FCC Proposes $5 Million Robocalling Fine

 In a Notice of Apparent Liability for Forfeiture, the FCC proposed a $5,134,500 fine against lobbyists John Burkman and Jacob Alexander Wohl, and J.M. Burkman & Associates LLC, Burkman’s political consulting firm. The Commission says the men apparently made 1,141 unlawful robocalls to wireless phones without prior consent, in violation of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act. The Enforcement Bureau found that the calls were apparently pre-recorded and made to voters’ wireless phones.

In most cases, the TCPA prohibits making pre-recorded voice calls to wireless phones without the consent of those receiving the calls – regardless of the content. The robocalls in this case, made on August 26 and September 14, 2020, used messages telling potential voters that, if they vote by mail, their “personal information will be part of a public database that will be used by police departments to track down old warrants and be used by credit card companies to collect outstanding debts.” Continue Reading

FCC Gets $5 Billion In Funding Requests for Emergency Connectivity Fund

 The FCC received more than $5 billion in requests for the Emergency Connectivity Fund Program. Applicants sought money for 9.1 million connected devices and 5.4 million broadband connections as part of the $7.17 billion program. 

The agency received so much interest it plans to open another filing window. It will be open from September 28 to October 13. Schools and libraries can request funding for connected devices and broadband connections for off-campus use by students, school staff, and library patrons for the current 2021-22 school year. 

The first filing window closed August 13. It attracted applications from all 50 states, as well as American Samoa, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands and the District of Columbia. Schools and libraries in rural and urban communities sought funding for eligible equipment and services received or delivered between July 1, 2021 and June 30, 2022. Continue Reading

House Dems Clear a Path for Infrastructure Vote

 By Leslie Stimson, Inside Towers, Washington Bureau Chief In a 220-212 vote on Tuesday, the House passed a $3.5 trillion budget resolution and advanced a $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill. The vote allows Democrats to write and approve a spending package without Republicans and puts the Senate-passed infrastructure plan on a path to final passage in the House, reported CNBC.

The measure includes a nonbinding commitment to vote on the infrastructure bill by September 27. The deal aims to appease nine centrist Democrats who pushed the House to consider the bipartisan plan before it took up the Democratic budget resolution, Inside Towers reported. Continue Reading

General Motors, AT&T To Put 5G on the Road

 By J. Sharpe Smith, Inside Towers Technology Editor Today’s new vehicles rack up more than just miles. They produce terabytes of data as they tear down the roads. All of that data needs to be communicated to take advantage of the crucial information it provides. General Motors and AT&T are collaborating to bring 5G cellular connectivity to GM vehicles, beginning with select model year 2024 vehicles.

The rollout is part of GM and AT&T’s broad strategy to launch the world’s largest fleet of 5G-enabled vehicles and is the culmination of a two-year collaboration, including test-driving connected vehicles at GM’s 5G proving grounds in Milford, Michigan. Current Chevrolet, Buick, GMC and Cadillac owners with 4G LTE-capable model year 2019 and newer vehicles will easily migrate to the new network infrastructure once available. AT&T’s 5G core network will improve roadway-centric coverage, music and video downloads, over-the-air software updates, navigation, mapping, and voice services. Continue Reading

Verizon Explores New Tech for Keeping Data Safe from Hackers

 By J. Sharpe Smith, Inside Towers Technology Editor With the massive hack of T-Mobile’s user database fresh in everyone’s minds, Verizon announced Thursday that it is testing new technology to protect data from hackers. Using a quantum-safe virtual private network (VPN), the carrier is looking to cryptographic ciphers to provide a higher level of protection, essentially, enhancing encryption methodologies to make them future proof.

Quantum-safe cryptography refers to efforts to identify algorithms that are resistant to attacks by both classical and quantum computers, to keep information assets secure even if a large-scale quantum computer is built in the future, according to ETSI, the European standards organization. Continue Reading

T-Mobile Ordered To Prove It Didn't Lie To State Utility Commission

By Martha DeGrasse, Inside Towers Contributing Analyst

Friday the 13th was a very bad day for T-Mobile this year. First the California Public Utilities Commission ordered the company to show up at a virtual hearing to discuss allegations it lied to the agency to get approval for its merger with Sprint. While the company was digesting this news, an unrelated crisis was unfolding as hackers were apparently preparing to steal the names and Social Security numbers of T-Mobile customers, along with the IMEI (International Mobile Equipment Identity) numbers for their smartphones. News of the data breach started to surface on Twitter by the earliest hours of August 15. By Monday evening, T-Mobile had confirmed the breach, but said it did not know for sure if customer data was involved. T-Mobile’s tailspin has so far been fairly controlled. The stock price slid less than 2 percent, and social media hasn’t been flooded with frantic posts from T-Mobile customers experiencing identity theft. This is not the first time T-Mobile has been hacked, and customers don’t seem to have penalized the company yet. But if reports that millions of their identities are now for sale prove accurate, this time could be different. Continue Reading

Frontier Communications Rolling Out Fiber in Waves

 

By John Celentano, Inside Towers Business Editor

Frontier Communications (NASDAQ: FYBR) has emerged from bankruptcy with a new lease on its corporate life. The company is transforming its wireline network from mainly copper lines to fiber-to-the-premise (FTTP) deployments. The transformation will allow Frontier to deliver gigabit speed broadband services to consumers and businesses throughout its operating territory. In the process, it expects to drive new revenues and profits. Frontier’s wireline network today passes 15 million premises. This means that Frontier’s copper and fiber facilities pass by that many residences and businesses but only generate service revenues when they connect to those premises.  The company has a total of 3.5 million consumer and business customer connections across 25 states, in three regional clusters in the West and Southwest, Midwest and Northeast, and the Southeast. Frontier points out that these regions have large populations that are among the fastest growing in the country and have high favorable broadband demand characteristics. At the end of 2Q21, its broadband-capable facilities passed 3.6 million premises, and 2.8 million broadband connections with 49 percent on fiber. Continue Reading