05/25, 6:07pm
Letter to US AG claims Google lied to investigators, DOJ
Representative Frank Pallone Jr (D-NJ), and John Barrow (D-GA) are pushing the Department of Justice to reopen the completed investigation of Google's Street View and Wi-Fi data harvesting while mapping America's streets. Pallone stated "In light of the FCC report on Google Wi-Spy -- which revealed Google intentionally collected personal information from Americans—I urge the Department of Justice to re-evaluate the Google Wi-Spy incident." The FCC and DoJ report on the incident found no laws were broken by Google during the mapping, despite Pallone's interpretation of the investigation that the data gathering was a “deliberate, software-design decision."
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05/25, 12:05pm
FCC may require Verizon to divest some AWS spectrum, marketing conditions may see deal fall
Verizon's $3.6 billion buy of AWS spectrum may be approved by the FCC after all, analysts believe, though it will require a number of conditions. For one, it may have to give up some of its spectrum, and has already offered to give some up in the past. What may stand in the way is the conditions of the sale, with all involved trying to get the most of it, CNET reported.
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05/24, 1:13pm
Ascend P1 gets FCC approval for sale in North America
The Huawei Ascend P1 smartphone has now completed FCC testing. The Chinese phone-maker still hasn't revealed any official launch information for the 4.3-inch flagship, and it's missed its originally promised April reveal date. This FCC approval means the company is at least certified to sell the handset in the US.
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05/23, 6:33pm
Remarks in response to prior chief at NCTA trade show
Federal Communications Commission chairman Julius Genachowski, speaking during Boston's The Cable Show, has voiced support for data caps on Internet plans. The chief feels that tiered pricing will "increase consumer choice and competition" and result in "lower prices for people who consume less broadband," though he did not clarify what mechanism would drive prices down. Consumer advocates and public-interest groups immediately responded, decrying the comments and urging the FCC to more closely examine the effect of broadband data caps on the market, pricing, and innovation.
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05/18, 10:09pm
Commission documents shed light on launch plans
Samsung appears to be readying a Galaxy S III variant for T-Mobile's network, according to Federal Communications Commission filings. The carrier has yet to officially confirm plans to launch the Korean handset maker's latest flagship device, however the FCC test documents point to a new model geared specifically for T-Mobile's 1,700MHz AWS spectrum.
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05/18, 3:45pm
Satellite company asks FCC for extension
Dish Network has warned the Federal Communications Commission that it may not be able to meet initial deployment goals for its LTE-Advanced network until 2016 or later. In a filing with the FCC (PDF), the satellite company is asking regulators to modify their official guidelines to accomodate a lengthier buildout schedule.
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05/15, 10:33am
FTC posting shows global release version of Galaxy S III
The FCC has posted a filing for the Samsung Galaxy S III without LTE onboard. The tested handset seems to be the global release version, which is limited to HSPA+ and EDGE, with the filing more a formality for handset imports to the US before the LTE variant is released.
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05/14, 1:26pm
Dual-core 1.5GHz Ascend D1 approved by the FCC
The Huawei Ascend D1 introduced at MWC alongside the quad-core Ascend D Quad has just undergone FCC testing. In the process, it has become the first of the Ascend range of devices that the regulatory body has approved for sale in North America. The listing cement the presence of a quadband GSM radio and pentaband HSPA+/WCDMA radio, meaning it will support AT&T and T-Mobile networks when unlocked.
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05/14, 10:27am
Details on NEC tablet from FCC in short supply
The FCC has revealed details of a new seven-inch 3G tablet from NEC. The filing with the regulator offers very little information on the device, going by the model number KMP7R4D1-1A, with the only detailed image supplied being a sketch showing microphone and speaker placement.
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05/08, 2:23pm
Motorcycle-oriented Garmin Zumo 340, 350 show up at FCC
Two new, as-yet unannounced Garmin GPS units have just surfaced at the FCC. The Zumo 340 and Zumo 350 are meant for use on motorcycles, and their model numbers suggest they are mid-level offerings, though pricing can only be guessed at so far. The units are also a little different in shape than the current flat form factor of Nuvi devices.
