Dear Friends of Wireless Messaging,

The Internet Of Things (IoT)

Wow! What'll they think of next?

Just kidding — since this concept is not new. At Motorola Paging, we were promoting the concept of things communicating with people, and with each other, over paging systems — at least 24 years ago. Please see my report on: Multiple Uses Of A Paging System following.

Anyway, The Internet Of Things is getting a lot of attention from the big players.

Like Intel:

And Microsoft:

And lots of others:

One more:

Now on to more news and views.

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Emergency Radio Communications Wireless Messaging Critical Messaging Telemetry Paging Wi-Fi	Wireless Messaging

A new issue of the Wireless Messaging Newsletter is posted on the web each week. A notification goes out by e-mail to subscribers on most Fridays around noon central US time. The notification message has a link to the actual newsletter on the web. That way it doesn't fill up your incoming e-mail account.

There is no charge for subscription and there are no membership restrictions. Readers are a very select group of wireless industry professionals, and include the senior managers of many of the world's major Paging and Wireless Messaging companies. There is an even mix of operations managers, marketing people, and engineers — so I try to include items of interest to all three groups. It's all about staying up-to-date with business trends and technology.

I regularly get readers' comments, so this newsletter has become a community forum for the Paging, and Wireless Messaging communities. You are welcome to contribute your ideas and opinions. Unless otherwise requested, all correspondence addressed to me is subject to publication in the newsletter and on my web site. I am very careful to protect the anonymity of those who request it.

I spend the whole week searching the Internet for news that I think may be of interest to you — so you won't have to. This newsletter is an aggregator — a service that aggregates news from other news sources. You can help our community by sharing any interesting news that you find.

Editorial Opinion pieces present only the opinions of the author. They do not necessarily reflect the views of any of advertisers or supporters. This newsletter is independent of any trade association.

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Skype's redesigned iPhone app is all about sharing things faster

BY JON FINGAS @JONFINGAS
JUNE 9TH 2014, AT 6:24:00 PM ET
engadget.com

Skype has been lavishing attention on its Android and Windows Phone messaging apps as of late, but it's now time for the iPhone client to get a makeover — and it's one of the company's biggest overhauls in recent memory. The new software brings a much fresher-looking interface that's both in step with other platforms (chiefly Windows Phone) and lets you accomplish many common tasks faster. You can now start group chats right from the hub, and you don't have to wait until someone hops online to send a message.

There are a lot of subtler tweaks that should go a long way toward improving the experience, too. The app's overall performance is up to five times faster, and it's much better at syncing message statuses as you move from device to device. So what's the catch? Simply put, the app isn't ready yet; Skype is launching the new iPhone version in about a week. Until it's available, you'll just have to make do with the teaser video below.

Multiple Uses Of A Paging System

I believe my colleague at Motorola Paging, Rob Lockhart, was the one who first thought of the following:

• People Paging People
• People Paging Things
• Things Paging People
• Things Paging Things

This is a great idea!

• People Paging People was traditional one-way paging e.g. a person sending a message to another person or group of persons.
• People Paging Things was when a person sends a command via a paging system to a machine or device of some sort.
• Things Paging People was when a machine or device automatically sends a message to a person or group of persons.
• Things Paging Things was when a machine or device automatically sends a message or a command to another machine or device — without human intervention e.g. this could be called automated telemetry or telecomando.

The Wheel Of Fortune

So I took Rob's idea, expanded on it, and created The Wheel Of Fortune . This is a concept that I went all around the world presenting to carriers. The idea was to get anyone who owned a paging system to diversify, or expand their services, and to create many new business opportunities beyond simple paging. Like the Airline Industry, for example: A big passenger jet costs a lot of money! So instead of flying a load of passengers to another city, and leaving the plane sitting there all night, they change crews, and take another load of passengers to another city — so as to generate the maximum income from their investment. A plane sitting on a runway all night is not making any money, and neither is a paging system during the night or any other idle time.

Specialists in sales and service of equipment from these leading manufacturers, as well as other two-way radio and paging products:

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Comcast Wi-Fi hotspots to count on routers in homes

Benny Evangelista and Dwight Silverman
Updated 7:34 am, Friday, June 13, 2014

Comcast plans to turn thousands of wireless Internet routers in private homes in the Bay Area into publicly available Wi-Fi hotspots.

