WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Consumers will be able to text and send multimedia messages to 9-1-1 emergency call centers under a new plan from the top communications regulator.

The Federal Communications Commission said next-generation 9-1-1 services will allow first responders to better assess emergencies with the ability to see photos and videos of an accident while still enroute. The IP-based infrastructure will also bring more reliability to the 9-1-1 network compared with the current circuit-switched system.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Consumers will be able to text and send multimedia messages to 9-1-1 emergency call centers under a new plan from the top communications regulator.

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski unveiled a plan on Wednesday to help emergency response communications catch up to the technically advanced mobile devices people use everyday.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A congresswoman on Wednesday requested more information on security company McAfee’s report detailing a five-year hacking campaign that breached 72 organizations globally.

Representative Mary Bono Mack, chairman of the House Commerce subcommittee with jurisdiction over cybersecurity, said she was alarmed by the report on a slew of cyber attacks that McAfee has dubbed “Operation Shady RAT.”

WASHINGTON, Aug 10 (Reuters) – A U.S. congresswoman on
Wednesday requested more information on security company
McAfee’s report detailing a five-year hacking campaign that
breached 72 organizations globally.

Representative Mary Bono Mack, chairman of the House
Commerce subcommittee with jurisdiction over cybersecurity,
said she was alarmed by the report on a slew of cyber attacks
that McAfee has dubbed “Operation Shady RAT.”

WASHINGTON, Aug 9 (Reuters) – U.S. communications
regulators were adamant on Tuesday that hedge fund manager
Philip Falcone’s satellite broadband start-up would not be
allowed to operate if it posed a risk to GPS services.

The Federal Communications Commission and other agencies
are evaluating Falcone’s LightSquared after months of testing
found its original plan for a high-speed wireless network would
interfere with GPS services.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – AT&T Inc’s $1.9 billion offer for some of Qualcomm Inc’s wireless licenses will be tied to a simultaneous review of AT&T’s $39 billion proposed takeover of T-Mobile USA, U.S. communications regulators said in a letter sent late on Monday.

The Federal Communications Commission, citing the many related issues, dropped the agency’s informal 180-day timeline for review of the Qualcomm deal. The move could significantly delay completion of the smaller Qualcomm deal because the review of AT&T’s bid for Deutsche Telekom AG’s T-Mobile is expected to span at least into the first quarter of 2012.

WASHINGTON, Aug 4 (Reuters) – Two Republican senators
urged U.S. officials to consider the benefits of AT&T Inc’s
(T.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) $39 billion bid to acquire Deutsche Telekom AG’s
(DTEGn.DE: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) T-Mobile USA.

Mike Lee, the top Republican on the Senate’s antitrust
subcommittee, and colleague John Cornyn, sent a letter to the
U.S. Justice Department and Federal Communications Commission,
urging them to consider all the available evidence before
deciding whether the transaction should go through.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The chairman of the U.S. House of Representatives Judiciary Committee, urged the federal government to resist one-sided calls to block AT&T Inc’s $39 billion plan to buy wireless rival T-Mobile USA.

In a letter sent Monday to the U.S. Justice Department and Federal Communications Commission, Representative Lamar Smith said calls to block the merger that ignore the deal’s benefits to wireless service paint an incomplete picture.

WASHINGTON, Aug 2 (Reuters) – Broadband speeds are now
significantly closer to what Internet service providers
advertise than they were in 2009, a study to be released by
U.S. communications regulators on Tuesday found.

Cable, DSL and fiber-to-the-home services were examined at
13 top U.S. broadband providers, representing about 86 percent
of all U.S. fixed broadband connections.

WASHINGTON, July 29 (Reuters) – Six telecom providers told
U.S. regulators they could begin to fund in 2012 a revamped
government subsidy program that would help deploy high-speed
Internet service to 4 million Americans living in rural and
costly-to-serve areas.

The commitment was part of a proposal sent to the Federal
Communications Commission as it shifts the focus of its $8
billion universal service fund to broadband service from phone
lines.