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An obscure 2017 telecom deal explains why T-Mobile and Sprint agreed to merge

An obscure wireless industry deal from 2017 can help explain why T-Mobile and Sprint finally agreed to merge after years of flirting with a deal.

25 years ago, the web opened up and the world changed

On April 30, 1993, CERN—the European Organization for Nuclear Research—announced that it was putting a piece of software developed by one of its researchers, Tim Berners-Lee, into the public domain.  That software was a “global computer networked information system” called the World Wide Web, and CERN’s decision meant that anyone, anywhere, could run a website and do anything with it. In an era when online services were still dominated by proprietary, for-profit walled gardens such as AOL and CompuServe, that was a radical idea.

Senate to Hold Net Neutrality Vote

Democratic Sens are planning to take a first step the week of May 7 toward forcing a vote to restore the Federal Communications Commission's network neutrality regulations. Democrats have been gathering signatures under the Congressional Review Act to force a vote to overturn the decision by the FCC to repeal the net neutrality rules. Sen Ed Markey (D-MA) tweeted that Democrats will file the petition to force the vote on May 9. The vote could take place as soon as the week after.

T-Mobile/Sprint Reaction from Near and Far

After the announcement T-Mobile would swallow Sprint, here's the reaction.

Massive MIMO to play role in T-Mobile/Sprint 5G readiness

One of the things that will enable T-Mobile and Sprint to move fast with their 5G integration is a not-so-little thing called Massive multiple-input, multiple-output (MIMO). Of course, it’s business as usual for each company while they make their case before regulators, but Sprint CTO John Saw said one of the things that will make for a faster integration is Massive MIMO, something Sprint has been working on for some time.  “With Massive MIMO we are able to actually upgrade existing towers,” Saw said.

Blocking T-Mobile’s last big merger turned out great for U.S. consumers. So what’s different now?

Why would the US government want to reduce competitiveness now by letting T-Mobile and Sprint merge? It’s not as if there are many up-and-coming challengers in the market — even Google’s attempts seem half-hearted. (Also, given the Department of Justice’s lawsuit against the AT&T-Time Warner merger, it’ll want to eye this deal with the same scrutiny.)

Will regulators approve the massive T-Mobile-Sprint merger?

As the two smaller players in a wireless industry dominated by four companies, T-Mobile and Sprint argue that they need to link up to effectively challenge Verizon and AT&T, and the creation of a new wireless behemoth — with nearly 100 million customers — will allow them to build out a national 5G network. T-Mobile CEO John Legere has already raised the specter of Chinese competition on the next-generation network technology. And although that argument will be thoroughly questioned by critics, it’s one that could get some play in the Trump administration.

Twitter Sold Data Access to Cambridge Analytica–Linked Researcher

Twitter sold data access to the Cambridge University academic who also obtained millions of Facebook users’ information that was later passed to a political consulting firm without the users’ consent. Aleksandr Kogan, who created a personality quiz on Facebook to harvest information later used by Cambridge Analytica, established his own commercial enterprise, Global Science Research (GSR). That firm was granted access to large-scale public Twitter data, covering months of posts, for one day in 2015, according to Twitter.

Comcast won’t give new speed boost to Internet users who don’t buy TV service

As streaming video continues to chip away at cable TV subscriber numbers, Comcast is making some of its Internet speed increases available only to customers that pay for both Internet and video service. The week of April 23, Comcast announced speed increases for customers in Houston (TX) and the Oregon/SW Washington areas.

DOJ and AT&T offer closing arguments in antitrust case

The Justice Department made a final pitch against AT&T's $85 billion deal to acquire Time Warner, demanding in federal court that the deal be blocked or that AT&T should be permitted only to buy a portion of the media and entertainment giant. Addressing a packed courtroom that included the chief executives of both companies, Justice attorney Craig Conrath cited economic analyses, industry witnesses and AT&T's own statements to support the government's case opposing the tie-up.

Sprint, T-Mobile Agree to $26 Billion Merger

The boards of Sprint and T-Mobile US struck a $26 billion merger that, if allowed by antitrust enforcers, would leave the US wireless market dominated by three national players. Under the terms of the deal, T-Mobile will exchange 9.75 Sprint shares for each T-Mobile share. T-Mobile parent Deutsche Telekom will own 42% of the combined company and Sprint parent SoftBank Group will own 27%. The remaining 31% will be held by the public. Deutsche Telekom would also control voting rights over 69% of the new company and appoint nine of its 14 directors.

Chairman Pai Defers Cambridge Analytica Investigation to FTC

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai has said the FCC does not plan to investigate reports that Dish, Tivo and ComScore may have given Cambridge Analytica "the specific viewing habits of many subscribers in the United States." Chairman Pai says the Federal Trade Commission should instead be the one investigating and added that he has forwarded the issue to the FTC. He said he was sure an inquiry would be in good hands.

