Gigi Sohn

About

Gigi Sohn is a Distinguished Fellow at the Georgetown Law Institute for Technology Law & Policy and a Benton Senior Fellow & Public Advocate. She is the host of the "Tech on the Rocks Podcast." Gigi sits on the Board of Directors of the Electronic Frontier Foundation. Gigi is one of the nation’s leading public advocates for open, affordable and democratic communications networks. For thirty years, Gigi has worked across the country to defend and preserve the fundamental competition and innovation policies that have made broadband Internet access more ubiquitous, competitive, affordable, open and protective of user privacy. Most recently,…

News

Fortune: Coronavirus school closings are ‘exposing hard truths about the digital divide,’ FCC commissioner says

A school district in suburban Seattle ordered 23,500 students to stay home for two weeks on Friday, in what is likely the beginning of a broader shut down of the education system in response to the coronavirus epidemic. Meanwhile, schools outside New York City began closing Monday, as universities from…

Posted on March 10, 2020March 13, 2020 by Gigi Sohn

News

Krebs on Security: FCC Proposes to Fine Wireless Carriers $200M for Selling Customer Location Data

The U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) today proposed fines of more than $200 million against the nation’s four largest wireless carriers for selling access to their customers’ location information without taking adequate precautions to prevent unauthorized access to that data. While the fines would be among the largest the FCC has ever…

Posted on February 28, 2020March 13, 2020 by Gigi Sohn

Media

Gigi Sohn Statement on FCC’s Decision to Fine Wireless Carriers for Selling Customer Location Information: “Americans Deserve Better”

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is expected to issue a decision today finding that all four mobile wireless carriers violated the Communications Act by selling real time location data of its subscribers to data brokers. The fines are expected to reach somewhere in the neighborhood of $200 million. The sale…

Posted on February 28, 2020February 28, 2020 by Gigi Sohn

Media

CoinDesk: The Internet Is a Right, Not a Luxury: 30% of Americans Still Don’t Have It

Gigi Sohn has spent the last 30 years as a public interest advocate. Her main focus, nowadays? Getting telecommunications giants to take on fiduciary duty. Now that the internet has become “the essential communications tool of the 21st century,” Sohn thinks broadband connection is a right, not a privilege. This…

Posted on February 21, 2020February 24, 2020 by Kip Roderick

News

Vice Motherboard: Big Telecom Say It Has First Amendment Right to Sell Your Privacy Data

After lobbying to kill consumer privacy rules at the federal level, big telecom is now taking aim at individual state efforts to protect your privacy online. Last June, Maine passed a new law intended to protect broadband user privacy. The law demands ISPs clearly disclose what data is collected and who it’s…

Posted on February 19, 2020February 24, 2020 by Kip Roderick

News

NBC News: Sprint/T-Mobile merger could lead to thousands of job losses, despite regulator promises

The merger of T-Mobile and Sprint could lead to as many as 24,000 job losses in the retail sector, according to an industry group representing independent phone store owners. The $26 billion deal, blocked last year by attorneys general from 12 states and Washington, D.C., because of antitrust concerns, was approved…

Posted on February 14, 2020February 14, 2020 by Kip Roderick

Media

CNBC: T-Mobile-Sprint merger critic voices her concern for consumers

The Sprint and T-Mobile merger has finally been approved after two years, and some are concerned that the deal will open the floodgates for other mergers that could have potential to hurt consumers. Gigi Sohn, a distinguished fellow with the Georgetown Institute for Tech Law and Policy and former counselor…

Posted on February 12, 2020February 12, 2020 by Kip Roderick

News

Wired: Judge Rules That T-Mobile Can Acquire Sprint

You’ll likely have one less choice for mobile service soon. Last year, nine states and the District of Columbia filed suit to block T-Mobile's $26.5 billion acquisition of Sprint. Tuesday, a federal judge ruled against the states, allowing the merger to move forward. The deal still needs approval from the California Public…

Posted on February 11, 2020February 12, 2020 by Kip Roderick

News

NBC News: What does the T-Mobile and Sprint merger mean for you?

The $26 billion T-Mobile Sprint merger, which cleared one of the last hurdles for approval Tuesday, includes several pledges to keep regulators happy — but the unification of two of the four largest phone service providers in the U.S. leaves some questions for consumers. T-Mobile promised phone bills will remain the…

Posted on February 11, 2020February 12, 2020 by Kip Roderick

News

Politico: How the courts could thwart a Silicon Valley crackdown

Washington regulators tightened their focuson the tech industry’s biggest players Tuesday — but a judge showed how big a fight the feds may have on their hands. The two actions came just hours apart: The Federal Trade Commission said it was launching an open-ended study into a decade’s worth of mergers and…