LG's webOS 3.5 Security Manager is the first smart TV platform to land UL certification “for its effective cybersecurity capabilities,” LG said in a Tuesday announcement. UL tested the webOS 3.5 Security Manager for malware susceptibility and vulnerabilities, software weaknesses and security controls under its 2900-1 Cybersecurity Assurance Program, LG said. “UL assessed the effectiveness of each webOS 3.5 security layer by subjecting the software to a variety of virtual network penetrations and vulnerability attacks.”
Representatives of rural wireless carrier Smith Bagley met with aides to the three FCC commissioners and Wireless Bureau staff to push for special Mobility Fund treatment for tribal areas. The carrier “urged the Commission to afford special treatment for Tribal Lands in the Lower 48, similar to that provided in the Commission’s recent ‘Alaska Plan’ order that assigned over $1.5 billion in universal service funding to accelerate and preserve broadband deployment in Alaska over the next ten years,” Smith Bagley said in a filing in docket 10-208. Doing business as Cellular One of North East Arizona, it provides mobile communication services to customers in northern Arizona and New Mexico.
The FCC circulated a draft Connect America Fund order Feb. 13, according to the agency circulation list updated Friday. A March 30 Further NPRM on rate-of-return telco USF issues had asked whether operating expenditure limitations should be modified for carriers serving tribal lands, said a commission spokesman. "This order addresses that question."
Public safety consultant Andrew Seybold said Congress should look at “extending the life of the T-band for another five or more years,” in an emailed newsletter Thursday. “Perhaps it is time to put together an effort on behalf of the cities that will lose most if not all of their LMR [land mobile radio] radio communications in the not-[too]-distant future and to once again walk the halls and shake the hands of the telecommunications staffers.” He said an auction of T-band spectrum wouldn't be viable and it’s not suited for mobile broadband systems. The problem lies in how Congress drafted the 2012 Spectrum Act, he said: “Many in Congress made it clear they expected Public Safety to ‘give back’ spectrum in exchange for the ‘D’ block. In several of the bills introduced by Congress, various portions of the spectrum were mentioned. The most onerous was one bill that would have required Public Safety to give back all spectrum it occupied from 150 MHz to 470 MHz. This was quashed when the Public Safety Alliance met with some of the staffers and explained that this spectrum was not only allocated to Public Safety but to thousands of other types of radio systems as well.”
Latham & Watkins attorney Tad Lipsky, who was named to the FTC landing team last month by the Trump transition team, was appointed acting director for the agency's Competition Bureau, said FTC acting Chairman Maureen Ohlhausen in a news release Thursday. His appointment will be effective March 6 and he replaces Deborah Feinstein, who was appointed in 2013 by then-Chairwoman Edith Ramirez. Lipsky has 40 years of experience in antitrust law and began his career in DOJ's Antitrust Division, focusing on deregulation, competition and enforcement in the aviation, transportation and energy sectors, the agency said. He returned to the DOJ after a break from government service to be deputy assistant attorney general in President Ronald Reagan's administration. Ohlhausen also appointed Alan Devlin, who was her attorney adviser, as acting deputy director of the Competition Bureau, and Svetlana Gans, a former attorney adviser and litigation attorney within both the bureaus of Consumer Protection and Competition, as her chief of staff.
Latham & Watkins attorney Tad Lipsky, who was named to the FTC landing team last month by the Trump transition team, was appointed acting director for the agency's Competition Bureau, said FTC acting Chairman Maureen Ohlhausen in a news release Thursday. His appointment will be effective March 6 and he replaces Deborah Feinstein, who was appointed in 2013 by then-Chairwoman Edith Ramirez. Lipsky has 40 years of experience in antitrust law and began his career in DOJ's Antitrust Division, focusing on deregulation, competition and enforcement in the aviation, transportation and energy sectors, the agency said. He returned to the DOJ after a break from government service to be deputy assistant attorney general in President Ronald Reagan's administration. Ohlhausen also appointed Alan Devlin, who was her attorney adviser, as acting deputy director of the Competition Bureau, and Svetlana Gans, a former attorney adviser and litigation attorney within both the bureaus of Consumer Protection and Competition, as her chief of staff.
