Stories from Abroad

Widespread internet access is changing the African continent, largely thanks to the rise in smartphone ownership. Many Africans who are unable to afford costly broadband connections can now access the web for the first time, via sub-$50 Android phones.

The Trump administration’s offensives aimed at frustrating the 5G ambitions of China and mobile-technology giant Huawei might end up impeding America’s wireless ambitions, too. Recent White House actions land as China and the US race to launch the superfast cellular networks, with Huawei and its Chinese customers targeting a nationwide 5G rollout in 2020. A US Commerce Department measure, designed to hinder Huawei from buying critical components, might make it harder for American and European telecom-equipment makers to buy certain supplies as well, Western industry executives said.

The Agency for Global Media is supposed to broadcast objective Spanish-language news programs into Cuba, but fails to meet basic standards of journalistic fairness and let an anchor describe Trump administration officials as the “dream team” for Cuba policy, according to an independent review. The review of Radio and Television Martí content, conducted by Spanish-speaking academics and former journalists, found the news organization routinely allows “almost any criticism of the Cuban government and its leaders” on the air.

My intention today is to outline the most recent actions of the Federal Communications Commission pertaining to the protection of US national security, identify the difficult position in which we find ourselves with regard to Chinese telecommunications providers and manufacturers, and raise certain concerns with respect to the operations of the International Telecommunication Union, or the ITU as it is more commonly known.

The European Commission compared the current situation with the one before its open internet regulation entered into force (on 30 April 2016) and concluded that the regulation’s principles are appropriate and effective in protecting end-users’ rights and promoting the internet as an engine for innovation. The report suggests that there is no need to amend the regulation at this stage, in order to continue with the regulatory stability and in view of continuing protecting end-users’ rights and promoting open access to the internet.

This paper analyses the incidence of broadband on regional productivity in Brazil, intending to find out if the economic impact is uniform across all territories of the country. The possibility of performing a regional approach to test the effect of broadband on productivity in an emerging country represents a novelty for the literature. Results suggest that the impact of broadband on productivity is positive although not uniform across regions. On the one hand, it seems to depend on connection quality and network effects.

Renewed trade tensions between the US and China threaten to throw Apple back into the global trade battle, putting its iPhone business at risk just as the tech giant appeared to be shoring up declining sales of its most important product. The round of tariff increases that hit May 10 don’t directly affect iPhones, iPads, Macs or Apple Watches. But President Donald Trump recently threatened a tariff of 25% on $325 billion in Chinese imports that haven’t previously been targeted by duties. Those would cover virtually all Chinese exports to the US, including Apple’s most important devices.

The Russian network RT America aired the segment, titled “A Dangerous ‘Experiment on Humanity,’” in covering what its guest experts call fifth generation’s (5G) dire health threats. US intelligence agencies identified the network as a principal meddler in the 2016 presidential election. Now, it is linking 5G signals to brain cancer, infertility, autism, heart tumors and Alzheimer’s disease — claims that lack scientific support.

Heralded as the world’s toughest watchdog of Silicon Valley technology giants, Europe has clamped down on violent content, hate speech and misinformation online through a thicket of new laws and regulations over the past five years. Now there are questions about whether the region is going too far, with the rules leading to accusations of censorship and potentially providing cover to some governments to stifle dissent.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed into law new measures that would enable the creation of a national network, able to operate separately from the rest of the world. (For now, the network remains largely theoretical.) The law calls for the creation of a monitoring and a management center supervised by Roskomnadzor, Russia's telecoms agency. The state agency will be charged with ensuring the availability of communication services in Russia in extraordinary situations.