Almost every American receives some sort of robocall each day. Robocalls have been irritating for years but recently they appear to be getting worse. In 2018 there were 48 billion robocalls made in the U.S. which equates to every citizen receiving almost 150 robocalls...
Telecommunications Law
Commerce Department Proposes Case-by-Case Approvals for Telecom Equipment Sales
Late last month, the Department of Commerce made good on its promise to propose regulations for telecom equipment sales. The impetus of the proposed regulations is an order signed by the President on May 15. In that order, the President alleged that foreign companies...
Hello, You Have Qualified for a $10,000 Fine: The FCC and Congress Take Aim at Robocalls
It’s an issue that affects almost every American. For many, it is a daily problem. Robocalls have long been irritating, but in recent years they have elevated themselves from minor nuisance to major frustration. In 2018, there were 48 billion robocalls made in the...
U.S. House of Representatives Is Working On Expanding Broadband to Rural Areas
Members of the House Energy and Committee’s Communications and Technology Subcommittee were in agreement about the need for the Federal government to make available more broadband service to the country’s underserved areas and areas that are unserved altogether. There...
Cell Phone Privacy Case Decided by Justice Robert’s Swing Vote
Privacy in the modern digital age seems to be an oxymoron. Every time you access an app on your smartphone, the phone demands your location. It’s as though there is always a way for somebody to track the location of private citizens, including law enforcement....
Big Telecom Takes Aim at Smaller ISP’s in New FCC Petition
The 1996 Telecommunications Act was a landmark piece of legislation that allowed smaller ISP’s to thrive in the increasingly competitive internet provider market dominated by the big carriers like AT&T, Verizon, and Sprint. The Act requires ISP’s to sell their...
SpaceX Launches Global Broadband Test Satellites to Benefit Rural Areas
SpaceX continues to make waves after the company’s recent successful launch of their Falcon 9 rocket carrying a Tesla Roadster. On February 22, 2018, SpaceX launched another Falcon 9 carrying two satellites to go into low earth orbit to test its new project: a global...
FCC Plans to Allocate 1.7GHz of Spectrum for 5G Wireless
The fifth generation (5G) of mobile networks have just been given a boost by Ajit Pai, Chairman of the FCC. Pai announced that the agency plans to release 1.7 GHz of high-frequency spectrum bands above 24GHz for research and development regarding 5G devices and...