June 2015

AT&T said it will spend $3 billion during the next four years to cover 100 million people in Mexico with LTE by the end of 2018. AT&T said the first phase of its LTE network buildout will be complete by the end of 2015 and will cover 40 million Mexicans, which the carrier said represents about one-third of the country's population. By the end of 2016, AT&T said it plans to cover 75 million people, or nearly two-thirds of the population.

According to GSMA Intelligence, the research unit of the GSMA trade association, only about 35 percent of POPs in Mexico were covered with LTE as of the first quarter of 2015. The firm said 95 percent of POPs were covered with 3G. Separately, AT&T also announced it will offer new plans to its existing Mexican customers "that take advantage of the company's North American Mobile Service Area." The carrier said the new plans will allow its Mexican customers to use their voice, data and text messaging services while in the United States. "Customers on these new plans will also be able to use their available community minutes to call friends and family in the US who are on the AT&T network," the carrier said. The operator also said it will offer Google Play billing in Mexico for Android smartphone users -- the service allows customers to purchase Android apps, books, movies, music and games and have the cost added to their monthly AT&T wireless bill.

T-Mobile pledged to fight Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler’s recommendation against increasing the amount of wireless spectrum reserved for smaller carriers in an upcoming auction. "I am asking you to reconsider and stand strong for American consumers,” CEO John Legere wrote in a letter to the FCC. He added that he “will continue to fight on behalf of all wireless consumers.” “This decision is too important to the future of competition for me to ignore,” said the outspoken T-Mobile chief. “Consumers deserve choice.”

The FCC has set aside 30 megahertz of wireless spectrum, the airwaves that carry signals to mobile devices, exclusively for smaller wireless carriers like T-Mobile. That move was aimed at keeping AT&T and Verizon from dominating the auction. But T-Mobile requested that spectrum reserve spectrum be increased to 40 megahertz, which it says would allow more than one small provider to compete in every market.

On March 25, 2015, Sen Mark Warner (D-VA) wrote to Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler regarding the selection of a Local Number Portability Administrator (LNPA), expressing concern with the management of national, state, and local security and potential transition issues.

On June 12, 2015, Chairman Wheeler responded by referring to an Order that was unanimously approved with the recommendation to move forward with the contract negotiations with Telcordia Technologies, Inc., to serve as the next LNPA. Chairman Wheeler wrote, "Importantly, the Order requires Telcordia to comply with specific conditions to ensure that it serves as a neutral administrator and Telcordia's service conforms with national security and law enforcement needs. Furthermore, the negotiated contract will be subject to Commission review to ensure that the neutrality and security requirements are fully satisfied." Chairman Wheeler added that, "Again, this Order is only one important step toward implementing a new contract. There is more to do. we will continue to engage law enforcement and national security experts as we look at the post-selection process to ensure that those concerns are appropriately addressed."

The Pew Research Center’s unit studying the Internet and society began systematically measuring Internet adoption among Americans in 2000. Since then, Pew Research has conducted 97 national surveys of adults that have documented how the internet has become an integral part of everyday life across diverse parts of society. For young adults, Americans with high education levels, and those in relatively affluent households, Internet penetration nears full saturation levels. The report finds that, in 2000, 70 percent of those ages 18-29 used the Internet, and that figure has steadily grown to 96 percent in 2015. In contrast, 14 percent of seniors used the internet in 2000, while 58 percent do so today. In addition, almost all adults (95 percent) with a college or graduate degree say they are internet users, and 97 percent of those who live in households earning more than $75,000 are also online. “There are two broad trends in these data,” says Maeve Duggan, Research Associate at Pew Research Center. “The first is that the groups traditionally leading the way in tech adoption -- the young, highly educated and relatively well off – are now nearly all Internet users. The second is that groups traditionally less likely to be early adopters have steadily increased their Internet use. Especially in recent years, the rate of adoption has been particularly rapid. However, digital differences still remain.” Other findings include:

• African-Americans and Hispanics have been somewhat less likely than whites or English-speaking Asian-Americans to be internet users. Today, 78 percent of blacks and 81 percent of Hispanics use the Internet, compared with 85 percent of whites and 97 percent of English-speaking Asian Americans.
• Men and women have had rough parity in Internet adoption since 2000. Today, 85 percent of men and 84 percent of women report being Internet users.
• Those who live in rural areas are less likely than those in the suburbs and urban areas to use the Internet. In 2000, 56 percent of suburban residents, 53 percent of urban residents and 42 percent of rural residents were Internet users. Today those figures stand at 85 percent, 85 percent and 78 percent respectively.