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05/08, 2:23pm
Commission expects competition to thrive
Federal Communications Commission chairman Julius Genachowski has publicly fired back at AT&T over the carrier's latest comments regarding its failed T-Mobile buyout. Speaking at a CTIA keynote, Genachowski suggested the Commission's move should not result in higher prices for consumers. He argues that, to the contrary, blocking the acquisition will help maintain competition and may eventually bring even lower prices.
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05/04, 2:53pm
Mobility Fund to be available as a reverse auction
The Federal Communications Commission has detailed the bidding process for its $300 million 'Mobility Fund' that aims to hasten 3G and 4G deployment in rural areas throughout the US. The funds will be allocated through a reverse auction, requiring companies to submit bids that indicate the amount of cash needed to deploy 3G and 4G networks within the Commission's guidelines.
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05/03, 12:23pm
AT&T increased prices by 30 percent after T-Mobile deal died
The failed merger between AT&T and T-Mobile will mean higher prices for consumers, AT&T Chairman and Chief Executive Randal Stephenson said in an interview. According to the Wall Street Journal, Stephenson said at the Milken Institute's annual global conference that the US wireless cellphone market can't support the number of providers as there simply isn't enough wireless spectrum for all of them. He said current stats suggest wireless data usage will grow by 75 percent every year for a minimum of the next five.
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05/02, 10:58am
Vizio wireless keyboard, keypad show up at FCC
Vizio promised to bring out a PC range back at CES and the first evidence of this has shown up in some FCC tests online. Under the commission's eye was a wireless keyboard and a wireless trackpad, and while not much technical information was revealed by them, it's clearly visible either is powered by two AAA batteries. The most important part about the filing, perhaps, is that the actual photos are to be kept secret until July 31.
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04/28, 4:45pm
Google Street View gaffe result of lack of checks
Google has given an advance copy of the FCC's report on its Street View Wi-Fi scraping incident. Details posted by the LA Times confirmed Google's initial story of an engineer writing code that collected data wholesale, but revealed a lack of attention that let the code get on Street View cars. The engineer, whose name was censored, told two coworkers and even gave the team a document in October 2006 that detailed what he did, but none of those monitoring the document or the code claimed to have known what it collected.
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04/27, 8:40pm
Carrier accuses rival of hypocrisy
Earlier this month, T-Mobile went to Washington to protest Verizon's planned purchase of Advanced Wireless Services airwaves from cable companies, writing a letter (PDF) to the FCC urging the regulatory body to block the spectrum sale. Now, Verizon is turning the tables on its competitor, accusing T-Mobile of hypocrisy in a letter of its own.
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04/26, 11:25pm
Bipartisan bill would put 1.75GHz space in auction
A newly proposed Congressional bill on Thursday would set the terms to shift government frequencies to the private world. Known as the Efficient Use of Government Spectrum Act, it would demand that the FCC include airwaves between 1,755MHz and 1,780MHz in the same auction as one covering the 2,155MHz to 2,180MHz space. If passed, the bill would give the related government agencies five years to get their equipment off the network.
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04/25, 2:20pm
Samsung readies to ship AllShare Cast Hub
Once again, the FCC has offered a look at an upcoming piece of hardware, this time from Samsung. Called AllShare Cast Hub, it sports an HDMI connection and dual-band Wi-Fi radios, for what we assume is sharing media in a user's home. It may thus be similar to the likes of HTC's Media Link HD, which lets users stream content from smartphones to their TVs.
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04/25, 1:55pm
T-Mobile buyout of AT&T AWS spectrum gets nod
The Federal Communications Commission has now approved the AT&T AWS spectrum transfer to T-Mobile. The handover was the result of conditions AT&T agreed to after it abandoned its T-Mobile buyout following opposition from the FCC and the Department of Justice. The new approval means T-Mobile will get AWS mobile spectrum in 128 cellular regions, including 12 of the top 20 markets.
