THE WRAP: A global regulation frenzy; ex-DT staffer jailed for spying

Robert Clark | December 03, 2010

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This week the EC launched a probe into Google’s dominance of search, and Deutsche Tel took to the skies

The European Commission launched an investigation into Google’s dominance of the search market following complaints that it had given favorable treatment to its own products and downgraded rivals.

Top EC telecom regulator Neelie Kroes threatened action against national regulators for approving steep wholesale price rises.

India’s new telecom minister Kapil Sibal sent show-cause letters to 85 2G licensees suspected of being illegally awarded spectrum.

German regulator Bundesnetzagentur drew widespread criticism from carriers for halving mobile termination rates, though the figure could be changed following talks.

As leaked State Department cables continued to publish daily, pressure from a key senator forced Amazon to unplug Wikileaks from its EC2 cloud service.

The site shifted to a Swiss hosting firm Friday morning, after being booted off its US DNS host

The FCC unveiled new rules for net neutrality barring ISPs from blocking or downgrading traffic but allowing them to use tiered pricing and data caps.

The bill to split Telstra became law, but the Australian government faces a fresh political battle over legislation setting the commercial terms for Telstra’s involvement in the NBN.

The Hong Kong government proposed spectrum charges for wireless backhaul and some fixed satellite services.

Avanti Communications launched Europe’s first broadband satellite, and O3b Networks raised €1.4b to fund a satellite backhaul network.

Deutsche Telekom launched a 5Mbps in-flight Wi-Fi service with Lufthansa, while a former security manager was jailed for spying on board members and journalists.

BT and AT&T launched what they said was the world’s first interoperable telepresence exchange.

Verizon Wireless prepped for the December 5 debut of the first US LTE network.

The rise of the iPad and other tablets is shrinking the PC market Gartner said, while iPhone users were revealed to be the most loyal smartphone customers.

Ericsson paid $50 million for Nortel’s last major asset a mobile R&D firm in southern China, Guangdong Nortel.

BT sold part of its 30% stake in Indian IT firm Tech Mahindra to partner Mahindra & Mahindra.

China’s state media called on the PLA to be prepared for cyber warfare and other online threats.

Google changed its search engine settings to tackle online piracy.

And the London School of Business and Finance offered the first MBA to be delivered through Facebook.

Source:

Robert Clark