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The Telecom Digest for Tue, 19 Jan 2021
Volume 40 : Issue 19 : "text" format

table of contents
A Record-Breaking 5G Spectrum Auction Is Nearly Done. What It Means for AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile.
OH: Verizon Wireless customers can now resume calling Crawford County 911
AT&T, T-Mobile, Verizon urged to safeguard SMS, MMS related to riots
How law enforcement gets around your smartphone's encryption
---------------------------------------------------------------------- Message-ID: <20210118140006.F1A15761@telecom2018.csail.mit.edu> Date: Mon, 18 Jan 2021 14:00:06 +0000 (UTC) From: Moderator <telecomdigestsubmissions@remove-this.telecom-digest.org> Subject: A Record-Breaking 5G Spectrum Auction Is Nearly Done. What It Means for AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile. By Nicholas Jasinski U.S. telecom companies are about to spend the better part of $100 billion on wireless spectrum licenses in coveted frequencies most useful for their next-generation 5G networks. The Federal Communications Commission-run auction is close to its conclusion, after 75 rounds and more than $80 billion of bids already in. https://www.barrons.com/articles/a-record-breaking-5g-spectrum-auction-is-nearly-done-what-it-means-for-at-t-verizon-and-t-mobile-51610476201 ------------------------------ Message-ID: <20210118140735.78858761@telecom2018.csail.mit.edu> Date: Mon, 18 Jan 2021 14:07:35 +0000 (UTC) From: Moderator <telecomdigestsubmissions@remove-this.telecom-digest.org> Subject: OH: Verizon Wireless customers can now resume calling Crawford County 911 Verizon Wireless customers can now resume calling Crawford County 911 in the case of an emergency. Tuesday [Jan 13], the Crawford County Department of Public Safety announced Verizon Wireless callers were experiencing trouble calling Crawford County 911. Calls from Verizon customers were coming in distorted and garbled. https://www.yourerie.com/news/local-news/verizon-wireless-customers-can-now-resume-calling-crawford-county-911/ ------------------------------ Message-ID: <20210118135551.C032B761@telecom2018.csail.mit.edu> Date: Mon, 18 Jan 2021 13:55:51 +0000 (UTC) From: Moderator <telecomdigestsubmissions@remove-this.telecom-digest.org> Subject: AT&T, T-Mobile, Verizon urged to safeguard SMS, MMS related to riots by Monica Alleven After last week's riots at the U.S. Capitol, U.S. Senator Mark R. Warner, (D-Virginia), asked Verizon, T-Mobile and AT&T to immediately work to preserve all SMS and MMS communications created by or sent to their subscribers during the days leading up to, during and the day after the event. Warner on Friday sent letters to Verizon CEO Hans Vestberg, T-Mobile CEO Mike Sievert and AT&T Communications CEO Jeff McElfresh encouraging them to take steps to ensure they're able to respond should law enforcement come knocking for those records. https://www.fiercewireless.com/wireless/verizon-t-mobile-at-t-urged-to-safeguard-sms-mms-messages-related-to-riots ------------------------------ Message-ID: <8784D4B5-4F82-4083-BA1F-A69E89A5FA6B@roscom.com> Date: 16 Jan 2021 11:48:08 -0500 From: "Monty Solomon" <monty@roscom.com> Subject: How law enforcement gets around your smartphone's encryption How law enforcement gets around your smartphone's encryption By Lily Hay Newman Openings provided by iOS and Android security are there for those with the right tools. Lawmakers and law enforcement agencies around the world, including in the United States, have increasingly called for backdoors in the encryption schemes that protect your data, arguing that national security is at stake. But new research indicates governments already have methods and tools that, for better or worse, let them access locked smartphones thanks to weaknesses in the security schemes of Android and iOS. https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2021/01/how-law-enforcement-gets-around-your-smartphones-encryption/ ***** Moderator's Note ***** These sorts of stories crop up at regular intervals, and they have three regular messages: 1. Be very afraid: the TLA can read your emails. 2. Except, almost nobody else can. 3. Brand Name "X" is the most secure. They're advertising hype: free ink for brand "X" (or a paid product placement) trying to entice buyers to "trust" brand "X" because they complained loudly and refused to hand over their encryption secrets when "police" demanded them, except that everyone involved knows that TLA could always break the encryption anyway. Do you want to keep your communications secret? Don't trust electronic media to carry them from one place to another: you'd be better off using lemon juice and snail mail. Bill Horne Moderator ------------------------------ ********************************************* End of telecom Digest Tue, 19 Jan 2021
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