Ericsson expects 5G will grow to 2.6 billion wireless subscriptions globally by the end of 2025, for 29 percent of wireless accounts: “With the continued momentum for 5G, we predict 13 million 5G subscriptions by the end of this year.” A “big share” will be in China, where all three main service providers launched commercial 5G services in Q4, the equipment vendor said Monday. “Sign-up of customers started even before launch, with more than 10 million 5G users registered in October.” LTE is expected to remain “the dominant mobile access technology” the next six years, peaking in 2022 at 5.4 billion subscriptions globally before declining to 4.8 billion by the end of 2025 “as LTE subscriptions migrate to 5G,” said Ericsson.
Fifteen senators asked the Commerce Department to reverse its decision to approve Huawei-related export licenses (see 1911210027) for U.S. companies to have their products included in the Chinese telecom maker's equipment. The senators, led by Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Tom Cotton, R-Ark., wrote President Donald Trump Thursday they're “concerned that the approval of additional, more permanent licenses will allow Huawei to fully resume its engagement with certain U.S. firms without an adequate assessment of the risks to national security.” Though the legislators acknowledged license decisions will come under a review with presumption of denial, they fear several licenses will be granted after Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said the agency plans to grant “quite a few." Democratic presidential candidates Cory Booker, New Jersey, and Elizabeth Warren, Massachusetts, were among the signers. Commerce "is issuing these narrow licenses to authorize limited and specific activities which do not pose a significant risk to the national security or foreign policy interests of the U.S.," a spokesperson emailed Friday. "These applications were approved through an interagency license review process." Huawei and its affiliates remain on the department's entity list subjecting it to restrictions, the representative noted.
The Commerce Department Bureau of Industry and Security finalized some interagency reviews of Huawei license applications and will begin issuing approvals and denials on a “rolling basis,” said Matt Borman, Commerce deputy assistant secretary-export administration. Secretary Wilbur Ross said the department will "send out the 20-day intent-to-deny letters and some approvals” for U.S. companies to export some things to the Chinese telecom gearmaker. Ross said Commerce got about 290 “requests for specific licenses.” BIS plans to approve at least “several” licenses while denying others, a Commerce spokesperson told us after Borman spoke at the agency's Materials and Equipment Technical Advisory Committee meeting Wednesday. The Semiconductor Industry Association welcomes approvals for licenses that aren't national security threats. “Sales of these non-sensitive commercial products help ensure the competitiveness of the U.S. semiconductor industry, which is essential to national security,” said SIA President John Neuffer.
Customs and Border Protection extended until Dec. 16 comments on a new information request to be submitted to the OMB for an e-commerce data pilot, said Friday's Federal Register.
U.S. efforts to implement Privacy Shield are welcome but issues remain, the European Data Protection Board reported Thursday on the trans-Atlantic personal data transfer system. EDPB noted improvements in oversight and enforcement actions and the appointment of the remaining members of the U.S. Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board and a permanent ombudsperson. Concerns include lack of "substantial compliance checks with the substance of" PS principles, and application of requirements to onward data transfers, human resources data and processors. Review team members "would benefit from broader access to non-public information, concerning commercial aspects and ongoing investigations." It urged PCLOB independently assess surveillance programs conducted outside U.S. territory while data is being transferred from the EU to the U.S. The EDPB isn't convinced the ombudsperson has strong enough powers to access information and remedy noncompliance. The FTC remains committed to "robust Privacy Shield enforcement," a spokesperson emailed. The agency's committed "to working with the Department of Commerce and our European colleagues to protect privacy and facilitate data flows," she added. The department didn't comment.
Rural Wireless Association General Counsel Carri Bennet raised concerns (see 1911080017) about a proposed national security order (see 1910300036) to ban equipment from Chinese vendors Huawei and ZTE from networks funded by the USF, meeting with an aide to Chairman Ajit Pai. “RWA members would like to understand whether maintenance or support would expand to areas not related to payments to Huawei and ZTE,” she said in docket 18-89, posted Wednesday.
CTA will announce at CES it's working with the World Bank on how to use technology to solve global problems. CTA CEO Gary Shapiro said the association is working with the group to focus on global problems involving health, gender barriers, climate change, emergency preparedness, cybersecurity and other challenges. CTA officials also spoke Thursday about other CES 2020 plans (see 1911080045).
DOJ is pursuing criminal charges against Aventura Technologies for selling Chinese-origin goods falsely labeled U.S.-origin, the U.S. Attorney’s Office Eastern District of New York announced. Seven current and former employees were named. "Aventura imported networked security products from [Chinese] manufacturers with known cybersecurity vulnerabilities, and resold them to U.S. military and other government installations while claiming that they were American-made," DOJ alleged Thursday. "The government intercepted and covertly marked numerous" such shipments, it alleged. Some apparently were "pre-marked with Aventura’s logo and the phrase 'Made in USA,' accompanied by an American flag." DOJ said the company "made upwards of $88 million, including over $20 million in federal government contracts" over a decade, "while claiming that it was manufacturing its products at its headquarters in Commack," New York. The company didn't comment.
CTA is reviewing iFlytek, which CNET reported was on the list to attend CES 2020, the group said about Chinese surveillance companies flagged for human rights violations. “It’s something we’re continuing to look into,” CES Executive Vice President Karen Chupka told us Thursday. The association didn't comment on Hikvision’s Ezviz, which CNET also singled out. Chupka also reviewed other CES 2020 plans (see 1911080045).
The FTC sued a Nevada data storage services company over allegations it falsely claimed certified participation in the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield, the agency announced Thursday. RagingWire Data Centers allegedly claimed it participated in the framework January 2017-October 2018, despite its certification lapsing in January 2018. The company didn’t comment.