The service is part of the cable giant's ambitious plan to offer customers and non-customers access to about 8 million hotspots in 19 of the largest U.S. cities. It could also lay the foundation for a wireless phone network that would compete with carriers like AT&T.

Comcast customers might feel uncomfortable about the company converting their wireless gateway routers into a public network - whether it's because of privacy, security, bandwidth or energy concerns.

But Comcast says less than 1 percent of customers in other regions that already have the service have chosen to opt out. That includes subscribers in cities like Seattle and Houston.

"To date, the home hotspot has been well received where it has rolled out," said Bryan Byrd, communications director for Comcast's California region.

Comcast hasn't given a timetable for when the service will roll out in California, but an announcement could come "in the next month or so," Byrd said.

The service uses technology embedded in the newer Arris Touchstone Telephony Wireless Gateway Modem, which Comcast leases to customers. Those who own their modems won't be affected.

The gateway generates a second encrypted network signal named "xfinitywifi" visible to anyone with Web-enabled device within range.

"Having an Xfinity WiFi hotspot in your home makes it easier for your friends and relatives to connect, and it provides better protection to your private in-home Wi-Fi network," Byrd said in an e-mail response to questions.

"You won't have to share your password with a babysitter or house guest because they are connecting to a completely separate Wi-Fi network. None of their activity is counted against your homeowner account," he said.

Comcast's top-tier Internet subscribers can log into the public network for free. Lower-tier customers and non-customers get two free one-hour sessions per month, then are charged a fee by the hour, day or week.

Byrd says there shouldn't be security problems with the private network as long as the customer has already taken the proper precautions of having a strong password and up-to-date antivirus protection on computers.

And the company maintains having an extra wireless signal radiating from a customer's home won't raise electricity consumption, publicly identify users' home addresses or even affect the speed of their Internet connection.

Because of the limited range of home Wi-Fi routers, don't expect to be able to drive down the street and hop from one residential hotspot to another, Amalia O'Sullivan, Comcast's vice president of Xfinity Internet Product, told the Houston Chronicle.

While connections will be available outside some homes, the signal quality drops off quickly the farther a user gets from the router.

"It's really for when you need a connection in the places that matter the most, and hopefully the places where you dwell the most," she said.

Comcast customers will have to sign in to any Xfinity Wi-Fi hotspot only once. After that, they will automatically be connected when one is available.

The initiative is an attempt by Comcast to compete with wireless carriers such as AT&T, which has a large network of Wi-Fi hotspots via businesses, including in major chains such as Starbucks and McDonald's. Comcast also has a network of business customers that provide hotspots, and it has established Wi-Fi beachheads in public places such as stadiums and parks.

Spencer Kurn, a partner with New Street Research in New York, said Comcast is laying the foundation for a possible wireless phone network that would switch seamlessly between Wi-Fi and traditional cellular connections.

"We think it's not a matter of if, but when," Kurn said.

In a document filed with federal regulators as part of its $32 billion plan to buy Time Warner Cable, Comcast said a network such as the one enabled by its residential hotspots "could make a 'Wi-Fi-first' service, which combines commercial mobile radio service with Wi-Fi."

Kurn said Comcast last year sold wireless spectrum to Verizon, and part of that deal gave Comcast access to Verizon's wireless network. Thus, a Comcast-owned wireless phone service could hand off callers between its Wi-Fi networks and Verizon's cellular one.

O'Sullivan said there currently are no plans to enter the wireless phone arena, but that it is conceivable in "the longer term."

Comcast is turning on the residential Wi-Fi hotspots in multiple cities this month. The network is already up and running in many cities where Comcast provides service, including Philadelphia and Indianapolis. About 3 million of the hotspots were expected to be active by this week.

Benny Evangelista is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. E-mail: bevangelista@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @ChronicleBenny Dwight Silverman is a tech blogger/social media manager at the Houston Chronicle.

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Starbucks putting wireless charging pads in more stores; plans rollout to all locations

Published June 12, 2014
Associated Press

NEW YORK — Soon you may not have to fumble or fight for a power outlet to charge your phone at your neighborhood Starbucks.

