Jacob Kastrenakes

SpaceX asks Starlink customers for support in wireless battle with Dish

SpaceX emailed Starlink customers June 28 asking for help in its battle against Dish Network over radio frequencies for its Starlink internet-from-space effort. Some Starlink customers received an email urging them to contact the Federal Communications Commission and members of Congress in order to support SpaceX in the ongoing dispute. “Today we ask for your support in ending a lobbying campaign that threatens to make Starlink unusable for you and the vast majority of our American customers,” the email reads in bold.

Wi-Fi 6E, Wi-Fi's biggest upgrade in decades, is starting to arrive

Many of 2020’s new phones, laptops, TVs, routers, and more will come with support for Wi-Fi 6E, a new upgrade to Wi-Fi that’s essentially like expanding your wireless connection from a two-lane road to an eight-lane highway. It’s the biggest upgrade to Wi-Fi in 20 years, and connections should be faster and a lot more reliable because of it. The Wi-Fi Alliance, the industry-wide group that oversees Wi-Fi, is now starting to certify the first wave of products with support for Wi-Fi 6E.

Facebook bans personality quizzes after Cambridge Analytica scandal

Facebook is banning personality quiz apps, which have for years been able to collect and store a great deal of information about their users. The ban comes a year after the Cambridge Analytica scandal, where it came out that the data firm had acquired information on up to 87 million people through the quiz app “thisisyourdigitallife.”

T-Mobile tries to woo regulators on Sprint merger with promise of amazing 5G home internet

T-Mobile says it’ll launch a 5G home internet service with fast speeds, easy installation, and low prices that will reach half of all US homes within five years and meaningfully shake up the woefully anti-competitive cable industry. There’s just one catch: T-Mobile says this only comes true if its Sprint merger is approved. In a blog post and Federal Communications Commission filing, T-Mobile outlines in the most detail yet what its 5G home internet service will look like.

AT&T misleads customers by updating phones with fake 5G icon

AT&T has updated three smartphones from Samsung and LG to make them show 5G connectivity logos, even though none of them are capable of connecting to 5G networks. Now, when the Samsung Galaxy S8 Active, LG V30, or LG V40 are connected to portions of AT&T’s LTE network that have received some speed-boosting updates, they’ll show an icon that says “5G E” instead of “LTE.” That “E” in the “5G” logo is supposed to tip you off that this isn’t real 5G — just some marketing nonsense. But there’s no way of knowing that just from looking at the logo.

AT&T’s 5G network goes live in 12 cities — but you can’t use it yet

AT&T says its 5G network went live in parts of 12 cities Dec 18, making it the first wireless carrier to launch a mobile network based on the 5G standard. A small number of customers will be able to use the network starting on Dec 21, when AT&T will begin distributing its first 5G device: a mobile hot spot that can connect to the network’s much faster airwaves. But it’ll be a slow launch; you won’t be able to go out to a store and buy AT&T’s 5G hot spot for several more months.

Wi-Fi now has version numbers, and Wi-Fi 6 comes out in 2019

In the past, Wi-Fi versions were identified by a letter or a pair of letters that referred to a wireless standard. The current version is 802.11ac, but before that, we had 802.11n, 802.11g, 802.11a, and 802.11b. It was not comprehensible, so the Wi-Fi Alliance — the group that stewards the implementation of Wi-Fi — is changing it. All of those convoluted codenames are being changed. So instead of the current Wi-Fi being called 802.11ac, it’ll be called Wi-Fi 5 (because it’s the fifth version). 

Verizon’s 5G home internet is sort of real, sort of fake

Verizon became the first major Internet service provider to launch 5G home internet service. But, is this really 5G? The answer is sort of. 

22 states ask court to restore net neutrality

Attorneys general representing 22 states and the District of Columbia asked a federal court to reinstate network neutrality, saying the Federal Communications Commission failed to properly consider the issues when removing the policy in 2017. In a brief filed Aug 20, the attorneys general argue that the FCC’s decision “will cause [inevitable harms] to consumers, public safety, and existing regulatory schemes” and that the commission “entirely ignored many of these issues” when overturning net neutrality.

FCC chairman Ajit Pai cancels CES appearance a week before show

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai has canceled plans to appear at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) the week of Jan 8, missing the show for the first time in five years and what would have been his first appearance as head of the commission. 

ISPs won’t promise to treat all traffic equally after net neutrality

We’re still too far out to know exactly what disclosures all the big Internet service providers are going to make — the rules (or lack thereof) don’t actually go into effect for another few months — but many internet providers have been making statements throughout the year about their stance on net neutrality, which ought to give some idea of where they’ll land. We reached out to 10 big or notable ISPs to see what their stances are on three core tenets of net neutrality: no blocking, no throttling, and no paid prioritization.

The 5 most ridiculous things the FCC says in its new net neutrality propaganda

A new “fact sheet” sent out by the Federal Communications Commission asks: what if facts are flexible things that we can bend to our preferred reality? It lists a series of “myths” about the commission’s proposal, followed by “facts” that supposedly debunk them — except the facts are often wrong, or directly confirm the myth that they’re trying to debunk. Here are some of the most flagrant examples.

