Mobile 'Net Neutrality' Faces New Day of Reckoning at FCC

As reported by Reuters: A surge in mobile Internet usage has U.S. regulators considering whether to apply the same rules to fixed and wireless Internet traffic, and large technology firms are siding with consumer advocates to call for such a change.

The Federal Communications Commission is now rewriting the so-called "net neutrality" rules, aimed at ensuring that Internet providers do not unfairly block or slow down users' access to content on the web, after their 2010 version was rejected in January by an appeals court. As part of that process, the agency is seeking comments on whether it should take a fresh look at distinctions now drawn between wireless and wireline networks.

Consumer groups have long advocated stricter anti-blocking and anti-discrimination rules for mobile web traffic. This year, they have powerful allies in Internet companies like Google and Facebook, who see mobile as an increasingly popular platform.

"The distinction between wireless and wireline is certainly not the same as it was... The enforceable net neutrality rules should apply equally, whether you use the Internet on your mobile or home broadband," said Michael Beckerman, head of the Internet Association, which represents three dozen web companies including Amazon.com and Netflix.

"There will be differences in terms of network management, but at the end of the day, the same fundamental principles ... need to apply to the mobile world."

The new look at the rules comes as Americans routinely use smartphones to watch videos and browse websites. A growing number of U.S. consumers, many of them low income, non-white and young, rely on such devices as their primary means of Internet access.

The lines between fixed and broadband continue to blur as mobile carriers develop fixed broadband businesses of their own and use Wi-Fi to offload wireless data traffic, and cable broadband providers create Wi-Fi hotspots for their customers.

Under the 2010 rules, both fixed and wireless Internet providers were banned from blocking users' access to legal websites, with exclusions for reasonable network management.

But wireline carriers also couldn't block legal applications or "unreasonably discriminate" against any legal web traffic or apps, while wireless providers were only banned from blocking applications that competed with their own voice or video calling services.

Wireless carriers say it would be unwise to impede their customers' freedom to roam the web, and that stricter rules would hurt how they manage their dynamic shared networks, leading to slower Internet speeds for everyone.

"The FCC already acknowledged the unique nature of wireless, specifically the technical and operational challenges our industry faces, including the need to ... actively manage networks to provide high quality service to a customer base that is constantly on the go," said Meredith Attwell Baker, CEO of CTIA, the wireless trade group.

Both sides plan to lobby the FCC as the agency collects public comments on its proposed rules until Sept. 10. Scrutiny on the wireless space promises to be more intense than before.

"It'll be a topic that will have big resonance among the commissioners: why should wireless be treated differently than wireline in terms of net neutrality," said one senior FCC official, who spoke anonymously to discuss the ongoing review.

New Airport Passenger Location Technology to be Rolled Out

As reported by GulfNews: SITA, air transport IT and communications specialists, is set to roll out mobile phone friendly beacons at 10 global airports, including airports in the Middle East, over the next 12 months that will streamline passenger airport experiences.

SITA is in talks with “major hubs in Europe, United States, Asia and the Middle East,” said Kevin O’Sullivan, Lead Engineer at SITA Lab, an innovation division.

O’Sullivan was speaking at a press conference on the sidelines of the SITA Air Transport IT Summit in Brussels on Wednesday. 

The beacons use Bluetooth low energy technology (BlE) that transmit signals that can be received by iPhone IOS 7 and later software and newer Android models.

Passengers will be able to download airline specific mobile applications that connect with the beacons. The application will provide passengers with directions, walk times to gates, lounge access and boarding alerts by using the beacon signals to locate where the passenger is in the airport.

The beacons can transmit signals to mobile devices that are up to a kilometer away.

SITA also announced on Wednesday it is launching the Common-use Beacon Registry that will set an industry standard by defining data sets and beacon types to be positioned at airports.

Six-month trial
American Airlines is spearheading the rollout of the technology with a 180-day trial in conjunction with SITA at Dallas Forth Worth International where beacons have been placed throughout Terminal D.

American and SITA have been testing beacons for the past nine months and is using a brand called StickNFind that is slightly larger than a Dh1 coin. SITA and American Airlines did not disclose the costs of the trial. However, Phil Easter, American Airlines Director of Mobile Apps, said that each device, with a battery lifespan of up to five years, costs about $10.

American is confident the beacons will improve passenger experiences and lower costs and will roll it out to the general public in the next quarter through an integrated application, Easter said.

He added, that 65% of American Airlines’ passengers arrive at the gate early because they are “scared” of missing their flight. He also said that many complaints from passengers are because they did not hear that the boarding gate had changed.

Airlines have to unload passenger baggage if the passenger misses the flight, which can cause roll on delays that disrupt the networking and ultimately increase costs.