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04/20, 2:20pm
LightSquared reworks contract with Inmarsat
LightSquared on Friday changed its agreement with Inmarsat, with the latter effectively extending the deadline for the payments LightSquared is responsible for. The company has already missed its $56.25 million Phase 1 payment, with Phase 2 due on April 1, 2014. The extension will give LightSquared time to try and resolve regulatory issues that are keeping it from launching its 4G LTE network.
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04/20, 12:10am
Privacy group files Freedom of Information request
Thursday, the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request for the unredacted FCC report on Google's Street View. Epic is also requesting any related documents used in the investigation pertinent to the 25-page, heavily-censored report that was released last week. By Google's own admission, between 2008 and 2010 their street mapping vans collected names, telephone numbers, passwords, email, medical records, media files, and other information from open and unsecure Wi-Fi routers.
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04/18, 9:00pm
Little known about the Segway, Inc peripheral
In documents made available today by the Federal Communications Commission, a new device submitted for testing presents a Segway to PC connection unit known as the "Segway Seg-Link Diagnostic Tool." Directions in the sparse user's manual included in the filing suggests that the device is intended for end users of the Segway.
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04/18, 1:55pm
Verizon uses 700MHz as bargaining chip
Verizon has said it would put up some of its 700MHz wireless spectrum up for sale if it's cleared to go ahead with its cable company spectrum deal. The move would give up sections of the A and B blocks of 700MHz space it runs in Austin, Los Angeles, Miami, New York City, Philadelphia, and San Francisco. Its plan wouldn't directly affect the existing LTE network, which runs on the C block.
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04/18, 1:15pm
LTE confirmed on Pantech Breakout successor
The FCC has approved the Pantech ADR910L according to a recent filing. Believed to be the sucessor to the Breakout, Pantech's budget LTE handset on Verizon, the Android 4.0 smartphone will use a dual-core 1.5GHz Snapdragon processor.
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04/18, 10:30am
Galaxy Beam gets FCC nod for US market
Samsung's second go-round of its Galaxy Beam handset with a built-in pico projector has just shown up at the FCC. The original was introduced in early 2010, and the new one adds AT&T 1,900MHz and 850MHz support that hints at possible US plans. It otherwise gets Android 2.3 overlaid by TouchWiz and a dual-core, 1GHz CPU paired with 768MB of RAM.
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04/16, 11:00pm
Netflix may spur FCC action on Comcast neutrality
A commentary by Netflix CEO Reed Hastings may have brought official FCC scrutiny on Comcast for its cap exemption of Xfinity TV on the Xbox 360. He argued that Comcast was violating net neutrality principles by giving its own service a 'free' pass while applying the cap to competing services, including not just his own Netflix but HBO Go and Hulu Plus as well. After being asked by the Wall Street Journal, the FCC said it "takes seriously" allegations of violations like these and was following what was going on.
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04/16, 3:45pm
FCC disputes T-Mobile supplying hearing aid phones
The FCC has proposed that T-Mobile should pay $819,000 for failing to abide by rules governing availability of handsets compatible with hearing aids. T-Mobile failed to follow the rules during 2009 and 2010, according to the FCC, offering fewer than required hearing-aid compatible handsets.
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04/14, 6:45pm
FCC wants light penalty on Street View error
The FCC late Friday put forward a proposal for a $25,000 fine for Google's refusal to hand over Street View Wi-Fi data. Officials accused Google of having "deliberately impeded and delayed" an investigation into what information its Street View cars had collected from Wi-Fi hotspots. Among the obstacles was a refusal on Fifth Amendment grounds to testify by the engineer whose data scraping code was accidentally included on each car.
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04/11, 5:45pm
Xperia Sola cleared for use in the US
The Sony Xperia Sola has been approved by the FCC in a filing published today, with AT&T-specific 3G in tow. Sola is an Android smartphone with “floating touch technology,” a proximity sensor which allows for touchscreen control by hovering your fingers above the 3.7-inch display.
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04/11, 4:10pm
Senators ask FCC to allocate band to LightSquared
Two senators have requested that the FCC allocate a new band of frequencies for LightSquared's national 4G network. Sen. John Kerry and Sen. Lindsey Graham have suggested to the FCC that they should allocate a seperate part of the spectrum for LightSquared to avoid the issues associated with sharing the GPS band in a letter received by The Hill.
