What's on the agenda for policymakers.
Agenda
The National Telecommunications and Information Administration launched the State Broadband Initiative (SBI) in 2009 to encourage state entities to advance broadband and information technology into their state and local economies. Almost ten years later, what states have taken up the challenge to adopt their own broadband initiatives?
FCC Preps for T-Mobile-Sprint Merger Review
The Federal Communications Commission has opened a comment docket on the proposed T-Mobile-Sprint merger and signaled the deal is about to be filed with the commission. The two wireless companies announced April 29 that they had struck a deal to merge that valued the combined company at $146 billion (including debt). It is only the latest in a flurry of merger activity, from the approval of the AT&T-Time Warner deal by a federal judge to Comcast's announced play for 21st Century Fox assets. The FCC has even set up its 180-day shot clock on the proposed T-Mobile-Sprint meld, though it w
Apple Gets US Supreme Court Review on iPhone App Fee Suit
The US Supreme Court agreed to hear Apple's bid to kill an antitrust lawsuit over the market for iPhone apps in a case that could shield e-commerce companies from consumer claims over high commissions. The lawsuit accuses Apple of monopolizing the app market so it can charge excessive commissions of 30 percent. Apple, backed by the Trump administration, says it can’t be sued because the commission is levied on the app developers, not the purchasers who are suing.
The Third Wave of the internet
After visiting communities in the heart of the country, in a huge drive to help entrepreneurs, internet pioneer Steve Case, co-founder of AOL, says the future looks bright. "I believe that we are entering the Third Wave of the internet, a period in which entrepreneurs will leverage technology to revolutionise major sectors of the economy - healthcare, financial services, agriculture and others," he says.
The Perfect Weapon: War, Sabotage and Fear in the Cyber Age
Cyberattacks have been around for two decades. As President Barack Obama once feared, a cyberarms race of historic but hidden proportions has taken off. et in this arms race, the United States has often been its own worst enemy. Because our government has been so incompetent at protecting its highly sophisticated cyberweapons, those weapons have been stolen out of the electronic vaults of the National Security Agency and the CIA and shot right back at us.
The 5G standard is finally finished with new standalone specification
There's finally a finished 5G standard. The 3GPP — the international group that governs cellular standards — officially signed off on the standalone 5G New Radio (NR) spec. It’s another major step toward next-generation cellular networks finally becoming a reality. There’s still more work to be done to finalize things. The real work will be waiting for the entire industry to build the hardware, infrastructure, chips, modems, phones, and antennas that will actually work with 5G. Don’t forget the massive undertaking of actually rolling out those new networks across the globe.
Why net neutrality supporters are cringing at the AT&T-Time Warner merger
Historians may look back on this week as a turning point in the evolution of the internet. First came the end of net neutrality rules which ensured that broadband and wireless providers couldn't act as gatekeepers picking and choosing who succeeds on the internet and who doesn't. Then a federal judge decided to allow AT&T, one of the largest broadband and wireless providers in the country, and Time Warner, a major media company, to merge without any conditions.
The end of net neutrality could mean you pay for faster access to sites like Facebook
Ultimately, the internet could someday look like the current cable model where the internet service provider takes a portion of advertising revenue and subscriber fees. “This would be gradual and would most likely affect new services that would have been free, but we may now have to pay for,” said Marty Puranik, chief executive officer of cloud service provider Atlantic.Net.
The Board of the First Responder Network Authority will convene a meeting of the FirstNet Authority Board and the Committees of the Board of the First Responder Network Authority that will be open to the public via teleconference and WebEx on June 20, 2018.
On the date and time of the meeting, members of the public may listen to the meeting by dialing toll free 1–888–324–9653 and using passcode 4609182.