June 2013

The Republican National Committee (RNC) has hired Andy Barkett, a Facebook engineering manager, as its new chief technology officer (CTO).

After suffering a tough loss in the 2012 presidential election, the RNC in March said the Republican Party must close the digital divide between the GOP and Democrats if it wanted to win the upcoming midterm elections and 2016 presidential race. As part of that effort, the RNC said it wanted to hire a chief technology and digital officer by May 1 who would be responsible for recruiting a team of savvy data scientists, tech and digital advocates that would build a new data and digital operation for the upcoming contests. Barkett's profile on the University of California, Davis Graduate School of Management web site also lists experience as senior director of engineering at Livescribe, senior management consultant at Taos Mountain and technical program manager at Google.

A critical parliamentary report into Huawei Technologies, the Chinese telecommunications company, has been heavily redacted by the government amid concern about the potential impact on Chinese investment in the UK.

The report by the Intelligence and Security Committee will highlight the central role of Huawei in Britain’s telecommunications infrastructure since it struck a big supply deal with BT in 2004. People familiar with the report say it will suggest that staff from GCHQ, Britain’s intelligence listening post, should oversee the Banbury cybersecurity center, where Huawei’s equipment is examined. The facility is currently managed by the Chinese company. A person familiar with the report said such a move would “reassure” the public here was nothing to fear from Chinese involvement in Britain’s telecoms networks. Critics, particularly in the US, have raised concern over Huawei’s alleged ties to the Chinese state.

Republicans on the Senate Communications Subcommittee argued that the government should not limit the ability of AT&T and Verizon to bid in the upcoming auction of airwave licenses.

The Justice Department's Antitrust Division has urged the Federal Communications Commission to use caps or limits to ensure that Verizon and AT&T do not buy up all of the spectrum licenses at auction. The agency warned that the industry giants could use the auction to kill off competition from Sprint, T-Mobile and regional carriers.

"I believe the Commission should not pick winners or losers among individual companies, but instead let all interested participants freely compete against one another in the open market," Sen. John Thune (R-SD), the Commerce Committee's ranking member, said during the Subcommittee hearing on the state of wireless communication. "To achieve success, it is critical that there be widespread all-inclusive participation in the auction," said Sen. Roger Wicker (R-MS), a subcommittee member. Sen. Dean Heller (R-NV) worried that restrictions on participation would reduce the government's revenue, which he said is key to the auction. Delara Derakhshani, a policy counsel for the Consumers Union, warned that the auction won't benefit consumers unless it promotes competition. "The two largest providers of wireless services today are positioned to dominate the auction unless the government puts in place appropriate rules," she testified.

There was general agreement at the hearing that the wireless industry needed more spectrum, including unlicensed spectrum for Wi-Fi, but how much of it would be coming from broadcasters was less clear. Steve Largent, who heads CTIA: The Wireless Association, said that one answer was to "coerce" some of the 70% of usable spectrum from the government. He said he hoped the Federal Communications Commission could get back its target of 120 MHz from broadcasters, but was not at all sure that would happen.

The U.S. International Trade Commission said it is banning imports of Apple's iPhone 4 and iPad 2 3G after determining the devices violate a patent held by rival Samsung Electronics.

The ruling, issued in Samsung's patent lawsuit against Apple, could end Apple's ability to sell the older versions of the iPhone and iPad in the U.S. because they are assembled in China. The panel issued a limited import ban and a cease-and-desist order for AT&T models of the iPhone 4 and iPad 2 3G, which are still made. IPhone 3GS and iPad 3G, which are no longer made, were also cited in the ruling. Apple says it plans to appeal. President Barack Obama has 60 days to invalidate the order.