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Wishing a safe and happy weekend for all readers of The Wireless Messaging News. US lags behind on digital readiness, report saysThe Networked Readiness index measures how ready countries are for a digital economy — and Singapore is leading the way, according to the World Economic Forum. by Rahil Bhagat / July 8, 20163:53 AM PDT
The World Economic Forum on Wednesday released a list that gauges how well countries are using new digital technology. The US, perhaps unsurprisingly, isn't No. 1 — that honour goes to Singapore. Instead, the US came in at No. 5, below Finland, Sweden and Norway too. The UK was No. 7, and Australia didn't even make the top 10. The Networked Readiness Index "measures how well an economy is using information and communications technologies to boost competitiveness and well-being," according to the Forum. The WEF looked at 53 indicators, such as worker skill, affordability and regulatory conditions when putting the report together. Singapore leading the way is no accident, with the country's government two years ago beginning a "Smart Nation" initiative — a concerted effort to digitise anything and everything that can be digitised. Network readiness will be vital to countries in the coming years as more and more offline services go online, the report said. Nations that are ready for this change will be able to adapt quicker and more efficiently than those which do not. Now on to more news and views. | Wayne County, Illinois
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.
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How to tell if your Android phone has spywareSome apps keep tabs on you for legitimate reasons, but some don't.
Lincoln Spector A reader whom I won’t name worries that his cousin watches what he does on his Android phone. The cousin actually told him so. It’s possible that your cousin is just messing with your head. Ask for proof—such as texts you’ve sent and received. On the other hand, they may actually be spying on your phone. There are a surprising number of Android apps that can do just that. But first, let me clarify one thing: No one is tracking you via your phone’s IP address. Take your phone on a morning jog, and its IP address will change three or four times before you get home. In order to track your phone, someone would need to install a spying app onto it. That could come in the form of malware such as the recently discovered Godless, which can be downloaded as part of a seemingly innocent app. And then there are spyware apps that don’t pretend to be anything else; tools such as GPS Phone Tracker . And yes, you can download them from the Play Store. Why doesn’t Google block these apps? Because they have legitimate purposes. If your employer assigns you a company phone, they have every right to see what you do with it. And parents should monitor kids’ Internet use . Believe it or not, some people put these apps in their phones willingly. Couple Tracker allows suspicious lovers to track each other’s movements and texts. Personally, I prefer to just trust my wife. If you’re an adult and you bought the phone with your own money, only you should have the right to install or not install such an app. But if someone else has physical access to your phone and knows your PIN or password, or if they can log into your Google account, they can install an app without your knowing or noticing it. How can you tell if you’ve got a spy app on your phone? An unusually hot phone, or a battery that’s suddenly losing power fast, should make you suspicious. But not too suspicious. Those same symptoms may also be a sign of other, less malicious problems. If you want to make sure, try running Anti Spy Mobile . It finds spying apps and gives you a chance to uninstall them. (Update: Between writing this article and its publication, Anti Spy Mobile was removed from the App Store. In its place, I recommended Anti Spy . The original app is now on the app store again. Either app will do. —L. Spector)
And use common sense. Make sure no one else can unlock your phone or log onto your Google account (except perhaps a very trusted companion ). Only download apps from the Play Store. And control your digital footprint . For comprehensive coverage of the Android ecosystem, visit Greenbot.com .
