Tag Archive for: FCC

FCC is Looking to Update its Definition of Broadband – Broadband Breakfast

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WASHINGTON, September 26, 2023 – Industry associations are praising a proposal from the Federal Communications Commission Thursday to review coverage areas based on updated commission maps so that the 5G Fund can reach more communities without the wireless technology.

Thursday’s vote proposes to help dictate the eligibility requirements for areas in need of support of the 5G Rural Fund for America.

The commission proposed adjusting the $9-billion budget allocated for the 5G Fund, the optimal methodology for consolidating eligible areas into smaller geographic regions for bidding, the feasibility to extend 5G Fund support to qualifying regions in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, possibly mandating cybersecurity and supply chain risk management plans for 5G Fund recipients, and the possibility of whether the 5G Fund should be utilized to encourage the deployment of Open Radio Access Networks.

“What this means is that as we develop the 5G Fund and build the successor to our existing universal service program supporting wireless networks in rural America, known as the Mobility Fund, we will be able to incorporate this detailed picture of where service is and is not,” FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel said. “We will be able to see gaps in coverage and ensure support actually reaches the communities that need it most.”

Meredith Attwell Baker, president and CEO of industry association CTIA, praised the commission’s decision “for recognizing the crucial role that mobile wireless services play in keeping Americans connected.”

“Implementing the 5G Fund and using the FCC’s new maps will help extend the benefits of advanced 5G services to more communities and consumers,” she said.

Tim Donovan, president and CEO of the Competitive Carriers Association, also praised the decision, saying the 5G Fund “has been a top priority for CCA, and we will continue to work with the Commission and our members to ensure the final rules preserve and expand mobile broadband access to every American.”

The commission also adopted Thursday new regulations to expedite space applications, the availability of spectrum resources for space launches, old rules to…

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FCC Locks Down Router Firmware

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For years, we have been graced with consumer electronics that run some form of Linux, have a serial port on the circuit board somewhere, and are able to be upgraded through official and unofficial means. That digital picture frame you got for Christmas in 2007 and forgot to regift in 2008? That’s a computer, and it would make a wonderful Twitter feed display. Your old Linksys WRT54G router? You can make a robotic lawnmower out of that thing. The ability to modify the firmware of consumer electronics is the cornerstone of Hackaday’s editorial prerogative. Now that right we have all enjoyed is in jeopardy, thanks to regulations from the FCC and laziness from router manufacturers.

Several months ago, the FCC proposed a rule that governed the certification of RF equipment, specifically wireless routers. This regulation would require router manufacturers to implement security on the radio modules inside these routers. While these regulations only covered the U-NII bands – the portion of the spectrum used for 5GHz WiFi, and there was no expectation of implementing security on the CPU or operating system of these routers, there were concerns. Routers are built around a System on Chip, with the CPU and radio in a single package. The easiest way to prevent modification of the radio module would be to prevent modification to the entire router. Some would call it fear mongering, but there was an expectation these proposed FCC rules would inevitably lead to wireless routers being completely locked down.

These expectations have become reality. Libre Planet has received confirmation from a large router manufacturer that firmware is now being locked down thanks to FCC rule changes.

News of this change to router firmware comes from a Battlemesh mailing list, a contest centered around modifying WiFi routers for mesh networking and ad-hoc networks. According to a  customer service rep, TP-Link has locked down the firmware for several models of WiFi routers due to the new FCC rule change. The models affected include the most recent 802.11n from TP-Link, and there is no way to use other firmware on these routers.

The controversy surrounding the FCC’s rule change has ebbed and…

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FCC Eyes Shrinking Mobile Phone Carriers’ Breach Report Window

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Companies such as AT&T Inc., Verizon Communications Inc., and T-Mobile US Inc. would have to notify regulators and law enforcement as soon as practicable after discovering a breach of customers’ data under a proposal from the Federal Communications Commission.

Telecommunications providers also would be required to notify customers without unreasonable delay, as part of proposed updates to the FCC’s existing data breach rules released Friday. The agency is asking for public comment on whether to set a specific timeframe— like within 24 or 72 hours of discovery of a breach—or if the deadline for disclosures should vary based …

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Open-source Leader Advocates Strong FCC Enforcement of Routing Security

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The Federal Communications Commission should consider imposing comprehensive tests and fines—after fair warning and guidance—to ensure internet service providers are taking minimal steps to protect the global internet routing system from malicious hackers, according to comments a leader in the open-source security community submitted to the agency.

“Voluntary compliance has failed to ensure compliance with even basic measures; companies have negligently allowed hijacking for decades, even when well-known and practical countermeasures exist,” wrote David Wheeler, director of open source supply-chain security for the Linux Foundation. “The FCC should establish a testing regime to ensure that Internet routing, if depended on by others, strongly resists hijacks using currently practical measures such as [Resource Public Key Infrastructure]”

Comments were due Monday in response to an inquiry the FCC made on the issue in the wake of the Russia-Ukraine conflict. The commission is concerned about hackers’—particularly powerful nation-state actors’—ability to manipulate the Border Gateway Protocol to redirect internet traffic by pretending to offer a more efficient network path. Resource Public Key Infrastructure, or RPKI, refers to a system of certificates and cryptographic attestation for stakeholders to validate the origin and authorize the route internet traffic should take. 

In response to the FCC asking about the extent to which network operators have implemented available security measures, Wheeler pointed to a test established by the content distribution network Cloudflare. The test is a simple red-team exercise that advertises a route known to be spurious. Cloudflare committed to implementing RPKI in the fall of 2018.   

“Those US organizations who fail should be notified, provided guidance on how to fix the problem, & given a grace period … to (re)gain compliance,” Wheeler said. “After the grace period there need to be incentives for failing US organizations to change to implement at least minimal efforts … These incentives should include grants if the organization is a not-for-profit, publishing a list of non-compliant entities, and then…

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