BENTON'S COMMUNICATIONS-RELATED HEADLINES for THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2017
Today's Events
- 2017 Telecom Priorities for Congress and the FCC, ITIF -- https://www.benton.org/node/252745
- Reauthorization of NTIA, House Communications Subcommittee Hearing -- https://www.benton.org/node/253956
FCC REFORM
Expect FCC Reform Announcement Feb 2
Can we modernize the FCC? - Mark Jamison
INTERNET/BROADBAND
Federal Broadband Infrastructure Spending: Potential Pitfalls - FCC Commissioner Michael O'Rielly blog
Powell: Broadband Infrastructure Plan Should Target Unserved
Will Chairman Pai’s Broadband Deployment Advisory Committee Re-invent the Wheel? [links to Benton summary]
NY attorney general sues Time Warner Cable over internet speed fraud
Virginia School District Gives 49% of Students Broadband, Bill Would Take It Away
What Chairman Pai thinks about net neutrality - WaPo analysis
Net neutrality policy still up in the air under President Trump - IDG News Service analysis [links to Benton summary]
COMMUNICATIONS & DEMOCRACY
The Alt-Majority: How Social Networks Empowered Mass Protests Against Trump
History Says Trump Meddling at FCC Unlikely - op-ed
Skype seats are a mixed blessing in their debut at White House media briefings - analysis
Are Police Biased Against Independent Journalists? - Free Press
After NY Cop Salutes Violence Against Anti-Trump Protester, His Online Post Comes Under Review [links to ProPublica]
Is Trump giving CNN the cold shoulder? [links to Benton summary]
What It Would Mean To Have Infowars In The White House Press Room [links to Media Matters for America]
Trump began his ‘Black History Month listening session’ with a ‘media complaining session’ [links to Washington Post]
The tools we build in Silicon Valley represent the best hope for fixing our democracy - Vox op-ed [links to Benton summary]
CNN to air debate Feb 7 between Sens Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Ted Cruz (R-TX) [links to Politico]
New court, second look: 'Citizens United' built on crumbling base - The Hill op-ed [links to Benton summary]
UC Berkeley cancels right-wing provocateur’s talk amid violent protest [links to San Francisco Chronicle]
President Trump threatens funding cut if UC Berkeley 'does not allow free speech' [links to Hill, The]
Editorial: Self-dealing is standard procedure for this White House [links to New York Times]
Donald Trump Urges Senate GOP to Scrap 60-Vote Rule for Court Pick [links to Wall Street Journal]
IMMIGRATION
How Trump’s Immigration Rules Will Hurt the US Tech Sector [links to Benton summary]
What Trump's push to limit overseas workers means for India's army of high-tech migrant labor [links to Los Angeles Times]
Apple considering legal action against Trump travel ban [links to Hill, The]
Mossberg: Immigration builds America’s tech dominance [links to Vox]
CNN editor sues after being detained at Atlanta airport under Trump travel ban [links to Benton summary]
Twitter to donate $1.6M to ACLU after Trump immigration order [links to Hill, The]
SECURITY/PRIVACY
Trump scraps signing of cybersecurity executive action
GAO Report: DHS's National Integration Center Generally Performs Required Functions but Needs to Evaluate Its Activities More Completely [links to US Government Accountability Office]
Rep Goodlatte: Electronic Privacy, Foreign Intelligence on Judiciary Agenda [links to Benton summary]
Undermining Encryption Not An Option, House Judiciary Chair Pledges [links to nextgov]
Sen. Rounds Is Ready to Lead New Cybersecurity Subcommittee [links to Benton summary]
Here’s why your browser may tell you the White House website isn’t secure [links to Benton summary]
TELECOM
Republican-led FCC drops court defense of inmate calling rate cap
Consumer groups urge Chairman Pai not to reverse robo-call limits for student debt collectors [links to Benton summary]
JOURNALISM
Fatigued by the News? Experts Suggest How to Adjust Your Media Diet [links to Benton summary]
#PressOn campaign wants you to support facts by paying for journalism [links to Washington Post]
Facebook and the press: The transfer of power - CJR [links to Benton summary]
Is ‘fake news’ a fake problem? - CJR op-ed [links to Benton summary]
OWNERSHIP
Verizon completes purchase of XO Communications’ fiber business - press release
