CenturyLink (NYSE: CTL) has announced that it is to sell $1.25 billion in senior notes as part of a major refinancing initiative.
Due in 2027, the notes will be issued in a private offering at an interest rate of 4.000%. The notes were priced to investors at face value and will mature on 15 February 2027.
Additionally, all notes will be unconditionally guaranteed by each of CenturyLink’s domestic subsidiaries that guarantees CenturyLink’s 2017 senior secured credit facilities.
Rogers Communications says that unfavorable regulation could affect its plan to invest close to $3 billion in infrastructure buildout.
The revelation came during the company’s Q4 2019 earnings call. During the conference call Joe Natale (pictured) Roger’s president and chief executive officer confirmed that the Canadian telco plans on spending approximately $3 billion in 2020 “to build Canada’s communication infrastructure”.
However, this investment is at risk according to Natale, there isn’t the right regulation.
Source: Rogers $3bn infra investment at risk due to regulation
The US government continues to fight itself over just how to curb Huawei’s dominance in 5G.
One thorny issue in that fight is how to choke back sales of US semiconductors and other technologies to Huawei, even though the revenue those sales provide is helpful to the development and funding of US 5G efforts.
Source: Pentagon Objects to New Huawei Sales Restrictions – WSJ Report | Light Reading
Identifying affordable options to connect to the internet remains a challenge for billions across the globe. In urban areas, internet connectivity is usually provided by a high-speed cable or fiber direct to each home or business. However, a single-user-per-terminal model is not economically justifiable in areas unserved or underserved by terrestrial access.
This is due to two primary obstacles to building out infrastructure for expanding broadband Internet access. First, capital costs of terrestrial fixed or wireless networks are directly proportional to distance.
Second, the typical business model for deploying broadband to communities with a lower median income base ultimately equates to an unaffordable service as subscription revenue has to exceed the expansion investments.
Source: Changing Lives with Affordable Internet Access – Via Satellite –
The Air Force is working with AT&T to create a “smart base of the future,” including reconstructing and transforming the Tyndall ’s communications infrastructure with 5G-powered capabilities. Although the base buildout is expected to take three to five years, AT&T will light up 5G in mid-2020, enabling Tyndall to start taking advantage of benefits such as support for augmented and virtual reality (AR and VR).
“The Department of Defense really stands at the cusp of some of the most revolutionary changes in the market that they’re leading, and I think they’re game-changing,” said Mike Leff, vice president for defense at AT&T Global Public Sector.
Source: 5G communications data streaming | Military & Aerospace Electronics
The latest publication in a long line of reports drawing attention to the State Department’s failure to secure its information technology-dependent systems from cyberattacks reflects a general mismanagement of resources.
“Notwithstanding the expenditure of substantial resources by the Department,” reads a report State’s Office of the Inspector General released Wednesday, “the OIG continues to identify significant issues that put its information at risk.”
The report follows a Jan. 14 letter Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., sent to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo asking what steps he’s taken to address the shortcomings detailed in previous IG reports.
Source: Another Poor Cybersecurity Audit at State Department Draws Scrutiny – Nextgov
Conservative German MEP Axel Voss, also known as the father of the controversial copyright reform, has published a manifesto on European digital policy in which he warns that Europe should not become a “digital colony” of other powers. EURACTIV Germany reports.
Voss (CDU) decided to publish his manifesto on European digital policy because he could not wait much longer, he told EURACTIV. That is because the European People’s Party(EPP)’s digital strategy paper is still being discussed and this process “took far too long”, according to Voss.
Source: MEP Axel Voss publishes EU digital manifesto, warns of EU’s ‘digital dependency’ – EURACTIV.com
EU countries can restrict or exclude high-risk 5G providers from core parts of their telecoms networks, new EU guidelines show, dealing a potential blow to China’s Huawei Technologies.
The non-binding recommendations, set out in an EU document seen by Reuters, are part of a set of measures aimed at addressing cybersecurity risks at national and EU-wide level, in particular concerns related to China’s Huawei, though they do not identify any particular country or company.
The document, which lays out guidelines agreed by EU member states, warned of the risks of interference by a third country in the 5G supply chain, as well the risk of depending on a single supplier, to justify a tough line.
Source: EU nations can restrict vendors under new 5G guidelines, Huawei at risk – EURACTIV.com
Certain UN members may have been ‘bought off’ by proponents of a controversial UN resolution on cybercrime in exchange for support on the plans, an official from the Council of Europe who deals with cybersecurity has told EURACTIV.
In December, a Russian-led and Chinese-backed resolution on cybercrime, called ‘countering the use of information and communications technologies for criminal purposes’, was adopted by 79 votes to 60 with 33 abstentions, despite opposition from several major Western powers.
As part of the new measures, a new group within the UN will be set up “to elaborate a comprehensive international convention on countering the use of information and communications technologies for criminal purposes.”
Source: UN backing of controversial cybercrime treaty raises suspicions – EURACTIV.com
A bipartisan group of senators have introduced legislation that would create new cybersecurity coordinator positions within the Department of Homeland Security for each state.
The bill, sponsored by Sens. Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.), Rob Portman (R-Ohio), Gary Peters (D-Mich.) and John Cornyn (R-Texas), would require the director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency to designate officials from within the agency to serve as the principal federal point of contact for state and local officials on cybersecurity matters.
Source: Senators introduce bill to create state cyber coordinators at DHS — FCW