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FACEBOOK IS ROLLING OUT “SECRET” CONVERSATIONS, WITH ONE BIG CATCHYour privacy is still optional. BY ABIGAIL TRACY JULY 8, 2016 1:11 PM
In the aftermath of the San Bernardino shooting at the end of last year, an unusually public legal battle ensued between Apple and the F.B.I. over the tech giant’s refusal to break into the shooter’s locked iPhone. Silicon Valley leaders and government officials found themselves on opposite sides of the months-long drama, which incited incited a national conversation about the balance between consumer privacy and national security. Hanging over that still-unresolved debate are other unanswered questions about how tech companies can protect users’ information while using that same data to generate revenue. In March, both the Justice Department and Apple avoided a potentially drawn-out fight that might have gone court, when the F.B.I. enlisted a third party to create software to crack the iPhone’s security—something Apple insisted would put consumers at risk. As a result, no new legal precedent was set, effectively delaying an inevitable Supreme Court ruling. Since then, a slew of start-ups have added supposedly unbreakable encryption technology to their platforms. Messaging apps WhatsApp , Viber , and Allo have joined Telegram and iMessage by offering end-to-end encryption, which ensures that only the sender and recipient of a message can read its contents. Now, Facebook Messenger, too, is joining their ranks. On Friday, Facebook announced that it will begin rolling out “secret conversations” to a small number of Messenger users in a beta test, with a wider release later this summer. Unlike traditional communications sent via the platform, secret conversations won’t be vulnerable to third parties’ prying eyes—even Facebook’s, according to a company blog post. Additionally, users will be able to set expiration timers for individual messages, similar to Snapchat. But while Facebook is finally taking concrete steps to protect users’ privacy, there’s a catch: secret conversations will be “opt-in,” meaning that the social media giant can continue to monetize the data of the majority of people who will likely ignore the new option. In its announcement, Facebook bills this caveat as an ease issue, because “many people want Messenger to work when you switch between devices, such as a tablet, desktop computer or phone. Secret conversations can only be read on one device and we recognize that experience may not be right for everyone.” The statement also notes that users who opt-in won’t be able to use certain Messenger features in conjunction with secret conversations, such as payments and GIFs. The decision not to make end-to-end encryption the default or “opt-out” in Messenger is telling. Like Messenger, Google’s Allo app, which is expected to be released sometime this summer, also offers encryption as an opt-in function, and it is no coincidence that the two companies rely heavily on mining consumer data. End-to-end encryption would limit their abilities to collect data on users and deliver advertisements, which is a massive revenue driver for both Silicon Valley behemoths. (Two other new Facebook features, Moments and its facial-recognition feature for tagging photos , are opt-out features.) In the ongoing debate over user privacy, Silicon Valley’s bottom line still comes out on top. ABIGAIL TRACY |
| Source: | Vanity Fair |
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| Swissphone |
Disaster-Proven Paging for Public SafetyPaging system designs in the United States typically use a voice radio-style infrastructure. These systems are primarily designed for outdoor mobile coverage with modest indoor coverage. Before Narrowbanding, coverage wasn’t good, but what they have now is not acceptable! The high power, high tower approach also makes the system vulnerable. If one base station fails, a large area loses their paging service immediately! Almost every technology went from analog to digital except fire paging. So it’s time to think about digital paging! The Disaster-Proven Paging Solution (DiCal) from Swissphone offers improved coverage, higher reliability and flexibility beyond anything that traditional analog or digital paging systems can provide. Swissphone is the No. 1 supplier for digital paging solutions worldwide. The Swiss company has built paging networks for public safety organizations all over the world. Swissphone has more than 1 million pagers in the field running for years and years due to their renowned high quality. DiCal is the digital paging system developed and manufactured by Swissphone. It is designed to meet the specific needs of public safety organizations. Fire and EMS rely on these types of networks to improve incident response time. DiCal systems are designed and engineered to provide maximum indoor paging coverage across an entire county. In a disaster situation, when one or several connections in a simulcast solution are disrupted or interrupted, the radio network automatically switches to fall back operating mode. Full functionality is preserved at all times. This new system is the next level of what we know as “Simulcast Paging” here in the U.S.
