FCC Mandates Data Roaming

On April 7th, 2011 the Federal Communications Commission adopted a rule aimed to “allow consumers with mobile data plans to remain connected when they travel outside their own provider’s network coverage areas by using another provider’s network.”

The FCC’s mandate is aimed at ensuring that widespread data plans are available on “commercially reasonable terms,” and comes after the lobbying of several smaller mobile networks, such as Sprint Nextel, in an attempt remain competitive among the larger wireless carriers.

Reports of a proposed acquisition of T-Mobile by AT&T were cited by Sprint’s  senior vice president of government affairs as a threat to continued wireless competition.

Several Republican Commissioners disagreed with their Democratic

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IEEE Spectrum Releases List of Top 11 Technologies of the Decade

 

IEEE SPECTRUM RELEASES LIST OF TOP 11 TECHNOLOGIES OF THE DECADE

Life Has Changed Remarkably in Just 10 Years!

 By John R. Harris

At the beginning of a year, or in this case the beginning of a decade, many people like to issue their “top ten” lists.  For its 1-11-11 issue of IEEE Spectrum magazine, the IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) decided to issue a “top eleven” list featuring its candidates for the dominant technologies of the decade.

It is remarkable how much things have changed in just ten years.  You couldn’t put your entire music collection on a portable phone. 

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