genachowski

FCC refuses to state the obvious: Mobile market is competitive

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

Sprint reminds us it didn't want AT&T-T-Mobile merger

If you followed AT&T's unsuccessful play for T-Mobile that ultimately imploded in late 2011, then you'll remember that Sprint wasn't a fan of the proposed merger.

No, the nation's third-largest carrier opposed the transaction almost immediately and vigorously trashed it whenever it had the chance. And today, fifteen months after AT&T formally abandoned its $39 billion bid, Sprint brought up the issue again in a short statement regarding the upcoming resignation of Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski.

"From his decision to block AT&T's proposed takeover of T-Mobile … Read more

Shakeup at FCC: Chairman Genachowski to step down

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski will announce his intention to step down tomorrow, according to The Wall Street Journal which cited an "FCC official."

Earlier this week, the announcement that Republican FCC Commissioner Robert McDowell was leaving gave Genachowski, a Democrat, more political leeway to leave his post. As The Washington Post noted, even with Genachowski gone the Democrats would retain a 2-1 voting advantage. If he had left before McDowell, the votes at the FCC would be 2-2.

In recent weeks, rumors have circulated regarding Genachowski's plans, with the White House interviewing several candidates. The … Read more

FCC, stakeholders align on communications policy -- for now

LAS VEGAS--Peace appears to be breaking out between mobile Internet users and regulators.

During the three-day Innovation Policy Summit here at CES, members of Congress, FCC commissioners, industry representatives, and consumer groups found little to disagree on, whether the topic was incentive auctions for more broadband spectrum, retiring legacy copper networks in favor of native IP, sharing government spectrum in the 5 GHz band for high-speed Wi-Fi, or the continuing threat of international efforts to turn Internet governance over to repressive national governments so they can destroy it.

Some minor skirmishes broke out, of course, but the conversation this week … Read more

FCC fast tracks text-to-911 service

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

Feds to mobile users: Drop dead

WASHINGTON--The federal government is slinking away from a promise by President Obama to free up badly-needed radio spectrum for mobile users and the already over-taxed networks that serve them.

Just months after the publication of the National Broadband Plan in early 2010, the president issued a memorandum ordering the FCC and the Commerce Department's National Telecommunications and Information Administration to "make available a total of 500 MHz of Federal and nonfederal spectrum over the next 10 years" for mobile users.

The goal was to clear unused or underutilized spectrum the FCC could then auction off for use … Read more

FCC chairman calls on ISPs to help fight cyber attacks

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski wants Internet service providers to work with government and security experts to adopt voluntary standards to protect consumers from cyber attacks.

On Wednesday, the chairman gave a speech in Washington, D.C., in which he discussed voluntary measures that ISPs and other technology companies could take to help protect the public from three major cyber threats: botnets, domain name fraud, and IP hijacking.

"Cyber attacks pose a critical threat to our economic future and national security," he said in his speech. "If you shut down the Internet, you'd shut down … Read more

At CES, FCC chair warns of mobile 'spectrum crunch'--for the third time

LAS VEGAS--In a keynote address yesterday, FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski sounded a warning for mobile broadband users. "We're threatened by a looming spectrum crunch," Genachowski said. "This is the dark cloud around the silver lining."

The explosion in innovation in mobile computing, evident everywhere here at CES, could come to a crashing halt if the government can't provide more bandwidth to mobile broadband carriers and their customers. And that, Genachowski said, would threaten U.S. jobs and technical supremacy.

Trouble is, that's precisely the warning Genachowski has delivered in his previous two appearances at CES. … Read more

FCC's Genachowski to Congress: We need our auctions

LAS VEGAS--If Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski has his way, the United State would have universal broadband coverage by the end of the decade. And if we really has his way, his agency will be able to reallocate the needed wireless spectrum as it sees fit.

"As you know we've asked Congress to give the FCC the authority to conduct incentive auctions," he said while speaking here today at the 2012 Consumer Electronics Show. "My message on incentive auctions today is simple: we need to get it done now, and we need to get it … Read more