Starbucks and Duracell say they are rolling out Powermat wireless charging devices in stores in San Francisco. The charging spots will expand into other major markets in 2015, and the companies plan to put the devices in all Starbucks and Teavana locations over time.

The companies say stores will have "Powermat Spots," designated areas on tables and counters where customers can put their smartphones and charge them wirelessly.

Some Starbucks Corp. locations in Boston and San Jose already have Powermat devices.

Powermat makes the equipment. It formed a joint venture with Duracell in 2011. Duracell is a unit of Procter & Gamble Co.

Appeals court rules warrant required for cellphone location data

Martyn Williams
@martyn_williams Jun 11, 2014 9:29 PM

A U.S. federal appeals court ruled Wednesday that law enforcement officials need to have a warrant to access phone location data from cellular carriers.

The ruling, which is the first of its kind in the U.S., raises the bar that such requests must clear and puts the information beyond the reach of court orders.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit handed down its decision as part of an appeal lodged by Quartavious Davis, who was sentenced to almost 162 years behind bars for a string of violent robberies.

As part of its evidence against Davis, prosecutors presented cell site location data that included 11,606 location records in addition to details of calls made and received by his phone.

While not as exact as GPS-based location data, the location information identifies the cell tower used to handle the call and can help to establish that a phone was in a general area, the size of which depends on the tower and local surroundings.

Davis appealed his conviction, saying the procurement of the data went against his Fourth Amendment rights. The “Stored Communications Act” allows law enforcement access to the data with a warrant or court order, and they used the latter in the Davis case.

The appeals court decided that a court order isn't sufficient and that “warrantless gathering of his cell site location information violated his reasonable expectation of privacy.”

It also dismissed a U.S. government assertion that the data is less worthy of protection because it isn't as precise as GPS data.

“We are not sure why this should be significant. We do not doubt that there may be a difference in precision, but that is not to say that the difference in precision has constitutional significance,” the judges said in their decision.

“We hold that cell site location information is within the subscriber’s reasonable expectation of privacy. The obtaining of that data without a warrant is a Fourth Amendment violation.”

The decision was hailed by civil liberties groups.

“The court’s opinion is a resounding defense of the Fourth Amendment’s continuing vitality in the digital age,” said Nathan Freed Wessler, an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) in a statement. Wessler argued the case before the appeals court in April.

“This opinion puts police on notice that when they want to enlist people’s cell phones as tracking devices, they must get a warrant from a judge based on probable cause. The court soundly repudiates the government’s argument that by merely using a cell phone, people somehow surrender their privacy rights,” the statement said.

The 11th Circuit covers Florida, Georgia and Alabama, but the ruling could help set precedent across the U.S.

For Davis, the victory is bittersweet. While agreeing that his Fourth Amendment rights were infringed, the court did not overturn his jail sentence, ruling that the information had been obtained at the time in good faith.

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FCC Okays Changes to Amateur Radio Exam Credit, Test Administration, Emission Type Rules

06/10/2014

In a wide-ranging Report and Order ( R&O ) released June 9 that takes various proceedings into consideration, the FCC has revised the Amateur Service Part 97 rules to grant credit for written examination elements 3 (General) and 4 (Amateur Extra) to holders of “expired licenses that required passage of those elements.” The FCC will require former licensees — those falling outside the 2-year grace period — to pass Element 2 (Technician) in order to be relicensed, however. The Commission declined to give examination credit to the holder of an expired Certificate of Successful Completion of Examination (CSCE) or to extend its validity to the holder’s lifetime.

“Our decision to grant credit for written examination Elements 3 and 4 for expired licenses that required passage [of those elements] will provide some relief for former General, Advanced, and Amateur Extra class licensees,” the FCC said, “and is consistent with how we treat expired pre-1987 Technician class licensees who want to reenter the Amateur Service.” Pre-1987 Techs can get Element 3 credit, since the Technician and General class written examinations in that era were identical. The Commission said current rules and procedures that apply to expired pre-1987 Technician licenses “are sufficient to verify that an individual is a former licensee under our new rules.”

