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  • Verizon, AT&T Limiting 5G to Accommodate Air Traffic Safety Concerns

    Verizon, AT&T Limiting 5G to Accommodate Air Traffic Safety Concerns

    Verizon and AT&T have volunteered to limit their 5G networks in an effort to address concerns over air traffic safety.

    Verizon and AT&T spent a small fortune — to the tune of nearly $69 billion — to purchase C-Band spectrum for their 5G networks. C-Band, falling in the mid-range of available spectrum, is considered the sweet spot for 5G, offering a solid blend of speed, range and penetration.

    Unfortunately, the spectrum Verizon and AT&T purchased is in the 3.7 to 3.98 GHz range, relatively close to the 4.2-4.4 GHz range that airline altimeters run on. As a result, there have been concerns that Verizon and AT&T’s 5G could negatively impact airline safety, leading both companies to delay their C-Band rollout.

    Verizon and AT&T are now voluntarily offering to limit their rollout of the C-Band 5G spectrum in an effort to mitigate potential issues.

    “We have voluntarily agreed to certain precautionary protection measures for 5G networks in the C-band while additional evidence from radio altimeter manufacturers is evaluated,” AT&T said in a statement, according to The Hill. “Though there is no credible evidence that a legitimate interference problem exists, we agreed to take these additional steps to alleviate any safety concerns from the FAA.”

    Despite their willingness to cripple their 5G, as Telecoms.com points out, it’s obvious by the wording of their statement that Verizon and AT&T are not happy with the current state of affairs. Their statement is a not-so-subtle way of pointing out that, after spending tens of billions, they shouldn’t have to take the steps they’re taking.

    “Wireless carriers, including AT&T and Verizon, paid over $80 billion for C-band spectrum—and have committed to pay another $15 billion to satellite users for early access to those licenses—and made those investments in reliance on a set of technical ground rules that were expressly found by the FCC to protect other spectrum users.”

    Verizon and AT&T’s issues are yet another win for T-Mobile, which has already established itself as the 5G leader in the US market. T-Mobile’s mid-band spectrum falls in the 2.5 GHz range, which is still in the sweet spot for 5G but far enough away from the spectrum airline altimeters use to not be a concern. As a result, T-Mobile has been unaffected by the issues Verizon and AT&T are facing.

  • Zoom’s Five9 Purchase Under National Security Review

    Zoom’s Five9 Purchase Under National Security Review

    Zoom’s purchase of Five9, a leading intelligent cloud contact center provider, is undergoing a US national security review.

    Zoom announced in July that it was purchasing Five9. Zoom has its roots in the enterprise market, before becoming a household name as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Looking to the post-pandemic market, Zoom is gearing up for a renewed focus on the enterprise market, making Five9’s contact center solution a natural fit.

    The deal has come under US national security scrutiny as a result of Zoom’s perceived ties to China. The company’s CEO, Eric Yuan, was born in China despite being a US citizen. The company courted controversy in the early days of the pandemic by routing data through servers in China, including data for calls originating in North America. As a result of the backlash, the company added the ability for paid customers to choose which region their data flows through.

    These concerns, however, were enough to spark additional scrutiny, especially since Five9 is a California-based telecommunications company. The Federal Communications Commission is an interagency committee tasked with protecting US telecommunications, and the DOJ requested it review the deal “to determine whether this application poses a risk to the national security or law enforcement interests of the United States.”

    Despite the setback, Zoom told The Hill it still expects the deal to close in the first half of 2022.

    “The Five9 acquisition is subject to certain telecom regulatory approvals,” the company told The Hill. “We have made filings with the various applicable regulatory agencies, and these approval processes are proceeding as expected.”

    “We continue to anticipate receiving the required regulatory approvals to close the transaction in the first half of 2022,” the spokesperson continued.

  • Senate Signs Bill to Help Curb Illegal Robocalls

    Senate Signs Bill to Help Curb Illegal Robocalls

    Robocalls have become a plague for the American consumer, with some 54 billion being placed last year alone. Now, according to the International Business Times (IBT), the Senate has unanimously approved House-passed legislation aimed at combatting robocalls.

    The Pallone-Thune Telephone Robocall Abuse Criminal Enforcement and Deterrence Act is named for its sponsors, Rep. Frank Pallone Jr., D-N.J., and Sen. John Thune, R-S.D. In passing the bill, lawmakers cited the nuisance to consumers, while also highlighting the life-threatening impact robocalls can have on hospitals.