FCC ignored your net neutrality comment, unless you made a ‘serious’ legal argument

The Federal Communications Commission received a record-breaking 22 million comments chiming in on the net neutrality debate, but from the sound of it, it’s ignoring the vast majority of them. A senior FCC official said that 7.5 million of those comments were the exact same letter, which was submitted using 45,000 fake email addresses. But even ignoring the potential spam, the commission said it didn’t really care about the public’s opinion on net neutrality unless it was phrased in unique legal terms.

T-Mobile just spent nearly $8 billion to finally put its network on par with Verizon and AT&T

T-Mobile has made an enormous investment in wireless spectrum in a very expensive bid to put its LTE network on par with Verizon’s and AT&T’s. The carrier is spending almost $8 billion to acquire more than 1,500 wireless licenses that span across the United States. The licenses are for spectrum in the 600MHz range, which in terms of spectrum, is some seriously high-quality stuff. It’s at a relatively low frequency, which means it’s good at traveling long distances and penetrating walls — attributes that make for a strong network. This move is all about catching up to Verizon and AT&T. Both of those carriers made big investments in spectrum in the 700MHz range — which has similar properties — years ago, and they’ve been able to use it to build strong, nationwide LTE networks.

Dish Network, which already sits atop a pile of mid-range spectrum and has announced its intentions to build an NB-IoT network, was the second-biggest bidder, committing $6.2 billion. Comcast, which recently outlined plans to deploy its own wireless service, will spend $1.7 billion.

Comcast, AT&T, and Verizon say you shouldn’t worry about gutting of internet privacy rules

Comcast, AT&T, and Verizon published statements responding to the backlash they’ve been receiving since Congress voted to revoke a strong set of internet privacy rules that would have prevented internet providers from using or sharing their customers’ web browsing history without permission. The companies take different approaches when responding, but the takeaway from all three is that they think customers should stop worrying.

  • Comcast takes a friendlier approach and actually makes some basic commitments to customers. “We do not sell our broadband customers’ individual web browsing history,” writes Gerard Lewis, Comcast’s chief privacy officer. “We did not do it before the FCC’s rules were adopted, and we have no plans to do so.”
  • Verizon’s approach is similar. The company’s chief privacy officer, Karen Zacharia, offers a fairly clear statement: “Verizon does not sell the personal web browsing history of our customers,” she writes. “We don’t do it and that’s the bottom line.”
  • AT&T’s response has the same message at its core, but the tone couldn’t be more different: it’s standoffish and argumentative, with AT&T’s public policy chief, Bob Quinn, trying to explain why nothing has changed and the FCC was wrong in the first place.

What does the new ISP data-sharing rollback actually change?

Congress shot down the Federal Communications Commission’s internet privacy rules this week, and in doing so, created a world of confusion over what Americans should expect when it comes to online privacy. With the protections gone, no one’s quite sure what to expect — some suspect their browsing habits are going up for sale, while others see no changes coming whatsoever. That uncertainty and confusion is justified: the rules Congress shot down were meant to clarify an existing set of already vague and confusing policies. On some level, it’s being left up to internet service providers, or ISPs, to decide what the rules do and don’t allow them to do. And while none of them are very clear about their intentions, there’s plenty we can suss out based on what we already know. So to cut through the haze, we pulled together everything you need to know about the current state of online privacy rules.

Landmark privacy rules are going to get killed because internet providers asked nicely

Your internet provider can see bits and pieces of almost everything you do online: the sites you visit, the apps you use, the services you connect to. It’s an unpleasant reality for anyone concerned with their privacy, since this information can reveal a whole lot about you. But it’s stayed that way because that’s how internet providers want it — and government regulators feel compelled to listen.

Net neutrality is two years old this week — and Republicans still want to kill it

Feb 26 marked the two-year anniversary of network neutrality passing at the Federal Communications Commission. Unfortunately for advocates, the anniversary hasn’t been so sweet. “It’s kind of tragic that we're observing the second anniversary of its passing with all signs indicating a frontal assault is going to be launched against it,” said Michael Copps, a former FCC commissioner.

You’d think that with net neutrality now in effect, we’d be able to look around to see what kind of impact the policy has had — whether it’s lived up to advocates high hopes or whether it’s destroyed the internet as opponents warned. But for the most part, net neutrality opponents are sticking with the same arguments they used two years ago: the rules rely on law that’s too old, they’ll hurt investment, and they’ll leave internet providers uncertain of their fate. “Contrary to the over-hyped fears of the carriers and their friends, nothing bad has come to pass,” says Gigi Sohn, who worked as a counselor to former FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler while the net neutrality rules were being put in place. “They continue to invest heavily in their networks, they’re buying other properties ... they continue to buy edge companies and other telecoms.”

Is anyone gonna review this AT&T–Time Warner merger or what?

It seems that the pending AT&T–Time Warner merger continues to be a political hot potato, with different factions of government and industry continuing to argue over who will review it. Whether the merger ends up at the Department of Justice alone or at the DOJ and the Federal Communications Commission will make all the difference: DOJ policies make it likely to approve the merger, whereas the FCC, even with its corporation-friendly chairman, will have to give it a more rigorous review that could kill the deal or at least place some restrictions on it.

