Hytera Communications executives defended the company in a call with FCC staff as the agency looks at whether gear from suppliers on the FCC’s “covered list” of companies deemed to pose a security risk should be barred from being authorized for use in the U.S. (see 2205020036). “We discussed that Hytera’s products in the United States are all ‘customer premise equipment’; Hytera does not supply ‘telecommunications equipment’ as defined in the Communications Act,” said a filing posted Friday in docket 21-232. The Chinese company met virtually with acting Chief Ron Repasi and others from the Office of Engineering and Technology and staff from across the agency.

FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel signed a memorandum of understanding Monday with her counterpart in Canada, Ian Scott, chairperson-CEO Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission, on combating robocalls. “Robocall scams are an international problem,” Rosenworcel said: “People all over the world can be victims of these bad faith campaigns to defraud and trick consumers. And we know that many of these calls cross international borders before entering domestic phone networks.”

Canada’s government prohibited the use of equipment from Huawei and ZTE, calling it a security threat and requiring removal from networks over a phased-in period. “The Government of Canada is ensuring the long term safety of our telecommunications infrastructure,” said a statement Thursday by Francois-Philippe Champagne, minister of Innovation, Science and Industry: “As part of that, the government intends to prohibit the inclusion of Huawei and ZTE products and services in Canada’s telecommunications systems. This follows a thorough review by our independent security agencies and in consultation with our closest allies.” The statement directs companies to end the procurement of 4G and 5G gear and associated services by Sept. 1. Existing 5G equipment and managed services must “be removed or terminated by June 28, 2024,” the statement said. Existing 4G equipment and managed services must be removed or terminated by Dec. 31, 2027. The government also plans “to impose restrictions on Gigabit Passive Optical Network (GPON) equipment used in fibre-optic networks.” This is "an unfortunate political decision that has nothing to do with cybersecurity or any of the technologies in question,” a Huawei Canada spokesperson emailed Friday. “Huawei equipment, including both hardware and software, has been routinely and closely scrutinized by the government and its security agencies according to stringent quality standards. There have been zero security incidents caused by Huawei equipment throughout this entire period. We are proud of our security record in Canada.” Huawei said the ban “will lead to significant economic loss in Canada and drive up the cost of communications for Canadian consumers” but is “beyond our control as a business.” Huawei plans to do what it can “to protect the legitimate rights and interests of our customers, partners, and ourselves,” the spokesperson said. ZTE didn't comment.

Ericsson is still awaiting approval from the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. for its acquisition of Vonage (see 2111220034) but is hopeful the deal will go through. The company hopes to complete the acquisition during the second quarter of this year, emailed an Ericsson spokesperson Wednesday. “We are fully committed to moving ahead to close the deal,” the spokesperson said.

U.S. and EU collaboration in the Trade & Technology Council remains strong and has helped the regions coordinate actions against Russia, officials said Monday. The second TTC meeting, which took place May 15-16 in France, had several main outcomes, said the European Commission. Among them were a pact to make supply chains more resilient and an agreement to strengthen collaboration on swift and aligned export controls on advanced technologies such as aerospace and cyber-surveillance to undermine Russian attempts to boost industrial and military capabilities. It's in the interests of both parties to cooperate on all aspects of supply chains, Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said at a briefing: "A certain level of coordination" aligned to TTC's goal of expanding the ecosystem is good for both sides. Other areas where the council has had progress include platform governance, where the EU and U.S. reaffirmed support for an open, global, interoperable, secure internet in line with their Declaration for the Future of Internet (see 2204280043); and trade barriers, where they will consider ways to increase trans-Atlantic trade and investment, and coordinate efforts to address non-market policies. Raimondo noted the group has had positive results in its first eight months, allowing it to push back against Russia. Because of the council's work on export controls, she said, the EU and U.S. were able to cut Russia off from all the advanced technology it needs to advance its operations, and they have now agreed to align technological standards in a way that will advance democratic values. The discussion of nonmarket economies such as China's has been an essential part of the partners' trade collaboration in the TTC, said U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai. The council began by looking at nonmarket practices that involve state influence on a market economy but has now expanded its view to include Russia's invasion of Ukraine. That's a nonmarket decision that affects the entire world, Tai added. In less than a year, the "TTC has become a pillar of transatlantic cooperation," said President Joe Biden and EC President Ursula von der Leyen. In addition to the measures announced, the parties should use the council "to ensure new regulations are implemented in a non-discriminatory, transparent manner that limits unintended consequences," said the Computer & Communications Industry Association.

World Trade Organization ratification of a third Information Technology Agreement “would bring many important emerging technologies driving the global digital economy under ITA coverage” and would “further bridge the digital divide,” said more than three dozen global tech trade associations, including CTA, the Computer & Communications Industry Association, CompTIA, the Semiconductor Industry Association and the Telecommunications Industry Association. The first two ITAs “increased employment, made innovative tech products more affordable to consumers,” and “bridged communities across the globe in ways unimagined when the original agreement was launched 25 years ago,” they said. “Another round of ITA product expansion, coupled with expansion of the geographic scope of the agreement, would yield immediate and sweeping benefits,” they said. No new technologies have been added to the agreement since its second iteration, which passed in 2015, they said: "We therefore call on ITA members to support launching another ambitious new round of negotiations to further expand this critically important agreement and carry forward the robust momentum produced by the original ITA and its 2015 expansion."

Global spending on telecom and pay TV services reached $1.566 trillion in 2021, increasing 1.6% year over year, reported IDC Friday. IDC expects spending to rise another 1.4% in 2022 to $1.588 trillion, it said. The “quick recovery” of the global economy from the slump caused by COVID-19 “resulted in additional spending growth” on telecom services, “so the total value of the worldwide market increased slightly faster than originally forecast,” said IDC. The higher than expected growth was also recorded in all technology segments except for pay TV, “which is logical because people were able to spend more time outside of their homes and therefore some decided to cancel subscriptions to TV packages acquired during the lockdowns,” it said. Spending growth last year was highest in Asia Pacific (rising 2.1%), lowest in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (up 1.1%), with the Americas in between (up 1.5%), said IDC.

Motorola Solutions wrapped up a series of meetings with aides to the FCC commissioners on its concerns about the security risks posed by Chinese equipment suppliers, speaking with an aide to Commissioner Geoffrey Starks, said a filing posted Wednesday in docket 21-232. The company previously met with aides to the other FCC members (see 2205020036).

The world is adding 5G cities at a pace of almost two per day, with the current number at 1,947 globally, reported Viavi Solutions Tuesday. At the end of January, 72 nations had 5G networks in place, with the newest crop of Argentina, Bhutan, Kenya, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Malta and Mauritius, the report says. The U.S., at 296, and China, at 356, had the most 5G cities. “There are currently 24 Standalone (SA) 5G networks globally, meaning that they have been built using a new 5G core network,” Viavi said: “It is widely considered that many of the next-generation use cases and monetization models associated with 5G, beyond enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB) will only be possible when Standalone 5G networks built on new 5G core networks are in place.” Some 64 operators have publicly announced open radio access networks. “This breaks down to 23 live deployments, …34 in the trial phase with a further seven operators that have publicly announced they are in the pre-trial phase.”

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit denied a request for a stay sought by Pacific Networks and its subsidiary ComNet in its appeal of the FCC’s 4-0 March order revoking their authority to offer domestic or international services in the U.S. (see 2203160031). “Petitioners have not satisfied the stringent requirements for a stay pending court review,” said the order posted Friday by the FCC.