    “There are numerous stories of hospital telephone lines being flooded with robocalls, disrupting critical lines of communication for hours,” Thune said. “That can’t be allowed to go on.”

    According to IBT, “the measure requires AT&T, Verizon and other phone companies to block robocalls for free and ensure calls are coming from real numbers. It also gives regulators more time to find and penalize scammers without having to issue warnings first.

    “The Federal Communications Commission will be required to let Congress know about action being taken against robocalling operations and oversee companies tracking such calls. It also requires the Justice Department to prosecute more often.

    “The FCC voted during the summer to allow carriers to block suspicious calls by default.

    “The bill’s requirements are expected to take months to implement and do nothing to reduce calls from credit card companies, student lenders and other businesses who depend on such calls to generate business.”

    While the bill’s backers say the its impact may not be noticeable immediately, as time goes on users will experience less calls.

    The bill will now go to President Trump. According to The Hill, “Rep. Mike Doyle (D-Pa.) told reporters Thursday that the bill is likely to be ‘signed into law the next week or so.’”

  • Facebook Defends Tracking Users Even They Opt Out

    Facebook Defends Tracking Users Even They Opt Out

    According to The Hill, Facebook has admitted to senators that it ignores users’ settings and continues to track their location in order to profit off of that information.

    Senators Christopher Coons (D-Del.) and Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) had questioned how the social media giant handled location tracking, specifically whether it continued to track individuals even if they turned location tracking off. In reply to the senators’ request, Facebook’s deputy chief privacy officer, Rob Sherman, indicated that the company continues to use other means at its disposal to track users, regardless of their location sharing settings.

    “When location services is off, Facebook may still understand people’s locations using information people share through their activities on Facebook or through IP addresses and other network connections they use,” Sherman wrote.

    Sherman went on to add that as people use Facebook, they often leave indicators of their activities, such as checking in at a restaurant, location-tagging a photo or appearing in a friend’s photo, all of which the company uses to continue tracking them. In addition, the company uses this indirect tracking information to keep providing targeted ads based on that location data, even if location tracking is turned off on their phone.

    Needless to say, the senators were not pleased with this admission and had strong words regarding the company’s behavior.

    “Facebook claims that users are in control of their own privacy, but in reality, users aren’t even given an option to stop Facebook from collecting and monetizing their location information,” Coons said. “The American people deserve to know how tech companies use their data, and I will continue working to find solutions to protect Americans’ sensitive information.”

    “There is no opting out. No control over your personal information,” Hawley tweeted. “That’s Big Tech. And that’s why Congress needs to take action.”

  • The Hill’s Most Beautiful People List Includes Michelle Bachmann

    The Hill’s Most Beautiful People list is kind of like the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue for those with political fetishes. Instead of gawking at woman wearing barely-there swimwear, you get to ogle public servants wearing sharp suits and dresses. Each person on the aforementioned list gets their own title, too, as well as an individual rank. For example, Carolyn Amirpashaie, a 27-year-old Republican from Woodbridge, Virginia, has been declared the “Capitol Hill Kardashian”. I’m not sure if anyone with an intellectual mind would consider that an honor.

    Still, it has to feel good to be considered a beautiful person by anyone’s definition. It gives you a good boost of self-confidence, even if the accolades for your genetic make-up are accompanied by ridiculously cheesy titles. Other descriptions for these attractive individuals include “Floridian”, “Shrimp Killer”, “Confessions of a Nerd”, and “Country Duds”. Yikes. Having “Shrimp Killer” under my name would be too devastating for words.

    Michelle Bachmann, meanwhile, was listed as “Almost President, Almost Swiss”, and ranks as the 10th most attractive person in politics. Depending on how you view the Minnesota Republican, that’s either incredibly good news or yet another reason to pack your bags and flee the country. Since I refuse to get into a political debate with anyone (read: I’m a coward), I’m going to refrain from remarking on Bachmann’s inclusion on the list. I’ll leave the rants and raves up to you.

    Curious to see the list in its entirety? Then take a trip to The Hill’s 50 Most Beautiful People article. It’s an entertaining read, especially when you attempt to find the correlation between their lifestyles and their titles. There aren’t any swimsuits, mind you, so don’t get your hopes up.