A bipartisan group of US senators are trying to force the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to face up to the reality that its statistics for broadband speeds across America aren't worth squat. A letter from 11 legislators, including Senators Joe Manchin (D-WV) and James Lankford (R-OK), strongly urges Ajit Pai, boss of …

The White House and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) have both announced big plans to expand broadband internet access across the United States. In the first, the Trump Administration has highlighted a new report drawn up the Department of Commerce that aims to use federal resources to jumpstart flagging internet …

AnalysisWhen the Democrats took over the House of Representatives in America, one of the first things that the House Energy and Commerce Committee did was call a hearing on net neutrality. We had a familiar feeling of dread at the time. But it's OK, everyone, because yesterday that session, featuring two former heads of federal comms …

AnalysisUS lawmakers have again called for an investigation into cell networks after it emerged that they have been selling specially protected user location data intended only for emergency services. Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR), who has repeatedly highlighted privacy violations by mobile operators, today called out Ajit Pai, boss of …

The chairs of the US House of Reps' commerce and technology committees have picked a fight with FCC boss Ajit Pai, accusing him of being a corporate stooge. In the letter [PDF], Energy and Commerce Chairman Frank Pallone (D-NJ) and Communications and Technology Subcommittee Chairman Mike Doyle (D-PA) accuse the watchdog's head …

AnalysisA year after the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) was sued for scrapping America's net neutrality rules, the issue finally ended up in court on Friday. The hearing, held in Washington DC, went on for hours. In fact, it went on for so long that one judge jokingly asked one of the lawyers whether he had brought some pizza …

US telecoms regulator the FCC has been accused of colluding with companies it is supposed to oversee in order to protect a controversial decision over new 5G networks. Chair of the House Commerce chair, Frank Pallone, has sent a letter to FCC chair Ajit Pai asking for copies of communications between the FCC and the big telcos …

A Vermont state employee drove 6,000 miles in six weeks to prove that the cellular coverage maps from the US government suck – and was wildly successful. In fact not only did he prove conclusively that reports delivered to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) by mobile operators aren't worth the paper they're printed on …

UpdatedAmerica's broadband watchdog, the FCC, has asked the courts to postpone an appeal against its net neutrality repeal out of "an abundance of caution" due to the partial US government shutdown. The Washington DC court hearing the appeal has stated it will continue operating until January 25, at which point it will run out of …

America's comms watchdog – the FCC – has controversially forced local governments to charge a flat fee for 5G cell towers. It's a move opposed by everyone except the mobile operators, and has been challenged by new legislation. On Tuesday, California Congresswoman Anna Eshoo (D-CA) introduced HR 530, arguing that the regulator …

America's comms watchdog, the FCC, is under fire for refusing to brief Congressional staffers on what exactly it is doing about cellular networks selling citizens' location data to dodgy characters. Earlier this month, the fact that mobile operators continue to sell access to their users' real-time whereabouts to unscrupulous …

Three and a half years after debuting Project Soli radar-based gesture input system, Google has received an exemption from the Federal Communication Commission that will allow the ad biz to run the system at higher power levels than regulations currently allow. Project Soli sensors consist of hardware capable of tracking hand …

AnalysisThe US government has added another $600m to the pot of money that is supposed to expand broadband internet access to rural areas of America. But it remains far from clear how effective the program will be. This time the US Department of Agriculture is the federal agency in charge of the money, with the funds added to a must- …

AnalysisOne year ago today, the FCC passed a controversial measure that undermined its own rules, passed just two years earlier, over net neutrality. That anniversary has sparked a series of articles, interviews and tweets today from policymakers that highlight a critical fact: The issue remains so toxic that sober analysis and …

Just how much do you hate Comcast? Enough to spend $1m of your own money to escape its clutches? That was the question facing the small town of Charlemont, Massachusetts, which boasts just 1,300 residents and which, back in 2015, decided it wanted to install its own municipal broadband fiber network. Fast forward three years …

AnalysisISPs should be paid to provide slower internet speeds to poor people. That's the extraordinary upshot of a meeting between an ISP industry group and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in the US. In a letter [PDF] recording a meeting between the Wireless Internet Service Providers Association (WISPA) and the legal …

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has been criticized as "arbitrary and reckless" for pushing a plan to change how text messages are regulated without looking at the impact it may have. More than 20 organizations have written [PDF] to the American regulator on Wednesday asking it to delay or reconsider its plan to …

The rules over what companies selling internet access to folks are allowed to do are heading to America's law courts yet again. Yep, it's net neutrality round three – and with all the legal briefs now filed, we have dug through the competing arguments to try to discern which way it will go. The Washington DC Court of Appeals …