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The Telecom Digest for Sun, 20 May 2018
Volume 37 : Issue 119 : "text" format

Table of contents
Despite Senate win, net neutrality rules near deathBill Horne
Verizon Flirts With DSL Usage Caps in VirginiaBill Horne
FCC investigating website flaw that exposed mobile phone locationsBill Horne
A Summer Blockbuster Open MeetingMonty Solomon
---------------------------------------------------------------------- Message-ID: <20180519153601.GA9560@telecom.csail.mit.edu> Date: Sat, 19 May 2018 11:36:01 -0400 From: Bill Horne <bill@horneQRM.net> Subject: Despite Senate win, net neutrality rules near death James Gattuso: Despite Senate win, net neutrality rules near death: Send no flowers Supporters of the FCC's neutrality rules just won a close one, prevailing in a razor-close Senate vote to save them from repeal. The pro-regulation crowd now finds itself in the position of the proverbial dog that caught the car. What to do next? It's too big to eat, and too small to live in. The official line from the supporters - who see themselves in almost biblical terms as saviors of the Internet is that the momentum created by the Senate vote will energize voters nationwide to join their crusade for red tape. Faced with this public pressure, the House will (the reasoning goes) also vote to save the rules, and the measure would be signed by President Donald Trump because, well, because Trump. https://lompocrecord.com/opinion/columnists/james-gattuso-despite-senate-win-net-neutrality-rules-near-death/article_cf159e97-de37-581f-a54d-75e21fc9ab7e.html -- Bill Horne (Remove QRM from my email address to write to me directly) ------------------------------ Message-ID: <20180519152537.GA9509@telecom.csail.mit.edu> Date: Sat, 19 May 2018 11:25:37 -0400 From: Bill Horne <bill@horneQRM.net> Subject: Verizon Flirts With DSL Usage Caps in Virginia by Karl Bode With the company's focus now primarily on wireless and slinging ads to Millennials, Verizon's long-neglected DSL customers were already feeling unwanted in the wake of frozen FiOS fiber upgrades. In many areas, Verizon has simply refused to upgrade or repair lines, and frequently hits these users with annoying price hikes on slow DSL speeds that cost Verizon very little to actually deliver. The goal quite literally is to drive these unwanted customers to cable competitors or the company's own wireless service (often sold by those same cable competitors). Now these unwanted Verizon DSL customers may have another reason to leave: potential usage caps. Users in our forums recently discovered that Verizon has begun conducting a new "trial" in Virginia. As part of this trial, customers on DSL lines at speeds of 500 kbps to 1.5 Mbps are now informed "usage" is limited to 150 gigabytes. Users on DSL speeds between 1.5 Mbps and 3 Mbps are now told those lines only feature 250 GB of "usage." https://www.dslreports.com/shownews/Verizon-Flirts-With-DSL-Usage-Caps-in-Virginia-141864 -- Bill Horne (Remove QRM from my email address to write to me directly) ------------------------------ Message-ID: <20180519153105.GA9540@telecom.csail.mit.edu> Date: Sat, 19 May 2018 11:31:06 -0400 From: Bill Horne <bill@horneQRM.net> Subject: FCC investigating website flaw that exposed mobile phone locations By David Shepardson WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Federal Communications Commission said on Friday it was referring reports that a website flaw could have allowed the location of mobile phone customers to be tracked to its enforcement bureau to investigate. A security researcher said earlier this week that data from LocationSmart, a California-based tech firm, could have been used to track AT&T Inc (T.N), Verizon Communications Inc (VZ.N), Sprint Corp (S.N) and T-Mobile US (TMUS.O) mobile consumers within a few hundred yards of their location and without their consent. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-mobile-privacy/fcc-investigating-reports-website-flaw-exposed-mobile-phone-locations-idUSKCN1IJ2F0 -- Bill Horne (Remove QRM from my email address to write to me directly) ------------------------------ Message-ID: <B4A9E488-AB78-4A4F-94DE-837FFA5BEC89@roscom.com> Date: Thu, 17 May 2018 23:06:55 -0700 From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com> Subject: A Summer Blockbuster Open Meeting A Summer Blockbuster Open Meeting By Ajit Pai | FCC Chairman In the spirit of the summer blockbuster season, the Commission's June 7 meeting is going to be our own version of "Avengers: Infinity War." We're taking familiar headliners - freeing up spectrum, removing barriers to infrastructure buildout, expanding satellite services, modernizing outdated rules, eliminating waste, improving accessibility, protecting consumers - and rolling them into one, super-sized meeting. Fittingly, our featured order is a sequel of its own. For the past few years, one of the agency's highest priorities has been repurposing high-band spectrum for next-generation wireless services like 5G. In 2016, the FCC unanimously adopted the Spectrum Frontiers Order, which established rules for wireless broadband operations in frequencies at or above 24 GHz. Last year, we approved the Second Report and Order, which modified the 2016 rules and made available an additional 1,700 megahertz of wireless spectrum for flexible use in the 24 GHz and 47 GHz bands. Today, I'm circulating a Third Report and Order and Further Notice that takes the next steps necessary to promote U.S. leadership in 5G and to deliver advanced wireless services to American consumers. https://www.fcc.gov/news-events/blog/2018/05/16/summer-blockbuster-open-meeting ------------------------------ ********************************************* End of telecom Digest Sun, 20 May 2018

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