The Commission said that requiring applicants holding expired licenses to pass Element 2 in order to relicense “will address commenters’ concerns about lost proficiency and knowledge, because a former licensee will have to demonstrate that he or she has retained knowledge of technical and regulatory matters.” The FCC said the Element 2 requirement also would deter any attempts by someone with the same name as a former licensee to obtain a ham ticket without examination.

In 1997 the FCC, in the face of opposition, dropped a proposal that would have generally allowed examination element credit for expired amateur operator licenses. In the past, the FCC has maintained that its procedures “provide ample notification and opportunity for license renewal” and that retesting did not impose an unreasonable burden. The issue arose again in 2011, with a request from the Anchorage Volunteer Examiner Coordinator.

The FCC pulled back from its own proposal to reduce from three to two the minimum number of volunteer examiners required to proctor an Amateur Radio examination session. The ARRL, the W5YI-VEC and “a clear majority of commenters” opposed the change, the FCC said. The FCC said it found commenters’ arguments persuasive that that the use of three VEs “results in higher accuracy and lower fraud that would be the case with two VEs.” In a related matter, though, the Commission embraced the use of remote testing methods.

“Allowing VEs and VECs the option of administering examinations at locations remote from the VEs is warranted,” the FCC said. The National Conference of Volunteer Examiner Coordinators (NCVEC) in 2002 endorsed experimental use of videoconferencing technology to conduct Amateur Radio testing in remote areas of Alaska. The Anchorage VEC has long pushed for the change, citing the expense to provide Amateur Radio test sessions to Alaska residents living in remote areas.

The FCC declined to address “the mechanics” of remote testing, which, it said, “will vary from location to location and session to session.” The Commission said specific rules spelling out how to administer exam sessions remotely “could limit the flexibility of VEs and VECs.” The FCC stressed the obligation on the part of VECs and VEs “to administer examinations responsibly” applies “in full” to remote testing.

The FCC amended the rules to provide that VEs administering examinations remotely be required to grade such examinations “at the earliest practical opportunity,” rather than “immediately,” as the rule for conventional exam sessions requires.

Finally, the FCC has adopted an ARRL proposal to authorize certain Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) emissions in the Amateur Service. The Wireless Telecommunications Bureau in 2013 granted an ARRL request for a temporary blanket waiver to permit radio amateurs to transmit emissions with designators FXD, FXE, and F7E, pending resolution of the rulemaking petition.

“Commenters strongly support amendment of the rules to permit these additional emission types,” the FCC noted. “The commenters assert that the proposed rule change ‘is consistent with the basis and purpose of the Amateur Service,’” and will allow repurposing surplus mobile relay equipment from other radio services in the Amateur Service, the Commission added.

The FCC said it also will make “certain minor, non-substantive amendments to the Amateur Service rules.” It is amending Part 97 “to reflect that the Commission amended its rules to eliminate the requirement that certain Amateur Radio Service licensees pass a Morse code examination,” the FCC said in the R&O. It also said it was correcting “certain typographical or other errors” in Part 97.

The new rules become effective 30 days after their publication in The Federal Register, which is expected to happen this week.

Selected portions of the BloostonLaw Telecom Update, and/or the BloostonLaw Private Users Update — newsletters from the Law Offices of Blooston, Mordkofsky, Dickens, Duffy & Prendergast, LLP are reproduced in this section with the firm's permission.

Headlines

Matrix to Pay $875K, Implement Compliance Plan to Resolve Call Completion Investigation

On June 4, 2014, the FCC’s Enforcement Bureau issued an Order and Consent Decree resolving allegations that Matrix Telecom, Inc. failed to complete long-distance calls to rural areas on a just, reasonable and nondiscriminatory basis. The Consent Decree includes a settlement requiring Matrix to pay $875,000 to the U.S. Treasury and to implement a three-year compliance plan. The Bureau noted that after Matrix received notice of the investigation, Matrix significantly reduced the number of intermediate providers it used to deliver long-distance calls to rural areas and made investments to upgrade its network and related operations to improve rural call completion performance. According to the Bureau, as a result, Matrix’s call completion performance to rural areas substantially improved.

