Telecommunication

Whether you believe that generative AI has the potential to change the world for good, or that it poses more risks than benefits, most experts agree it is likely to have a significant impact on the future of our economy and society as a whole. This is certainly true for the communications industries. From security to broadcast content, and from online safety to spectrum management, generative AI promises to disrupt traditional service delivery, business models, and consumer behaviour. The use of generative AI could also pose risks.

Representatives for T-Mobile and Ka’ ena Corporation met with Federal Communications Commission officials to argue why T-Mobile should be able to acquire Mint Mobile and Ultra Mobile from Ka’ ena. According to a June 5 , 2023 filing with the FCC, T-Mobile presented a PowerPoint spelling out why the transaction will not harm the competition or consumers.

Growth in neighborhoods and cities means that there is a lot of stress on the existing utilities. As you might expect, the over-taxed utilities are showing the strain. Our telecom networks are not immune from growth problems. The Charter cable network clearly has occasional problems. It’s not hard to imagine that there are neighborhoods where the cable network is overloaded due to growth.

The Federal Communications Commission — which has jurisdiction over radio, television, cable, and satellites —  isn’t best known for grappling with cutting-edge technology. But amid the rise of generative AI tools like ChatGPT and Midjourney, the communications regulator may be forced to tackle artificial intelligence, an area that’s beginning to intersect with

The Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) network has been used for interconnection to the local incumbent offices and tandem switches, for connecting to 911 centers, for connecting to operator services, for connecting to cellular carriers, or for connecting to other neighboring carriers. We are finally starting to see that network being shut down, route by route and piece by piece. But like everything related to operating in the regulated legacy world, it’s not easy to disconnect the PSTN connections called trunks.

The Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), in a filing on behalf of the US government, urged the European Commission to promote affordable access to broadband, protect users’ access to online content, and avoid discriminatory measures that distort competition. The filing on May 19 is in response to the European Commission’s exploratory consultation on The Future

Frontier Communications still has hundreds of thousands of copper passings, but it doesn’t seem like that footprint will be taken offline anytime soon.

For AT&T, the fastest home internet needs wires. The telecommunications giant is expanding its network of fiber-optic cables to deliver fast internet speeds for customers, including those in places where it doesn’t already provide broadband. The plan doesn’t come cheap.

Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) introduced the Junk Fee Prevention Act  (S.916), which takes aim at eliminating fees that are not advertised for a product but that get added on after a customer buys a product or service. These fees were attacked this year by President Biden in the State of the Union Address. Telecommunications companies, particularly cable companies, are among the worst in having hidden junk fees that are not included in advertising but are added to a customer’s first bill.

Senators John Hickenlooper (D-CO) and Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) reintroduced the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) Policy and Cybersecurity Coordination Act, a bipartisan bill to modernize and codify the NTIA’s work in cybersecurity.