1. Monthly archive
  2. August 2019

August 2019

Verizon sues Rochester to avoid paying 5G fees, says the FCC has its back

Verizon has sued the City of Rochester (NY) in order to avoid paying fees for deploying 5G equipment and fiber lines. Verizon's lawsuit, filed in US District Court for the Western District of New York on Aug 8, claims that the fees are higher than those allowed by federal law. As proof, Verizon points to a Federal Communications Commission preemption order from 2018 that attempts to limit the fees and aesthetic requirements cities and towns impose on carrier deployments. Rochester imposed its new fees in February.

FCC Reaches $550,000 Cramming Settlement with CenturyLink

The Federal Communications Commission announced a settlement with CenturyLink to resolve an investigation into the company’s placement of unauthorized third-party charges and fees onto consumers’ bills. This practice, known as cramming, is unjust and unreasonable under the Communications Act. During its investigation, the Enforcement Bureau reviewed complaints from CenturyLink customers. Consumers stated that they discovered unauthorized third-party charges on their CenturyLink bills and, in some cases, had difficulty getting timely refunds.

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Georgetown Law's Institute for Technology Law & Policy

Date 
Tue, 08/13/2019 - 13:30 to Wed, 08/14/2019 - 22:30

An immersive two-day program covering new developments in current and emerging technologies.

Hill staffers in in-depth conversations with technologists, business leads, practitioners and academics about key areas of technology policy.

Presentations cover how various technologies work, how they’re being deployed, the policy questions they raise, and how businesses, policymakers and civil society are addressing those questions in the real world.


TechNet Wades Into 5G Fight Over Defense Bill

Trade group TechNet, which counts AT&T and Verizon among members, is sounding the alarm over language in the Senate defense bill, S. 1790, ordering the Defense Department to create a test-bed program for “innovative technologies and techniques to facilitate” spectrum sharing between 5G service providers and incumbent airwaves occupants. Wireless heavyweights view this language as a Pentagon power grab over 5G and are lobbying to strip it from the bill before the House and Senate settle on a consensus version.

Internal Divides Cloud Tech Industry's Antitrust Defense

In July, the head of the Information Technology Industry Council published a warning against overly broad antitrust investigations that ‘could jeopardize American companies' leadership’ — a message that came amid rising regulatory heat on the group's members Apple, Amazon, Google, and Facebook. But it soon became clear that some in the Information Technology Industry Council didn't want to risk being seen as defending the four embattled tech giants.

Mayor Pete's Commitment to America's Heartland: Internet for All

Mayor Pete Buttigieg's policies to uplift rural America includes an ambitious and holistic Internet for All initiative to ensure all communities have affordable access to this necessary technology to create businesses, access health care, and expand opportunities for students to learn and thrive.

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