Thursday, August 19, 2010

FCC's Copps & Clyburn Reclassification of Broadband

Speaking at "The Future of the Internet" Public Hearing, Minneapolis, Minnesota, FCC Commissioners Michael Copps and Mignon Clyburn stated their support for the principles of Net Neutrality. Both also back the position that the FCC should reclassify broadband as the telecommunications service, establishing its authority to enforce rules. The comments come in the wake of the recent Verizon-Google agreement on Internet governance, which the commissioners criticized for being a closed room deal between industry giants.


Copps: "Our job now is to correct course by reclassifying broadband as the telecommunications service that it is (you know: actually call an apple an apple) and then craft rules and procedures that will protect consumers against discrimination, protect against a privatized Internet, and protect against the cannibalization, cable-ization and further consolidation of broadband technology."



Clyburn: "Any proposal that favors the FCC being stripped of its rulemaking authority regarding consumer protection and non-discrimination requirements, and any proposal that would advocate that no agency will have authority over Internet access would be impossible for me to embrace and should leave us all wondering, if that should ever
happen, exactly who is going to protect Internet consumers?"
http://www.fcc.gov

U.S. Senators Raise Security Concerns about Huawei

A group of eight U.S. senators published a letter to Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and Director of National Intelligence General James Clapper to raise their concern Huawei Technologies as a potential supplier to Sprint Nextel. Specifically, the senators claim that Huawei maintains close ties with China's military and poses a national security risk to the United States. The senators also cite Huawei's sales activity in Iran, intellectual property concerns, and financial support from the Chinese government.


The senators request a range of information from the Obama administration, including whether the U.S. Treasury Department has negotiated any possible arrangements by which Huawei could invest in or acquire control over a supplier involved with sensitive U.S. government projects? Whether the intelligence community has any cybersecurity concerns regarding Huawei? Whether Sprint-Nextel has any contracts with the U.S. Department of Defense or the intelligence community? Whether U.S.-based employees of Huawei have been granted security clearance for access to classified information?


The letter was signed by Senators Kyl, Bond, Shelby, Inhofe, Bunning, Sessions, Burr and Collins.


For its part, Huawei circulated a letter to the media in which it states that it is an employee-owned private company with no ownership stake by the Chinese government or the military. Huawei further asserts that it has a good intellectual property record and that it abides by the law in all of the territories in which it operates.

Chile Plans LTE Auctions

Chile's regulatory authority for telecommunications (Subtel) has confirmed plans to launch an auction from LTE spectrum in December. The bidding will cover the 2.6 GHz band. The first licenses are expected to be awarded by mid-2011.
http://www.subtel.cl/

"Todo Chile Comunicado" Extends 3G for Rural Broadband

The government of Chile and Entel, the nation's leading telecom operator, have announced a project to extend 3G and fixed broadband services across rural areas of the country, bringing coverage to an estimated 3 million people for the first time.


The project, known as "Todo Chile Comunicado", will bring 3G coverage to 1,474 rural sites, as well as extending fiber optic nodes to 12 regional centers, over the next 3 years. The project is expected to represent a total investment of US$100 million with government subsidies accounting for about US$43 million of this cost.


The network is expected to deliver a low-cost Internet service at 1 Mbps downlink and 256k upstream, as well as serve public facilities, including schools and health centers. The first phase of the project begins in September with rollout to 450 locations.
http://www.subtel.clhttp://www.entel.cl/chile_comunicado/

Nokia to Acquire Motally for Mobile Analytics Service

Nokia agreed to acquire Motally, a privately-held US-based company that provides a mobile analytics service. Financial terms were not disclosed.


Motally offers in-application tracking and reporting, and is designed to enable developers and publishers to optimize the development of their mobile applications through increased understanding of how users engage. The service offering is planned to be adapted for Qt, Symbian, Meego and Java developers, and Nokia plans to continue serving Motally's existing customer base.


"The acquisition underpins Nokia's drive to deliver in-application and mobile web browsing analytics to Ovi's growing, global eco-system of developers and publishers, enabling partners to better connect with their customers and optimize and monetize their offering," said Marco Argenti, Vice President, Media, Nokia.


Motally currently employs a team of eight people and is based in San Francisco.
http://www.nokia.com
http://www.motally.com

Six Cities are Bidding to Host Mobile World Congress 2013

Six cities are competing to host the GSMA Mobile World Congress event starting in 2013. Amsterdam, Barcelona, Cologne, Milan, Munich and Paris have been named candidate cities who are vying to become the home of Mobile World Congress for the five-year period from 2013 through 2017. The GSMA expects to identify a short list of finalist cities in January 2011 and to complete the evaluation process and to announce the host city in mid-2011.


"The mobile industry continues to evolve at an unprecedented pace and the GSMA is also advancing its business to meet the changing requirements of constituents across the global communications industry," said John Hoffman, CEO, GSMA Ltd. "The Mobile World Congress has grown significantly since it was started in 1987, and we look forward to shaping the future of the event with one of these outstanding candidate cities."http://www.gsmworld.com