( Samantha Subin | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Billionaire investor Mario Gabelli is finding some value buying opportunities in this murky macroenvironment. Due to its reasonable balance sheet, solid management and defense tailwinds, Gabelli said investors can make 50% on their investment in two years' time. Finally, Gabelli highlighted Grupo Televisa SAB , a Latin American media company based in Mexico. In 2021, Grupo Televisa agreed to sell its media and content division in a deal valued at $4.8 billion, while maintaining a stake in the newly formed TelevisaUnivision. A potential public offering in the next year and a half should also benefit Grupo Televisa, now trading under $5 a share, Gabelli said.

WASHINGTON, April 12 (Reuters) - America's cybersecurity watchdog has no confidence that the cellular network used by American first responders and the military is secure against digital intrusions, U.S. The letter from the Oregon Democrat, a member of the intelligence committee, was addressed to the National Security Agency (NSA) and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA). It concerns FirstNet, a dedicated mobile network for public safety officials such as emergency workers, firefighters and law enforcement. "These security flaws are also a national security issue, particularly if foreign governments can exploit these flaws to target U.S. government personnel," his letter said. Wyden called on FirstNet to share any security audits with the NSA and CISA or - alternatively - for the government to commission audits of its own.

☆ U.S. House to vote on bill to address potential Huawei, ZTE threats
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-11 | by ( David Shepardson | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

WASHINGTON, April 11 (Reuters) - The House of Representatives is set to vote next week on a bill to crack down on Chinese telecommunications companies Huawei and ZTE Corp (000063.SZ) that have been deemed security threats by the U.S. government. The legislation would also require publicly traded companies to disclose whether they have contracted to use Huawei or ZTE or services covered under the bill. The Federal Communications Commission in November banned approvals of new telecommunications equipment from Huawei and ZTE, saying they pose "an unacceptable risk" to U.S. national security. Washington has for years pressured U.S. allies not to use Huawei or ZTE equipment from 5G networks or remove gear from existing networks. The FCC designated Huawei and ZTE as threats, requiring U.S. companies to remove their gear or be frozen out of an $8.3 billion government fund to purchase new equipment.

☆ FBI warns against using public phone charging stations
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-10 | by ( Rohan Goswami | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

The FBI recently warned consumers against using free public charging stations, saying that bad actors have managed to hijack public chargers that can infect devices with malware, or software that can give hackers access to your phone, tablet or computer. "Avoid using free charging stations in airports, hotels or shopping centers," a tweet from the FBI's Denver field office said. "Bad actors have figured out ways to use public USB ports to introduce malware and monitoring software onto devices. The Federal Communications Commission has also warned about "juice jacking," as the malware loading scheme is known, since 2021. The FCC told consumers to avoid those public stations.

☆ The FBI says you may want to think twice before plugging into a free phone-charging station
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-10 | by ( Samantha Delouya | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

The FBI warned people to avoid using free phone-charging stations found in hotels, airports, and other public places. A Los Angeles deputy district attorney once warned that "a free charge could end up draining your bank account." Free phone-charging stations are often found in shopping centers, airports, and hotels. Some cities also offer free charging at public bus stops. Charging stations that have USB cords already plugged in could signal a hack, according to a report in the New York Times.

☆ Here’s the real reason to turn on airplane mode when you fly
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-06 | by ( Doug Drury | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

And mobile phones need to be set to flight mode so they can’t cause an emergency for the airplane, right? 2.2 billion passengersWhy then, with these global standards in place, has the aviation industry continued to ban the use of mobile phones? Of course, when it comes to mobile networks, the biggest change in recent years is the move to a new standard. Current 5G wireless networks – desirable for their higher speed data transfer – have caused concern for many within the aviation industry. With new Wi-Fi technologies, passengers could theoretically use their mobile phones to make video calls with friends or clients in-flight.

☆ 50 years ago, he made the first cell phone call
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-03 | by ( Jennifer Korn | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

“I’m calling you on a cell phone, but a real cell phone, a personal, handheld, portable cell phone,” Cooper, then an engineer at Motorola, said on the phone to Joel Engel, head of AT&T-owned Bell Labs. “I was not surprised that everybody has a cell phone,” Cooper, now 94, told CNN. Today, 97% of Americans own a cell phone of some kind, according to a 2021 study by Pew Research Center. I know there are disadvantages to the cell phone. “Overall, I think the cell phone has changed humanity for the better and that will continue in the future.”

