Small ISPs should be exempt from strong net neutrality rules, trade group says. Most broadband providers -- all but a handful of the largest ones -- should be exempt from tough new net neutrality rules being considered by the U.S.
Federal Communications Commission, a trade group has argued. The FCC shouldn't impose new rules on small and medium-size ISPs because they lack the market power to selectively block or slow Web traffic as a way to charge websites for prioritized traffic, a lawyer for trade group the American Cable Association [ACA] wrote in recent letters to the FCC. During net neutrality discussions over the past year, the ACA, representing about 800 small and medium-size ISPs, has essentially argued that less than 10 large ISPs should be subject to new net neutrality rules that would reclassify broadband as a regulated common carrier. FCC's Monster Auction Ends at $45B in Bids.
The FCC gets to work on letting internet TV compete with cable. AWS-3 Auction Announced; Comment Sought. Federal Communications Commission News Media Information 202 / 418-0500 445 12th St., S.W.
Internet: Washington, D.C. 20554 DA 14-669 May 19, 2014 AU Docket No. 14-78 Comments Due: June 9, 2014 Reply Comments Due: June 23, 2014. CTIA-The Wireless Association Home Page. FCC eyes new rules to protect consumers as voice networks transition to IP. The Federal Communications Commission will consider new rules to ensure real consumer choice as the U.S. shifts from copper-based networks to IP networks, agency officials said Friday.
FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler will offer a set of proposals aimed at protecting voice customers during the commission's Nov. 21 meeting, senior agency officials said. In addition to network-sharing rules, the FCC will consider requiring power backup systems on VoIP networks, officials said. In its consumer-protection proposals, which the FCC would release for public comment, the agency will consider rules for large telephone carriers that are currently required to share their last-mile networks with competitors, often to serve small-business customers. Liberty Global spins off Latin American assets. Liberty Global has separated its Latin American operations from those that the cable group has in Europe, by creating a new subsidiary called Liberty Latin America and Caribbean Group (LiLAC Group).
The new company will include the MSOs VTR (Chile, 100% interest) and Liberty Cablevisión de Puerto Rico (60% interest). “This will highlight the value of our well-positioned operations in Latin America and the Caribbean,” said Liberty Global CEO Mike Fries in a statement. “This structure will enable us to retain the advantages of doing business as a single company, including the benefits of being able to leverage the expertise of our broader management team. At the same time, we will be creating ‘pure-play’ European and Latin American equities that we believe will be attractive to investors”. Liberty Global to acquire Pay TV operator Choice Cable in Puerto Rico.
The telecommunications company Liberty Global reached an agreement to acquire the Pay TV, Internet and fixed telephony provider Choice Cable Puerto Rico.
The company already owned an operator in the country, Liberty Cablevisión. It is also the owner of VTR Chile in Latin America. Choice Cable covers 30 municipalities in the Western and Southern parts of the island, while Liberty Cablevisión is present in the East and North. Obama wants to push faster Internet speeds in America. The White House via YouTube President Obama spotlighted Cedar Falls, Iowa, as a community with fast Internet access rivaling major international cities.
The President wants to end buffering. President Obama is pushing for faster Internet speeds in America in his latest preview of next week’s State of the Union address and said he can take executive actions to make it happen. Obama spotlighted Cedar Falls, Iowa, in a Tuesday YouTube video as he said the city has Internet speeds comparable to that of international cities Seoul, Hong Kong, Tokyo and Paris. “The reason they can compete with these world cities is because citizens got together and made the investment to bring competition in and make sure that Internet speeds were just as fast there as anywhere else,” Obama said. The President also mentioned Kansas City, Mo., and Chattanooga, Tenn., as places with faster Internet speeds. Cuban youth build secret computer network despite Wi-Fi ban. HAVANA — Cut off from the Internet, young Cubans have quietly linked thousands of computers into a hidden network that stretches miles across Havana, letting them chat with friends, play games and download hit movies in a mini-replica of the online world that most can’t access.
Home Internet connections are banned for all but a handful of Cubans, and the government charges nearly a quarter of a month’s salary for an hour online in government-run hotels and Internet centers. As a result, most people on the island live offline, complaining about their lack of access to information and contact with friends and family abroad. A small minority have covertly engineered a partial solution by pooling funds to create a private network of more than 9,000 computers with small, inexpensive but powerful hidden Wi-Fi antennas and Ethernet cables strung over streets and rooftops spanning the entire city.