AT&T: Transition from Legacy DSL Largely Complete, Fiber Broadband Penetration Nearing 50% in Many Areas

AT&T now has more than five times fewer legacy DSL customers than it did four years ago. Nevertheless, the company saw a net gain of 82,000 broadband subscribers in the first quarter, an achievement that reflects a major shift in the AT&T broadband mix. "[W]e are completing our broadband transition from DSL to IP broadband,” said AT&T Senior Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer John Stephens. AT&T uses the term “IP broadband” to refer to services delivered over fiber-to-the-premises (FTTP) and fiber-to-the-node (FTTN) infrastructure.

Charter to Hill: Opt For Opt-In For All

Charter is ramping up its call for online privacy legislation that applies opt-in requirements on the sharing of personal info, no matter who is doing the sharing. That came in a letter to the Hill from Charter EVP Catherine Bohigian, which followed Charter CEO Tom Rutledge's blog two weeks ago calling for an opt-in regime for all. It also follows Hill hearings with Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg three weeks ago and a concomitant boost in Hill sentiment for regulating edge players whose power has grown from "garage" to gargantuan.

Sen Markey, others caution FCC's net neutrality ruling could unduly hurt rural America

Sen Ed Markey (D-MA) continued to rail against the Federal Communications Commission's December decision to undo Obama-era net neutrality protections, arguing that the ruling could especially hurt Americans living in rural communities who face fewer choices when it comes to high-speed internet providers. Sen Markey, who is leading a Senate effort to override the FCC's controversial rollback, joined Sen Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and other net neutrality advocates in highlighting the challenges rural Americans could face if the internet does not remain "free and open." 

Facebook's deserted island

Facebook is used to being the cool kid. But now it’s eating lunch alone: Companies are trying to figure out how to be as un-Facebook-like as possible.  Several tech companies, including Apple, IBM and Salesforce, have publicly differentiated themselves from Facebook. Now that lawmakers are getting more interested in regulating tech, other companies are considering launching their own campaigns to stay as far away as possible from Facebook's privacy drama. 

Are You Really the Product?

he pithiness that makes “you are the product” so quotable risks obscuring the complex pact between Facebook and its users, in ways that make social media’s problems seem inevitable and insoluble. They’re not—but if we want to fix them, the first thing we need to do is redefine our relationship. To the extent that our personal data has become a product, it’s because we—and our representatives in government—have allowed it to happen. If we don’t like how Facebook is treating us, we shouldn’t throw up our hands and call ourselves the product of a system over which we have no control.

AT&T’s Tab Awaiting Time Warner Takeover Hits $1.4 Billion

Even if a federal judge sides with AT&T in its fight to take over Time Warner for $85 billion, victory won’t have come cheap. AT&T spent $1.1 billion in 2017 on debt interest and fees tied to the proposed merger, plus $214 million on related integration costs. The first quarter added another $67 million of integration costs. Time Warner said it spent $279 million on merger costs in 2017 and another $146 million through March.

Senators Want to Freeze FCC Media Decisions

Twenty-two US senators wrote Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai asking the FCC to stop making impacting the broadcast industry until it has taken a "holistic look" at the state of broadcasting and the media. They said they had noted Pai's elimination of local TV and radio ownership limits with growing concern. 

New Data on Pole Prices Power 5G Debate

As part of the working group efforts within the Federal Communications Commission's Broadband Deployment Advisory Committee (BDAC), one subcommittee has collected data on telecommunication pole attachment rates and published the information along with some very early data analysis.

Unlike in US, Facebook Faces Tough Questions in Britain

In London, Facebook’s chief technology officer, Mike Schroepfer, faced more than four hours of questions from a British parliamentary committee over the company’s data-collection techniques, oversight of app developers, fake accounts, political advertising and links to the voter-targeting firm Cambridge Analytica. If American politicians have been lampooned for being Luddites, the British Parliament’s Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee has built a reputation for thoroughness and detailed questioning.

Reps. Square Off at Hearing Over Online Censorship

House Communications Subcommittee Chairman Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) and Rep James Hines (D-CT) testified before the House Judiciary Committee about alleged online censorship of conservative speech. The hearing was on "Filtering Practices of Social Media Platforms" and stemmed in part from Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg's testimony before Congress recently.  The first two panelists were members of Congress, and as such only presented statements and were not questioned afterward.

Chairman Pai Won't Commit to Delaying Sinclair Decision for Court Ruling

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai wasn't predicting when the FCC's vetting of the Sinclair-Tribune deal would be complete, but suggested that the FCC had not yet had a chance to fully evaluate it. Sinclair filed its latest, and expected to be last, amendment to the deal earlier during the week of April 23.  

Why all your favorite apps are serving you new privacy prompts

Users of Facebook, Google and other popular technology platforms are likely to benefit from stricter privacy regulations that will require new disclosures, new forms of consent and new power to limit how personal data is stored and utilized. The changes are being announced in emails, blog posts and new on-screen messages that many consumers are already beginning to see from Apple, Twitter, Airbnb, GoDaddy and others. Don’t bother thanking Washington.