FCC: We didn’t impose stricter net neutrality regulations on wireless because Android is open
Rest assured that we're working on a full analysis of the FCC's major net neutrality decision today, but the Commission hasn't actually released the full text of the order yet, and we just came across something in the press release we wanted to break out: one of the specific reasons the FCC gives for regulating wireless broadband more lightly than wireline is the release of Android. Seriously -- the release says that only "measured steps" to regulating wireless are necessary because "open operating systems like Android" have been released, and that it wants to see how Verizon and other 700MHz spectrum winners handle the hotly-contested openness requirement when building out 4G
Categories: Android, Mobile Phone, Other Tags: access, after-the-droid, block, fcc, net neutrality, openness, verizon, wireless
FCC passes limited net neutrality rules, almost no one happy about them
Well, no surprises here -- the FCC just passed a set of limited net neutrality rules by a 3-2 vote. The three Democratic Commissioners, including FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski, voted yes, while the two Republican Commissioners both strongly dissented -- to quote Commissioner Meredith Baker, "I really, really, really dissent." The rules haven't been made public yet, but the general understanding is that wired broadband will be more heavily regulated than wireless -- a crucial point as carriers begin investigating pay-per-service charges . That means even net neutrality advocates are unhappy with today's decision -- Democratic Commissioner Michael Copps straight-up said, "Today's action could -- and should -- have gone further." What's more, we're hearing that Verizon is already considering a challenge -- which is odd since the rules appear to track closely with that joint Verizon / Google proposal from the summer.
Categories: Mobile Phone Tags: advocates, animation, charges, columbia, commissioner, Crucial, democratic, fcc, law, net neutrality, netneutrality, professor, result, verizon
Wireless carriers openly considering charging per service
That slide above is no joke -- it comes from a marketing webinar put on by two companies that count Verizon, AT&T and Vodafone as clients, and it describes a system that identifies customer internet activity and charges a different rate for using Facebook than watching YouTube, while allowing access to Vodafone services for free. Yes, that's basically the nightmare scenario for net neutrality advocates.
Categories: Mobile Phone, Other Tags: allot communications, facebook, fcc, internet, joke, marketing, net neutrality, netneutrality, operator, techniques, the-application, two-companies, verizon, webinar
Engadget Mobile Podcast 067 – 12.18.2010
The Engadget Mobile Podcast: One part Canadian.
Categories: Android, BlackBerry, Mobile Phone Tags: certification, christmas, engadget mobile podcast, engadgetmobile, fcc, math, phone, podcast, podcasts, ziegler
Verizon’s Palm Pre 2 shown briefly in pulled eBay auction?
Still in disbelief that Big Red will one day be home to Palm's Pre 2 ?
Categories: Mobile Phone Tags: amongst-the-fcc, auction, fcc, largest-carrier, leak, p102eww, palm, palmpre2, photos, stroke, verizon-wireless, verizonwireless
Dell Venue Pro gets FCC certification — with AT&T 3G
If we had a dollar for every time we heard someone lament, "if only the Venue Pro worked on AT&T," we'd have... like, 30 dollars. At least! It's on that note that we bring news to you this evening of a new Venue Pro variant in the FCC's archives sporting WCDMA Band II and V support, which is exactly what you'd need to get fancy on the 3G networks of AT&T, Rogers, Bell, or Telus.
Categories: Mobile Phone Tags: entry, evening, fcc, happy-getting, heard-someone, lament, market, result, track-record, v02s, venue pro, venuepro, windows phone 7, windowsphone7
FCC to auction off deadbeat bidders’ 700MHz spectrum on July 19th, 2011
If there's one thing we've learned from our stratospheric rise in smartphone adoption over the past several years (with no end in sight), it's that we can never have enough spectrum to run data services for them -- just ask the chairman of the FCC , the president of the CTIA , or pretty much anyone who's ever tried to load Engadget on an iPhone in Times Square. To that end, we're excited to see that the FCC has slated another round of 700MHz spectrum -- the pure gold that Verizon, AT&T, and others are using for LTE deployments -- but we wouldn't get too excited, because it's actually just a few blocks left over from the last auction that went unsold or unpaid
Categories: Mobile Phone, Other Tags: 700mhz, another-round, bismarck, fcc, iphone, north-carolina, south-carolina, spectrum, times, verizon, virginia
Samsung’s SCH-LC11 CDMA / LTE mobile hotspot gets FCC approval, probably Verizon bound
We've heard rumors that Novatel is working on an LTE -enabled version of its MiFi for Verizon, likely for launch early next year -- but you've got to figure that a few other manufacturers would like a slice of that sweet, juicy 4G pie, right?
Categories: Mobile Phone, Other Tags: approval, device-right, fcc, hotspot, lte, novatel, Relationship, verizon, verizonwireless
ASUS E600 WP7 smartphone stops by the FCC, possibly destined for AT&T
ASUS was definitely one of the early players to get all excited about Windows Phone 7 , yet as the OS release came and went all we were left with was a couple of blurrycam shots and a little video of a four-inch slab from the company.
Categories: Mobile Phone, Other Tags: actually-never, att, e600, entry, fcc, four-inch, four-inch-slab, retail-release, slab, windows-phone, windowsphone7, wp7
Samsung SCH-R400 is a cute full-touch dumbphone, looks destined for US
It's extraordinarily rare for a Samsung phone to show up in the FCC with full photography available to the public ahead of its official introduction, so color us surprised to see this lil' SCH-R400 hanging out today. It's an 850 / 1900MHz CDMA device with EV-DO, suggesting it'd probably go to Verizon, Sprint, or US Cellular -- Cricket and MetroPCS would almost certainly be off the table since both of those guys use AWS in their coverage
Categories: Android, Mobile Phone Tags: basic-dumbphone, been-kicking, cricket, cute-full-touch, engadget, engadget-mobile, fcc, guys, mobile, public, r700, samsung, sprint