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  2. August 2016

August 2016

Two Months of Internet Blackouts Have Taken a Toll on Kashmir

Earlier in the summer of 2016, the north Indian state of Kashmir was hit with a new wave of riots when young militant leader Burhan Wani was killed by state police. Wani was the controversial head of Hizbul Mujahideen, a group fighting for the state to separate from India. He was embraced as a freedom fighter by many in Kashmir, and considered a terrorist by Indian officials. Kashmiris have been forced to live with regular curfews and military presence in their daily lives. Their mountain and valley homes have been caught in the crosshairs of border wars between India, Pakistan and China for decades. But in moments of peak violence the law enforcement in Kashmir has started wielding a new means of control: mobile and digital blackouts. In a region already complicated by geography and turbulence, the impact of telecommunication blackouts is significant. “There is no getting around the fact that cutting mobile links [and Internet] affects flow of information, from basic human contact to people facing health issues, to the injured—and there are thousands—not being able to reach families,” said Najeeb Mubarki, a journalist in Kashmir.

FCC Announces Further Details for Roll-Out Schedule for New Network Outage Reporting System

On July 22, 2016, the Federal Communications Commission’s Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau announced the roll-out schedule for the new version of the Network Outage Reporting System (NORS) platform. We also stated in the July 28 Public Notice that user profile information was moved to the new platform on August 1, 2016, and that August 31, 2016 would be the planned cutover date for filing NORS outage reports using the new platform. We have since concluded, based on discussions with communications providers that NORS users should migrate to the new platform during a cutover window in two steps.

In the first step beginning August 31, 2016, CenturyLink, Verizon, and T-Mobile will be moved to the new production system. When a company is moved to the new production system, the company’s NORS users will be required to file all outage reports using the new platform and will not be permitted to use the current platform. Before a company is moved to the new platform, NORS users from that company should continue to make all required filings under Part 4 in the current version of the NORS system. In the second step, the remaining companies will be migrated. The second step will be completed as soon as possible, but no later than September 30, 2016. The current NORS platform will not be available for filing of formal NORS reports after the completion of the second step.

FTC Seeks Comment on Safeguards Rule

The Federal Trade Commission is seeking public comment on Standards for Safeguarding Customer Information (the “Safeguards Rule”) as part of its systematic review of all FTC rules and guides. The Safeguards Rule, which took effect in 2003, requires financial institutions to develop, implement and maintain a comprehensive information security program for handling customer information.

The FTC seeks comments on a number of questions, including the economic impact and benefits of the Rule; possible conflict between the Rule and state, local or other federal laws or regulations; and the effect on the Rule of any technological, economic or other industry changes. The Commission vote approving the Federal Register Notice was 3-0. The notice will be published shortly and instructions for filing comments appear in the Notice. Comments must be received on or before November 7, 2016.

T-Mobile quadruples tethering speed on “unlimited” plan—to 512kbps

The new $70-per-month "unlimited data" plans announced by T-Mobile USA in August came with some big limits. Mobile hotspot speeds were to be throttled to 128kbps unless customers paid more, and online video resolution reduced to 480p unless customers paid extra to unlock high-definition video. But after a wave of criticism from those who think T-Mobile is violating network neutrality and others who think the new deal just isn't that good, the carrier announced some changes. It's a mixed bag, though, as there is apparently no way to permanently enable high-definition video, and T-Mobile is killing an option that would have let customers buy high-speed hotspot data in 5GB increments.

The standard T-Mobile One unlimited plan will now provide tethering speeds of up to 512kbps instead of just 128kbps. (T-Mobile's announcement calls 512kbps "3G" speed, though in reality T-Mobile's 3G network technology is quite a bit faster.) Half a megabit per second will be fast enough to let customers "use their mobile hotspot to check e-mail, share files, check the news or watch their favorite YouTube videos," T-Mobile said. Video resolution will still be limited on the standard T-Mobile One plan. But T-Mobile is making it cheaper to unlock unlimited high-speed hotspot usage and high-definition video for customers who want both features every month. Originally, T-Mobile said it would charge $15 for each 5GB of high-speed mobile hotspot usage, and another $25 a month for HD video. But today's announcement includes a "T-Mobile One Plus" plan that unlocks both high-definition video and unlimited 4G LTE mobile hotspot usage for an extra $25 a month ($95 total).

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