---------------------------------------------------------------------- Message-ID: <20171021112343.GA18617@telecom.csail.mit.edu> Date: Sat, 21 Oct 2017 07:23:43 -0400 From: Bill Horne <bill@horneQRM.net> Subject: Apple enabling emergency AT&T LTE in Puerto Rico using Google balloons Apple enabling emergency AT&T LTE in Puerto Rico using Google's Project Loon balloons Apple is working with AT&T and Google parent-company Alphabet to enable emergency LTE in Puerto Rico after the island was devastated by Hurricane Maria last month. TechCrunch reports that Apple is issuing a carrier update this week using the service enable LTE Band 8 support. As 9to5Google reported earlier today, this emergency LTE is enabled by Alphabet's X division using Project Loon. Project Loon deploys balloons from Nevada to Puerto Rico where cell towers have been destroyed to restore cellular service to areas without coverage. The deployment is still experimental in nature but should have a real world impact. https://9to5mac.com/2017/10/20/iphone-lte-band-8-project-loon/ -- Bill Horne (Remove QRM from my email address to write to me directly) ------------------------------ Message-ID: <20171013071358.69022.qmail@submit.iecc.com> Date: Fri, 13 Oct 2017 03:13:40 -0400 From: bernieS <bernies@remove-this.panix.com> Subject: AT&T to Discontinue legacy Inward "121" Operator Assistance AT&T is seeking FCC approval to shut down its wholesale Inward Service, a move that reflects the service provider's ongoing effort to shed more of its legacy service base that have migrated to IP-based solutions. If AT&T gets the FCC's approval, the service provider plans to stop offering the service in April 2018. As an operator-to-operator general assistance service, Inward Assistance allows a subscribing carrier's operator to contact an AT&T operator and request dialing and/or routing information. In a typical service situation, an AT&T operator may provide the carrier's operator with dialing or routing information, such as identifying a city when given only a NPA-NXX or verifying that a specific number is a coin station. To subscribe to Inward Assistance a service provider must order, install and maintain inward trunks in every Local Access and Transport Area (LATA) to reach an AT&T operator for assistance. Since the demand for Inward Assistance has declined at a rate of about 17% per year for the last several years, AT&T said that "the public convenience and necessity will not be impaired by this service discontinuance." Further, AT&T said it has experienced an 86.7% decline in the volume of its inward service over the last five years as more customers have taken advantage of more modern technologies and/or services to communicate such as text messaging, instant messaging, social media, and mobile calling. AT&T said that given these usage trends, "there is little need for operator services generally, and carrier's operators have less of a need to contact an AT&T operator for inward assistance." http://www.fiercetelecom.com/telecom/at-t-to-discontinue-wholesale-legacy-inward-assistance-service-cites-low-usage ------------------------------ Message-ID: <3C486673-AC46-4615-90B1-5829551BBDC9@roscom.com> Date: Thu, 19 Oct 2017 22:12:43 -0400 From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com> Subject: Google Play apps with as many as 2.6m downloads found to contain malware Google Play apps with as many as 2.6m downloads added devices [they were running on] to botnet Google has booted eight Android apps from its Play marketplace, even though the apps have been downloaded as many as 2.6 million times. The industry giant took action after researchers found that the apps add devices to a botnet and can perform denial-of-service attacks or other malicious actions. The stated purpose of the apps is to provide a skin that can modify the look of characters in the popular Minecraft: Pocket Edition game. Under the hood, the apps contain highly camouflaged malware known as Android.Sockbot, which connects infected devices to developer-controlled servers. This is according to a blog post published Wednesday by researchers from Symantec. The malware mostly targets users in the US, but it also has a presence in Russia, Ukraine, Brazil, and Germany. https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2017/10/google-play-apps-with-as-many-as-2-6m-downloads-added-devices-to-botnet/ ------------------------------ Message-ID: <20171021111200.GA18533@telecom.csail.mit.edu> Date: Sat, 21 Oct 2017 07:12:00 -0400 From: Bill Horne <bill@horneQRM.net> Subject: CenturyLink: Phone service restored in southeast Cedar Rapids, Iowa Customers reported the outage started last Tuesday; officials say contractor cut lines By Matthew Patane CenturyLink has restored landline phone service for customers in the southeast part of Cedar Rapids (Iowa) after the service went down last week. A contractor working on the sidewalk of 20th Street SE and Bever Street SE last week cut into the protective covering for CenturyLink's