As you may remember, back in the strange world of 2016, then-candidate Donald Trump expressed very clear opposition to the proposed merger, saying it was “a deal we will not approve.” That seems clear cut, except it’s Trump, so... maybe not. And while he can pressure the FCC to act one way or another, the commission is technically independent and out of his complete control. News Corporation / 21st Century Fox overlord Rupert Murdoch “now regularly lobbies Trump against AT&T and Time Warner's tie-up,” trying to have him get it under the FCC’s review so that the commission can block it. The FCC’s lone Democratic commissioner, Mignon Clyburn, is also trying to get some say over the merger.

Ajit Pai is making the FCC more transparent — but only when it suits him

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai has had a whirlwind first month, taking immediate action to scale back network neutrality, slow broadband subsidies for low-income households, and block efforts to reform the exorbitant calling rates to prisons. But in the background of all of this, Chairman Pai has also made a series of changes at the commission in the name of transparency.

He’s explored publishing FCC orders a month before they're voted on, alongside a one-page summary (instead of close to one month after they’re voted on); limited the extent to which the commission can edit orders after a vote; and given commissioners more oversight of enforcement actions (fines, mostly) that punish companies for violating FCC rules These appear to be positive developments for the public. We get more insight into what the FCC is up to, and more assurance that the commission won't try to meaningfully alter orders at the last second. Politicians and former FCC insiders seem to agree, to a point. But many also express concerns that the changes could backfire, by working in lobbyists’ favor, slowing down the commission, or putting its rulings in a legally precarious position. Some also questioned how committed Chairman Pai was to transparency, pointing out that he’s been less than forthcoming about the commission’s most controversial actions.

Republicans are ready to take down the FCC

Newly-appointed Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai has already chipped away at network neutrality, slowed a program that assists low-income households with broadband access, and hurt efforts to reform exorbitant calling fees for inmates — and that’s just his first two weeks on the job. The chairman of the FCC has exceptional power over what the commission does and how it functions. And that means Chairman Pai, more than anyone else right now, has control over the fate of not just hot-button issues like net neutrality, but the competitive landscape of the cable and wireless industries. Pai’s oft-repeated mission statement has been to “[eliminate] unnecessary and burdensome rules” at the commission. But so far, that’s meant scaling back vital protections for the internet that advocates and millions of consumers loudly fought for and won. As Chairman Pai continues to tweak regulations, he has the ability to undermine core tenets of net neutrality and broadly reshape the FCC in the process.

Some Republicans have long hoped to turn the FCC into a toothless management office, and these early actions demonstrate Pai’s power to help them do it. There are two ways Republicans can go about curtailing the power of the FCC. The more transformative method is to overhaul telecom law in order to strip out its strength as a regulator and its mandate to look out for the public good. The easier, if less transformative method — since core functions of the FCC are ultimately dictated by law — would be to have the FCC reorganize itself, which it can do in small ways on its own and in larger ways with a nod from Congress.

T-Mobile will stop selling postpaid plans with data caps

T-Mobile says that from January 2017 forward, all of the postpaid plans it sells will offer an unlimited amount of data. John Legere, the company’s CEO, says the change reflects the way that people have begun using mobile data, where it’s in frequently the primary way they access the internet. “The internet was meant to be unlimited,” Legere said. “Why the hell are carriers still selling the mobile internet this way?” T-Mobile will stop offering plans with data limits as of January 22nd, only offering its “unlimited” T-Mobile One plans. The carrier telegraphed this move several months back, when it first unveiled the new plan’s branding, but it’s only now fully removing other options. While T-Mobile won’t be selling postpaid plans with data caps, it will still offer prepaid plans with specific data limits.

Sprint owner SoftBank says it’ll invest $50 billion in US under Trump

SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son made a surprise appearance at Trump Tower where he appears to have worked out a deal with the President-elect to invest $50 billion in the US over the next four years and create 50,000 new jobs. Details of the planned investment are basically nonexistent, but it’s more than likely that it involves Sprint, which represents SoftBank’s main presence in the US. Sprint has been struggling since its acquisition by SoftBank in 2012, falling into fourth place among wireless carriers, behind T-Mobile, and cutting jobs in the face of rocky financials. "I just came to celebrate his new job. We were talking about it. Then I said I would like to celebrate his presidential job and commit, because he would do a lot of deregulation,” Son said. “I said this is great. The United States would become great again.” It wasn’t stated what Trump offered, aside from a lighter regulatory environment, to entice SoftBank.

Google and Facebook building super high-speed cable between LA and Hong Kong

Google and Facebook are working together to lay a nearly 8,000-mile cable between Los Angeles and Hong Kong.

The fiber-optic cable will have a bandwidth of 120 terabits per second, which Google says makes it the highest-capacity route between the US and Asia. It’ll double the current record, which is held by a cable that Google is also a partner on. The new cable should allow Google and Facebook to offer faster and more reliable service to visitors on the other side of the Pacific. The companies will likely each get a certain chunk of the cable’s total capacity and lease out the remaining space to others; but so far, they haven’t announced the specifics.