The FCC is looking to level the playing field for cable and telecom companies that need to string wires on utility poles or underground conduit. The Commission is introducing an order of reconsideration that will lower the rates for telecoms to those paid by cable companies. It’s something the Commission attempted in 2011, but now…
Tuesdays with Roger: FCC Should Stay Out of Special Access
AT&T, Verizon Under FCC Investigation Over Special Access Charges
Amid complaints of unfair contract terms, the FCC has initiated an investigation of AT&T, Verizon, CenturyLink and Frontier practices in selling special access in the $20 billion business broadband market. According to the FCC, the complaints and evidence point toward potentially unjust and unreasonable practices in setting pricing terms and conditions for special access, noting…
If Charter Overbuilds Other ISPs, Regulatory Approval for TWC More Likely
BTIG analyst Rich Greenfield thinks Charter Communications already has about a 50-50 chance of earning regulatory approval for its proposed acquisition of Time Warner Cable (TWC). But Charter could “significantly increase the odds of approval” if it agreed to overbuild its broadband network into other ISPs’ territory and increase competition. Greenfield is basing that expectation…
FCC Moves Forward with Special Access Review
The FCC announced new actions in its ongoing process to review the special access market. The Commission will begin making data collected on the $40 billion market available to the public, condition to a protective order that holds back “competitively sensitive information.” In addition, the FCC has commissioned a white paper from a Boston University professor…
AWS-3 Auction Pushes Past $39.5 Billion in Bids
The FCC’s AWS-3 auction keeps chugging along as bids today reached $39.5 billion in the forty-second round. More than $181 million in new bids came in during the most recent round, marking a 0.46 percent increase over the previous round. Of the 1,614 licenses up for grabs, 1,599 of them now have provisional winning bids…
FCC, T-Mobile Work Out Deal for Accurate Speed Tests
The FCC announced it has worked out an agreement with T-Mobile to ensure the carrier’s customers get accurate mobile broadband speed test readings even after they’ve been throttled. T-Mobile last summer began exempting data speed tests from impacting customers’ data caps—similar to what the carrier does with streaming music—but speed tests under that program displayed…
BlackBerry Offering Up to $550 for iPhone Trade-Ins
Correction: A previous version of this article mistakenly said BlackBerry was offering the Passport for $100. BlackBerry is offering the Passport for $100 off the cost. Beginning in December, BlackBerry will start offering up to $550 to customers who trade in their iPhones for a BlackBerry Passport. Depending on the model and condition of the…
Analyst: As AWS-3 Auction Hits $24B, Dish Soars, T-Mobile Likely Out
The FCC’s AWS-3 auction has rocketed past its $10 billion reserve price and surpassed $24 billion in bids after only five days. The rapid pace at which the auction is climbing helped spur a 10 percent rise in Dish Network’s stock Wednesday. Dish holds 40 MHz of nationwide AWS-4 spectrum—which some analysts estimate is more…
AWS-3 Auction Cruises Well Past Reserve Price
The FCC’s ongoing AWS-3 auction in four days of bidding has easily passed its $10.5 billion reserve price. Currently in the 16th round of bidding, the auction has already pulled in $16.4 billion in Provisional Winning Bids (PWB). The revenue so far is equivalent to $1 per MHz/POP. PWBs have been placed for 1,303 of…
Smaller Mobile Providers Call Title II a “Disservice to Rural America”
Cellcom, Bluegrass Cellular and three other regional wireless providers are warning the FCC of the potential havoc Title II reclassification could wreak in the smaller markets they serve. “Applying an outdated and backward-looking Title II common-carriage regime to our services would also stifle innovation and investment and would do a disservice to rural America,” the…
AWS-3 Auction Tops $2B in First Two Rounds of Bidding
The FCC’s auction of 65 MHz of AWS-3 began today and it’s already drawn heavy interest from the 70 approved bidders. Total bids exceeded $2 billion in the first two rounds. The FCC set reserve prices of $580 million for 15 MHz of unpaired spectrum and $10 billion for 50 MHz of paired spectrum, including…
Qualcomm LTE Direct Coming in 2016
SAN FRANCISCO – Qualcomm’s LTE Direct proximal discovery service is expected to become commercially available in 2016. Speaking Tuesday at the Open Mobile Summit, Mahesh Makhijani, senior director for Qualcomm Research, fit the technology in with Release 12 and said its currently undergoing trials with Deutsche Telekom and KT. He said Qualcomm has LTE Direct…