Privacy

The beacon passenger location technology raises concerns over passenger privacy. The beacons do not transmit data, just a signal to the passengers mobile device, however, airlines will be able to collect data through the application.

It is unlikely there will be an airline beacon app, rather the feature will be tied into a passengers existing airline application that they use to track membership points, flight details and to make bookings.

However, Easter dismissed concerns and said that American will not be tracking passenger movement. He added that it is “opt-in” technology that passengers elect to use. The feature will not work unless the passenger has downloaded the application.

Google's 'Auto Link' to Rival Apple's CarPlay

As reported by MotorAuthority: It was only a matter of time: Following the launch of Apple's CarPlay in-car operating system at this year's Geneva Motor Show, Google is set to reveal its own automotive operating system. Known internally as Google Auto Link, the company will reveal its system at a software developer conference this month.

As Automotive News reports, Auto Link is the first product developed in conjunction with the Open Automotive Alliance, a group of companies including Audi, General Motors Company [NYSE:GM], Honda, Hyundai, chipmaker NVIDIA Corp and Google itself. Just like CarPlay, it's not an "embedded" system but a "projected" one—an operating system that uses a driver's own smartphone operating system. In this case, that's Google's Android OS, available on a multitude of hand-held devices.

The interface hasn't yet been revealed, nor has any announcement been made as to which automaker will use the system first. When the Open Automotive Alliance was formed, the group said it would bring Android to cars "starting in 2014". By contrast, Apple's system was demonstrated at Geneva in conjunction with Volvo, whose new touchscreen infotainment system will feature CarPlay in the next-generation XC90 SUV. 

Other automakers set to use CarPlay include Ferrari, Honda, Hyundai, Jaguar and Mercedes-Benz.

Apple's CarPlay interface closely resembles that familiar to iPhone and iPad users, and handles several in-car functions—as well as letting users bring up certain smartphone apps in their vehicles. Google itself is familiar to many drivers from existing interfaces. Audi uses Google Earth satellite images for its GPS maps, while some Hyundai drivers can use a built-in Google search engine and voice commands to find nearby destinations.




In addition to Auto Link, Google is also making noise regarding new Android platform features which, in Google's own words, "enable the car itself to become a connected Android device". More details of this are expected soon.

Russia Launches Single GLONASS Satellite

As reported by GPS World: A single GLONASS-M satellite was launched from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome on Saturday, June 14, at 17:16 UTC. The satellite, GLONASS-M 55 (with designation 755 once operational and also known as Kosmos 2500), was inserted into the GLONASS constellation’s Plane 3 and will occupy orbital slot 21, according to ISS Reshetnev, the manufacturer of the satellite.

Reshetnev also reported that the satellite is equipped with an experimental payload capable of transmitting signals in the L3 frequency band. The L3 signal, centered at 1202.025 MHz , is CDMA unlike the GLONASS legacy FDMA signals. The experiment will include flight testing of the new equipment and evaluation of its accuracy characteristics. The GLONASS-K1 test satellite also transmits an L3 signal.  

A video of the launch can be viewed on the Zvezda (meaning “Star”) TV network run by the Russian Ministry of Defense.

LTE and GSM are Getting Hitched Thanks to New Technology

As reported by NetworkWorld: In the hunt for more spectrum to speed up mobile networks, Vodafone and Huawei Technologies have successfully tested a technology that lets LTE and GSM share the same frequencies.

The speed of future mobile networks will depend on the amount of spectrum mobile operators can get their hands on. The more they get, the wider the roads they can build.

One thing they can do to get more space is to reuse frequencies that are currently used for older technologies such as GSM and 3G. But that isn’t as easy as sounds, as operators still have a lot of voice and messaging traffic in those older networks. That traffic isn’t going away for a long time, irrespective of the level of competition from Internet-based services.

However, using a technology called GL DSS (GSM-LTE Dynamic Spectrum Sharing) Vodafone and Huawei have shown a way to allow GSM and LTE to coexist.

In a traditional mobile network, operators allocate each technology an exclusive set of frequencies. For example, many operators, including Vodafone, currently hold 20MHz of spectrum at 1.8GHz, of which 10MHz is used for LTE and the rest for GSM traffic.

GL DSS lets Huawei’s SRC (Single Radio Controller) give GSM a higher priority during periods of heavy traffic, ensuring that voice calls get though unharmed. But the SRC can also provide more room for LTE when users aren’t making calls, allowing for better throughput, the vendor said on Tuesday.

This trial verified the technology’s performance in Vodafone Spain’s commercial network, with LTE capacity gains of up to 50 percent, according to Huawei. That equals another 32.5Mbps of bandwidth, on paper. Smartphones and other devices with a cellular connection don’t have to be upgraded for the technology to work.