Public safety consultant Andrew Seybold said Congress should look at “extending the life of the T-band for another five or more years,” in an emailed newsletter Thursday. “Perhaps it is time to put together an effort on behalf of the cities that will lose most if not all of their LMR [land mobile radio] radio communications in the not-[too]-distant future and to once again walk the halls and shake the hands of the telecommunications staffers.” He said an auction of T-band spectrum wouldn't be viable and it’s not suited for mobile broadband systems. The problem lies in how Congress drafted the 2012 Spectrum Act, he said: “Many in Congress made it clear they expected Public Safety to ‘give back’ spectrum in exchange for the ‘D’ block. In several of the bills introduced by Congress, various portions of the spectrum were mentioned. The most onerous was one bill that would have required Public Safety to give back all spectrum it occupied from 150 MHz to 470 MHz. This was quashed when the Public Safety Alliance met with some of the staffers and explained that this spectrum was not only allocated to Public Safety but to thousands of other types of radio systems as well.”
President Mark Crosby and others from Enterprise Wireless Alliance met with FCC Wireless Bureau staff to ask when the FCC might provide guidance on the future of industrial, business and commercial licensees using 470-512 MHz T-band spectrum, said a filing in 08-59 and other dockets. The EWA representatives also discussed a long list of other issues, the filing said: “EWA described its progress in working with the Aerospace and Flight Test Radio Coordinating Council and with prospective equipment manufacturers in anticipation of coordinating Medical Body Area Networks in the 2360-2390 MHz Band.” The association said the Land Mobile Communications Council filed at the FCC proposed interference contours for coordinating applications for 800 MHz interstitial channels. “EWA urged the FCC to adopt final rules in that proceeding as promptly as possible,” the filing said. The group requested a status update on its request for declaratory ruling that the Communications Act “allows only interconnected, commercial, mobile systems to be classified as providing a commercial mobile service (CMRS in the FCC rules) and regulated as common carriers.”
The satellite industry's slice of the connected car market won't be big, at least for the next decade, said Northern Sky Research analyst Dallas Kasaboski in a blog post Sunday: The number of land-mobile connected vehicles receiving broadband by satellite is expected to be small through 2025, with wireless and cellular coverage instead being dominant. NSR said satellite's challenges include signal decay limiting its effectiveness, while weather and vehicle speed issues necessitate rugged, expensive antennas. Also making competition difficult is the near ubiquity of terrestrial services, it said. NSR said while numerous partnerships between mobile operators and the auto industry have been announced, there have been few such talks between the auto world and satellite service providers. "OEM deals are key factors to enable satellite-based connectivity in cars," NSR said. Antenna manufacturers haven't focused on connected cars, seeing it "as very niche with little potential," it said, adding there's a bigger focus on providing connected vehicle capability for high-speed railways. Dual-mode devices that switch between terrestrial mobile and satellite networks and are integrated directly into vehicle manufacture "will allow satcom to ride along with the success of terrestrially-connected vehicles, while proposing an added value proposition for use in remote environments," NSR said, though it added an integrated billing system could be difficult. "It will be necessary if satcom is to make a play with network-agnostic passengers in the connected car market," said the researcher.
The satellite industry's slice of the connected car market won't be big, at least for the next decade, said Northern Sky Research analyst Dallas Kasaboski in a blog post Sunday: The number of land-mobile connected vehicles receiving broadband by satellite is expected to be small through 2025, with wireless and cellular coverage instead being dominant. NSR said satellite's challenges include signal decay limiting its effectiveness, while weather and vehicle speed issues necessitate rugged, expensive antennas. Also making competition difficult is the near ubiquity of terrestrial services, it said. NSR said while numerous partnerships between mobile operators and the auto industry have been announced, there have been few such talks between the auto world and satellite service providers. "OEM deals are key factors to enable satellite-based connectivity in cars," NSR said. Antenna manufacturers haven't focused on connected cars, seeing it "as very niche with little potential," it said, adding there's a bigger focus on providing connected vehicle capability for high-speed railways. Dual-mode devices that switch between terrestrial mobile and satellite networks and are integrated directly into vehicle manufacture "will allow satcom to ride along with the success of terrestrially-connected vehicles, while proposing an added value proposition for use in remote environments," NSR said, though it added an integrated billing system could be difficult. "It will be necessary if satcom is to make a play with network-agnostic passengers in the connected car market," said the researcher.