AT&T to buy FiberTower for millimeter wave [links to Benton summary]
WIRELESS/SPECTRUM
FTC Returns Nearly $20 Million in Additional Refunds to T-Mobile Customers - press release
Seattle RFI Seeks Ideas for Providing Public Wi-Fi [links to Government Technology]
Telecommunications Policy: Process model for recent spectrum sharing concepts in policy making [links to Telecommunications Policy]
2016 Smartphone Shipments Reach Record High 1.5 Billion, Apple Overtakes Samsung in 4Q16 [links to telecompetitor]
Your phone is trying to control your life [links to Newshour]
FCC’s Media Bureau Adopts Post-Auction Policies and Procedures for Stations Transitioning to New Channels Following the Broadcast Incentive Auction [links to CommLawBlog]
Drones tethered to the ground could someday supply internet access to the Super Bowl stadium [links to Vox]
TELEVISION
Cable News Networks Continue Strong Post-Election Viewership [links to MediaPost]
Public Knowledge Responds to Charter Spectrum Cable-Univision Blackout [links to Public Knowledge]
Super Bowl Ads Walk Tightrope in Politically Charged Times [links to Wall Street Journal]
COURTS
Inadequate CA court software still gets people wrongly arrested, lawyers say [links to Ars Technica]
POLICYMAKERS
Senate confirms Tillerson as Secretary of State [links to Hill, The]
Judge Gorsuch No Stranger to Tech [links to Benton summary]
Trump’s SCOTUS Pick Needs to Get Tech—These Cases Show Why [links to Wired]
Former FCC Staffers Launch Consulting Firm [links to Benton summary]
STORIES FROM ABROAD
China bans 8 of the world’s top 25 websites? There’s still more to the digital trade problem. [links to America Enterprise Institute]
FCC REFORM
FCC ANNOUNCEMENT EXPECTED
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Harper Neidig]
The Federal Communications Commission announced that it would unveil "significant process reform," February 2. The measure is supposed to improve the transparency of FCC rulemakings. There will not be a livestream so if you want the details on this one you're going have to bring your popcorn out to the FCC's headquarters.
benton.org/headlines/expect-fcc-reform-announcement-feb-2 | Hill, The
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CAN WE MODERNIZE THE FCC?
[SOURCE: American Enterprise Institute, AUTHOR: Mark Jamison]
[Commentary] There seems to be a growing consensus that the Federal Communications Commission’s structure is outdated and hinders its work. What should be done? Implement a structure that moves away from antiquated silos — wireline, wireless, and media — to one that reflects the dynamic digital ecosystem and that empowers sound analytical work. The existing structure limits how people think, encourages regulations that limit innovation, and facilitates industry capture. To return the US to a position of world leadership, guiding principles for our policies should include: 1) Any person should have the right to purchase communications services from anyone else at any time (i.e., no entry restrictions for network, functions, applications, and content); 2) Anyone should be allowed to provide any communications service using any legally placed and acquired technologies (i.e., no technology restrictions); and 3) No government activity or regulation should provide a uneconomic favored position to any provider (i.e., no distortion of customer-led markets). A new structure would include a bureau of economics that analyzes markets and conducts regulatory impact assessments, a bureau of engineering that assesses technologies and is responsible for radio spectrum and equipment licensing, a competition bureau that enforces rules that protect liberal markets, and a consumer protection bureau. The first two bureaus are all about analysis, and the latter two are all about enforcement, with the engineering bureau playing a significant enforcement role with respect to radio spectrum and equipment. Effective leadership will be needed to address the adaptive challenges of letting go of long-held traditions and embracing new values of rigorous analysis, political and industry independence, transparency, etc. Congress will need to act to focus the agency on ex ante regulation only in the presence of monopoly and on managing scarce resources (such as radio spectrum and funds for universal service) consistent with dynamic and competitive markets.
