Hogan Lovells partner Trey Hanbury enjoyed a lively and frank conversation with Steve Sharkey, Vice President of Government Affairs, Engineering and Technology Policy at T-Mobile as part of the 2020 INCOMPAS Show. The interview covered T-Mobile’s running start on 5G broadband deployment following the company’s merger with Sprint, insight into T-Mobile’s plans for meeting its commitments under the merger agreement, … Continue Reading
Tag Archives: Broadband
President Trump Signs Bipartisan Broadband Mapping Law
On March 23, 2020, President Trump signed the Broadband Deployment Accuracy and Technological Availability (DATA) Act. The law requires the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to collect and disseminate more granular data about the availability of broadband service and to establish processes to ensure data accuracy.
The legislation comes in response to commentary about the FCC’s broadband coverage maps and … Continue Reading
What I’m Watching For at #CES2020
I’m headed to #CES2020 this week with a backup battery, comfortable shoes, and a lot of questions. After eyeing the new televisions and fancy cars, I intend to focus on learning more about the following areas:
5G. Each of the major wireless operators has their own blend of frequencies and their own conception of what will move consumers to take … Continue Reading
FCC Launches $100 Million Telehealth Pilot Program
On August 2, 2018 the FCC unanimously adopted a Notice of Inquiry (“NOI”) seeking comment on creating the “Connected Care Pilot Program,” a Universal Service Fund (“USF”) pilot program. The program aims to improve health outcomes and reduce healthcare costs by promoting broadband-enabled telehealth service adoption among low-income families, particularly in rural, unserved, or underserved parts of America, as well … Continue Reading
UK, US, HK and China – Access denied: an international perspective on ISP blocking injunctions
While the UK Court of Appeal has opened the door for broadband ISP blocking to combat trademark or copyright-infringing activities (see our earlier report ), the picture in the United States, China and Hong Kong is more complex.
“‘It is, it is a glorious thing, to be a Pirate King,’ said W.S. Gilbert: but he was speaking of ship … Continue Reading
FCC Privacy Rules Break New Ground
On November 2, 2016 the Federal Communication Commission’s (FCC) released its long-awaited – and much debated – Report and Order adopting privacy rules for Internet Service Providers (ISPs). In the Order, the FCC applied the Communications Act’s privacy requirements to broadband Internet access service (BIAS), which it called “the most significant communications technology of today.”
Several of the FCC requirements … Continue Reading
A Comparison of the DOJ and FCC Merger Review Processes: A Practitioner’s Perspective
Several recent high-profile mergers in the communications industry have faced scrutiny from multiple U.S. federal agencies. These transactions, both successful and unsuccessful, have drawn attention to the process by which the U.S. government approves or blocks mergers and acquisitions in the communications and broadband Internet industries. Parallel investigations by both the Federal Communications Commission and U.S. Department of Justice highlight … Continue Reading
The Sixth Circuit Strikes Down the FCC’s Preemption of State Restrictions on Municipal Broadband Providers
On August 10, 2016, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals overturned a Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Order that had sought to preempt Tennessee’s and North Carolina’s laws restricting local municipalities’ ability to provide broadband service. The Court found that the FCC had exceeded its statutory authority by preempting state laws without clear authorization from Congress.… Continue Reading
TMT2020: Illuminating Thoughts on 5G – Leveraging Solar Infrastructure Incentives to Deploy Ubiquitous 5G Mobile Broadband Networks
EDITOR’S NOTE: We are excited to present this entry in our TMT2020 series, which reflects the key technology, media, and telecoms legal issues that are expected to impact today’s organizations and tomorrow’s marketplace. It also provides an opportunity to highlight contributions by TMT associates across our global offices and practice areas.
Today’s smartphones rely on mobile broadband connectivity that is … Continue Reading
A conscious uncoupling: Ofcom’s proposals for Openreach
Ofcom’s announcement of plans to make Openreach a “legally separate” company within BT have been met with muted cheers from some in the telecoms world, while others caution that the proposals do not go far enough to ensure the UK gets the investment it needs.
In February of this year, the regulator set out a ten-year vision for ensuring the … Continue Reading
EU and US regulators rush to update telecom rules
Regulators in the European Union and United States are racing to rewrite telecom rules for a host of new technologies ranging from over-the-top voice to ultra high-speed wireless broadband. But does the regulatory mantra of “new rules for new times” represent the foundation of the new digital economy or its undoing?
Are regulations mandating an open internet the key to … Continue Reading
Sixth Circuit to Hear Oral Argument in Challenge to Municipal Broadband Rules
The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals has scheduled oral argument for March 17, 2016, in an important case regarding the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC’s) ability to preempt state laws that place restrictions on local municipalities’ ability to provide their own broadband networks. Today, 20 states limit the ability of local governmental agencies, such as utilities or branches of city government, … Continue Reading
US antitrust lessons from the proposed Comcast/TWC merger
Comcast’s failed acquisition of Time Warner Cable (“TWC”) presents a lesson in the types of antitrust harms that merger enforcers in the United States are willing to pursue.
Using traditional “horizontal” merger analysis, the combination would have resulted in almost no reduction of head-to-head competition, as there were very few geographic areas in which the two companies were head-to-head rivals. … Continue Reading
TMT 2020: A Report From the Silicon Flatirons Conference – “Closing the Digital Divide”
EDITOR’S NOTE: We are excited to present this entry in our new TMT2020 series, which reflects the key technology, media, and telecoms legal issues that are expected to impact today’s organizations and tomorrow’s marketplace. It also provides an opportunity to highlight contributions by TMT associates across our global offices and practice areas.
On September 17, 2015 the Silicon Flatirons Center… Continue Reading
U.S. FCC Chairman Announces Title II Net Neutrality Proposal
Coming hot on the heels of an op-ed in Wired Magazine and a more detailed U.S. FCC-released “Fact Sheet,” FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler has proposed Open Internet “net neutrality” rules to the other FCC Commissioners and scheduled a vote on the rules for the FCC’s Open Meeting on February 26, 2015. As discussed below, these rules would … Continue Reading
USA: Federal Communications Commission Rewrites E-Rate Rules for Technology Support for Schools
The main telecommunications regulatory body in the United States has adopted new rules governing the administration of the country’s multi-billion dollar education technology fund. Schools and libraries in the U.S. will want to review the final rules closely to see how changes to this program will affect their future technology procurement plans and budgets, while telecommunications service providers doing business … Continue Reading
Court of Appeals Affirms FCC’s Pole Attachment Decision
Yesterday, a three-judge panel of the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit unanimously upheld the key prongs of the FCC’s dramatic shift in its interpretation of the Federal Pole Attachment Act. The Commission’s new interpretations for the first time gave ILECs access to the FCC to resolve their disputes with electric utility pole owners. The FCC … Continue Reading
FCC’s WCS Order Raises Cheers … and Questions
Written by Trey Hanbury and Phillip Berenbroick
In a move that has the potential to unleash new broadband deployment across the United States, the Federal Communications Commission recently loosened technical constraints on the long-dormant 2.3 GHz band. The rules that the FCC adopted October 17, 2012 essentially ratify a joint proposal that the two largest licensees in the band, the … Continue Reading
Poland Introduces Video-on-Demand Regulations
Almost three years after the expiry of the deadline set by the European Union, Poland is finally taking action to bring its laws into line with the EU’s Audio-visual Media Services Directive. To this end, last month the Polish government accepted the bill on amending the Act on Radio Broadcasting and Television which introduces into the Polish legal system … Continue Reading