Ligado Networks and GCT Semiconductor said on Tuesday GCT’s Luna Cat-12 LTE module is FCC-certified and commercially available. "The module is a foundational technology for a new ecosystem of commercial devices operating on LTE Band 54 spectrum at 1670-1675 MHz,” the companies said. The band “stands out as a highly distinctive mid-band spectrum resource for the utility and enterprise segments,” standardized by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project and offering a 5-MHz time division duplex block “available nationwide,” said Sachin Chhibber, Ligado chief technology officer: “Licensed spectrum assures availability and enhances security to enable more robust and secure private networks.”
Regulatory action overseas increasingly is chilling competition from U.S. tech firms while hurting American consumers, regulatory and trade policy experts said Tuesday during an American Consumer Institute (ACI) panel discussion focused on EU regulations and tech competition with China. Legislation like the EU's Digital Services Act and AI Act subjects U.S. firms to "aggressive" investigations and allegations of competitive harm, said Tirzah Duren, ACI vice president-policy and research.
Thomas Earnest, previously Matterhorn Legal, joins Mintz as member-corporate practice, for clients including technology, videogaming and digital media ... Sivers Semiconductors appoints Vickram Vathulya, ex-Nuvotronics, as president-CEO, succeeding Anders Storm, effective Aug. 19... Data solutions company Somos appoints Kayla Gardner, ex-Google, as director-public policy and government affairs and expands role of Joel Bernstein to vice president-head-U.S. public policy and government relations ... Sophos hires Teresa Anania, ex-Zendesk, as chief customer officer ... Cybersecurity company Blumira hires Marc Davis, previously Davmar Consulting, as channel development leader.
U.S. research and development performed by the semiconductor and other electronic components manufacturing industry reached $47.4 billion in 2021, an increase of 9.8% over 2020, the National Science Foundation said Tuesday. California accounted for $23 billion, or 51% of the total, Oregon for 15% and Arizona and Texas each had 8%, NSF said. Idaho and Massachusetts accounted for 3% each of the total.
Skylo Technologies sees a substantial market for satellite-connected IoT devices, Tarun Gupta, Skylo co-founder and chief product officer, said Thursday. Adding satellite coverage to terrestrial service “will really remove the borders of connectivity” and mean no one should worry “do I have coverage here or not?” Gupta said during a Mobile World Live webinar on non-terrestrial networks (NTNs). Other speakers said use cases for NTN are already emerging.
Officials with the 12 GHz for 5G Coalition remain hopeful that FCC action in coming months will allow use of the lower 12 GHz band for fixed-wireless deployments, they said in interviews. In addition, should the FCC act soon, the band could still play a part in some state proposals under the broadband equity, access and deployment (BEAD) program, the officials said. The coalition had hoped for action early in 2024 (see 2312270045).
The EU isn't on track to meet its 2030 digital transformation targets, the European Commission said in its second report on the state of the digital decade. It found gaps in investment at EU and national levels in digital skills, high-quality connectivity, AI take-up and data analytics by enterprises, semiconductor production and startups. The report pressed EU governments to "be more ambitious," saying reaching digital decade goals is critical for the bloc's continuing prosperity and social cohesion. In addition, the report found 5G networks reach just 50% of the EU's territory and don't perform well enough to deliver advanced 5G services. Other concerns include European companies' uptake of AI, cloud and/or big data are well below the target of 75%, and that the spread of digital technologies is limited outside big cities. Moreover, the report noted, digital skills targets "are still far from being achieved, with only 55.6% of the EU population having at least basic digital skills." EU members have until Dec. 2 to adjust policies to align with the targets of the digital decade program.
Jeffrey Strenkowski, previously Uniti Group, joins Troutman Pepper as partner-energy practice, with telecom focus ... Mythic, AI processor company, taps Taner Ozcelik, ex-Luminar Technologies, also former On Semiconductor and Nvidia, as its new CEO ... Core4ce, cybersecurity contractor, expands the role of co-founder Todd Harbour to chief technology officer for newly branded innovation incubator The Forge and hires Kim Kok, ex-Human Security, as vice president-sales and emerging technology and Michael Sass, ex-C3 AI, as head-data engineering and analytics ... Primer Technologies, an AI and machine learning company, names Instabase’s Erin Hawley as chief revenue officer and Joe Chang, ex-Uber, as chief technology officer.
Newly promoted at AST SpaceMobile, space-based cellular broadband network: Chief Strategy Officer Scott Wisniewski assumes additional role of president; Chief Accounting Officer Shanti Gupta moves to chief operations officer; and Chief Legal Officer Andrew Johnson assumes additional role of chief financial officer ... Cox Enterprises promotes Cody Partin to president-Cox Family Office, succeeding Sandy Schwartz, retiring at year-end ... Flo Networks, digital infrastructure solutions and connectivity services provider, promotes Hugo Nava to chief information officer and elevates Chief Product Officer Rocio Martinez to replace him as chief operating officer ... Congruex, digital network services provider, hires Charter Communications’ Shane Portfolio, also former Comcast, as chief technology officer ... Sumo Logic, AI-powered cloud-native log analytics platform, hires John Visneski, ex-Amazon, as chief information security officer, and Lyndsey Filantres, ex-Accolade, as senior vice president-growth.
Revisions to the Spectrum and National Security Act (S-4207) last week (see 2406140062) have at least solidified Democrats' support for the measure ahead of a planned Tuesday Senate Commerce Committee vote, lobbyists told us. The more doubtful wild card is whether any Republican panel members publicly back the measure Tuesday despite Chair Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., making revisions that reflect their desire to protect military interests, lobbyists said. Several believed there was still a strong chance Senate Commerce would again postpone a vote on S-4207 after already yanking it from the agenda three times (see 2406110079). The panel’s meeting is set to begin at 10 a.m. in 253 Russell.