Swissphone offers high-quality pagers, very robust and waterproof. Swissphone offers the best sensitivity in the industry, and battery autonomy of up to three months. First responder may choose between a smart s.QUAD pager, which is able to connect with a smartphone and the Hurricane DUO pager, the only digital pager who offers text-to-voice functionality. Bluetooth technology makes it possible to connect the s.QUAD with a compatible smartphone, and ultimately with various s.ONE software solutions from Swissphone. Thanks to Bluetooth pairing, the s.QUAD combines the reliability of an independent paging system with the benefits of commercial cellular network. Dispatched team members can respond back to the call, directly from the pager. The alert message is sent to the pager via paging and cellular at the same time. This hybrid solution makes the alert faster and more secure. Paging ensures alerting even if the commercial network fails or is overloaded. Swissphone sets new standards in paging: Paging Network
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Qualcomm says it issued patch for Android encryption flaw over a year agoPosted yesterday by Kate Conger
C racking encryption is a topic of perpetual fascination. Congress has made several efforts to legislate it. The FBI tried to force Apple to do it. New messaging apps constantly debut with claims about strong encryption, and controversy bubbles when they neglect it. So when a researcher discovered a flaw in Android’s full disk encryption scheme last week that allowed for decryption of the device, it seemed at first like a revolutionary security discovery. But chipmaker Qualcomm now claims it told Google about the vulnerabilities in November 2014 and February 2015. Google issued patches in January and May of this year — meaning that the company may have known about the problem for over a year before rolling out fixes.
The patches came as the Federal Trade Commission and the Federal Communications Commission announced parallel investigations into the pace at which Google and other smartphone makers roll out security updates. The FCC cited the Stagefright bug in Android as one of the security vulnerabilities that inspired the investigations. With so much national focus on strong encryption, the year-long delay seems like a glaring problem. But to understand why users didn’t get their hands on a fix until May, you have to understand a little bit about the complex supply chain that goes into Android devices and Android’s approach to securing its massive ecosystem. Supply-chain complexAndroid is an open-source platform, so lots of smartphone manufacturers are building devices to run Android. Those devices are in turn made up of lots of different components from manufacturers of chips, cameras and other hardware. Android frequently gets compared to its largest competitor, the iPhone, but the comparison is a bit sticky. iPhone is essentially just one device (okay, maybe a dozen devices if you want to count every 5s, 6 and 6 Plus as unique). While Apple tightly controls its manufacturing, Android is on thousands of devices over which Google has little to no control. This diverse supply chain is what led to the exploit used to break Android’s full disk encryption. Security researcher Gal Beniamini discovered several issues in the implementation of Android’s full disk encryption that would allow an attacker to decrypt an Android device with a Qualcomm chip. The decryption exploit involves a complicated process, but the heart of the issue is that Android devices powered by Qualcomm chips store their encryption keys in software rather than in hardware. The hardware-software distinction became a key part of Apple’s fight with the FBI over unlocking an iPhone used by the San Bernardino shooter. Because Apple stores encryption keys in hardware, investigators couldn’t circumvent some of the features the company uses to protect its devices, like time delays between password attempts and a device wipe after 10 incorrect password attempts. If Apple stored the keys in software, investigators might have been able to pull the keys off the device and run password guesses more quickly and without the risk of losing all the data on the phone. (Although it’s possible that the FBI did find a way to do this anyway, the method it used to break into the phone has not been made public.) New find, old bugIn a blog post published last week, Beniamini outlined the process of breaking Android’s full disk encryption; he exploited several weaknesses in Qualcomm’s security to pull the encryption keys off an Android device. Beniamini disclosed the issues to Android and Qualcomm and was paid through Google’s bug bounty program for his work. “We appreciate the researcher’s findings and paid him for his work through our Vulnerability Rewards Program. We rolled out patches for these issues earlier this year,” a Google spokesperson said. Google issued two patches earlier this year to fix the problems Beniamini discovered. But according to Qualcomm, Google should have known about the vulnerability since 2014. A Qualcomm spokesperson said the company discovered the same vulnerabilities exploited by Beniamini as early as August 2014 and made