fcc

FCC tests "white space" prototypes, again

The Federal Communications Commission will begin the second phase of lab testing of prototype devices that use the "white space" between TV channels to transmit wireless communication signals.

Phase II of the testing, which is being conducted by the FCC's Office of Engineering and Technology, begins on January 24.

The testing is part of a proceeding that will determine if the "white space" or unused spectrum between broadcast TV channels can be used for wireless service without interfering with TV broadcasts.

Technology companies say that using the spectrum between the TV channels could unleash a … Read more

Buzz Out Loud 640: One less thing

EPISODE 634

FCC wants to know: Is degrading P2P traffic 'reasonable'?

Update 10:53 a.m. PST: This blog was updated to add information about a third petition related to antidiscrimination rules for text messaging.

As foreshadowed at the Consumer Electronics Show last week, federal regulators this week took the first formal step into investigating complaints about how Internet service providers, such as Comcast, manage peer-to-peer file-sharing traffic on their networks.

The Federal Communications Commission late on Monday posted requests for public comment about two such petitions, both of which deal with the question of what practices constitute "reasonable network management"--and therefore jibe with the FCC's policies. … Read more

FCC approves much-needed increased China-U.S. bandwidth

As it stands, there's almost twice as much bandwidth across the Atlantic as there is across the Pacific. But with new U.S. FCC approval for the first ever China-U.S. fiber link, this is all about to change.

The score right now: 5,547 to 2,726. That's the current Atlantic vs. Pacific bandwidth score in gigabits per second, according to TeleGeography. The Trans-Pacific Express "will initially provide capacity of up to 1.28 terabits per second, and the system will have a design capacity of up to 5.12Tbps to support future Internet growth and … Read more

Buzz Out Loud 638: The royal Wii

FCC: We'll investigate Comcast-BitTorrent flap

Federal regulators plan to investigate whether Comcast improperly interferes with BitTorrent and other file-sharing traffic on its network.

The announcement by Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin Martin arrived in a panel discussion at the annual Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, according to an Associated Press report Tuesday.

Since at least last summer, reports had been circulating that the cable company was throttling BitTorrent traffic, which Comcast promptly denied. But in October, the AP released the results of tests, based on attempts to download the King James Bible, which it said confirmed that Comcast was actively interfering with the practice. … Read more

FCC auction bidders named

Google may be grabbing the spotlight in the upcoming auction of 700MHz wireless spectrum, but it's not the only nontraditional player that wants a valuable piece of the airwaves.

The Federal Communications late Tuesday released the names of applicants that plan to bid in the much-anticipated January auction, and Google competitors may include cable operator Cablevision, mobile chipmaker Qualcomm, and satellite TV provider EchoStar.

That Google was among the 266 companies filing an application by the December 3 deadline was no surprise. Google said earlier this year that it was willing to put up at least $4.6 billion for licenses … Read more

This week in cell phones at the FCC

Only the most passionate cell phone geeks know that the Federal Communications Commission holds a treasure trove of information on upcoming handsets. Because the FCC has to certify every phone sold in the United States, not to mention test its SAR rating, the agency's online database offers a lot of sneak peeks to those who dig. And to save you the trouble, Crave has combed through the database for you. Here are a selection of filings from the past week on new and upcoming cell phones. Click through to read the full report.