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Apparently, federal prosecutors in New Jersey are investigating whether numerous smartphone applications illegally obtained or transmitted information about their users without proper disclosures.

The criminal investigation is examining whether the app makers fully described to users the types of data they collected and why they needed the information -- such as a user's location or a unique identifier for the phone. Collecting information about a user without proper notice or authorization could violate a federal computer-fraud law. Online music service Pandora Media said April 4 it received a subpoena related to a federal grand-jury investigation of information-sharing practices by smartphone applications. Pandora disclosed the subpoena, issued "in early 2011," in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing. The Oakland, Calif., company said it had been informed it is "not a specific target of the investigation." Pandora said it believed similar subpoenas had been issued "on an industry-wide basis to the publishers of numerous other smartphone applications."

The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) sent Congress a progress report on efforts to vacate certain wireless communications systems from the 1710 megahertz (MHz) to 1755 MHz radio spectrum that has been reallocated to commercial use.

A vast majority of Federal agencies report that they are meeting their original relocation timeframe and cost estimates. For example, a total of 146 systems (approximately 81 percent of the total systems) have relocated from the 1710-1755 MHz band. In addition, all Federal agencies’ systems that had relocation timeframes of 36 months or less have relocated.2 Seven out of the twelve agencies (Department of Treasury, Department of Homeland Security, United States Postal Service, Department of Housing and Urban Development, Department of Justice, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Department of Transportation/ Federal Aviation Administration) have vacated the band entirely. Some agencies continue to spend SRF funds to complete their transition even after they have vacated the band, in order to reach comparable capability of systems relative to their pre-relocation operations, as authorized by the CSEA. During this reporting period three Federal agencies requested and were denied additional time by NTIA and OMB to relocate specific systems out of the band. The Department of the Interior requested additional time primarily due to the need to expand planning and analysis used in forming original estimates. The United States Department of Agriculture and Department of Energy requested additional time due to the fact that affected systems operate in remote locations with limited construction seasons due to adverse weather conditions. However, these agencies submitted compliance plans which were approved by OMB and NTIA for vacating the spectrum bands in coordination with the commercial licensees for those bands and are completing their relocation in accordance with those plans.

NTIA expects the five remaining agencies to complete their relocation from the 1710-1755 MHz band by April 2013. Specifically, the Department of Defense, Tennessee Valley Authority, United States Department of Agriculture, and most of the Department of Energy systems will relocate by April 2011. The remaining Department of Energy systems will relocate by April 2013. The Department of Interior will complete its relocation effort by April 2013.

On April 5, 2011, the Senate Commerce Committee held a hearing titled Closing the Digital Divide: Connecting Native Nations and Communities to the 21st Century.

Witnesses at the hearing were:

• Geoffrey C. Blackwell, Chief, Office of Native Affairs and Policy, Federal Communications Commission
• Alapaki Nahale-a, Chairman, Department of Hawaiian Homelands
• Loris Ann Taylor, President and Chief Executive Officer, Native Public Media
• Myron P. Naneng Sr., President, Association of Village Council Presidents
• John Badal, Chief Executive Officer, Sacred Wind Communications

Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) said: "Access to modern communications is not a luxury. It's a right. All people, no matter who they are or where they live, deserve access to basic telephone service, wireless service, and broadband. Without access to these services, too many of our citizens will be left on the wrong side of the digital divide and denied the kind of job opportunities, educational development, health care options, and personal safety that modern communications networks can provide. In our Native nations and communities, neither wireless service nor broadband service is on par with other parts of the country. I look forward to working with Senator Inouye and my Committee colleagues to do our part to close this digital divide and provide our Native lands with the communications infrastructure necessary to prosper and thrive in the 21st century."

"Historically Native communities have had less access to telecommunications services than any other segment of the U.S. population," noted former Committee Chairman Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii). "The lack of good, reliable, and affordable telecommunications infrastructure impedes economic development, educational opportunities, language retention and preservation, and access to health care and emergency services. The Native people of our great nation need and deserve the same opportunities and ability to communicate that is already enjoyed by the majority of U.S. Communities. This infrastructure is long overdue and we must work to ensure that our Native communities are fully connected."

“The negative impacts of history fell particularly hard on Tribal and Native Communities, and aspects of this history resulted in an alarming lack of critical infrastructures. Broadband opportunities can do much to level this history in bringing health care, education, and jobs to Native Nations, but it must be available, accessible, and affordable to meet its promise. We have heard several recurring themes in our conversations with Native leaders ­ continue to meet with us, listen to us, and use what we tell you to bring communications on Tribal lands into the 21st century," said the FCC's Blackwell.

Loris Taylor said, "In the United States, there are 565 federally recognized American Indian Tribes and approximately 4.1 million American Indians and Alaska Natives. Thirty-two percent of this population still is without basic telephone service. Ninety percent of Native Americans have no access to high speed Internet. The absence of adequate communications services in Indian Country is no accident. Decades of failed federal policy, market forces, and the socioeconomic conditions of Native American populations located in some of the most remote areas of the country result in high build-out costs for all media. For the foreseeable future, we need your help in preserving and expanding the public broadcast system in Indian Country."

[Commentary] You can make as many arguments as you like about what AT&T stands to gain by buying T-Mobile, but in my view it boils down to just one: frequencies.

Sure, AT&T would gain another 34 million subs, it would have access to a largely built high-speed packet access plus (HSPA+) network, it would leapfrog over Verizon Wireless in scale and sheer dominance in the US market. But I think none of that justifies the huge integration headaches and costs necessary to knit their two networks and operations together (the Cingular-AT&T Wireless integration is probably still fresh in memory). However, with a single stroke AT&T would alleviate all of its spectrum worries for the next few years, giving it not only a consistent and large band over which to launch LTE but also more options than it knows what to do with when it comes to future network planning. AT&T certainly isn't hiding the fact. In multiple interviews and presentations AT&T has stressed how the deal will relieve it of having to ferret out new spectrum in the near term, while its competitors may not be feel so comfortable.

So how big exactly would AT&T’s spectrum position be post-merger? Conveniently Bernstein Research produced a handy analysis covering just such a scenario. Assuming its acquisition of Qualcomm’s 700 MHz FLO spectrum is approved as well as the T-Mobile acquisition itself, AT&T would have a whopping 132.4 MHz of spectrum on a population-weighted average per market. In comparison, Verizon Wireless and Sprint would have a combined 140.2 MHz. Clearwire, which often brags about its exalted spectral holding has an average of 100 MHz in most markets and maxes out at 120 MHz in its most license-rich markets. Of course, the Federal Communications Commission and Justice Department will most certainly make AT&T divest that spectrum in many markets. But any resulting deal will most certainly still leave AT&T with the premier spectrum position in the U.S., both in terms of quantity and quality.