In its Consent Decree with the Enforcement Bureau, Matrix has agreed to:

• Make a voluntary payment of $875,000 to the U.S. Treasury;
• Develop and implement a comprehensive compliance plan designed, among other things, to ensure future compliance with applicable laws;
• Designate a senior corporate manager to serve as a compliance officer focusing on rural call completion issues;
• Cooperate with the FCC and rural local exchange carriers to establish a testing program to evaluate rural call completion performance whenever complaints or data indicate problems;
• Notify intermediate providers (companies that Matrix uses to deliver calls) that may be causing call completion problems and analyze and resolve such problems as soon as practicable;
• Cease using intermediate providers that fail to improve their performance;
• Report to the FCC any noncompliance with the Consent Decree within 15 days; and
• File an initial compliance report in 90 days, and annual reports thereafter for a period of three years.

The Bureau initiated its investigation of Matrix (and companies Matrix had acquired, including Excel Telecommunications and Vartec Telecom) as a result of serious allegations about the company’s ability to reliably complete long-distance calls dialed to rural areas. These included complaints from consumers and from rural carriers, responses by inter-exchange carriers to complaints served by the FCC’s Rural Call Completion Task Force, and performance data from other carriers that used Matrix as an intermediate provider. During the course of the investigation, the Bureau obtained and examined months of call completion data from Matrix’s retail and wholesale operations. After it received notice of the investigation, Matrix significantly reduced the number of intermediate providers (often called “least cost routers”) that it used to deliver long-distance calls to rural areas. As a result of those routing changes, Matrix’s call completion performance to rural areas substantially improved. In addition, Matrix made significant investments to upgrade its network and related operations to improve rural call completion performance. In combination with the changes that Matrix made as a result of the Enforcement Bureau’s investigation, the Consent Decree resolves the Bureau’s investigation into Matrix’s practices and performance in completing long-distance calls over its own network or through the use of intermediate providers.

Senator John Thune (R-SD), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, released the following statement on the FCC’s announcement regarding the Matrix Consent Decree:

“I applaud the FCC for taking action to investigate and resolve yet another of the many instances of long distance calls failing to be completed in rural areas. This is a timely action by the FCC, particularly after two FCC Commissioners visited South Dakota last week to hear about and observe the challenges rural carriers face. However, this is only the third enforcement action in 15 months by the FCC to combat this persistent problem. The inability of individuals and businesses in rural America to have reliable telephone service is inexcusable. I have urged Chairman Wheeler and the FCC to continue their enforcement against telecommunication companies who cut corners and expect that additional enforcement actions will be taken in the future.”

Similarly, Senator Tim Johnson (D-SD) was encouraged by the announcement of the Consent Decree with Matrix as part of the FCC’s rural call completion investigations.

“Today’s settlement is an important step forward, and I applaud the FCC for sending another clear message that the bad actors failing to complete calls to rural areas will be held accountable,” said Johnson. “The ongoing call completion problems create serious economic and public safety concerns for rural communities in South Dakota and across our nation. These problems threaten the integrity of our nation’s communications network. I will continue to monitor the FCC as the agency continues its investigations and will do all I can to ensure these problems are fully resolved.”

According to Senator Johnson, since he first learned about rural call completion problems from a health clinic in Canistota, South Dakota, he has been working to raise awareness about the seriousness of the call completion problems and to develop solutions to resolve the issue. In March, he introduced the Public Safety and Economic Security Communications Act (S. 2125). This bill would build upon the FCC’s ongoing efforts and current enforcement proceedings by directing the agency to establish basic quality standards. It would also require providers that transport voice calls to register with the FCC and comply with basic service quality standards. These quality standards would be established by the FCC within 180 days of enactment and would help prevent the discriminatory delivery of calls to any and all areas of the country.

Law & Regulation

FCC Issues Agenda for June Open Meeting

On June 6, 2014, the FCC issued the agenda for its June 13 Open Meeting. In addition to a number of FM broadcast station orders, the FCC will hear:

• a presentation on the efforts to transition circuit-switched networks to IP networks, which will include a status report on the voluntary experiments proposed by AT&T designed to assess how the transition to IP networks affects users, and
• a presentation on the continuing efforts to launch new and diverse voices to the American public via increased access to Low Power FM radio stations.

The Open Meeting will be held at 10:30 a.m., and will be webcast live www.fcc.gov/live .

