FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler joined a U.S. delegation to Cuba last week that had talks with government officials and others about improving bilateral communications links and domestic Cuban systems. "The Cubans we met were proud people who recognize the benefits new telecommunications networks can bring to education, health care and economic growth," Wheeler said in a blog post Wednesday, saying the delegation was led by Ambassador Danny Sepulveda of the State Department and included technology community representatives. "Our message was simple: we want to help (already, for instance, two companies have roaming agreements with the state-owned telecom provider). We spoke about a new undersea cable connecting our countries, commercial relations for equipment and service providers, as well as an ongoing regulatory dialog." Wheeler said the Cubans talked about upgrading to DSL and 3G wireless and "we urged them to leapfrog such linear transitions and expand to state-of-the-art services." The U.S. delegation pledged to support Cuba's efforts, and members of the island's "small but growing entrepreneurial community [are] hungry for network connectivity," he said. "It is unclear, however, just how anxious the Cuban government is to open up expanded network capabilities." The FCC recently removed Cuba from an exclusion list for international Communications Act Section 214 authorizations, easing the way for U.S. telecom carriers to provide facilities-based voice and data services to Cuba (see 1601150076). "We are also working on removing certain non-discrimination requirements on the U.S.-Cuba route, which would give U.S. carriers more flexibility to negotiate rates with the state-owned telecommunications operator and to respond to market forces," said Wheeler, who said he enjoyed his visit. Separately, the Department of Commerce said its Bureau of Industry and Security "will generally approve license applications for exports and re-exports of telecommunications items that would improve communications to, from, and among the Cuban people," under U.S. trade amendments for Cuba announced Tuesday in a release.
The U.S. should "work with the new Canadian government to improve cross border trade opportunities," EBay Senior Vice President-North America Hal Lawton said in a letter to Bruce Heyman, U.S. ambassador to Canada, eBay said in a news release Tuesday. In the letter, Lawton urged Heyman to work with the Canadian government to increase Canada's "de minimis threshold" of $20 on the value of imported goods allowed before customs duties are applied and paperwork must be processed. "The inequity between the U.S. and Canadian de minimis is a major source of friction for eBay customers in these two countries -- an inequity that eBay is committed to improving," the release said. It said the U.S. figure is $200, and legislators are considering upping it to $800.
GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump is wrongheaded in his campaign vow to force Apple to shift its manufacturing from China to the U.S., CTA President Gary Shapiro said Wednesday in a blog post at Medium.com. Trump “gets a pass from some people for saying foolish things,” said Shapiro, who has endorsed Marco Rubio for the presidency (see 1512230039). But “I fear for our nation that a candidate for president would lead in the polls after making so many idiotic statements.” If “we did what Trump wants,” Apple “would then face huge additional costs making iPhones and iPads and would have to raise its prices to the American consumers several-fold,” he said. “We would destroy the two-way nature of international trade and leave our biggest and best exporters, such as Boeing, GM, Ford and IBM vulnerable to Chinese retaliation.” There's no doubt Americans “should be manufacturers, especially in highly skilled manufacturing,” Shapiro said. “But I have been in scores of Chinese factories, and the assembly work consists of redundant, simple, repetitive tasks that many with an education would be unsatisfied doing.” Brazil has “tried what Trump advocates,” he said. Duties there “vary according to the value of a given product, but can reach as high as 55 percent,” he said. “The result is high domestic prices for consumer electronics, often making them inaccessible to average citizens. The result is that upscale Brazilians visit the U.S. with empty suitcases and leave with luggage full of electronics.” Said Shapiro: “So, no, Mr. Trump. The last time the U.S. tried anything as dumb as your China proposal, the Smoot-Hawley Tariff law of 1930 raised U.S. tariffs on more than 20,000 imported goods to record levels. That led to the Great Depression. Your ideas may smartly play to a certain type of voter, but they’re economic suicide for America, its people and our world-leading companies.”
Amazon China reportedly registered with the Federal Maritime Commission to be a freight forwarder as Beijing Century Joyo Courier Service Co. (see 1601150033), which shows the company isn't giving up on investments in China, said a report from Credit Suisse research analysts. The report said analysts' conversations with Amazon officials suggested the company "will look to iterate its effort to offer Chinese consumers guaranteed authentic products." The report also suggested the fees Amazon will collect as a freight forwarder could result in savings from lower prices for consumers.