patches available to Google in November 2014 and February 2015. Still, the vulnerability lingered in Android long enough for Beniamini to discover his exploit. (Google didn’t comment on the exact timeline that lead up to the patches.) “Apparently, even though they fixed the issue internally, OEMs [Original Equipment Manufacturers] did not apply the fix (perhaps they forgot or simply missed it),” Beniamini told TechCrunch in a message. It’s not totally clear why Android’s fix was so delayed. It’s possible that the Android team didn’t realize how the Qualcomm flaw could be exploited in Android until Beniamini pointed it out. It’s also possible that the slow fix was the result of Android’s approach to security. With Android running on such a vast ecosystem of devices, its security team has never taken a black-and-white approach. “The model of good and bad—white and black—that the security community prescribes?” Android’s security lead Adrian Ludwig told Wired last month. “It’s going to be all black unless we accept that there are going to be shades of gray.” OEM disconnectRather than taking Apple’s hardware-centric approach to security, Android’s attitude fits with Google’s reputation as a leader in artificial intelligence: Android wants to use machine learning to advance security. With so many different Android devices on the market, security flaws are bound to slip through the cracks — so Android wants to improve detection of those flaws rather than eliminate them altogether. But Beniamini notes that there are some scenarios in which his exploit may still work: if the device hasn’t been updated; if the chip manufacturer is compelled to cooperate with law enforcement; or if the device can be downgraded. None of the circumstances that enable the exploit are simple, and most of them require prolonged access to the device, meaning the average user isn’t likely at risk. Still, Duo Security estimated that a large number of devices may still be vulnerable because they haven’t received patches. “The issues themselves reveal that OEMs can be coerced to create signed firmware images that enable the attack I outlined without needing a vulnerability,” Beniamini explained. “There are more complicated scenarios where devices that have been patched can still be attacked (if they can be down-graded to a previous, vulnerable, firmware version).” Because Google doesn’t tightly control the manufacturing of every component in Android devices, vulnerabilities can be inadvertently introduced at the OEM level. As Beniamini points out, this could result in a scenario where a law enforcement agency can pressure a manufacturer to crack a device without going through Google. “I think just having closer integration with manufacturers could help prevent such issues in the future. It’s not ideal, but I think all parties involved are doing a very good job, it’s just a matter of co-ordinating expectations,” Beniamini said.
Android’s openness is what makes it unique and, in some cases, desirable. “Of course, if Google were to manufacture their own hardware, it would be easier, but I think that solution can’t scale. My opinion is that Android is the operating system that it is partially because of the wide selection of devices and OEMs,” he added. Android is working to improve security with its OEMs. Yesterday, Android announced a series of updates for Nexus devices that address critical security issues across several OEMs. Researchers discovered a number of privilege vulnerabilities in hardware supplied by Qualcomm, NVIDIA and MediaTek, which Android is patching. But until it finds a way to move patches to its broad array of devices more quickly, Android will lag behind on security. Editor’s note: We have updated the headline to clarify that Qualcomm simply reported the Android vulnerability a year ago and did not say explicitly say that Google left a flaw unpatched. We apologize for the confusion. |
| Source: | Tech Crunch | . |
| Leavitt Communications |
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Other products Please see our web site for other products including Internet Messaging Gateways, Unified Messaging Servers, test equipment, and Paging Terminals.
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| BloostonLaw Newsletter |
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.
WCB Announces Implementation of Budget Control Mechanisms for RoR CarriersOn June 29, the FCC’s Wireline Competition Bureau issued a Public Notice announcing the date for implementation of the budget control mechanism for rate-of-return carriers for 2016. Specifically, the Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC) will implement the budget control mechanism in September 2016. Thus, the new support amounts announced by USAC will apply to support payments beginning in September 2016. In the Rate-of-Return Reform Order, the FCC directed USAC to calculate, as of July 2016, the total support available to be distributed to rate-of-return carriers and adjustments to each carrier’s support to implement the Commission’s mechanism to ensure that disbursements remain within the $2 billion budget adopted in 2011. This was not possible in the first year of implementation, hence the September date