Senate Holds Hearing on Public Safety Implications of IP Transition

On June 5, 2014, the U.S Senate Subcommittee on Communications, Technology, and the Internet held a hearing examining network reliability and the public safety implications of network technology transitions. The witness panel for the hearing consisted of: Ms. Colette D. Honorable, Chairman and President of the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners; Mr. Jonathan Banks, Senior Vice President of Law and Policy for USTelecom; Ms. Jodie Griffin, Senior Staff Attorney at Public Knowledge; Ms. Gigi Smith, President of APCO International; and Mr. Henning Schulzrinne, Chief Technology Officer of the FCC.

Topics discussed during the hearing included obstacles to investment; network resilience and reliability; the continuing importance of basic voice service; technology neutral approaches; and location information.

Copies of the witness’ written testimony, along with a full recording of the hearing, can be found here .

The hearing came on the heels of a letter from Chairman John D. Rockefeller IV (D-W.V.); Senator Mark Pryor (D-Ark.), Chairman of the Subcommittee on Communications, Internet and Technology; and Senator Bill Nelson (D-Fla.), Chairman of the Subcommittee on Science and Space, to the Government Accountability Office (GAO) requesting the GAO to determine how the communications sector will ensure the reliability of the nation's communications networks in an IP-environment.

Specifically, the senators asked:

• To what extent has the communications sector transitioned from traditional copper-based networks to IP networks?
• As part of the nation's critical infrastructure, what action has the federal government taken to ensure the reliability and robustness of communication networks that have transitioned to IP?
• What key challenges do IP network operators face during times of crises and how do the challenges affect consumers?
• To what extent do priority-access programs for emergency preparedness communications exist for IP networks?

Industry

Virginia Selected for Pilot Program on Broadband Pricing

On June 3, 2014, Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe announced that Virginia has been selected to participate in a pilot project to help school divisions lower the cost of high-speed Internet access and increase digital learning opportunities for students.

According to Gov. McAuliffe, EducationSuperHighway — a San Francisco-based non-profit dedicated to improving Internet access in schools — selected Virginia because of the Commonwealth’s leadership in digital learning and because of data suggesting that Virginia schools are paying more than the national average for Internet access and network connectivity. Specifically, ESH stated that the average monthly megabits-per-second costs for Virginia school divisions are $26 for Internet access and $7 for network connectivity, compared with respective national averages of $22 and $3. ESH data also indicate that the percentage of Virginia schools with “less-than-ideal access and bandwidth” exceeds the national average.

In addition to the pilot project, ESH also operates an online portal through which school districts can report detailed information on Internet access and broadband pricing. After analyzing the data, ESH will produce a comprehensive report in early 2015 on access and pricing for all participating school divisions.

New Wired Prepaid Broadband Model Wins Global Telecoms Business Innovation Award 2014

The Wall Street Journal reports that Frontier Communications Corporation and Wipro Ltd., a leading global Information Technology, Consulting and Outsourcing company, have jointly won the Global Telecoms Business (GTB) Innovation Award 2014 in the 'Business Service Innovation' category for the Wired Prepaid Broadband Partnership Project. Global Telecoms Business is a leading UK-based publication covering the telecom industry.

According to the Journal, “a large unserved or underserved market of potential customers in the United States has not yet adopted available broadband for financial reasons;” and “the [FCC] has been driving initiatives such as Connect2Compete to encourage U.S. broadband adoption.” The Journal further reports that “Wipro and Frontier believe that educating seasonal users, students, travelers, lower income and potentially credit-challenged customers about the convenience and flexibility of pre-paid broadband service would improve broadband adoption. The benefits flow both ways: A prepaid broadband product that enables customers to choose broadband plans without concern about income levels or credit checks can help carriers tap an unserved market without adversely impacting their own financial standing.”

In further describing the service, the Journal states that “Wipro's managed services solution Accelerate™ sidesteps billing systems and helps rapidly deploy a pre-configured cloud-hosted service to address this market. Accelerate™ allows carriers to support and quickly enable targeted and highly flexible products such as prepaid services, data caps, bandwidth management and specialized content offers. Accelerate™ helped Frontier Communications dramatically reduce development and time-to-market cycles, giving it a 'first-mover' advantage. Frontier is testing various offerings across the state of Ohio and looks to rapidly expand this offer to the rest of its 27-state market.”

