Wall Street Journal

Musk's SpaceX Looking to Compete for $16 Billion in Federal Broadband Subsidies

Elon Musk’s SpaceX is seeking to qualify for federal subsidies to provide broadband service to rural areas, over the objections of competitors who say its satellite-based technology is unproven.

Coronavirus Prompts Hospitals to Fast-Track Telemedicine Projects

Hospital chief information officers, no strangers to emergencies, are putting in place new systems and workflows to get ahead of a growing coronavirus epidemic that threatens to tax limited resources and staff.

Coronavirus School Closures Expose Digital Haves and Have-Nots

The ability of schools across the country to hold classes remotely is being tested as more close in an effort to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus. Also being tested: the ability of families to get their homes tech-ready so children can log in to virtual classrooms. More than 23,500 students across 33 campuses of the Northshore School District in suburban Seattle (WA) began joining Zoom or Microsoft Teams meetings with their teachers on March 9 and completing assignments via Google Classroom.

FCC Probe Finds Mobile Carriers Didn’t Safeguard Customer Location Data

Apparently, the Federal Communications Commission is seeking hundreds of millions of dollars in fines from the country’s top cellphone carriers after officials found the companies failed to safeguard information about customers’ real-time locations. The FCC informed AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, and Verizon of pending notices of apparent liability. Such notices aren’t final, and the companies can still argue they aren’t liable or should pay less. It would ultimately fall on the Justice Department to collect any penalties.

Internet Shutdowns Become a Favorite Tool of Governments: ‘It’s Like We Suddenly Went Blind’

From autocratic Iran to democratic India, governments are cutting people off from the global web with growing frequency and little scrutiny. Parts or all of the internet were shut down at least 213 times in 33 countries in 2019, the most ever recorded, according to Access Now, a nonprofit that advocates for a free internet and has monitored the practice for a decade.

Sprint, T-Mobile Revise Merger Terms

Sprint and T-Mobile have agreed on new terms for their merger, as the wireless carriers race to close the deal. The parties will improve the exchange ratio in the all-stock deal for T-Mobile’s parent, Deutsche Telekom AG. Originally, 9.75 Sprint shares were to be exchanged for each T-Mobile share. Under the revised deal, SoftBank Group, which owns more than 80% of Sprint’s common stock, will exchange the equivalent of 11 of its shares for each T-Mobile share.