FCC

The United States Federal Communications Commission (FCC) today announced [PDF] that it has fined AT&T, Verizon, and Sprint/T-Mobile $196 million collectively for illegally selling access to customer location information without consent. Sprint and T-Mobile (now merged into T-Mobile) have been fined $12 million and $80 million, respectively. Verizon has been fined almost $47 million, and...

The United States Federal Communications Commission today opened up 6GHz Wi-Fi spectrum to low power devices like AR/VR wearables (via The Verge). This means that AR/VR devices like Apple's Vision Pro headset will be able to operate on the 6GHz band, though it is unclear if the initial version of the Vision Pro will be able to take advantage of this functionality. Apple, Google, Meta,...

Apple earlier this year sent a "Network Adapter" to the FCC for approval, an unearthed filing has revealed, although suggestions that it could be an AirPort successor or other unannounced networking product for consumer use are likely wide of the mark. Consumer networking products from Apple's discontinued AirPort range Whenever a company designs a device for use in the United States that...

Verizon and AT&T's upcoming rollout of new C-Band 5G technology could cause chaos and lead to widespread delays of passenger and cargo flights, major U.S. airlines said on Monday in a letter sent to the White House National Economic Council, the FAA, and the FCC (via Reuters). "Unless our major hubs are cleared to fly, the vast majority of the traveling and shipping public will essentially...

The U.S. Federal Communications Commission today called on Americans to test their internet speeds with the FCC Speed Test app to further its research into broadband availability through the Measuring Broadband America Program. The FCC says that the data collected on broadband network performance across the United States will help its efforts to provide improved coverage information to the...

iPhone 12 models could have an inactive wireless charging feature for accessories, according to an FCC filing discovered by VentureBeat's Jeremy Horwitz. In the filing, Apple said that 2020 iPhones support a wireless charging function that will seemingly be enabled for at least one future Apple accessory:In addition to being able to be charged by a desktop WPT charger (puck), 2020 iPhones...

Last month, Apple introduced a new iPad Air with a larger 10.9-inch edge-to-edge display, a faster A14 Bionic chip, and a USB-C port instead of Lightning. It is also the first Apple device to feature Touch ID built into the power button. Apple says the new iPad Air will be available at some point in October, and ahead of the launch, cellular models of the device have now received the...

As expected, the United States Federal Communications Commission today proposed fines against the four major wireless carriers in the United States for improperly sharing and selling real-time customer location information without taking "reasonable measures" to protect against unauthorized access to the data. In a statement [PDF] released today, the FCC says that T-Mobile should pay the...

The United States Federal Communication Commission is expected to propose fining AT&T, T-Mobile, Verizon, and Sprint $200 million in total for improperly disclosing real-time customer location data, reports Reuters. Proposed fines for the four major carriers in the United States could be announced as soon as tomorrow, and the carriers would have the chance to challenge the fines before they...

Apple today received FCC approval for a pair of wireless earphones with model number A2015, described as "Power Beats Wireless" in the regulatory documents. These are likely the rumored "Powerbeats4" earphones with "Hey Siri" support that MacRumors uncovered images of in iOS 13.3.1 code last month. Powerbeats4 mockup by MacRumors contributor Ryan Barrieau "Powerbeats4" should be an upgraded...

One or more wireless carriers violated federal law by failing to protect sensitive customer information like real-time data location, FCC Chairman Ajit Pai confirmed today in letters sent to Congress as part of a wireless location investigation [PDF]. As noted by Bloomberg, Pai's letter comes after the U.S. Committee on Energy and Commerce in November accused the FCC of "failing in its duty to ...

The United States Federal Communications Commission today cleared the way for OnGo [PDF], a wireless product spearheaded by the Citizens Broadcast Radio Service Alliance (CBRS) that aims to use the 3.5GHz band for a range of applications, including improving data speeds and connectivity across the United States on both 4G and 5G networks. The CBRS Alliance announced that the FCC has allowed...

The U.S. Federal Communications Commission on Tuesday formally approved the $26 billion merger between T-Mobile and Sprint. The approval was the last regulatory hurdle to creating a new mobile carrier. The FCC filing means T-Mobile and Sprint will be allowed to join together as "New T-Mobile" to become a dominant third carrier in the United States alongside Verizon and AT&T. The Department...

Apple's new Mac Pro has received FCC approval today ahead of its release later this year. Apple's website still says the new ‌Mac Pro‌ is "coming this fall," but FCC approval could signal an imminent announcement. The all-new ‌‌Mac Pro‌‌ is a powerhouse, with up to 28-core Intel Xeon processors, up to 1.5TB of ECC RAM, up to 4TB of SSD storage, and up to AMD Radeon Pro Vega II Duo graphics ...

Ajit Pai, Chairman of the United States Federal Communications Commission, wants to allow mobile phone companies to block robocalls by default, in the ongoing fight against call spam (via Reuters). Pai will present his proposal today, where all of the FCC commissioners are set to testify before a U.S. House panel regarding the widespread problem of robocalls. According to Pai, carriers have...

The United States Federal Communications Commission on Wednesday sent out letters to Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile, and Sprint questioning the carriers about their data selling practices, reports Motherboard. The carriers have been found selling real-time location information from customer devices to data aggregators, leading the location data to end up in the hands of private investigators, bounty...

Apple today received FCC approval for a nondescript "sleep monitor" in the United States. While much of the application is hidden due to a standard confidentiality agreement, one document reveals that the sleep monitor is "designed by Beddit in California" and has an all-new model number 3.5. Simply put, this could end up being an all-new Beddit 3.5 sleep monitor that Apple will eventually...

Apple received approval from the FCC today to sell the iPhone XR in the United States, ahead of pre-orders next month. Apple can now remove the following fine print from the iPhone XR product page on its website, although it has yet to do so:iPhone XR has not been authorized as required by the rules of the Federal Communications Commission. iPhone XR is not, and may not be, offered for sale...

The United States Federal Communications Commission today informed T-Mobile and Sprint [PDF] that it needs more time to review the proposed merger between the two companies before making a final decision on approval. According to the FCC, it is pausing the informal 180-day transaction clock to allow for "thorough staff and third-party review" of newly submitted and anticipated business...

New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman this afternoon announced that he and 22 other Attorneys General have teamed up to file a lawsuit aiming to stop the Federal Communications Commission's planned rollback of net neutrality. The multi-state lawsuit [PDF] asks the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit to review the FCC's repeal order, calling it arbitrary, capricious, and an abuse...