[Jamison is the director and Gunter Professor of the Public Utility Research Center at the University of Florida – and a member of President Trump’s FCC Transition team]
benton.org/headlines/can-we-modernize-fcc | American Enterprise Institute
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INTERNET/BROADBAND
FEDERAL BROADBAND INFRASTRUCTURE
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission, AUTHOR: FCC Commissioner Michael O’Rielly]
The good work being done by the private sector and the Federal Communications Commission has not prevented some from advocating for expending additional Federal dollars for broadband, hopefully by providing additional resources to private companies to expand their reach and enter new territories (and not funding government networks). While seemingly helpful, there are serious potential drawbacks to this action, especially if it is done in a haphazard way. Here are just a few of the major issues and problems:
Harms to Private Sector – In countless meetings over the last three years, I have heard about the harmful effects of the Obama Administration’s economic stimulus legislation, especially the Broadband Technology Opportunities Program and Broadband Initiatives Program (BTOP & BIP). While supporters point to miles of fiber laid or anchor institutions connected, they fail to mention what this funding did to the competitors in the immediate and surrounding areas. When one provider received special funding, it distorted the ability of non-recipients to operate, pay off debt, raise capital, and satisfy consumer interest. In other words, artificially propping up select companies impacted the ability of others to compete, including growing their networks to unserved or underserved areas, and that doesn’t even include a critique of where grants were provided to overbuild existing providers. With areas completely unserved or in need of upgrades, it makes little sense to direct federal dollars to fund competition.
Overpaying and Over Subsidization – At its core, the FCC’s high-cost program is designed to limit any subsidy provided to broadband companies to only what is absolutely needed to promote access. The institution of reverse auctions uses market forces to get providers to compete – thereby driving down the subsidy costs – for particular areas. On the contrary, grant programs or loan subsidies do not induce any competitive pressure. This means the Federal government overpays for broadband deployment in these scenarios.
Lack of Coordination – Experience from the 2009 stimulus showed that insufficient coordination was done with the FCC by the Departments of Commerce and Agriculture as they created and operated their programs. That means that, as bureaucrats were preparing to distribute multi-billions of dollars, they had little to no understanding of the prior and future commitments made by the FCC or how their programs would fit together with the Commission’s data intensive high-cost program. In the end, the FCC was left to piece together the remnants of what was done by the other agencies in order to prevent duplication and address those areas still in need.
Bureaucrats Picking Winners & Losers – Application-based programs use highly-questionable selective criteria (e.g., points system) combined with human intervention to determine what projects to fund. This allows non-efficient factors to influence the outcome and cultivates an environment for political gamesmanship. At a time when so much focus is on reducing undue or improper involvement by DC lobbyists and politicians, shouldn’t there be equal concern that any new broadband programs aren’t monopolized by the well-connected?
Technology Discrimination – The FCC has spent the last 18 months ensuring that its program does not discriminate against any technology able to serve consumers. Unfortunately, many broadband programs are designed to be fiber first or fiber only and provide preferences to ensure other technologies do not win any funding or serve any consumers. This myopic view ignores the development of other technology capabilities and allowances for terrain. Dragging fiber to the top of every mountain may not make any sense in terms of cost, time to build, safety of installers and long term survivability against the surrounding elements. Alternatively, fixed wireless broadband or satellite may be the most appropriate solution.
benton.org/headlines/federal-broadband-infrastructure-spending-potential-pitfalls | Federal Communications Commission
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POWELL ON BROADBAND INFRASTRUCTURE PLAN
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
Michael Powell, president of NCTA: The Internet & Television Association, said that a new round of broadband infrastructure investment should focus on getting service to unserved areas and on tax incentives to private industry. To the degree that it will be subsidies, he said, they should be targeted. Powell was speaking at a Capitol Hill panel, outlining infrastructure priorities. It was hosted by the Senate Broadband Caucus. Powell said that the reason that universal access was still a work in progress was "networks hate low density," which is why so much infrastructure, particularly in rural areas, struggles to find its economic footing. He said in economic terms, those are "market failures." He suggested the mistakes made by previous broadband subsidy programs, like overbuilding existing service—serving up seconds before others have firsts—should not be repeated as everyone "gets on the bandwagon" for the next tranche of infrastructure investment. Powell said that the goal should be to incent private investment rather than try to supplant it with government dollars that will not match the tens and hundreds of billions the private sector already invests.
