fcc

Dish was recently given a thumbs up by the FCC to build its own LTE network, but the company is up against some stiff obstacles along the way.

Last week, the Federal Communications Commission granted Dish's request to allow it to use 40 MHz of spectrum in the 2 GHz band to create a 4G LTE network. At the time, the FCC indicated that some restrictions would apply, though it didn't reveal the specifics... until now.

The satellite TV provider must finish 40 percent of its LTE network within the next four years, and 70 percent within seven … Read more

news analysis When the history of early 21st century Internet politicking is written, the meltdown of a United Nations summit last week will mark the date a virtual Cold War began.

In retrospect, the implosion of the Dubai summit was all but foreordained: it pitted nations with little tolerance for human rights against Western democracies which, at least in theory, uphold those principles. And it capped nearly a decade of behind-the-scenes jockeying by a U.N. agency called the International Telecommunication Union, created in 1865 to coordinate telegraph connectivity, to gain more authority over how the Internet is managed.

It … Read more

The Federal Communications Commission wants to require all cellular carriers and Internet-based messaging providers to support text-to-911 messages.

While the four largest U.S. wireless carriers have already signed on to the plan, the U.S. agency today proposed guidelines that would require "over the top" text messaging apps -- those capable of sending text messages to phones -- to be part of the initiative, which is expected to operational by 2014. Apps that would presumably be part of the initiative include Apple's iMessage, BlackBerry's BBM, Android's MightyText, and Saumsung's ChatOn, among others.

While … Read more

The Federal Communications Commission is making progress in its effort to free up 500MHz of additional wireless spectrum by 2020, but much work is still needed in order for the FCC to meet its goal.

On Tuesday, the commission approved rules that would free up 40MHz of satellite spectrum that had been allocated for satellite use to be used for wireless broadband service. And it also moved forward with setting up an auction next year for 10MHz of wireless spectrum in the PCS H block. The H Block spectrum that will be auctioned off sits next to the satellite spectrum … Read more

Dish has been given the official green light to fire up its wireless spectrum. The satellite TV provider announced today that the Federal Communications Commission has approved its request for wireless spectrum use.

"The FCC has removed outdated regulations and granted terrestrial flexibility for most of the AWS-4 band," Dish senior vice president and deputy general counsel Jeff Blum said in a statement today. "The Commission has taken an important step toward facilitating wireless competition and innovation, and fulfilling the goals of the National Broadband Plan."

Dish started talks with the FCC earlier this year. Initially, … Read more

A group of tech companies is pressing Congress to provide more spectrum for use by portable electronics devices such as tablets and smartphones.

A letter sent to lawmakers today and signed by Alcatel-Lucent, Apple, Cisco, Ericsson, Intel, Nokia, Qualcomm, Research In Motion, and Samsung urged the technology committees in the House and Senate to consider auctioning some of the spectrum currently used by federal agencies, according to a report in The Hill.

In the Jobs Act passed earlier this year, Congress authorized the Federal Communications Commission to reclaim and auction spectrum held by TV broadcasters to wireless broadband operators. The … Read more

Soon there will be more than just one way to contact 911.

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski announced today that the four largest wireless carriers in the U.S. have agreed to fast track a service that will let people text the emergency 911 line.

AT&T, Verizon Wireless, Sprint, and T-Mobile have all signed on and major deployments are planned to roll out in 2013 and the service should be fully available nationwide by May 15, 2014.

"Access to 911 must catch up with how consumers communicate in the 21st century -- and today, we are … Read more

The chairman of the Federal Communications Commission has thrown his agency's support behind the greater use of portable electronic devices on airplanes during flights.

The Federal Aviation Administration should "enable greater use of tablets, e-readers, and other portable devices," the FCC's Julius Genachowski said in a letter today to FAA acting chief Michael Huerta.

The FAA currently prohibits airline passengers from using devices during takeoff and landing for fear that transmissions will interfere with the airplane's equipment, but the FAA recently formed a committee to reconsider its policy on when electronic devices can be turned … Read more

The U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C., unanimously upheld Federal Communications Commission rules adopted last year that requires larger phone companies, such as AT&T and Verizon Wireless, to strike roaming deals with smaller operators on their wireless data networks.

Verizon Communications had challenged the FCC rule, which was adopted last year. But today, the three-judge panel on the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C., rejected Verizon's argument that the FCC had overstepped its authority by adopting such a rule.

The court unanimously found that the FCC was well within its jurisdiction … Read more