AT&T wants Texas customers to pay more in 58 of its recently deregulated markets. Its residential local exchange monthly rates will go up $2 and its Lifeline rates will go up $1.50 in these markets if the Texas Public Utilities Commission grants a petition filed Wednesday (http://xrl.us/bn27bo). AT&T wants the changes to go into effect Jan. 3 and plans to notify customers in “bill messages” starting Dec. 6. The telco included a copy of its proposed customer notice: “The rate increase is primarily a result of a rebalancing between local rates and some reductions in the support from the Texas High Cost Universal Service Plan,” AT&T plans to tell affected customers. “You have the right to cancel service without penalty."
Sprint Communications and Starburst II petitioned the New York State Public Service Commission asking for a change, if permission is required, in the companies’ organization on the parent holding company level. After SoftBank acquired a majority interest in Sprint in October, it created a U.S. holding company called Starburst I, which then created another called Starburst II, the Wednesday petition said (http://xrl.us/bn27ae). The petition describes a deal “under which Starburst II will become the direct parent of Sprint Nextel Corporation ('Sprint') and indirect parent of Sprint Communications and by which SOFTBANK CORP. ('SoftBank') will, through its newly formed affiliate Starburst I, Inc. ('Starburst I'), invest $20.1 billion in Sprint and indirectly acquire approximately 70 percent of the shares of Sprint.” The companies don’t anticipate any changes in service in New York and plan to make the “seamless” deal transparent, they said. The petition pledges that “Sprint Communications’ parent will be a stronger more effective competitor” if the transaction goes forward. Amid these transactions, Sprint will soon become Starburst II and Sprint CEO Daniel Hesse will be renamed CEO of Starburst II, which will be renamed Sprint Corp., the petition explained. Sprint will receive significant finances from this deal, which will speed broadband deployment and improve the telco’s wireline balance sheet, the companies said.
Brits receive over 148 million spam texts every month, potentially threatening mobile operators’ business, mobile security company AdaptiveMobile said Wednesday. A YouGov online survey of more than 1,000 consumers who had received spam texts found that consumers rated such messages the most annoying form of spam, ahead of email and junk mail, the company said. The annoyance can quickly turn to fraud, something that has happened in the U.S. in the past few years, said AdaptiveMobile Vice President for Handset Security Ciaran Bradley. With 60 percent of the British public having gotten unsolicited messages, “this is becoming an important issue for the mobile ecosystem,” he said. Despite those problems, SMS remains one of the U.K.’s most trusted ways of communicating, the company said. But that trust can be abused: Nearly a quarter of those who got junk SMS messages have replied “opt out” or “stop,” which tells spammers that the phones are active, it said. Almost half of consumers who respond to texts get more spam or unwanted calls, or may have money charged to their account, it said. Better mobile controls can help cut the amount of spam texts an individual receives, said Stephen Eckersley, head of enforcement at the U.K. Information Commissioner’s Office. The ICO is trying to identify companies that continue to spam in violation of the law and can fine the worst offenders up to £500,000 ($798,000), he said. The research also found that when money is taken after an SMS spam scam, the theft can go unnoticed for months. Fourteen percent of respondents said they wouldn’t query discrepancies on their mobile bills until the amounts exceeded £5, which could add up to around £20 million every month landing in the pockets of thieves, AdaptiveMobile said. Mobile operators are worried that if spam texts aren’t eradicated, they'll experience “significant churn,” Bradley added.
At its Dec. 12 meeting, the FCC will vote on a notice of proposed rulemaking to enable spectrum sharing and small cell wireless broadband services in the 3.5 GHz band, a commission spokesman said Wednesday. The notice would encourage investment by creating a shared access broadband service in the 3550-3650 MHz band for small cell use, he said. The commission will also consider an order facilitating deployment of text-to-911 and other next generation 911 initiatives, and an order expanding healthcare providers’ access to broadband in rural areas.
Requiring Sprint Nextel to submit data related to products other than special access services will do nothing to contribute to the FCC’s understanding of the special access market, Sprint told aides to FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski and commissioners Mignon Clyburn and Jessica Rosenworcel, an ex parte filing said (http://xrl.us/bn2u3b). It would also be difficult and costly for Sprint, the carrier said.
The EchoStar XVI satellite was successfully launched from Kazakhstan. The satellite was built by Space Systems/Loral and launched by International Launch Services, EchoStar said Wednesday in a press release. It’s a Ku-band satellite, which will be used for delivery of direct-to-home services to Dish Network customers in the U.S., EchoStar said. It’s performing “post-launch maneuvers” and it will be placed at 61.5 degrees west, it said.
A Dec. 10 public workshop will examine patent assertion entity (PAE) activities and their effect on innovation and competition, as well as explore the implications those activities have on antitrust enforcement and policy. PAE activities are seen as being separate from non-practicing entity activities, which include developing and transferring technology. Rather, PAE activities include purchasing patents, as well as generating revenue through litigation and licensing agreements with manufacturers who already use the patented technologies, the Justice Department said. The workshop, being held by Justice and the FTC, will include panels on the legal treatment of PAE activity, economic theories on PAE activity and industry experiences. Justice and the FTC will accept comments on PAE activities through March 10 (http://xrl.us/bn2uz6).
Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., asked for public feedback on potential copyright reform and domain name procedure bills, during a conversation on Reddit this week (http://bit.ly/UDctUf). She is drafting a domain name seizure bill because she thinks “it worthwhile to explore a legislative means providing appropriate protections for free expression and due process” during domain name seizures, she said. It’s not because she accepts “the practice as legal or Constitutional,” she said in a statement before going on Reddit (http://1.usa.gov/Qb0MYg). The bill could require “the government to provide notice and an opportunity for website operators to defend themselves prior to seizing or redirecting their domain names,” she said.
Connecticut asked the FCC for a waiver of its Jan. 1 narrowbanding deadline. The state’s transportation department and Connecticut Transit requested a delay of three months and suggested a new deadline of April 1, according to a petition posted Wednesday (http://xrl.us/bn2uxd). “Uncontrolled events and manpower issues with vendors will have an impact on our timely completion” of narrowbanding, the petition said. The state cites Superstorm Sandy aftereffects and “unique” construction delays.
The Astra 2F satellite from SES completed its in-orbit testing and is fully operational. It is providing commercial service around 28.2 degrees east, SES said in a press release. Astra 2F was launched in September on an Ariane 5 rocket from French Guiana (CD Sept 25 p19). It carries Ku-band and Ka-band payloads for the delivery of high-performance direct-to-home and next generation broadband services in Europe and Africa, SES said.