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04/09, 10:40pm
FCC to have common pool to deter stolen
The FCC as well as AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, and Verizon have reached an agreement to potentially improve tracking down stolen cellphones. A common database will register phones and their IMEIs that were marked as stolen or lost and deny them voice or data until they're considered safe. The effort will start with individual databases in half a year, followed by a united pool in the year and a half following that point.
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04/09, 10:25am
Lenovo IdeaTab S2109 shows up in YouTube vid
The Lenovo IdeaTab S2109 tablet that went through FCC testing last month has now showed up in a very official-looking YouTube video. The 9.7-inch tablet's specs are revealed and possibly confirmed in the video, including its 9.7-inch, 1024x768 IPS LCD display. A stock Android 4.0 OS is onboard, and the tablet is just 8.9mm (0.35in) thick.
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04/05, 5:40pm
Received approval 2 months after platform shelved
When HP released its ill-fated 10-inch TouchPad, it was also prepping a smaller seven-inch version for the market. In August it sent the device to the FCC for regulatory approval, and even through the company abandoned the entire webOS-based family a few weeks later, HP did not pull the submission for the smaller tablet. Wireless Goodness has now posted photos from the FCC filing's teardown.
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04/03, 9:55am
LG Miracle seen for two North American carriers
The LG Miracle may be bound for two North American carriers at once, based on separate tips. The Windows Phone hardware has shown in an FCC filing as the LS831 intended for Sprint. Details are short as to how it would differ beyond the needed CDMA and EVDO 3G, but it would have a five-megapixel back camera and the expected front VGA camera.
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03/30, 9:45pm
Apple, others gather at Washington summit
A group of educational publishers, technology companies and two government agencies held a meeting in Washington DC today to promote a plan for transitioning US classrooms at the K-12 level to digital textbook over the next five years. The plan, being put together by the Leading Education by Advancing Digital (LEAD) Commission, has already revealed that moving to a more digital model for student textbooks -- including the devices and technology infrastructure needed to use them -- will save schools about $250 per student per year, adding up to over $12.2 billion per year if fully implemented.
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03/29, 10:40pm
Verizon raises chance of pay TV on mobile for deal
Verizon CEO Lowell McAdam in conversation Thursday raised the prospect of a mobile video service to try and secure its cable provider spectrum deal. He argued to the Wall Street Journal that an "integrated" service, where paid TV subscribers could watch the content on a device like a phone or tablet, could be ready by the end of the year. The offer would take advantage of a companion part of the deal, where either company could sell a service from the other.
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03/27, 6:40pm
Move could almost double commercial bandwidth
The US government has elaborated on possible plans to give up some of its spectrum for private use. The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) is exploring making some of the more than 3,100 frequencies it controls across a 95MHz range. Currently, the spectrum is reserved for over 20 US agencies, including military communication and weapon systems.
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03/23, 8:45pm
FCC says ATT misleading on job statements
The FCC in one of its gradually more common responses shot back at AT&T's linking T-Mobile job cuts to the failed merger. A spokesperson claimed to AllThingsD that AT&T was being disingenuous given its own statements to the FCC on jobs. Despite public claims to creating jobs, AT&T's "own confidential documents" had indicated that it was likely to incur "significant job losses" if the merger was completed, the FCC said.
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03/23, 4:45pm
Manual references Chrome OS
Sony appears to be preparing to bring a Vaio-branded Chromebook onto the market, as the VCC111 series. The company has yet to formally unveil the device, however the FCC has posted pictures of the notebook with a keyboard layout that omits the Windows key. The pictures are accompanied by literature that includes directions to "start Chrome OS."
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03/23, 4:05pm
Publishes voluntary code of ISP conduct
The FCC, in conjunction with several major network service providers, has published a code of conduct that will help mitigate and eliminate the spread of botnet attacks (PDF). It's asking ISPs to voluntarily abide by that code. Already, seven network providers, representing over one-half of all US-based Internet subscribers have agreed to comply.
