New Lumen CEO, Ericsson Testing Drones, Starlink Challenges FCC on RDOF
Johnson will replace former CEO Jeff Storey, who announced his retirement after a 40-year career.
September 13, 2022 – Lumen Technologies announced Kate Johnson as its new chief executive officer and member of its board of directors Tuesday.
Johnson will replace former CEO Jeff Storey, who announced his retirement after a 40-year career with Lumen.
“We are confident she is the right leader to take the reins at this important moment in Lumen’s history. Kate is an inspiring and motivational leader who is known for identifying and creating growth. She is the ideal CEO for Lumen,” Lumen board chairman Michael Glenn said in a statement
Johnson has worked in former leadership roles at several companies including General Electric and Microsoft.
Ericsson testing 5G drones for smart agriculture
Swedish telecom equipment provider Ericsson announced Tuesday a partnership with the Aerial Experimentation and Research Platform for Advanced Wireless to build 5G-powered drones for smart agriculture.
The 5G connection provided by Ericsson will power the AERPAW custom drone with a connected camera monitor for remote monitoring and assessment of farms and livestock behavior patterns, according to a press release.
“Smart agriculture will likely represent a very large growth segment for UAVs in the next decade,” said AERPAW Co- Principal Investigator Mihail Sichitiu said in a release. “And field testing at sites like AERPAW is critical both for exploring what’s possible and for ensuring operational safety. Only a drone under constant monitoring and control is a safe drone.”
The AERPAW is one out of four projects from the National Science Foundation’s Platform for Advanced Wireless program, part of a $1.5 billion investment to deploy wireless technologies from the CHIPS and Science act. The investment is intended to expand U.S.-based wireless equipment supply chains.
Starlink accuses FCC of misusing data
Starlink on Friday accused the Federal Communications Commission of misusing data in response to the denial of their Rural Digital Opportunity Fund application last month.
Starlink claimed that the FCC misused data collected outside of SpaceX-approved measures to penalize them for their speeds, ignored evidence that proved SpaceX ability to upgrade and expand its network when requested, and failed to accurately contrast SpaceX’s fixed rate pricing compared to the hidden fees and pricing of other RDOF recipients.
“The fact the Bureau relied on unauthorized outside speed tests without even notifying SpaceX that its decision was based on these tests only compounds the error,” the company said.
The data used to measure speeds led the agency’s Wireless Competition Bureau, Rural Broadband Auctions Task Force, and Office of Economic Analytics to justify the denial as “not reasonably capable of complying with the Commission’s requirements based upon their applications, their expansive service areas reflected in their winning bids, and their inadequate responses to the FCC’s follow-up questions,” according to a FCC-issued notice.