benton.org/headlines/powell-broadband-infrastructure-plan-should-target-unserved | Broadcasting&Cable
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NY AG SUES TWC OVER INTERNET SPEED FRAUD
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Ali Breland]
The New York attorney general’s office announced a lawsuit filed against Spectrum-Time Warner Cable and its parent company, Charter Communications, for allegedly defrauding and misleading New Yorkers about internet speeds and quality. “The allegations in today’s lawsuit confirm what millions of New Yorkers have long suspected — Spectrum-TWC has been ripping you off,” said New York Attorney General Schneiderman. “Today’s action seeks to bring much-needed relief to the millions of New Yorkers we allege have been getting cheated by Spectrum-Time Warner Cable for far too long.” Schneiderman claimed that the Spectrum-Time Warner Cable was still misleadingly promising consumers internet speeds that they could not deliver on. The complaint specifically alleges that since January 2012, Spectrum-TWC marketing materials claimed that consumers who subscribed to their internet service would "fast, reliable connection" in their homes. After 16 months of investigation, though, the Schneiderman's office found that hundreds of thousands of speed tests showed that customers were “getting dramatically short-changed on both speed and reliability” by as much as 80 percent.
benton.org/headlines/ny-attorney-general-sues-time-warner-cable-over-internet-speed-fraud | Hill, The | Multichannel News | ars technica
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VIRGINIA SCHOOL DISTRICT GIVES 49% OF STUDENTS BROADBAND
[SOURCE: Craig Settles, AUTHOR: Craig Settles]
In 2016, the Appomattox County School District in Virginia used broadband in a unique way to close the “homework gap” for 49 percent. of its students. But now this visionary deployment could be declared null & void by a Virginia state legislator. The Federal Communications Commission changed its rules to allow schools to use eRate-funded broadband after school is over to provide home coverage. The School District built its own fiber network, installed Wi-Fi radios onto the network to reach un-served homes with free service, and also saves the county millions of dollars in leasing fees over five years. Virginia state legislator Kathy Byron introduced a deceptively name bill that would stop the county’s efforts in its tracks. As the Roanoke Times states, “In the spirit of naming bills the exact opposite of what they would do, her so-called 'Virginia Broadband Deployment Act' [original title] would actually make it harder to extend broadband to areas that don’t presently have it — or don’t have enough of it.” This bill corrupts the notion that communities can best determine and meet their broadband needs.
benton.org/headlines/virginia-school-district-gives-49-students-broadband-bill-would-take-it-away | Craig Settles
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WHAT PAI THINKS ABOUT NET NEUTRALITY
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Brian Fung]
Is Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai for or against network neutrality? In plain English, Chairman Pai is saying he's in favor of the idea of net neutrality; he just doesn't like the FCC's policy of regulating the Internet providers with Title II of the Communications Act. But, how can you be for net neutrality but against the FCC's rules? Aren't the rules "net neutrality"? The FCC regulations are aimed at preserving a free and open Internet, but they aren't technically synonymous with net neutrality. The regulations are simply the government's attempt to defend net neutrality, which is a broader idea about how the Internet should work. Chairman Pai said he was supportive of a number of so-called freedoms identified by former FCC chairman Michael Powell. Now that he's chairman, Pai isn't saying much about net neutrality beyond that. But we can look to other Title II opponents for clues as to possible alternatives to the current policy. There are several main paths forward, it seems, and any mixture of them seems possible. The FCC could choose not to enforce the net neutrality rules. It could actively seek to roll them back by reversing Wheeler's reclassification. And Congress could seek to legislate.
benton.org/headlines/what-chairman-pai-thinks-about-net-neutrality | Washington Post
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COMMUNICATIONS & DEMOCRACY
TECH AND PROTEST
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Farhad Manjoo]
We’re witnessing the stirrings of a national popular movement aimed at defeating the policies of President Donald Trump. It is a movement without official leaders. In fact, to a noteworthy degree, the formal apparatus of the Democratic Party has been nearly absent from the uprisings. Unlike the Tea Party and the white-supremacist “alt-right,” the new movement has no name. Call it the alt-left, or, if you want to really drive Mr. Trump up the wall, the alt-majority. Or call it nothing. Though nameless and decentralized, the movement isn’t chaotic. Because it was hatched on social networks and is dispatched by mobile phones, it appears to be organizationally sophisticated and ferociously savvy about conquering the media. The protests have accomplished something just about unprecedented in the nearly two years since Trump first declared his White House run: They have nudged him from the media spotlight he depends on. They are the only force we’ve seen that has been capable of untangling his singular hold on the media ecosystem.
