Telecommunication

Communication at a distance, especially the electronic transmission of signals via the telephone

Digital Discrimination

The Federal Communications Commission recently opened a docket, at the prompting of federal legislation, that asks for examples of digital discrimination. The big cable companies and telecoms are all going to swear they don’t discriminate against anybody for any reason, and every argument they make will be pure bosh. If people decide to respond to this FCC docket, we’ll see more evidence of discrimination based on income. We might even get some smoking gun evidence that some of the discrimination comes from corporate bias based on race and other factors.

Congress Members Stefanik, Khanna, Gallagher Work to Counter Foreign Telecommunications Influence

Reps Elise Stefanik (R-NY), Ro Khanna (D-CA), and Mike Gallagher (R-WI) reintroduced the bipartisan Foreign Adversary Communications Transparency (FACT) Act to counter the influence of China and other foreign adversaries on the United States’ telecommunications infrastructure. This bill would provide critical telecommunications transparency by requiring the Federal Communications Commission to publish a list of companies that

President Biden Announces Appointments to the President’s National Security Telecommunications Advisory Committee

President Biden announced his intent to appoint highly qualified and diverse industry leaders as members of the President’s National Security Telecommunications Advisory Committee. The National Security Telecommunications Advisory Committee (NSTAC) advises the White House on the reliability, security, and preparedness of vital communications and information infrastructure. Appointees will join previously appointed NSTAC members to provide national security and emergency preparedness solutions by providing innovative policy recommendations backed by a unique industry perspective.

Lumen’s Fiber Path Forward

Lumen is taking a different path forward than the other big telephone companies. The company announced a major upgrade to its long-haul fiber routes that cross the country. The company’s main fiber strategy is to beef up the intercity network with plans to add six million miles of fiber to existing fiber routes by 2026. The existing Lumen long-haul fiber network came to the company in two acquisitions. The original network came when CenturyLink bought US West, which had earlier merged with Qwest, a major builder of long-haul networks.

Fiber Vs. DOCSIS 4.0: How Long Will Fiber’s Edge Last?

Telephone companies (telcos) that have been deploying fiber broadband are having a moment in the sun, finally reversing years of broadband subscriber losses to the cable companies. But will this last? What has given telcos an edge is fiber broadband’s ability to support gigabit and even multi-gigabit speeds bi-directionally. With traditional technology, cable companies can offer gigabit and multi-gigabit speeds but only in the downstream direction.

FCC Improving Support for Digital Health in Rural America

The Federal Communications Commission approved a number of proposals for the Rural Health Care (RHC) Program to make it easier for healthcare providers to receive support, reduce delays in funding commitments, and improve the overall efficiency of the program. Reliable high-speed connectivity is critical for rural healthcare providers to serve patients in rural areas that often have limited resources, fewer doctors, and higher rates for broadband and telecommunications services than urban areas.

FCC Proposes Rules to Promote Reliable Access to 988 Lifeline

The Federal Communications Commission proposed rules to help ensure that the public has access to the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline if a service outage occurs.

FCC Improving Support for Digital Health in Rural America

The Federal Communications Commission approved several proposals for the Rural Health Care (RHC) Program to make it easier for healthcare providers to receive support, reduce delays in funding commitments, and improve the program's overall efficiency. Reliable high-speed connectivity is critical for rural healthcare providers to serve patients in rural areas that often have limited resources, fewer doctors, and higher rates for broadband and telecommunications services than urban areas.

AT&T Reports Fourth-Quarter and Full-Year Results

AT&T reported fourth-quarter results that showed sustained momentum in customer additions across 5G and fiber and solid growth in wireless service and broadband revenues. Revenues from continuing operations for the fourth quarter totaled $31.3 billion versus $31.1 billion in the year-ago quarter, up 0.8%.

Millions of UK mobile and broadband users face 14% bill rises from April

As if household budgets were not already under enough pressure, millions of broadband and mobile phone customers look set to face rises of more than 14% in their monthly bills from April 2023. BT, TalkTalk, Three, and Vodafone are among the big operators that are contractually allowed to increase their bills in line with the previous year’s inflation rate, as measured by the consumer prices index (CPI) in December – plus a further 3%-3.9% on top. If the increases are passed on in full, as many experts expect, it would result in home broadband customers typically paying about £50 ($60) a yea