for 2016. HeadlinesFCC Releases International Telecommunications Traffic and Revenue ReportOn July 5, the FCC released the U.S. International Telecommunications Traffic and Revenue Data Report (Traffic and Revenue Report), in which it presents information on telecommunications services between the United States and international points as of December 31, 2014. For the first time, the FCC included data on Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) service connected to the public switched telephone network (PSTN) between the United States and any foreign point (Interconnected VoIP Service). It also presented data on minutes of traffic completed on foreign fixed networks and foreign mobile networks and settlement payouts for call completion on foreign fixed networks and foreign mobile networks; and certain traffic and revenue data broken down by customer class ( i.e., residential and business customers). Highlights from the Traffic and Revenue Report include:
The Traffic and Revenue Report is based on the new Section 43.62 reporting requirements that were adopted for the purpose of helping the FCC better assess the current state of the U.S. international telecommunications marketplace. A copy of the full report can be found here . Oppositions to Lifeline Petitions for Reconsideration Deadline EstablishedOn June 30, the FCC issued a Public Notice for the Petitions for Reconsideration filed last week on its Lifeline Third Report and Order. Oppositions are due Friday, July 15. As we reported in last week’s edition of the BloostonLaw Telecom Update, NTCA and WTA asked the FCC to reconsider (i) the exception to the fixed broadband minimum speed standard, because it represents “a failure to properly leverage the High cost universal service program”; (ii) the phasing out of support for voice-only service, as it would force low-income rural customers to purchase broadband service they may not want or need; (iii) the 150 GB minimum usage allowance standard, which unfairly punishes providers that must rely on satellite backhaul; the “rolling recertification” requirement, which will be too burdensome on small rural carriers with limited staff and resources; and (iv) the “port freeze” provisions, which provides no discernable benefit to low income customers. The Associations also asked the FCC to clarify the rule allowing non-Lifeline-only ETCs to provide voice but not broadband. CTIA asked the FCC to reconsider its decision to set long-term minimum capacity standards for mobile broadband at 70 percent of the average mobile data usage per household, arguing that it did so without any consideration of whether it was consistent with the statutory universal service principle of affordability. Other petitioners included a group called the Joint Lifeline ETC Petitioners, NASUCA, the Pennsylvania PUC, and TracFone. Law & RegulationSenate Committee Approves Rural Call Completion Bill with AmendmentOn June 29, the Senate Committee on Commerce approved S. 827, Improving Rural Call Quality and Reliability Act of 2015, which would require an “intermediate provider” to: (1) register with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), and (2) comply with service quality standards to be established by the FCC. The Act defines "intermediate provider" as any entity that: (1) carries or processes traffic that is generated from the placement of a call from a connection using a North American Numbering Plan resource or a call placed to a connection using such a numbering resource, and (2) does not itself originate or terminate such traffic in the context of the carriage or processing. The Act also prohibits certain long-distance voice service providers (including local exchange carriers, inter-exchange carriers, commercial mobile radio services, interconnected voice over Internet Protocol services, and certain non-interconnected VoIP services) from using an intermediate provider to transmit voice communications and signals unless the intermediate provider is so registered. FCC Reaches $2.4 Million Settlement Over 911 Outages in AlaskaOn July 6, the FCC issued a press release announcing its Enforcement Bureau had reached a $2.4 million settlement with General Communication, Inc. (GCI), resolving an investigation into five 911 service outages that occurred on the company’s wireless network in various parts of Alaska between August 2008 and April 2016. Wireless carriers are required to implement 911 routing and delivery systems to ensure that 911 calls are transmitted to the appropriate emergency call centers, to notify those call centers of 911 service outages lasting longer than 30 minutes, and to timely notify the Commission regarding the nature and extent of those outages. In its investigation, the Enforcement Bureau found that the five separate GCI 911 service outages prevented significant numbers of the company’s wireless customers from reaching first responders when making 911 calls. The investigation determined that all five outages would likely have been either minimized, or entirely avoided, if GCI had implemented appropriate safeguards in its 911 network architecture and operational procedures. The investigation also found that GCI did not provide timely notification of three of the five outages to the affected 911 call centers. Further, GCI did not submit timely Network Outage Reporting System reports to the Commission in four of the five outages. To resolve the Bureau’s investigation, GCI will pay a $2.4 million fine and has agreed to implement a compliance program to strengthen its 911 resilience and its 911 risk management processes. In particular, GCI will develop and implement processes to:
In addition, GCI will maintain up-to-date contact information for 911 call centers, adopt a plan to notify 911 call centers during outages, and maintain contact with the Alaska 911 Coordinator’s Office when necessary. The consent decree also requires GCI to file detailed compliance reports with the Enforcement Bureau. IndustryFCC Announces Technical Advisory Council Meeting on September 20On June 29, the FCC’s Technological Advisory Council announced that its next meeting will be held on Tuesday, September 20th, from 12:30 pm to 4:00 pm. The TAC is comprised of “a diverse group of leading technology experts, provides technical expertise to the Commission to identify important areas of innovation and develop informed technology policies supporting the United States’ competitiveness in the global economy.” Dennis Roberson, Vice Provost and Research Professor, Illinois Institute of Technology, serves as Chairman of the Council. Walter Johnston, Chief of the Electromagnetic Compatibility Division, serves as the Designated Federal Officer. Julius Knapp, Chief of the Office of Engineering and Technology is the Alternate Designated Federal Officer. DeadlinesJULY 1: FCC FORM 481 (CARRIER ANNUAL REPORTING DATA COLLECTION FORM). All eligible telecommunications carriers (ETCs) must report the information required by Section 54.313, which includes outage, unfulfilled service request, and complaint data, broken out separately for voice and broadband services, information on the ETC’s holding company, operating companies, ETC affiliates and any branding in response to section 54.313(a)(8); its CAF-ICC certification, if applicable; its financial information, if a privately held rate-of-return carrier; and its satellite backhaul certification, if applicable. Form 481 must not only be filed with USAC, but also with the FCC and the relevant state commission and tribal authority, as appropriate. Although USAC treats the filing as confidential, filers must seek confidential treatment separately with the FCC and the relevant state commission and tribal authority if confidential treatment is desired. JULY 1: MOBILITY FUND PHASE I ANNUAL REPORT. Winning bidders in Auction 901 that are authorized to receive Mobility Fund Phase I support are required to submit to the FCC an annual report each year on July 1 for the five years following authorization. Each annual report must be submitted to the Office of the Secretary of the FCC, clearly referencing WT Docket No. 10-208; the Universal Service Administrator; and the relevant state commissions, relevant authority in a U.S. Territory, or Tribal governments, as appropriate. The information and certifications required to be included in the annual report are described in Section 54.1009 of the FCC’s rules. JULY 29: CARRIER IDENTIFICATION CODE (CIC) REPORTS. Carrier Identification Code (CIC) Reports must be filed by the last business day of July (this year, July 29). These reports are required of all carriers who have been assigned a CIC code by NANPA. Failure to file could result in an effort by NANPA to reclaim it, although according to the Guidelines this process is initiated with a letter from NANPA regarding the apparent non-use of the CIC code. The assignee can then respond with an explanation. (Guidelines Section 6.2). The CIC Reporting Requirement is included in the CIC Assignment Guidelines, produced by ATIS. According to section 1.4 of that document: At the direction of the NANPA, the access providers and the entities who are assigned CICs will be requested to provide access and usage information to the NANPA, on a semi-annual basis to ensure effective management of the CIC resource. (Holders of codes may respond to the request at their own election). Access provider and entity reports shall be submitted to NANPA no later than January 31 for the period ending December 31, and no later than July 31 for the period ending June 30. It is also referenced in the NANPA Technical Requirements Document, which states at 7.18.6: CIC holders shall provide a usage report to the NANPA per the industry CIC guidelines … The NAS shall be capable of accepting CIC usage reports per guideline requirements on January 31 for the period ending December 31 and no later than July 31 for the period ending June 30. These reports may also be mailed and accepted by the NANPA in paper form. Finally, according to the NANPA website, if no local exchange carrier reports access or usage for a given CIC, NANPA is obliged to reclaim it. The semi-annual utilization and access reporting mechanism is described at length in the guidelines. AUGUST 1: FCC FORM 507, UNIVERSAL SERVICE QUARTERLY LINE COUNT UPDATE. Line count updates are required to recalculate a carrier's per line universal service support, and is filed with the Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC). This information must be submitted on July 31 each year by all rate- of-return incumbent carriers, and on a quarterly basis if a competitive eligible telecommunications carrier (CETC) has initiated service in the rate-of-return incumbent carrier’s service area and reported line count data to USAC in the rate-of-return incumbent carrier’s service area, in order for the incumbent carrier to be eligible to receive Interstate Common Line Support (ICLS). Because July 31 falls on a Sunday this year, the filing will be due August 1. This quarterly filing is due July 31 and covers lines served as of December 31, 2013. Incumbent carriers filing on a quarterly basis must also file on September 30 (for lines served as of March 31, 2014); December 30 (for lines served as of June 30, 2014), and March 31, 2015 , for lines served as of September 30, 2014). SEPTEMBER 1: FCC FORM 477, LOCAL COMPETITION AND BROADBAND REPORTING FORM. Three types of entities must file this form. (1) Facilities-based Providers of Broadband Connections to End User Locations: Entities that are facilities-based providers of broadband connections – which are wired “lines” or wireless “channels” that enable the end user to receive information from and/or send information to the Internet at information transfer rates exceeding 200 kbps in at least one direction – must complete and file the applicable portions of this form for each state in which the entity provides one or more such connections to end user locations. For the purposes of Form 477, an entity is a “facilities-based” provider of broadband connections to end user locations if it owns the portion of the physical facility that terminates at the end user location, if it obtains unbundled network elements (UNEs), special access lines, or other leased facilities that terminate at the end user location and provisions/equips them as broadband, or if it provisions/equips a broadband wireless channel to the end user location over licensed or unlicensed spectrum. Such entities include incumbent and competitive local exchange carriers (LECs), cable system operators, fixed wireless service providers (including “wireless ISPs”), terrestrial and satellite mobile wireless service providers, MMDS providers, electric utilities, municipalities, and other entities. (Such entities do not include equipment suppliers unless the equipment supplier uses the equipment to provision a broadband connection that it offers to the public for sale. Such entities also do not include providers of fixed wireless services ( e.g., “Wi-Fi” and other wireless ethernet, or wireless local area network, applications) that only enable local distribution and sharing of a premises broadband facility.) (2) Providers of Wired or Fixed Wireless Local Telephone Services: Incumbent and competitive LECs must complete and file the applicable portions of the form for each state in which they provide local exchange service to one or more end user customers (which may include “dial-up” ISPs). (3) Providers of Interconnected Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) Service: Interconnected VoIP service is a service that enables real-time, two-way voice communications; requires a broadband connection from the user’s location; requires Internet-protocol compatible customer premises equipment; and permits users generally to receive calls that originate on the public switched telephone network and to terminate calls to the public switched telephone network. Interconnected VoIP providers must complete and file the applicable portions of the form for each state in which they provide interconnected VoIP service to one or more subscribers, with the state determined for reporting purposes by the location of the subscriber’s broadband connection or the subscriber’s “Registered Location” as of the data-collection date. “Registered Location” is the most recent information obtained by an interconnected VoIP service provider that identifies the physical location of an end user. (4) Providers of Mobile Telephony Services: Facilities-based providers of mobile telephony services must complete and file the applicable portions of this form for each state in which they serve one or more mobile telephony subscribers. A mobile telephony service is a real-time, two-way switched voice service that is interconnected with the public switched network using an in-network switching facility that enables the provider to reuse frequencies and accomplish seamless handoff of subscriber calls. A mobile telephony service provider is considered “facilities-based” if it serves a subscriber using spectrum for which the entity holds a license that it manages, or for which it has obtained the right to use via lease or other arrangement with a Band Manager. SEPTEMBER 30: FCC FORM 396-C, MVPD EEO PROGRAM REPORTING FORM. Each year on September 30, multi-channel video program distributors (“MVPDs”) must file with the Commission an FCC Form 396-C, Multi-Channel Video Programming Distributor EEO Program Annual Report, for employment units with six or more full-time employees. Users must access the FCC’s electronic filing system via the Internet in order to submit the form; it will not be accepted if filed on paper unless accompanied by an appropriate request for waiver of the electronic filing requirement. Certain MVPDs also will be required to complete portions of the Supplemental Investigation Sheet (“SIS”) located at the end of the Form. These MVPDs are specifically identified in a Public Notice each year by the FCC. Calendar At-A-Glance July August September |
