Robocallers Disconnected, Connecting Minority Communities Grants, No Licenses for Huawei

January 31, 2023 – Responding to a Federal Communications Commission order on January 24 to disconnect robocallers, internet voice service provider Twilio on Monday told Broadband Breakfast that it had blocked the accounts of MV Realty and PhoneBurner.

State attorneys general have filed suit against real estate firm MV Realty for alleged real estate scams via robocall. The FCC said that MV Realty used the PhoneBurner dialing platform, and ordered Twilio to disconnect the companies from its voice-over-internet-protocol network.

“We are continuing to cooperate with the FCC about our efforts to further mitigate illegal robocalls and to ensure the safety, reliability, and trust in our platform with regards to wanted communications by our customers and end users,” said Twilio Corporate Communications Director Cris Paden.

The FCC has been increasingly aggressive against alleged robocallers. On December 21, the agency proposed a near $300 million fine against an apparently fraudulent robocall and spoofing operation called “Cox/Jones Enterprise,” placing the largest fine of its type, according to the agency. The robocallers placed more than five billion calls in early 2021 to more than a half a million phones and using more than a million unique caller ID numbers, according to the FCC.

The agency in November took action to crack down on straight-to-voicemail robocalls and in October launched an inquiry into combatting calls on non-internet-protocol networks.

12 minority-serving colleges received more than $33.5 million

The Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration Monday awarded grants to 12 colleges as part of the Connecting Minority Communities Pilot Program. The program is directing $268 million to Historical Black Colleges and Universities, Tribal Colleges and Universities and focusing on training potential information personnel.

Deputy Commerce Secretary Don Graves said that the program creates “opportunities for good jobs supported by equitable hiring, fair compensation, safe workplaces, and the tools and training needed for long-term success.”

The grants, totaling $33.5 million, will be used to upgrade campus technology settings, equipment, and increase digital literacy skills in 10 states.

Awardees include: H. Councill Trenholm State Community College in Alabama, University of Arizona, Loma Linda University in California, Broward College in Florida, St. Augustine College in Illinois, Dominican University in Illinois, Simmons College of Kentucky, Coppin State University in Maryland, Elizabeth City State University and Saint Augustine’s University in North Carolina, Central State University in Ohio and Lincoln University in Pennsylvania.

Biden administration stopping export licenses to Huawei

The Biden Administration is refusing to give licenses that would permit U.S. companies to sell semiconductors to Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei, according to a report  published by Reuters on Tuesday. Citing anonymous sources, the story said the Biden administration has stopped approving licenses for U.S companies to continue to export most items to Huawei.

The Commerce Department and other branches of the government have been increasingly restricting the access of Huawei to American-created technologies, at the same time they have also added 38 affiliates to the so-called “entity list”. A Commerce Department statement from August 2020, regarding the list imposed license requirement for items subject to Export Administration regulations and modified several Huawei entity list entries.

In March 2020, then-President Donald Trump signed into law the Secure Networks Act, requiring the FCC to prohibit the use of moneys it administers for the acquisition of designated communications equipment. The act promoted the removal of existing compromised equipment through a reimbursement program – called Rip and Replace – and further directed the commission to create and maintain the covered list.

In September 2022, the The Federal Communications Commission’s added Pacific Network Corp. and China Unicom Operations Ltd. to a growing list of communications equipment banned from the country on national security grounds.

In December, the agency took additional action to prevent Chinese tech companies deemed to be national security threats – such as Huawei and ZTE – from gathering data on and surveilling American citizens.

And on January 10, 2023, House Republicans created a select committee on the strategic competition between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party designed to conduct investigations, hold public hearings, and submit policy recommendations on China’s “economic, technological, and security progress and its competition with the United States.”