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News

• Now the FTC has its say on hotel Wi-Fi

  First the FCC slapped Marriott International with a $600K fine for Wi-Fi blocking and issued a follow-up enforcement warning to the masses. Now the FTC has issued a hotel Wi-Fi warning of its own.

• FCC still has ton of explaining to do on Wi-Fi blocking rules

  The FCC has been very clear that it didn't approve of a Marriott International hotel's blocking of convention center attendees' Wi-Fi hotspots: It <a href="http://www.networkworld.com/article/2691674/wifi/marriott-must-pay-600000-for-blocking-personal-wifi-hotspots.html">fined the hospitality company $600,000 last fall</a> and <a href="http://www.networkworld.com/article/2876239/wi-fi/fcc-calls-blocking-of-personal-wi-fi-hotspots-disturbing-trend.html">issued a stern warning on Jan. 27</a> that such wireless network interference by others will not be tolerated either.

• Marriott CIO: FCC message on WiFi blocking loud and clear

  The FCC's sternly worded warning about illegal Wi-Fi blocking earlier this week got through to at least one organization: Marriott International's Global CIO issued a statement Friday that the hospitality outfit is withdrawing efforts to gain clarification from the commission on what methods <em>can</em> be used to protect corporate Wi-Fi networks.

• FCC banks nearly $45 billion in landmark AWS-3 spectrum auction

  The FCC announced today that Auction 97 spectrum auction has closed after roughly two and a half months, with winning bids totaling $44.9 billion for the 65MHz of mostly AWS-3 range. That figure is far and away the highest ever seen in a spectrum auction.

• Mayors of Boston, Seattle, KC, others: No more muni broadband restrictions, please

  A group of 38 mayors and other elected officials from cities like Boston, Seattle, and Kansas City Thursday urged the FCC to strike down state laws that restrict the development of public high-speed Internet services and allow municipal networks to flourish.

• FCC calls blocking of personal Wi-Fi hotspots "disturbing trend"

  The <a href="http://transition.fcc.gov/Daily_Releases/Daily_Business/2015/db0127/DA-15-113A1.pdf">FCC on Tuesday warned</a> that it will no longer tolerate hotels, convention centers or others intentionally interfering with personal Wi-Fi hotspots.

• Microsoft touts $7-per-user monthly pricing for Windows subscription packages

  Ask any IT administrator about Microsoft's licensing setup and they'll hurl up a string of four-letter words that would incur an FCC fine if delivered on television. In a world where everyone wants to use everything -- especially Microsoft Office -- on tablets, phones, and oh yeah, computers, Microsoft's customary one-license-per-device model means death by a thousand cuts for most enterprises. 

• Big visions for 5G before the FCC

  Drones, robots, high-altitude balloons and low-altitude satellites are all envisioned to provide fifth-generation (5G) wireless connections as early as 2020, according to recent FCC filings from 55 companies, including Google, Samsung, Intel and Qualcomm.

• A fresh look at communications regulation

  The last time that Congress enacted major telecommunications regulation reform, in 1996, the state of technology was very different than it is today: Fewer than 15% of Americans had a mobile phone, under one-third of U.S. households were online, and virtually all of those that were online had only slow, dial-up connections. Amazon.com and eBay were small startups (both were launched in 1995), and Mark Zuckerberg was still living at home with his parents, preparing for his bar mitzvah.

• AT&T backs off threat to halt its fiber rollout

  AT&amp;T now says it will continue its already-announced fiber optic network expansion to 100 cities, backtracking on comments by AT&amp;T CEO Randall Stephenson after President Obama voiced support for net neutrality last month.

• FCC seeks fiber-optic delay data from AT&T

  The Federal Communications Commission on Friday formally requested that AT&T provide all documents and data related to its planned fiber-optic cable buildouts nationwide.

• AT&T sees delays on fiber rollouts of 'two to three years'

  AT&amp;T CEO Randall Stephenson has stepped forward as the telecommunication industry's front man in opposition to President Obama's <a href="http://www.computerworld.com/article/2847260/who-wins-the-net-neutrality-debate-google-of-course.html">proposed net neutrality rules</a>.

• FCC to take more time on net neutrality following Obama's position

  Following President Obama's statement today backing net neutrality rules, the Federal Communications Commission said it won't consider the issue at its December meeting and will put off rules changes until 2015.

• Comcast's latest comments on TWC merger show near-total divorce from reality

  The largest broadband provider in America's attempt to merge with the second-largest is a win for consumers, and will create a vibrant marketplace with more competition, not less - according, at least, to the largest broadband provider in America.

• South Korea's gigabit broadband woes should serve as object lesson for FCC regulators

  The FCC now has collected more than 3 million comments in a major proceeding that may reclassify broadband Internet service to fit within the largely- inflexible common carrier model in Title II of the Communications Act of 1934.