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03/23, 2:35pm
ATT makes contentious merger link
AT&T's Senior Executive VP Jim Cicconi in remarks tried to seize on T-Mobile's job cuts as validation for why its failed takeover of T-Mobile should have been cleared. He contended that AT&T would have kept the jobs if the $39 billion deal had been approved. To him, the cuts were purportedly proof that the FCC had been wrong and that it should never challenge corporations on competition issues.
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03/22, 2:55pm
AT&T sued for wrongly billing millions to FCC
The US Department of Justice has filed a lawsuit against carrier AT&T for allegedly wrongly billing the government for millions of dollars. The charges were for IP Relay phone calls, which is a text-based communications service for hearing-impaired people. While the users don't need to pay, the FCC is charged $1.30 per minute by carriers.
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03/21, 3:35pm
Verizon argues no other place to buy spectrum
A currently ongoing trial US Congress' Senate Judiciary Committee will hear testimony from Verizon about its buy of AWS spectrum from cable companies that include Comcast, Time Warner Cable, and Bright House. During the meeting, Verizon said it would continue to develop its FiOS fiber optic service into which it's already invested some $23 billion and that customers will see no decrease in choices or increased prices from the move due to marketing agreements between cable companies and Verizon, John Eggerton tweeted. The provider's representatives also said it's a good steward of spectrum and is more efficient than some others at using it.
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03/21, 1:05pm
FCC moves on possibly mandating 700MHz unity
The FCC in an Open Commission Meeting Wednesday morning unanimously voted to pursue possibilities for significantly improving 4G's use in the US. It would verify whether there would be any adverse effect to making the 700MHz A, B, and C blocks of spectrum interoperable, letting one roam on the other. Agency officials would want outside input on what the rules would be if there were little to no interference, as well as whether any interference might be cut back.
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03/20, 10:40am
ZTE N910 with LTE gets FCC approval
Chinese maker ZTE has successfully run its upcoming N910 LTE smartphone through the FCC. Introduced before last month's Mobile World Congress, the phone should sport a 1.2GHz dual-core processor, a 4.3-inch, 480x800 touchscreen, and Android 4.0. In FCC form, it received AWS Band IV and PCS Band II LTE support, meaning it will likely show up at smaller carriers such as Cricket or MetroPCS.
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03/19, 3:50pm
Google gets second approval for video over fiber
Google has got its wish and been approved to provide video services over its 1Gbps Google Fiber network. The application was approved on Friday by the Kansas Corporation Commission for Kansas City, Kansas. Kansas City, Missouri, had already allowed Google to provide similar services in a March 1 decision.
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03/16, 10:35am
Sprint cuts short LightSquared LTE network help
Sprint on Friday lived up to rumors and ended its LightSquared deal. The carrier decided against more than a second extension on the 4G startup's attempts to get its LTE network started. As part of the "contingencies" related to backtracking on the deal, Sprint would pay back the $65 million LightSquared had given to cover costs in advance, which Sprint said hadn't been used yet.
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03/16, 6:20am
Third-gen Roku HD inbound
Roku has had its third-gen Roku HD box revealed by the FCC as it goes through its wireless certification. The new box retains the same design as previous versions, however it is highlighted by the return of full-size composite outputs. FCC notes also show that the device will pick up a new remote control when it ships.
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03/15, 6:35pm
Galaxy Nexus inches closer to Sprint arrival
An FCC filing from last week has shown that Sprint's Galaxy Nexus is getting close to release. Going under a very different codename of SPH-L700, instead of SGH-i9250 or similar for the original, the Android 4.0 phone's identity is given away by its combining 850MHz and 1,900MHz CDMA with the 1,900MHz LTE only Sprint will be using so far. The inclusion of NFC is the other giveaway that the device is a Nexus given how few Android phones have yet to carry the technology.
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03/14, 5:05pm
FCC tests HSPA+, LTE PlayBook tablets
The promised LTE version of the PlayBook tablet has now been spotted at the FCC. An HSPA+ version is also undergoing testing at the government agency. Both are expected to get NFC and a dual-core, 1.5GHz processor.
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