U.S. Federal Communications Commission - News, Features, and Slideshows

News

• FCC: Rural areas still lag in broadband speeds

  More than 28 percent of the rural population in the U.S. lack access to midrange 3Mbps broadband service, according to a new report from two U.S. agencies.

• New bill would require mobile carriers to detail 4G speeds

  New legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives would require mobile carriers to detail their "guaranteed minimum" data speeds and their network reliability statistics to potential customers.

• New LightSquared plan faces attack, uncertainty

  The coast is not yet clear for LightSquared's hybrid satellite-LTE network despite the company's announcement on Monday that it has found a solution to interference with GPS.

• Tech firm's co-owner sentenced for E-Rate fraud

  The former co-owner of Illinois networking vendor Global Networking Technologies was sentenced Tuesday to serve one year and one day in prison for his participation in a conspiracy to defraud a U.S. government program delivering Internet service to schools and libraries in poor areas.

• FCC to attack phone cramming charges

  The U.S. Federal Communications Commission will consider new rules to help telephone service customers decipher their phone bills and guard against unwanted charges, the agency's chairman said Monday.

• LightSquared may seek extension on GPS report

  LightSquared said it may ask for another two weeks to compile a report on possible interference between its planned cellular network and the GPS system, as a Wednesday deadline for the report loomed.

• AT&T says its needs T-Mobile spectrum

  AT&T will be able to significantly improve its mobile network capacity and give better service to its customers because of its proposed acquisition of rival T-Mobile USA, company officials said Thursday.

• Free Press files tethering complaint against Verizon

  Verizon Wireless is violating U.S. Federal Communications Commission rules by blocking users from using third-party tethering applications on Android smartphones, media reform group Free Press said in a complaint to the FCC Monday.

• Cisco predicts 15 billion network devices in 2015

  The Internet will see explosive growth in connected devices and in traffic, with global traffic quadrupling between 2010 and 2015, Cisco Systems predicted in a report released Wednesday.

• Sprint, others ask FCC to deny AT&T deal for T-Mobile

  Sprint Nextel, joined by an army of thousands of consumers, have filed requests for the U.S. Federal Communications Commission to block AT&T's proposed acquisition of rival mobile carrier T-Mobile USA.

• Lawmakers question AT&T acquisition of T-Mobile

  AT&T's proposed acquisition of rival mobile carrier T-Mobile USA would give customers fewer choices and drive up prices, some U.S. lawmakers said Thursday.

• Groups ask US agencies to reject AT&T, T-Mobile deal

  Two U.S. agencies reviewing AT&T's proposed acquisition of T-Mobile USA should reject it because it's anticompetitive and will hurt consumers and the U.S. tech industry, three antitrust experts said Tuesday.

• Experts: Small firms can take steps to improve cybersecurity

  Wading into e-commerce waters can be scary for small businesses because of cybersecurity threats, but they can take steps to protect themselves, a group of security experts said Monday.

• Senators question AT&T acquisition of T-Mobile USA

  Several U.S. senators questioned Wednesday whether AT&T's proposed acquisition of rival mobile carrier T-Mobile USA would be good for customers, as the companies have claimed, with critics saying the deal would create a duopoly in the U.S. mobile telecom business.

• US launches wireless public safety network

  The U.S. government and the country's top mobile phone service providers on Tuesday launched a public safety program that will allow people to receive emergency alerts via text message.