"We are excited to receive this recognition from Global Telecoms Business. Prepaid broadband is expected to bring a new segment of customers and encourage retention by offering greater payment flexibility and convenience for the under-banked customer or for part-time and seasonal use. Through Accelerate™, Frontier can tap into a significant opportunity in the United States to connect future customers to the broadband services they need," said Ann L. Burr, President New Product Trials and Integration, Frontier Communications.

"Frontier Communications has been an excellent partner as we focus on prepaid broadband. With a fast time-to-market and ability to quickly trial new offers, we hope to support Frontier's drive to offer new customer segments an essential service. This accolade from GTB is a great compliment to our partnership," said Wipro's Steve Snyder, Global Head of Business Innovations. "Wipro's creative solution has provided flexibility, affordability and bundling of products, while helping unserved customers connect to the Internet. We truly believe this will be a winning market proposition."

Calendar At-A-Glance

June

Jun. 13 – Comments are due on Third White Paper on Communications Act Update.
Jun. 16 – ILEC Tariff filings made on 15 days’ notice are due.
Jun. 16 – Connect America Fund ICC Data Filing (Access Recovery Charge changes) is due for tariff filings made on 15 days’ notice.
Jun. 18 – Retransmission consent rules become effective.
Jun. 23 – Petitions to suspend or reject tariff filings made on 15 days’ notice are due.
Jun. 24 – ILEC tariff filings made on 7 days’ notice are due.
Jun. 24 – Connect America Fund ICC Data Filing (Access Recovery Charge changes) is due for tariff filings made on 7 days’ notice.
Jun. 26 – Replies to petitions to suspend or reject tariff filings made on 15 days’ notice are due.
Jun. 26 – Petitions to suspend or reject tariff filings made on 7 days’ notice are due.
Jun. 27 – Replies to petitions to suspend or reject tariff filings made on 7 days’ notice are due.

July

Jul. 1 – FCC Form 481 (Carrier Annual Reporting Data Collection Form) is due.
Jul. 1 – FCC Form 690 (Mobility Fund Phase I Auction Winner Annual Report) is due.
Jul. 3 – FCC Application Filing Fees increase.
Jul. 10 – Comments are due on T-Mobile Data Roaming Petition.
Jul. 14 – Comments are due on Citizens Broadband Radio Service FNPRM.
Jul. 15 – Comments are due on the Open Internet NPRM.
Jul. 15 – Comments are due refreshing the record on the 2010 Broadband NOI.
Jul. 31 – FCC Form 507 (Universal Service Quarterly Line Count Update) is due.
Jul. 31 – Carrier Identification Code (CIC) Report is due.

August

Aug. 1 – Reply comments are due on Citizens Broadband Radio Service FNPRM.
Aug. 11 – Reply comments are due on T-Mobile Data Roaming Petition.

September

Sep. 10 – Reply comments are due on the Open Internet NPRM.
Sep. 10 – Reply comments are due refreshing the record on the 2010 Broadband NOI.

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Hackers behind iPhone ransom attacks arrested in Russia

Lucian Constantin
Jun 10, 2014 8:36 AM

Russian authorities arrested a man and a teen-aged boy from Moscow under suspicion that they compromised Apple ID accounts and used Apple’s Find My iPhone service to hold iOS devices for ransom.

Find My Phone is an Apple iCloud feature that allows iPhone, iPad and Mac owners to remotely lock and track their devices if they’re lost or stolen. A custom message can be displayed on the lockscreen when the feature is activated. In late May, many users from Australia and other countries reported that their iPhones were locked with a message claiming the device was hacked by a person or group named Oleg Pliss who demanded $100 or euros to unlock it.

TROY HUNT

Apple said at the time that the incidents were not the result of iCloud being compromised and hinted that password reuse across multiple online accounts might be the cause of the hijackings.

It’s not clear if the two Moscow residents, aged 16 and 23, were behind the Oleg Pliss attacks, but a press release Monday from the Russian Ministry of Interior that announced the arrests described a similar modus operandi.