benton.org/headlines/alt-majority-how-social-networks-empowered-mass-protests-against-trump | New York Times
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TRUMP AND THE FCC
[SOURCE: TVNewsCheck, AUTHOR: Kenneth Robinson]
[Commentary] What's the likelihood federal regulatory agencies such as the Federal Communications Commission will now be employed in President Donald Trump’s “running war with the media”? Will the FCC take up its long-retired cudgels and pound the electronic media over the head? It is highly unlikely the Trump White House will contact the FCC in any regard. And, will the FCC take steps anyway to apply and enforce their various rules? Probably not. The FCC rules for broadcasters used to be pretty strict. They fined stations for failing to label "file footage," for instance. Or broadcasting news that they knew was incorrect. "Rigging the news" was one of the worst offenses back then. But now? It's likely to be ignored, isn't it? We think the Trump White House and FCC will follow historical tradition and remain "two ships passing in the dark" and having virtually no contact.
[Robinson is a communications attorney and former FCC official]
benton.org/headlines/history-says-trump-meddling-fcc-unlikely | TVNewsCheck
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SKYPE SEATS
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Callum Borchers]
[Commentary] The debut of virtual seats in the White House briefing room delivered on the promise of new perspectives — but also showed how the Trump administration could use the inclusion of remote questioners to its advantage. The first journalists to join a Q&A session via video link included local television reporters from Rhode Island and Ohio, a conservative radio host from Oregon who endorsed President Trump during the campaign and a newspaper publisher from Kentucky who also backed President Trump. The problem was that White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer did not offer straight answers to any of their questions. And because the questioners were quickly disconnected, they had no opportunity do what the reporters who sit before Spicer do every day — follow up and press for more details. Essentially, Spicer used the new Skype seats to give himself four chances to recite vague talking points without being challenged by a journalist. There is potential for remote questioners to make meaningful contributions to White House press briefings — the first four certainly tried — but, so far, that does not appear to be what the White House really wants.
benton.org/headlines/skype-seats-are-mixed-blessing-their-debut-white-house-media-briefings | Washington Post
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ARE POLICE BIASED AGAINST INDEPENDENT JOURNALISTS?
[SOURCE: Free Press, AUTHOR: Timothy Karr]
On Inauguration Day, police arrested six journalists who were covering protests in Washington (DC). The reporters were hauled before Superior Court judges and each charged with felony counts of “inciting to riot” and cause bodily harm, a crime punishable up to a maximum of 10 years in jail and fines of up to $25,000. By pressing charges against some reporters while releasing others, authorities have made a value judgment about what sort of journalism gets protected and what leads to severe legal penalties. It appears police have a bias against smaller independent reporters and freelancers, who may lack the backing and legal support of larger media outlets. Government should not be in the position of deciding who is and who isn’t a journalist. Authorities can’t determine who’s allowed to engage in acts of journalism and who doesn’t have the right. But the First Amendment isn’t enough. People need to stand up for these reporters — especially now that they are under attack on so many fronts — and show their outrage by speaking out in support of journalists’ rights whenever these arrests occur.
benton.org/headlines/are-police-biased-against-independent-journalists | Free Press
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SECURITY/PRIVACY
TRUMP SCRAPS SIGNING OF CYBERSECURITY EXECUTIVE ACTION
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Jordan Fabian]
President Donald Trump scrapped plans to sign an executive action launching a government-wide cybersecurity overhaul. The White House did not immediately provide an explanation for the cancellation. It was an abrupt about face after the White House spent all day Jan 31 plugging its plans to boost the nation's offensive and defensive cyber capabilities. Officials told reporters earlier in the day that Trump planned to order Cabinet officials to enhance their agencies’ cyber defenses and commission an administration-wide review to assess hacking risks. Hours later, Trump convened a “listening session” with top White House, Cabinet and cybersecurity experts in the Roosevelt Room. “I will hold my Cabinet secretaries and agency heads accountable, totally accountable for the cybersecurity of their organizations which we probably don’t have as much, certainly not as much as we need,” he said. “We must protect federal networks and data.”