Qualcomm Profits Up as FTC Probe Looms, Shares Hammered
Qualcomm’s fourth-quarter net income rose 26 percent year-over-year to reach $1.89 billion and operating income also saw a 25-percent jump annually. The profits came from $6.69 billion in revenue, a three-percent increase annually. But the figures didn’t meet Wall Street expectations and Qualcomm’s forecast for the next quarter are also falling short of analyst estimates.…
NAB Chafes at Being Scapegoat for FCC Auction Delay
The National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) fired back at the FCC over implications that further delay of the 600 MHz incentive auction is due to an NAB lawsuit. “We reject suggestions that our narrowly focused lawsuit is cause for delay. We look forward to a speedy resolution of our legal challenge and a successful auction…
FCC Again Delays 600 MHz Incentive Auctions
The FCC today announced plans to delay the 600 MHz incentive auctions until 2016. The primary reason for the delay is being attributed to a lawsuit regarding auction rules brought about by broadcasters. The final briefs in that proceeding are not due until late January 2015 and a decision likely won’t be reached until mid-2015,…
T-Mobile Claims Roaming Better in South Africa than On AT&T in South Dakota
T-Mobile claims its customers have a better roaming experience in South Africa than they do on AT&T’s network in South Dakota. The carrier says its customers got speeds twice as fast and unlimited data in South Africa. In an FCC filing posted Friday, T-Mobile attributes to the audacious factoid to AT&T’s “artificially high roaming rates.”…
FTC Sees Huge First Week for Refund Claims in AT&T Cramming Settlement
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has already received 359,000 refund claims just one week after an AT&T cramming settlement had been announced. An FTC spokesman said, as far as the agency can tell, this is the biggest first week for refund claims the FTC has ever seen. AT&T customers have until May 1, 2015 to…
Lenovo Creating New Smart Devices Company Focused on China
Lenovo today announced it is creating a new company in hopes of building its smart devices and services business in China. The new company, which will operate under a separate name and brand, will start up April 1, 2015. Chen Xudong, who is currently president of China and Asia Pacific markets at Lenovo, will serve…
Qualcomm Buying UK Semiconductor Company CSR for $2.5B
Qualcomm today announced it has reached a deal valued at $2.5 billion to acquire UK semiconductor company CSR. The acquisition is expected to give Qualcomm a leg up on products, channels, and customers in both the Internet of Things (IoT) and automotive telematics markets. “The addition of CSR’s technology leadership in Bluetooth, Bluetooth Smart and…
T-Mobile, Sprint Urge Extra Scrutiny of AT&T Spectrum Deals
This article has been updated with comment from AT&T. T-Mobile and Sprint are among a group that today urged the FCC to “carefully scrutinize” several pending AT&T transactions for low-band spectrum. The group, which also includes representatives from Comptel, Public Knowledge, and CCIA, is concerned that AT&T will control more than one-third of the available…
AT&T Paying Out $105M in Cramming Agreement
Washington State Attorney General Bob Ferguson today said AT&T has agreed to pay $105 million in part to reimburse customers affected by cramming practices. Under the deal, AT&T will pay $80 million to the Federal Trade Commission which will then distribute the money to customers nationwide who got stuck with unauthorized third-party fees from premium…
Samsung Profits Fall 60 Percent on Mobile Business Decline
Samsung today issued pre-earnings guidance for its upcoming third quarter and projected an operating profit of $3.8 billion off of nearly $43.9 billion in sales. As Reuters points out, Samsung’s profit guidance represents a 60-percent drop year-over-year and falls well short of analysts’ estimates of $5.2 billion. Samsung is pegging the third-quarter slide on a…
CTIA Files to Intervene in NAB-FCC Lawsuit
CTIA today filed a motion with the District of Columbia Court of Appeals to intervene in support of the FCC over the lawsuit filed by the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB). The NAB and the Sinclair Broadcast Group are petitioning for a review of an FCC order establishing rules for the upcoming Incentive Auctions. The…
Dish Locks Up Joint-Bidding Agreements for AWS-3 Auction
Dish Network is all set for the FCC’s November AWS-3 auction and the satellite provider has inked some joint-bidding agreements as well. According to FCC filings, Dish has signed agreements with Northstar Wireless and SNR Wireless. As Reuters points out, Dish has indirect ownership in both companies. Along with Dish, AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon have…