☆ Hacker Stole My Phone, Credit Card, Identity. I Set Out to Find Them.
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-02 | by ( Avery Hartmans | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +22 min

They left the Verizon store and went to a nearby Apple store, where they used my Chase credit card to spend $6,370. And two, because a physical credit card had been used to make the purchases, even though I was still in possession of my card. Typically, when your credit card is about to expire, as mine was, the bank sends you a new card a few weeks ahead of time. All told, the gang allegedly stole hundreds of identities and defrauded retailers and credit card companies of $1.3 million. Whoever hacked my identity, it makes sense that they started with my credit card.

☆ Verizon, AT&T to get full C-Band use, extend some 5G safeguards - letter
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-31 | by ( David Shepardson | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Last year, Verizon and AT&T voluntarily agreed to delay some C-Band 5G usage until July as air carriers worked to retrofit airplane altimeters. Reuters first reported in February that the FAA, Verizon and AT&T were in talks to reach a new agreement that sought to extend some voluntary mitigations beyond July 1. Verizon said Friday it "agreed to final voluntary commitments that will allow our company to fully use our C-band spectrum for 5G by the previously agreed to deadline of July 1." The FAA said Friday it continues "to work closely to ensure a safe co-existence in the U.S. 5G C-band environment." UScellular said the "agreement results from collaboration and coordination with the FAA, FCC, and our industry partners to ensure UScellular can deploy our C-band spectrum without delay."

☆ A new bill will try to finally fix television commercials that are way, way louder than the programming
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-31 | by ( Madison Hall | Brent D. Griffiths | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

The CALM Act was originally passed in 2010, but at the time, the FCC didn't have jurisdiction over streaming services. The newly introduced act would make sure the FCC enforces the law and cover both TV and streaming services. The original CALM Act passed through the Senate unanimously and the House in a voice vote before it was signed by then-President Barack Obama. After the original law was passed, large stations and providers were supposed to abide by a monitoring program for two years. That is to say, the sum total of FCC enforcement on disproportionately loud commercials in the decade since the CALM Act has amounted to two letters — and no enforcement."

☆ FCC proposes rules to reassess foreign-owned US telecom services authority
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-29 | by ( David Shepardson | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

WASHINGTON, March 29 (Reuters) - The head of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) on Wednesday proposed new rules to periodically reassess existing authorizations for foreign-owned companies to provide telecommunications services in the United States. The U.S. telecommunications regulator has raised mounting concerns about Chinese telecom companies in recent years which had won permission to operate in the United States decades ago. In 2019, the FCC voted to deny state-owned Chinese telecom firm China Mobile Ltd (0941.HK) the right to provide U.S. services and later withdrew U.S. authorizations for several other Chinese telecom carriers including China Telecom Corp (0728.HK). Rosenworcel said: "It is so important to have the agency regularly review foreign companies’ authorizations to providetelecommunications services in the United States." In December, a federal appeals court rejected China Telecom's challenge to the FCC order withdrawing the company's authority to provide services in the United States.

☆ Exclusive: Biden nominee to head FAA withdraws after Republican criticism
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-26 | by ( David Shepardson | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

WASHINGTON, March 25 (Reuters) - U.S. President Joe Biden's nominee to head the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is withdrawing his nomination after Republican criticism that he was not qualified to serve as the top aviation regulator. Last year, Biden nominated Denver International Airport CEO Phil Washington to serve as FAA administrator. A White House official had earlier told Reuters "politics must not hold up confirming an administrator to lead the FAA, and we will move expeditiously to nominate a new candidate for FAA administrator." Some industry officials think the White House could name acting FAA Administrator Billy Nolen as a new nominee. Nolen, who was named head of the FAA's aviation safety office, has been the acting FAA administrator since April 2022 and has received backing from many Republicans in Congress.

☆ U.S. and China wage war beneath the waves – over internet cables
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +28 min

Three of China’s state-owned carriers – China Telecommunications Corporation (China Telecom), China Mobile Limited and China United Network Communications Group Co Ltd (China Unicom) – had committed funding as members of the consortium, which also included U.S.-based Microsoft Corp and French telecom firm Orange SA, according to six people involved in the deal. China Telecom, China Mobile, China Unicom and Orange did not respond to requests for comment. China Telecom, China Mobile and China Unicom were resolutely behind HMN Tech, which had come in with a bid of around $500 million. China Telecom and China Mobile threatened to walk off the project, taking tens of millions of dollars of investment with them. Among them is China Telecom, which had previously won authorization to provide services in the United States.