The two allegedly compromised email accounts and used phishing pages and social engineering techniques to gain access to Apple ID accounts. They are then accused of using the Find My Phone feature to lock the associated devices and send messages to the owners threatening to delete data unless the ransom was paid.

Another technique involved placing advertisements online that offered to rent an Apple ID account with access to a lot of media content. Once users accepted the offer and linked their devices with that account, the attackers then used the Find My Phone feature to hijack them, Russian authorities said.

The Russian Ministry of Interior said it started receiving reports about such attacks in the spring. Regaining control of locked devices proved difficult for victims because they had to present Apple with an identity document and a receipt from the store where they purchased their device, the ministry said.

The apartments of the two suspects were searched and authorities seized computer equipment, SIM cards and phones that were supposedly used for illegal activities.

The two face charges of unauthorized access to computer information under the Russian Criminal Code.

Wireless Network Planners
Wireless Specialists

www.wirelessplanners.com
wirelessplannerron@gmail.com

R.H. (Ron) Mercer Consultant 217 First Street East Northport, NY 11731
Cellphone: 631-786-9359

Ex-Microsoft employee who leaked Windows secrets to be deported to Russia

Feds waited until Alex Kibkalo came to U.S. for conference to arrest him on charges of stealing product activation SDK

By Gregg Keizer
June 13, 2014 06:49 AM ET

Computerworld — A former Microsoft employee charged in March with leaking Windows updates and software that validates product key codes was sentenced to a three-month prison term on Tuesday.

After he serves his sentence, Alex Kibkalo, 34, will be deported to Russia.

Kibkalo was arrested March 19 in Bellevue, Wash. for allegedly leaking pre-release software updates for Windows RT, the tablet-specific operating system, to a French blogger in July and August 2012 — months before its release. The FBI, which was brought onto the case after a Microsoft investigation, also said Kibkalo provided the same blogger with the Activation Server SDK (software development kit), internal-only code to create the activation systems which validate product keys, Microsoft's primary anti-piracy technology.

Kibkalo, a Russian national at the time working for Microsoft in its Lebanon office, leaked the software to strike back at his employer after receiving a poor performance evaluation.

Kibkalo pleaded guilty to theft of trade secrets on March 31. In return, prosecutors said they would recommend a three-month prison term and order him to pay Microsoft $22,500 in restitution.

Documents filed this week in a Seattle federal court by Kibkalo's attorney provided more information on how Kibkalo was lured to the U.S. from Russia, where he had been working in the Moscow office of Beverly, Mass.-based 5nine Software.

"The Government timed its Complaint and Arrest Warrant to coincide with Mr. Kibkalo's pre-arranged attendance at a technology conference in Bellevue," wrote Kibkalo's attorney, Russell Leonard, in a sentencing memorandum dated June 3.

"He flew into the country (legally on a valid visa) from Moscow (where he lives), checked into his hotel in Factoria and attended several sessions of this professional meeting before being detained by the FBI and whisked away to federal court for his initial appearance (on March 17, 2014)," Leonard continued.

Although the original settlement deal specified that Kibkalo was to pay $22,500 in restitution to Microsoft, that was struck at some point: The judgment filed with the court said Kibkalo was obligated to pay just $100.

As of Thursday, Kibkalo had served 86 days in federal custody; he will be credited with time served, and thus should be released early next week. At that time, he will be deported to Russia, according to the federal prosecutor's sentencing memorandum.

"I deeply regret that I have shared that [confidential] information," Kibkalo wrote in a sentencing letter to the judge. "Having done that I have lost a job, one can only dream about. Moreover, when I have found another interesting job a year after, the echo of my mistake took that from me, too. For sure I was given good lessons, which I deserved."

Microsoft suffered some public relations blowback from the case when court documents revealed the company had examined the Hotmail.com account of Kibkalo's unidentified blogger associate without a court order. Within days, Microsoft retreated from its initial position and promised that in the future it would refer similar cases to law enforcement officials.

Gregg Keizer covers Microsoft, security issues, Apple, Web browsers and general technology breaking news for Computerworld. Follow Gregg on Twitter at Twitter @gkeizer, on Google+ or subscribe to Gregg's RSS feed Keizer RSS. His e-mail address is gkeizer@computerworld.com.

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