phone lines in the area. Some customers reported their phone service had been out since last Tuesday, Oct. 10. http://www.thegazette.com/centurylink-phone-service-restored-in-southeast-cedar-rapids-20171018 -- Bill Horne (Remove QRM from my email address to write to me directly) ------------------------------ Message-ID: <20171022040149.GA21940@telecom.csail.mit.edu> Date: Sun, 22 Oct 2017 00:01:49 -0400 From: Bill Horne <bill@horneQRM.net> Subject: Univision Amps Up Criticism Of Verizon In Carriage Dispute Univision Amps Up Criticism Of Verizon In Carriage Dispute, Cites Support From Congress & Hispanic Media Group by Dade Hayes Univision is ratcheting up its criticism of Verizon for deciding to "withhold Univision news, information and services from their Hispanic subscribers" by dropping the network's signal from its FiOS service in a carriage dispute. On Wednesday, the U.S. Hispanic TV network said Verizon had dropped it "entirely without warning." http://deadline.com/2017/10/univision-verizon-with-racial-bias-in-carriage-dispute-1202191683/ -- Bill Horne (Remove QRM from my email address to write to me directly) ------------------------------ Message-ID: <20171022034403.GA21902@telecom.csail.mit.edu> Date: Sat, 21 Oct 2017 23:44:03 -0400 From: Bill Horne <bill@horneQRM.net> Subject: Verizon's Long-Shot Bet To Disrupt Google And Facebook Facebook And Google dominate digital advertising, but Verizon wants to change that. Like many telcos, Verizon desperately wants to own more of the content that flows through its wired and wireless connections. It also has been building an online-advertising empire, from its acquisition of AOL in 2015 through its purchase of Yahoo, which closed earlier this year. But it has a long way to go to catch up with the big two, as revealed by the company's quarterly earnings report Thursday. It was the first full quarter since the Yahoo acquisition closed and the first time Verizon disclosed revenue from Oath, the subsidiary formed by mashing AOL and Yahoo together. It was a good quarter overall for Verizon. The company posted adjusted earnings of 98 cents per share on revenue of $31.7 billion, beating analyst expectations. About $2 billion of that revenue came from Oath. https://www.wired.com/story/verizons-longshot-bet-to-disrupt-google-and-facebook/ -- Bill Horne (Remove QRM from my email address to write to me directly) ------------------------------ Message-ID: <20171022035247.GA21920@telecom.csail.mit.edu> Date: Sat, 21 Oct 2017 23:52:47 -0400 From: Bill Horne <bill@horneQRM.net> Subject: Verizon Paying $17 Million In FCC Fraud Case Verizon Paying $17 Million In FCC Fraud Case, But Could Have Been Docked Much More Telecom giant should have paid $50 million plus, one commissioner says. By Aaron Pressman The U.S. Federal Communications Commission is under fire for letting Verizon get off easy by settling a high-profile over-billing investigation. FCC chairman and former Verizon lawyer Ajit Pai agreed to close the case with the carrier repaying $17 million to the government's E-rate program that subsidizes Internet connections for schools and libraries. Though the FCC won't publicly explain how the amount was calculated, it relates to excess payments Verizon received under the program in New York City schools thanks to a crooked consultant who was later imprisoned for fraud and theft. Verizon says it wasn't aware of the fraud but concedes that it received some payments "in error." http://fortune.com/2017/10/19/verizon-17-million-fcc-fraud/ -- Bill Horne (Remove QRM from my email address to write to me directly) ------------------------------ Message-ID: <20171022040712.GA21966@telecom.csail.mit.edu> Date: Sun, 22 Oct 2017 00:07:12 -0400 From: Bill Horne <bill@horneQRM.net> Subject: Verizon's Streaming TV Service Reportedly Delayed Until 2018 by Chaim Gartenberg Verizon has supposedly had its own over-the-top TV service in the works for a while now. Bloomberg first reported that it was supposed to launch in the summer back in March, and Verizon CEO Lowell McAdam confirmed in a Variety report that the company was working on the service in May. But those plans are apparently getting delayed even more: a new report from Bloomberg says that Verizon is now looking at a spring 2018 release date, at the earliest. The most recent delay means that whenever Verizon's service does launch, it'll be considerably behind competitors like AT&T's DirecTV Now, Google's YouTube TV, Sony's PlayStation Vue, and Dish's Sling TV, all of which will have months, if not years of a head start. Plus, Bloomberg's sources claim that Verizon's service will be similarly priced to competitors, so it probably won't have a competitive advantage there. https://www.theverge.com/2017/10/19/16504304/verizon-streaming-tv-service-delayed-spring-2018-report -- Bill Horne (Remove QRM from my email address to write to me directly) ------------------------------ ********************************************* End of telecom Digest Sun, 22 Oct 2017