benton.org/headlines/trump-scraps-signing-cybersecurity-executive-action | Hill, The | IDG | nextgov
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TELECOM
FCC DROPS INMATE CALLING RATE DEFENSE
[SOURCE: ars technica, AUTHOR: Jon Brodkin]
The Federal Communications Commission's new Republican leadership has decided not to defend FCC inmate calling rules that place a cap on intrastate calling rates. Chairman Ajit Pai and fellow Commissioner Michael O'Rielly repeatedly opposed attempts to cap the phone rates charged to prisoners while Democrats held the FCC's majority. Republicans argued that the FCC exceeded its authority, and commission attempts to enforce rate caps have been stymied by a series of court decisions. Since the FCC prison rate order was adopted by a 3-2 vote in October 2015, Democrats Jessica Rosenworcel and Chairman Tom Wheeler have left the commission, FCC Deputy General Counsel David Gossett noted. "As a result of these changes in membership, the two Commissioners who dissented from the Order under review—on the grounds that, in specific respects, it exceeds the agency’s lawful authority—now comprise a majority of the Commission," Gossett wrote. Gossett is thus no longer authorized to defend the FCC's previous contention that it "has the authority to cap intrastate rates for inmate calling services" and cannot defend the FCC's assertion that it "lawfully considered industry-wide averages in setting the rate caps contained in the Order," he wrote. Gossett said he will continue to defend other parts of the commission's October 2015 order, which also lowered the price of interstate calls, those that cross state lines. The FCC's decision to stop defending the full order hurts the case for maintaining rate caps on intrastate calls in which both parties are in the same state, but it doesn't completely kill the case. The FCC is ceding 10 minutes of its allotted argument time to attorney Andrew Schwartzman, who is defending the rate caps on behalf of prisoners' rights groups.
benton.org/headlines/republican-led-fcc-drops-court-defense-inmate-calling-rate-cap | Ars Technica
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OWNERSHIP
VERIZON COMPLETES PURCHASE OF XO COMMUNICATIONS' FIBER BUSINESS
[SOURCE: Verizon, AUTHOR: Press release]
Verizon Communications announced it has completed the $1.8 billion purchase of XO Communications’ fiber-optic network business. Verizon’s purchase and integration of XO’s fiber network will help the company extend its suite of high-quality network services to its enterprise and wholesale customers. In addition, it will help the company in its plans to densify its cellular network, and to deploy new 5G technologies. Integration of all XO operations and facilities is expected to commence immediately. The company expects to achieve significant synergies by incorporating XO’s fiber assets as part of its current network operations. Verizon anticipates the transaction will deliver in excess of $1.5 billion in operating and expense savings in net present value. In addition to the fiber transaction, Verizon has entered into an agreement to lease certain wireless spectrum from former XO affiliate NextLink Wireless. Verizon has an option, exercisable under certain circumstances, to buy NextLink.
benton.org/headlines/verizon-completes-purchase-xo-communications-fiber-business | Verizon
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WIRELESS/SPECTRUM
FTC RETURNS NEARLY $20M IN ADDITIONAL REFUNDS TO T-MOBILE CUSTOMERS
[SOURCE: Federal Trade Commission, AUTHOR: Press release]
The Federal Trade Commission is mailing refund checks totaling nearly $20 million to more than 617,000 T-Mobile customers who had third-party charges added to their mobile bills. These refunds are the result of a 2014 settlement with T-Mobile, which also involved all 50 states and the District of Columbia, as well as the Federal Communications Commission. As part of the settlement, T-Mobile agreed to fully refund unwanted third-party charges to its customers who applied for a refund. The company also agreed to remit to the FTC any remaining funds up to $90 million that were not distributed under the order. The FTC is using the remaining settlement money to send checks to customers who had third-party charges placed on their bills but did not participate in T-Mobile’s refund program. The average check amount is $32. Recipients should deposit or cash checks within 60 days.
benton.org/headlines/ftc-returns-nearly-20-million-additional-refunds-t-mobile-customers | Federal Trade Commission
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