FCC Chair Recommends Approving T-Mobile-Sprint Merger
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| FCC Chair Recommends Approving T-Mobile-Sprint Merger | |
| Number | 842 |
| Broadcast Date | MAY 20, 2019 |
| Episode Length | 5:07 |
| Hosts | Rich Stroffolino |
FCC chair Ajit Pai recommends approval for the T-Mobile-Sprint merger, the NOAA warns Congress that some 5G spectrum may impact weather forecasting, and Huawei reportedly losses access to Google services.
Headlines
- US FCC chair Ajit Pai stated he will recommend approving the $26.5 billion Sprint-T-Mobile merger. The statement came after the two companies agreed to spin off Sprint's Boost Mobile prepaid service, as well as 3-year build out plan for 5G service with a commitment to not raise prices during its construction. Pai said he will prepare an order on the merger in the coming weeks, which will need approval by 3 of the 5 FCC Commissioners. The US Department of Justice's antitrust division and several state attorneys general are still examining the deal.
- National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration head, Neil Jacobs, told the House Subcommittee on the Environment that use of 24-gigahertz frequency band for 5G service could reduce weather forecast accuracy by up to 30%, roughly as accurate as forecasting in the 1980s. The issue is that water vapor emits a faint signal at 23.8GHz, and the NOAA estimates 77 percent data loss from its satellite’s passive microwave sounders, reducing the ability to predict hurricanes by as much as two days, as an example. Jacobs also warned that other spectrum up for potential auction could have a similar impact. Senators Ron Wyden and Maria Cantwell have written a letter to FCC chair Ajit Pai requesting company's stop using the frequency until a solution is found.
- Bloomberg reports that, according to sources, Intel, Qualcomm, Broadcom and Xilinx told employees the companies will not supply components to Huawei as a result of being named on the US Department of Commerce's Entity List last week. Additionally, Reuters reports that Google stopped supplying hardware, software, and technical service to Huawei, including the ability to install the Google Play Store on new Android devices. Existing Huawei Android users will still have access to Google services, but will not receive OS or security updates. The open source Android operating system is still available to Huawei, but not any proprietary Google services.
- The Italian Antitrust Authority announced a preliminary investigation into the dominant position of Google's Android operating system. The investigation comes from a complaint from the Italian energy company Enel, which stated Google refused to integrate its Enel X Recharge app, to help find charging stations for electric vehicles, into Android Auto. Google denied the app due to failure to comply with Android Auto safety standards, and offered Enel the ability to integrate its charging map into Google Maps.
- Amazon added flight ticket purchases to its Amazon Pay service in India. in partnership with local travel service Cleartrip. Amazon Pay is becoming a super app that lets you buy movie tickets, order food delivery, buy bus tickets, pay utility bills, and top off your phone. last month Amazon added peer-to-peer money transfer in its Android app in India. Super Apps are a trend in India (as well in Asia). India's top mobile wallet Paytm and ride-hailing app Ola both added credit cards this week. TechCrunch points out another example, call-screening app TrueCaller has also added messaging and payments.
- Spotify will begin public testing of its first hardware product, a voice controlled smart assistant called Car Thing. It plugs into the 12-volt outlet - aka cigarette lighter - and connects to the car and your phone over Bluetooth. A circular screen shows what's being played and a series of buttons can be linked to playlists. Spotify says it will use the device to learn more about how people listen to music and podcasts. Spotify trademarked Voice Thing and Home Thing in addition to Car Thing. Spotify will contact selected Premium users in the US in the next few weeks to offer the chance to try Car Thing for free.
- Google is adding two new features to Live Transcribe, which automatically transcribes speech. The first is adding sound events like a dog barking, ringing phone, laughter and more with an indicator that appears at the bottom of the screen. The second new feature is the ability to save transcriptions for up to three days locally on the phone. Live Transcribe is available on Android phones and the new features will roll out next month.
- Xiaomi reported in Q1 it earned 43.8 billion yuan in revenue (roughly $6.33 billion), and increase of 27% on the year, and beating analyst expectations of 42.1 billion. International markets outside of China accounted for 38% of total revenue, an increase of 35% on the year. Smartphone sales accounted for 61.7% of revenue, but IoT and Lifestyle products, led by smart TVs, accounted for 27.5% of revenue, up 5% on the year. Xiaomi stated it now has over 261 million monthly active users through its MIUI operating system, and 171 million IoT devices, up 37% and 70% on the year, respectively.
- Google notified creators it will shutdown its cloud-based VR video stitching service Jump on June 28. Users will not be able to upload new footage as of June 26. Google cited a decline in Jump usage do to the emergence of new cameras, formats, and editing tools.
Links
| Preceded by: "Week in Review for the Week of 5/13/19" |
FCC Chair Recommends Approving T-Mobile-Sprint Merger |
Followed by: "US Commerce Dept Eases Restrictions Against Huawei" |