February 2015

Telecom Italia Bolsters Broadband in $16.4 Billion Program

Telecom Italia SpA will invest in faster broadband as part of a 14.5 billion-euro ($16.4 billion) spending plan to help Chief Executive Officer Marco Patuano return to earnings growth in Italy by 2017.

In the three years through 2017, Telecom Italia will spend about 3 billion euros on optic fiber for broadband in its home market, where it generates about 70 percent of revenue. That’s an increase of more than 1 billion euros from the previous program and will extend the reach of fiber to 75 percent of the population.

In Online Videos, Israeli Candidates Pursue ‘Likes’ and Votes

With a month to go before Israel’s elections on March 17, the race has turned into a contest of cheeky online videos, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the role of an eager babysitter, and from the studios of the center-left Zionist Union a decidedly unsexy “Fifty Shades of Black.” The campaign has so far barely touched on the looming deadline in the Iranian nuclear talks, the festering Palestinian conflict or the heightened tensions with the White House over Netanyahu’s planned address to Congress. Instead, the candidates are playing for “likes.”

The Great Sim Heist: How Spies Stole the Keys to the Encryption Castle

American and British spies hacked into the internal computer network of the largest manufacturer of SIM cards in the world, stealing encryption keys used to protect the privacy of cellphone communications across the globe, according to top-secret documents provided by National Security Agency whistleblower Edward Snowden. The hack was perpetrated by a joint unit consisting of operatives from the NSA and its British counterpart Government Communications Headquarters, or GCHQ.

The breach, detailed in a secret 2010 GCHQ document, gave the surveillance agencies the potential to secretly monitor a large portion of the world’s cellular communications, including both voice and data. With these stolen encryption keys, intelligence agencies can monitor mobile communications without seeking or receiving approval from telecom companies and foreign governments. Possessing the keys also sidesteps the need to get a warrant or a wiretap, while leaving no trace on the wireless provider’s network that the communications were intercepted. Bulk key theft additionally enables the intelligence agencies to unlock any previously encrypted communications they had already intercepted, but did not yet have the ability to decrypt.

Net Neutrality Tiff Over Toll-Free Data Pits Verizon Against Venture Capitalists

A week before the Feb 26 Federal Communications Commission vote on network neutrality rules, a battle is flaring over whether it’s fair for wireless companies to exempt services such as music streaming from counting against subscribers’ data caps. Venture capitalists have been asking FCC members to prohibit wireless providers from allowing content companies to pick up the tab for usage associated with their data traffic rather than having the consumer pay.

They said it violates the concept that all Web traffic should be treated equally. To offer such toll-free services “creates hurdles for startups who lack the resources to pay for such preferential treatment,” a group including Union Square Ventures’ Nick Grossman and Brad Burnham said in a Feb. 12 meeting with FCC officials. They were joined by companies including online marketplace Etsy and social network FourSquare. Verizon has told regulators that letting Web companies, rather than subscribers, pay for data usage can save money for consumers. T-Mobile said its Music Freedom offering, which streams songs that don’t count against data caps, helps differentiate it from competitors

T-Mobile US CEO Says Combination With Dish Would Be Good Match

T-Mobile US Chief Executive Officer John Legere said that a combination with Dish Network could be a good match because of the satellite-TV provider’s video technology and massive cache of airwaves. "I look at the spectrum portfolio and video content that Dish has as a fascinating idea,” Legere said. “Dish is a great opportunity for the country and possibly T-Mobile.” Dish CEO Charlie Ergen reached out to Deutsche Telekom AG in 2014 to express interest in an acquisition of its T-Mobile unit, people with knowledge of the matter said in September. AT&T, SoftBank, and Iliad SA all failed at various levels to acquire T-Mobile, the fourth-largest US wireless carrier.

FCC Imposes $3.3 Million Penalty against IT Connect for brokering toll free numbers

The Federal Communications Commission is imposing a penalty of $3.36 million against Richard Jackowitz and IT Connect for selling or attempting to sell 210 toll free numbers in violation of the FCC's rules. The FCC takes this action to preserve its policy that toll free numbers are public resources that are not privately owned and, therefore, cannot be sold.

Keynote Address of FCC Commissioner Pai at North American Broadcasters Association's Symposium

Speaking in Toronto at the North American Broadcasters Association's Symposium on the Future of Radio & Audio, Commissioner Ajit Pai of the Federal Communications Commission said, "To anyone who wonders why I’ve devoted a substantial amount of attention to radio during my tenure at the FCC, I have a simple two-word answer: radio matters. Those who believe that broadband will prove to be a substitute for broadcast, in my view, are fundamentally mistaken. I’ve said it many times before, and I’m sure that I will say it many times again: broadcast and broadband are complements, not substitutes." Additionally, Commissioner Pai spoke of challenges facing radio both now and in the future, and outlined some specific policy and market solutions he supports.

Remarks by FCC Commissioner Clyburn at Federal Communications Bar Association

Commissioner Mignon Clyburn of the Federal Communications Commission, in a speech at the Federal Communications Bar Association said, "We must double-down on our efforts, to ensure that affordable broadband is available to everyone. The FCC has done a valiant job reforming the majority of our universal service programs, which is enabling the deployment of robust networks. But we have fallen short, when it comes to the adoption side of the house and have failed to reform the program best positioned to close the broadband gap. A rebooted Lifeline program, and I don’t mean just adding broadband to the mix, but taking a fresh look at this 30-year-old program, is the most efficient way to truly address those chronic, digital divides. Last November, I outlined five underlying principles, which should guide a comprehensive modernization of our only needs-based, Universal Service Program." Ensuring just and reasonable rates for inmate calling, promoting new entry and reducing barriers to deployment, and promoting deployment and a free and Open Internet were other areas Commissioner Clyburn discussed.

Stakeholders Continue Historic Work on Internet DNS Transition at ICANN Singapore Meeting

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) held its 52nd meeting in Singapore, where the global multistakeholder community continued progress on a proposal to transition the United States role related to the Internet Domain Name System. Now that we are nearing the one-year anniversary of our announcement, it is important to take stock of where this transition process stands. Stakeholders have organized two major work streams to develop the overall plan: one group is focused on the specifics of the IANA functions and the second is addressing questions of the overall accountability of ICANN to the global community of Internet stakeholders.

As both groups continue their work, any new process proposed must be tested to ensure that it actually works. The Internet community is undertaking truly historic work at a pivotal moment in time. I thank them for their tireless dedication to this effort. The outcome of this process will impact the way the Internet is governed for years to come.

Sen Markey, Ranking Member Eshoo Urge FCC To Ensure Spectrum Auction Rules Promote Competition And Access

House Communications Subcommittee Ranking Member Anna Eshoo (D-CA) and Sen Ed Markey (D-MA) are urging the Federal Communications Commission to continue its evaluation of spectrum auction rules to ensure robust competition and access to spectrum in the wireless marketplace. “Following the recent successful completion of the AWS-3 spectrum auction, we are writing to express our support for competition in the wireless marketplace and promotion of access to spectrum by companies of all sizes,” they wrote in a letter to FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler. “While this is no doubt a critical measure of a successful spectrum auction, it should not be the only metric for determining use of this scarce public resource,” Ranking Member Eshoo and Sen Markey continued.

They noted that 73 percent of highly desirable spectrum below 1 GHz is held by the nation’s two largest wireless carriers. They concluded: “[T]he Commission should continue to evaluate its auction rules to ensure they are sufficient to prevent excessive concentration of spectrum among the nation’s largest wireless providers. Such a reassessment can and should be completed without delaying the start of the auction in early 2016.”

Benton

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