| This newsletter is not intended to provide legal advice. Those interested in more information should contact the firm. For additional information, please contact Hal Mordkofsky at 202-828-5520 or halmor@bloostonlaw.com . |
A Sad Day for Punchers: BlackBerry to Discontinue Traditional Keyboard PhoneBy IAN AUSTENJULY 5, 2016
The struggling Canadian smartphone maker BlackBerry made a sharp detour from its history on Tuesday when it announced it was discontinuing the last phone to have the traditional version of the company’s iconic physical keyboard and trackpad. “Sometimes it can be very tough to let go,” Ralph Pini, BlackBerry’s chief operating officer and general manager for devices, wrote in a corporate blog post announcing the end of the BlackBerry Classic. “For BlackBerry, and more importantly for our customers, the hardest part in letting go is accepting that change makes way for new and better experiences.” The Classic was introduced in late 2014 by BlackBerry to win back users who prefer plastic keys and trackpads to the touch screens that dominate the operation of its newer models, even ones with keyboards. Because the company does not break out sales of individual models, it is impossible to judge the Classic’s reception. But BlackBerry’s phone business is generally unprofitable and declining. Late last month, BlackBerry announced a quarterly loss of $670 million. That was about three times the company’s loss in the previous quarter and largely reflected write-downs in the value of its phone business. The Classic ran the BlackBerry 10 operating system, which the company had hoped would again make it a vibrant force in smartphones. But it has since turned its attention to phones based on Google’s Android software. Mr. Pini’s post made no mention of the fate of the other BlackBerry 10 models, which still appeared on the company’s website Tuesday evening. He did acknowledge, however, that some customers may still refuse to give up on the traditional BlackBerry shape regardless of the company’s plans. Die-hards were encouraged by Mr. Pini to see if their carriers still had Classics available. He added that BlackBerry had some remaining stock on sale online. Correction: July 7, 2016 Correction: July 6, 2016 A version of this article appears in print on July 6, 2016, on page B5 of the New York edition with the headline: BlackBerry to Discontinue Traditional Keyboard Phone. |
| Source: | The New York Times |
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| LETTERS TO THE EDITOR |
I read a lot of what you have every week in the Bloostonlaw Newsletter section. It is informative. Am I the only one that noticed this in the 6/24 edition?? {I suppose I could Google it for an answer} U.S. Court of Appeals Upholds FCC Net Neutrality Order …………….. {down towards bottom} In rejecting arguments that certain rules were unconstitutionally vague, the court held that due process has been satisfied, as the rules “are sufficiently specific that a reasonably prudent person, familiar with the conditions the regulations are meant to address and the objectives the regulations are meant to achieve, would have fair warning of what the regulations require” — a standard that the FCC met. INSERT A BRIEF SENTENCE ABOUT WHAT THE BRIGHT LINE RULES WERE? Thanks
Brad, a classic instance of too many cooks spoiling the pot. We have multiple attorneys review the draft newsletter and make suggested edits. I threw in that suggestion about adding a sentence giving background info on the bright line rules very late in the editorial process (a lot going on that day) and unfortunately my note slipped through into the final version unnoticed. We realized the error the next day, but since the article did not provide erroneous information, we decided it did not warrant a correction box in the next edition, just some embarrassment on our part. To complete the thought raised in my edit, the FCC’s 2010 “bright line rules” were designed to prohibit blocking and throttling (i.e., slowing down) of internet traffic, and to prevent the charging of higher rates for priority access to the broadband system. Sorry for the mix up, but I am glad somebody out there is reading our reports closely! John A. Prendergast |
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| THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK |
“You can search throughout the entire universe for someone who is more deserving of your love and affection than you are yourself, and that person is not to be found anywhere. You yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe deserve your love and affection.” —Buddha
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| PHOTO OF THE WEEK |
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| Source: | NBC News | PETER KOMKA / EPA |
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