---------------------------------------------------------------------- Message-ID: <20190118231951.GA30873@telecom.csail.mit.edu> Date: Fri, 18 Jan 2019 18:19:51 -0500 From: Bill Horne <bill@horneQRM.net> Subject: Keller and Heckman's Telecommunications Procurement Upda= te Keller and Heckman LLP This Update is intended for enterprise IT, telecom, procurement staffs, and in-house counsel responsible for telecommunications management and procurements, focusing on strategies to maximize savings and optimize services to meet projected enterprise requirements. Industry Consolidation XO Communications is now part of Verizon, CenturyLink has acquired Level 3, and, among the cable operators, Charter has acquired Time Warner Cable. The environment is more favorable for multinationals that can look to Orange, BT, Tata, or Telefonica to compete for their international and rest-of-world services. Whether DoJ and the FCC, respectively, approve the T-Mobile and Sprint merger will remain an open question for several months. https://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=0a472bda-473c-4bbe-9c4e-fe5093030567 -- Bill Horne (Remove QRM from my email address to write to me directly) ------------------------------ Message-ID: <B817044E-215B-4860-901E-23D18F872F3F@roscom.com> Date: 17 Jan 2019 23:46:59 -0500 From: "Monty Solomon" <monty@roscom.com> Subject: Ajit Pai gives carriers free pass on privacy violations during FCC shutdown Ajit Pai gives carriers free pass on privacy violations during FCC shutdown By Jon Brodkin Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai refused a Democratic lawmaker's request to immediately address a privacy scandal involving wireless carriers, saying that it can wait until after the government shutdown is over. A Motherboard investigation published last week found that T-Mobile, Sprint, and AT&T are still selling their mobile customers' real-time location information to third-party data brokers, despite promises in June 2018 to stop the controversial practice. https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2019/01/ajit-pai-gives-carriers-free-pass-on-privacy-violations-during-fcc-shutdown/ ------------------------------ Message-ID: <F105AEFE-3B84-47AE-AF37-1C55B2FD8074@roscom.com> Date: 17 Jan 2019 23:47:41 -0500 From: "Monty Solomon" <monty@roscom.com> Subject: Verizon charges new "spam" fee for texts sent from teach= ers to students Verizon charges new =E2=80=9Cspam=E2=80=9D fee for texts sent from teachers= to students Remind says it must end free texts for Verizon users because of new fee. By Jon Brodkin A free texting service used by teachers, students, and parents may stop working on the Verizon Wireless network because of a dispute over texting fees that Verizon demanded from the company that operates the service. As a result, teachers that use the service have been expressing their displeasure with Verizon. Remind - the company that offers the classroom communication service - criticized Verizon for charging the new fee. Remind said its service's text message notifications will stop working on the Verizon network on January 28 unless Verizon changes course. (Notifications sent via email or via Remind's mobile apps will continue to work.) https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2019/01/verizon-price-hike-could-kill-free-texting-service-for-teachers-and-students/ ------------------------------ Message-ID: <vKKdnX4CZqwlY93BnZ2dnUU7-S_NnZ2d@giganews.com> Date: 17 Jan 2019 17:16:24 -0500 From: Retired <retired@home.com> Subject: Re: New telephone evildoers? On 1/17/19 3:46 PM, HAncock4 wrote: > On Wednesday, January 16, 2019 at 6:16:21 PM UTC-5, Brian Gordon wrote: >> I'm aware of evildoers trying to record you saying "yes" on the phone, >> but I think I got a variant this afternoon. After the usual "This is >> xxx calling on a recorded line" stuff, they said they wanted some >> poilitical opinions. >> >> I wasn't busy, so I held on. The questions were to be answered >> "approve, dissaprove, or no opinion". Sounded a little strange >> instead of a simple yes/no, but I answered "approve" to the first >> question. Then they asked me to repeat that - and I hung up. >> >> Perhaps I'm now schediled to answer "approve" on some slimey sales >> pitch. > Unless you give out your credit card number, I don't understand > how recording your "approval" could result in getting any money. > I can't see how they'd collect. > The "Can you hear me" scam did not necessarily involve a credit card. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Can_You_Hear_Me?_(telephone_scam) ***** Moderator's Note ***** The Wikipedia article cited mentions that Snopes classified the "scam" as "unproven." It ends with this quote: Tom Lyons, a columnist at the Sarasota Herald-Tribune, and an official at the caller ID company Hiya theorized that the purported calls were an automated dialer employed by a telemarketing firm to confirm the authenticity of the telephone numbers on its dialing lists, and not an attempt at financial fraud. - Lyons, Tom (February 1, 2017). "Lyons: A phone scam, or an urban legend?". Sarasota Herald-Tribune. Retrieved February 18, 2017. http://www.heraldtribune.com/news/20170201/lyons-phone-scam-or-urban-legend Bill Horne Moderator ------------------------------ ********************************************* End of telecom Digest Sat, 19 Jan 2019