☆ Spooked dealmakers scurry back into their foxholes
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-23 | by ( Jeffrey Goldfarb | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +8 min

NEW YORK, March 23 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Jonathan Kanter, a lawyer by training, has become something of a magician. Pay closer attention, however, and Kanter is methodically rewriting a decades-old regulatory playbook. Last year, these breakup charges reached their highest level in a decade, at an average 4.5% of deal prices. The Department of Agriculture partnered with the DOJ on the case, another feature of Kanter’s plan of attack. As legal weaknesses emerge, dealmakers should be in position to better structure transactions and defend themselves at trial.

☆ A Big Donor, Nancy Pelosi and the FCC
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-21 | by ( The Editorial Board | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

We recently told you that Federal Communications Commission Chair Jessica Rosenworcel ’s move to scuttle Standard General’s acquisition of TV station operator Tegna Inc. is dubious as a matter of law. Now evidence suggests she may have been doing the bidding of a major Democratic donor. Byron Allen ’s Allen Media Group made a play for Tegna in autumn 2021. Bloomberg News reported at the time that he was seeking to raise money from investment funds to buy Tegna and roll his existing stations into the new company. Around the same time, Mr. Allen made several contributions to then House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Democratic campaign committees.

☆ Cellphone Companies Must Block Obvious Scam Texts, FCC Says
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-17 | by ( Will Feuer | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Spam texts have risen and companies will have to block messages regulators say are likely to be illegal. U.S. regulators say scam texts have gotten out of control, and it is time for cellphone companies to do more to stop them. Under new rules adopted Thursday by the Federal Communications Commission, mobile-service providers have to block robotext messages the agency says are highly likely to be illegal. That includes texts from numbers that shouldn’t be sending messages, such as unused and invalid numbers, as well as those that government agencies identify as not for texting.

☆ FCC cracks down on spammy text messages
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-17 | by ( Brian Fung | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

Washington CNN —The Federal Communications Commission is cracking down on spammy text messages with new rules for telecom companies, citing a surge of consumer complaints in recent years tied to unwanted robotexts. The new rules require phone providers to block text messages from suspicious sources including phone numbers that appear to be “invalid, unallocated, or unused.” Carriers will also have to block text messages coming from phone numbers that claim not to ever send text messages, or that the government has identified as numbers not used for texting, the FCC said. But in recent years, an explosion of spam and scam text messages appears to have taken their place, leading to more than 18,000 consumer complaints at the FCC last year. The FCC is mulling additional regulations that could, among other things, apply Do Not Call registry protections to text messages for the first time. The FCC said it is also considering making it harder for marketers to use a single consumer consent to flood that user with calls and text messages from multiple sources and numbers.

☆ Amazon gives a first look at the satellite internet antennas for its Project Kuiper network
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-14 | by ( Michael Sheetz | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

The company's "standard" customer terminal, the middle of the trio of Project Kuiper satellite antennas at under 11 inches square and weighing under five pounds. WASHINGTON -- Amazon revealed a trio of satellite antennas on Tuesday, as the company prepares to take on SpaceX's Starlink with its own Project Kuiper internet network. The tech giant said the "standard" version of the satellite antenna, also known as a customer terminal, is expected to cost Amazon less than $400 each to produce. Project Kuiper is Amazon's plan to build a network of 3,236 satellites in low Earth orbit, to provide high-speed internet to anywhere in the world. Amazon says the device will deliver speeds to customers of "up to 400 megabits per second (Mbps)."

☆ Skullduggery at the FCC
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-09 | by ( The Editorial Board | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Gigi Sohn withdrew her stalled nomination for the Federal Communications Commission on Tuesday after Joe Manchin (D., W.Va.) announced his opposition. Chair Jessica Rosenworcel will now have to advance her progressive agenda without a wingman, but her effort to kill a major media acquisition on the sly shows what she’s up to. Ms. Sohn blamed “unrelenting, dishonest and cruel attacks” for her failure to be confirmed in two Congresses. But she has a long record as an unrelenting partisan and her attacks on conservative media suggested she couldn’t be trusted to be fair-minded in regulating the airwaves.

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