“What we see now is that GSM and 3G will live much longer than anyone expected. This could be one of the things you as a carrier do to increase sustainability and scalability,” said Sylvain Fabre, research director at Gartner.

Huawei and Vodafone didn't say when they expect GL DSS will become available to users.

Google Trials LTE in Project Loon’s Balloons Over Brazil

As reported by ZDNet:A year on from firing up its first wi-fi balloons in New Zealand, Google has flown its first LTE-equipped balloons in a remote town in Brazil.

Project Loon may have been overshadowed by Google's more recent $500m aerial manoeuvre and speculation it will launch a constellation of satellites. But the project which started in New Zealand nearly a year ago and aims to deliver broadband to underserved parts of the world is making progress.

Google announced on Monday it had launched an LTE-equipped balloon on the rural outskirts of Campo Maior in the north east of Brazil, connecting a local school Linoca Gayoso to the internet for the first time.

The community currently doesn't have a broadband or mobile service, which means locals rely on a few locations where a weak mobile signal can be found — including up in trees or next to soccer goalposts.

The addition of LTE to the balloons brings several benefits, according to Google. Markets where 4G LTE has launched know it for higher speed mobile broadband, but in Loon it serves a different purpose. It could allow Google to provide an internet signal directly to mobile phones as well as deliver services over longer distances than wi-fi.

(The radios used in Google's New Zealand launch operated on unlicensed spectrum in the 2.4GHz and 5.8GHz bands used in wi-fi.)

The other benefit of LTE is that carriers are already using it on their networks. "This means that when Loon partners with telcos to deliver last-mile connectivity, we will be able to use the telecommunications companies' existing infrastructure, which will allow us to deliver service to rural and remote users seamlessly and quickly," Google said.

In its Brazilian LTE Loon trial, Google worked with two local operators — Vivo and Telebrás — to essentially extend the reach of their respective 3G and backhaul networks.

"Working with both partners allowed the team to confirm that Loon could extend LTE coverage from a 3G wireless zone or from a fibre backbone," Google said.

Google said its intent since launching the first balloons was to find partners and says its New Zealand launch was supported by Vodafone NZ.

Before the project launched, the Loon team were actually planning to buy spectrum for itself, "Captain of Moonshots" Astro Teller told Tech Crunch Disrupt earlier this year.

However, Teller said that Google CEO Larry Page wouldn't allow it, in part because it would have sparked fears that Google was "invading" the country where it launched.

The Brazilian LTE Loon trial comes after Google applied to the US communications regulator to test Loon in North Nevada using spectrum designated for LTE services. Earlier this month one of the Loon balloons, likely launched from Nevada, crashed in a remote part of Washington State, cutting a power line.

Nissan, BMW Interested in Talks with Tesla About Vehicle Charging

As reported by PC Magazine: Following this week's announcement by Tesla that the electric car manufacturer had no interest in bringing patent lawsuits against "anyone who, in good faith, wants to use our technology" said CEO Elon Musk, the interest of a few of the world's larger car manufacturers has been piqued. According to the Financial Times, both Nissan and BMW are allegedly "keen" to chat with Tesla about possibly working together to develop charging networks that all three manufacturers' vehicles could use.

Musk's announcement was a bit of a surprise this past week, with some seeing it as helpful suggestion by the company for pushing the growth of the electric vehicle market to new heights. Others chastised Tesla's announcement, commenting that it was a sign of the company's weakness that it has to start resorting to more eye-opening measures to move an industry that, by large, is fairly gasoline-focused. Without such a shift, critics argued, Tesla might not have enough individual oomph to make it in the difficult car market.

"Given that annual new vehicle production is approaching 100 million per year and the global fleet is approximately 2 billion cars, it is impossible for Tesla to build electric cars fast enough to address the carbon crisis. By the same token, it means the market is enormous. Our true competition is not the small trickle of non-Tesla electric cars being produced, but rather the enormous flood of gasoline cars pouring out of the world's factories every day," Musk wrote.

"We believe that Tesla, other companies making electric cars, and the world would all benefit from a common, rapidly-evolving technology platform. "

According to undisclosed sources speaking to the Financial Times, both Nissan and BMW would be interested in working with Tesla to craft up some universal vehicle charging standards. To quote unnamed official: ""It is obviously clear that everyone would benefit if there was a far more simple way for everyone to charge their cars."

It's currently unclear whether said partnership would involve the companies using Tesla's proprietary charging setup in both companies' cars, or whether all three would come together and use their collective brain trust to come up with an inventive new way to charge electric vehicles quickly.

Such a partnership wouldn't be Tesla's first; the company has already teamed up with Mercedes-Benz to put its charging system (and other electrical components) in the manufacturer's B-class Electric Drive.