The FCC International Bureau removed Cuba from the commission's exclusion list for International Section 214 Authorizations, the FCC said in a news release Friday. Removing Cuba from the exclusion list "opens the door for U.S. telecom carriers to provide facilities-based telephone and Internet service to Cuba without separate approval" from the FCC, said the release. Carriers seeking to provide service to Cuba -- the last remaining country on the exclusion list before the commission's decision -- can now receive approval sooner and can provide service between the U.S. and Cuba without additional authorization, the FCC said. Removing Cuba from the list "benefits the public interest as it will likely alleviate administrative cost burdens on both the applicant and the commission, and will promote competition on the U.S.-Cuba route," the FCC said.
Amazon may be moving toward offering non-vessel operating common-carrier (NVOCC) services, said Flexport, a logistics company, in a post on its blog. "Flexport has obtained information that Amazon China has received a license to operate as an ocean freight forwarder" in the U.S, said Flexport CEO Ryan Petersen. Petersen pointed to the Federal Maritime Commission's directory of Ocean Transportation Intermediaries, which has a listing for "Beijing Century JOYO Courier Service Co. Ltd," with the trade name Amazon China on the license, said Petersen. Amazon bought JOYO in 2004, he said. "By offering ocean freight services, Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) will make it easier for its customers to move goods into the company’s logistics network." An Amazon spokeswoman confirmed to us the accuracy of the FMC filing, declining to comment further.
Zayo completed its $465 million Canadian ($320 million) acquisition of Allstream, Zayo said in a news release Friday. The purchase added "more than 18,000 route miles" to Zayo's fiber network, including 12,500 miles of long-haul fiber and 5,500 route miles of metro fiber network, Zayo said. It said Allstream and its assets will be reorganized into two business units -- Zayo Canada, and a unit maintaining the Allstream name that includes Allstream's voice, unified communications and small enterprise businesses.
Rogers Communications, in what it called a “global first,” beamed the first-ever live NBA game in 4K to customers with a NextBox 4K set-top when it aired the Toronto Raptors vs. Orlando Magic game Thursday from the O2 Arena in London. Rogers cable customers who tuned their NextBox 4K set-top to Channel 999 at 3 p.m. EST would be able to get the game “at four times the pixels of HD for stunning picture quality, higher resolution and improved motion video,” Rogers said in a Wednesday announcement. The production was in cooperation with BT Sport, which launched Europe's first live sports 4K channel, BT Sport Ultra HD, last year and also was to beam the game in 4K to customers in the U.K., Rogers said. Rogers claims to have made the largest commitment to live sports broadcasting in 4K in North America, with plans to do more than 100 live sporting events in 4K, including every 2016 Toronto Blue Jays home game, plus “marquee” NHL games, it said. In 2016, Rogers customers also will have access to stream 100 hours of 4K movies, series and TV shows through Netflix and other services, it said.
The International Trade Commission opened a Tariff Act Section 337 investigation (No. 337-TA-981) into claims by Saxon Glass that imports of an Apple Watch model are infringing its trademark, the commission said in a Monday announcement. Saxon's Nov. 10 petition alleged the Apple Watch Sport’s ION-X strengthened glass infringes Saxon’s own IONEX mark. Saxon is requesting a limited exclusion order and cease and desist order banning import and sale of the Apple Watch Sport. Apple representatives didn’t comment Wednesday.
Cisco "specially built surveillance, censorship, and other repressive products for the Chinese government that targeted disfavored groups," including the religious Falun Gong and democracy activists, according to a joint amicus brief filed in a case in the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Article 19, the Electronic Frontier Foundation and Privacy International, in support of the Falun Gong plaintiffs, called for the 9th Circuit to reverse a U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California ruling that granted a Cisco motion to dismiss the plaintiffs' second amended complaint. The Falun Gong victims and their families sued Cisco under a law called the Alien Tort Statute, which permits non-U.S. citizens to bring claims in federal courts for human rights violations. In a Tuesday news release, EFF said the amicus brief argues "that the plaintiffs sufficiently alleged that Cisco understood that the 'Golden Shield' system (also known as The Great Firewall) it custom-built for China was an essential component of the government’s program of persecution against the Falun Gong -- persecution that included online spying and tracking, detention, and torture." In dismissing the second amended complaint, the district court judge said the plaintiffs didn't offer enough support, EFF said, saying the judge misapplied the law. Cisco has "always maintained that there is no basis for the allegations," emailed a spokesman. "And there is no merit to the case. We do not customize our products in any way that would facilitate censorship or repression. The case was correctly dismissed by the District Court.”