Wireless Telecommunications

The founder and former CEO of Boost Mobile USA says the proposed T-Mobile-Sprint merger should not happen.

The Federal Communications Commission said it was referring reports that a website flaw could have allowed the location of mobile phone customers to be tracked to its enforcement bureau to investigate.  A security researcher said that California-based LocationSmart data could have been used to track AT&T, Verizon, Sprint, and T-Mobile US consumers without consent within a few hundred yards of their location. Sen Ron Wyden (D-OR) urged the FCC to investigate, saying on Twitter a “hacker could have used this site to know when you were in your house so they would know when to rob it.

[Commentary] The U.S. wireless industry is now facing its own version of a Cambridge Analytica-style public relations disaster.  Specifically, a hack into the website of a company called LocationSmart reportedly allowed anyone to obtain real-time location information for any mobile device from AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile and Sprint.

On Dec 12, 2017, Sen Claire McCaskill (D-MO) sent a letter to the Federal Communications Commission to urge the FCC to ensure that the Connect America Fund (CAF) Phase II Auction has sufficient safeguards to ensure a fair auction and prevent waste, fraud, and abuse. On May 10, FCC Chairman Ajit Pai responded by writing, "I agree that safeguards in any broadband funding program are critical to ensure success in getting Internet access to as many unserved Americans as possible and in preventing waste and fraud.

A year ago, President Donald Trump issued an Executive Order aimed at strengthening the cybersecurity of federal networks and critical infrastructure.  The order mandated that all federal agencies use the Cybersecurity Framework developed by the National Institute of Standards and Technology. In April, NIST released version 1.1 of the Framework, which shows how this voluntary approach can provide a first line of cyber defense for companies.

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai announced that the following items are tentatively on the agenda for the June Open Commission Meeting scheduled for Thursday, June 7, 2018:

A proposed rule change before the Federal Communications Commission for spectrum licenses in the 3.5 GHz band presents a clear choice between the needs of the few and the needs of the many—though with some complications.  The FCC is on the cusp of making a decision about a spectrum auction that has pitted the nation’s largest wireless carriers against a broad and eclectic coalition of shippers, railroads, ports, electric companies, manufacturers, and rural internet service providers.

[Commentary] Bruce Henderson hypothesizes that a stable, competitive industry will never have more than three significant competitors and that the industry will find equilibrium when the market shares of the three competitors reach a ratio of 4:2:1. Taking a closer look at the wireless businesses of the four major operators in the U.S., the market share in revenue terms at the end of 2017 was: Verizon (38%); AT&T (31%); T-Mobile (17%); and, Sprint (14%). In terms of profitability as measured in operating income before depreciation and amortization (OIBDA), the relative differentials wer

The internet age has become an identity crisis as they face increasing competition from Silicon Valley, an uncertain merger landscape and global pressures in the race to 5G networks. It's no longer enough to power the pipes and cell towers that send internet traffic coursing around the world. The services that ride on top of that traffic, -- Google, Facebook and Amazon -- now dominate the internet ecosystem.