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Six months after wireline telephone operators and trade groups asked the Federal Communications Commission for permission to begin shutting down their aging switched networks, the agency responded late Friday, calling for further study.

In a public notice (PDF) issued by an agency task force created in December 2012, the FCC reiterated the importance of accelerating the transition from switched networks to native IP infrastructure. But rather than approving limited trials to test technical and regulatory obstacles to a full conversion, the agency instead raised more questions about the trials and called for more rounds of comments.

The task force also … Read more

The highly anticipated and hotly rumored Motorola X phone may have just popped up in FCC filings earlier this week.

According to the paperwork, the Motorola device includes the model number XT1058, and supports earlier rumors that the X phone will be available on AT&T.

For one thing, the handset is enabled for a GSM network, and it appears to be operating on 1900/850 bands -- both factors are indicative of an AT&T device.

The report also notes that the phone has 4G LTE and NFC capabilities.

Ever since Google acquired Motorola, talk of the … Read more

Gadget lovers rejoice. Commissioners on the Federal Communications Commission have high hopes for making Wi-Fi onboard airplanes more ubiquitous, cheaper, and faster.

On Thursday, the FCC voted to look into a proposal that would free up additional wireless spectrum for in-flight broadband use, a move that will likely increase availability and speed of in-flight Wi-Fi. And ultimately it could help lower prices for the service.

Currently, only about 4MHz of wireless spectrum is being used for the so-called ground-to-air service that enables some airlines to offer in-flight broadband. The way it works is that signals are transmitted from towers on … Read more

President Barack Obama has nominated former lobbyist and venture capitalist Tom Wheeler to serve as the next head of the Federal Communications Commission.

The White House made the announcement Wednesday. Wheeler's appointment as chairman of the agency was widely anticipated. His name had been on the shortlist of potential candidates for months, and several news agencies reported on the impending appointment.

Wheeler would replace current FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski, who has headed up the agency since 2009. Current FCC Commissioner Mignon Clyburn will serve as the interim chairwoman until the Senate confirms Wheeler's appointment.

Wheeler has the support … Read more

Intel CEO Paul Otellini is throwing his weight behind SoftBank in the bidding war for Sprint, according to Reuters.

Otellini sent a letter to Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski giving word that he favored SoftBank, a wireless carrier based in Japan, over Dish for the Sprint takeover offer.

Sprint has been in talks with SoftBank since last October regarding a $20.1 billion offer, but as the deal closing has neared Dish came in with a surprise counter offer of $25.5 billion. If Sprint were to accept SoftBank's bid, the deal would close by the beginning of July.… Read more

Believe it or not, there are still parts of the U.S. that don't have access to high-speed Internet. But that's looking to change with the onset of TV white-space broadband technology.

The first commercial application of this type of service in the U.S. is coming to a rural area of Northern California called El Dorado County, or Gold Country. Internet provider Cal.net is partnering with network equipment provider Carlson to bring this region's residents something more than dial-up.

"Over 59,000 residents in our rural service area have had little or no quality … Read more

It appears that when Dish wants something it doesn't give up.

After making a surprise bid of $25.5 billion to acquire Sprint on Monday -- which would snatch the mobile provider from the hands of Japan's SoftBank -- Dish submitted a filing to the Federal Communications Commission on Thursday claiming a SoftBank acquisition of Sprint wouldn't be good for U.S. national security.

According to Reuters, Dish requested that the FCC suspend the review of SoftBank's possible buyout of Sprint. In the filing, Dish claimed that Softbank didn't have the "existing in-market infrastructure&… Read more

The Department of Justice said today that Sprint and T-Mobile should be given a fair chance at acquiring wireless spectrum in the Federal Communication Commission's upcoming incentive spectrum auction.

The antitrust division of the Justice Department laid out its argument in a filing to the FCC.

"The Department concludes that rules that ensure the smaller nationwide networks, which currently lack substantial low-frequency spectrum, have an opportunity to acquire such spectrum could improve the competitive dynamic among nationwide carriers and benefit consumers," the Justice Department said.

The FCC is currently drafting rules for an upcoming auction that will … Read more

Late last month, the FCC issued its 16th Mobile Competition Report, a 400-page document that analyzes in detail the competitive landscape for mobile carriers and the ecosystem that surrounds them.

Congress charged the FCC with answering one simple question in the annual report: Is there "effective competition" in the mobile ecosystem?

But since the 2009 confirmation of Genachowski as the chairman, the FCC has refused to answer the question one way or the other. Here, as in its previous two reports, the commission comes tantalizingly close to the right conclusion, but then backs away from it in the … Read more