Telecoms Tech

The Director of National Intelligence claims PRISM is solely for data-collection of non-US citizens; naturally, the EU’s commissioner for justice and fundamental rights, Viviane Reding, wants some clarification.

The internet is in uproar over the US government monitoring citizens and international users through a “direct access” backdoor to the biggest companies, using a program codenamed PRISM.

The US has lifted the ban on exporting computer equipment to Iran - so long as the technology in question is heading to individuals, and not the Iranian government.

Most service providers have reported 1Q13 earnings now. The results were largely as expected. Most telcos face flat to declining revenues, putting their cost base under pressure. For telcos representing over 90% of the global market, revenue and capex both dropped by roughly 1% in 1Q13 versus 1Q12 year on year. A weak European economy and ongoing cuts to mobile termination rates are the main causes.

The UK firm Cable & Wireless, based in Bracknell, United Kingdom, has decided after 140 years it’s time to moving its headquarters to Florida. Maybe we should all follow?

Have you ever wondered where telephone numbers come from? Well, kids, there’s this bird called a stork that delivers the numbers to your phone company which is very happy to receive them… if only it were that simple.

We have previously reported on the FCC’s campaign to stamp out cell phone jamming devices. It turns out that the Commission has apparently found some guerilla allies in that campaign. In two recent Notices of Apparent Liability, two companies have been whacked with six-digit fines – $126,000 in one case, $144,000 in the other – for operating jammers. Both times the Feds were called in by anonymous tipsters.

Back in 2011 the FCC began collecting real-world user broadband data from customised routers, then issuing reports on which ISPs were failing to deliver advertised speeds. It's one of the few FCC policies in recent years that has truly paid dividends for consumers.