5G can be rolled out, but more research is necessary, says health council

DutchNews, September 2, 2020 

Photo: Depositphotos.com

The roll-out of 5G telecoms services in the Netherlands is safe, but some aspects remain unclear and require further research, the Dutch health council Gezondheidsraad said on Wednesday. 

‘It has not been proven and it is not likely that exposure to 5G systems can damage health, even though the science cannot rule this out entirely,’ the council said on its website. ‘The health council is advising that exposure be monitored and that more research is done.’ 

The council had been asked to look into the health aspects of 5G telecommunications by MPs following a spate of arson attacks on telecom masts. 

The report focuses on the theoretical impact on health because 5G is so new there is little concrete information. And this means that actual exposure to 5G needs to be monitored as more networks come online. ‘The commission cannot answer the question if exposure to 5G will actually lead to risks to health,’ the report said. ‘Therefore the focus has been on the potential to cause damage.’ 

Recommendations 

The commission makes two main recommendations. Firstly, officials should set up an epidemiological research project into the relationship between exposure to the 5G frequencies being used and cancer, reduced fertility in men, risks to pregnancy and birth defects. 

The Netherlands is already taking part in an international research project into 5G and health, and these results can be a part of the Dutch study, the researchers said. 

At the same time, the council recommends officials postpone the use of the higher end of the frequency spectrum, namely 26GHz, because relatively little research has been done on the impact of this frequency range on health. 

There are currently no concrete plans in the Netherlands to use this frequency. 

Reactions 

Telecoms company KPN said it welcomed the report which reconfirmed that the current frequencies for mobile communications via 3G, 4G and 5G can be used. 

However, the anti 5G campaign group Stichting Stop5GNL, which tried earlier to have the roll-out stopped in court, said that the recommendations are contradictory. 

‘You cannot put something in the market which has not been properly researched,’ spokeswoman Martine Vriens told broadcaster NOS.

Anti-5G activists go to court to stop ‘gamble with public health’

DutchNews, May 5, 2020 

A Dutch courtroom. Photo: Odi Busman

A group of anti-5G activists went to court on Monday in an effort to stop the nationwide roll-out of the faster telecommunications system. 

The group, Stop5GNL, argues that the government is taking a gamble by sanctioning the roll-out even though it has not been established that the technology does not form any risk to public health. 

‘This is unethical. You do not gamble with the health of the public,’ lawyer Thom Beukers said during Monday’s hearing in The Hague. 

According to the foundation, ‘thousands’ of academic publications and research projects raise at least doubts about whether the electromagnetic radiation used by 5G services could lead to a risk to health. 

The foundation has also stressed it has no connection to the recent wave of arson attacks on telecom masts. 

Although the public health institute RIVM and the national health council have both said that 5G will not expose people to higher than permitted levels of electromagnetic radiation, the council is working on a new report, ordered by parliament, the Volkskrant has reported. 

The results of that report are due in July. 

And in January, Telecoms supervisory body Agenschap Telecom and the RIVM said that while radiation from 5G mobile networks testing sites in the Netherlands is within European limits, it does need to monitored as telecoms providers prepare to activate the new mobile core networks. 

Some 15 licences for testing sites have been granted in the Netherlands and random testing of five sites has not produced worrying levels of radiation, the report published by both organisations said. It is important, however, to ‘keep a finger on the pulse’. 

The court will rule on the case on May 25.

China introduces mandatory face scans for phone users

Yahoo – AFP, December 1, 2019

In September, China's information technology ministry said telecom operators
should use 'technical means' to verify phone users' identities (AFP Photo/WANG ZHAO)

China will require telecom operators to collect face scans when registering new phone users at offline outlets starting Sunday, according to the country's information technology authority, as Beijing continues to tighten cyberspace controls.

In September, China's industry and information technology ministry issued a notice on "safeguarding the legitimate rights and interests of citizens online", which laid out rules for enforcing real-name registration.

The notice said telecom operators should use "artificial intelligence and other technical means" to verify people's identities when they take a new phone number.

A China Unicom customer service representative told AFP that the December 1 "portrait matching" requirement means customers registering for a new phone number may have to record themselves turning their head and blinking.

"In next steps, our ministry will continue to...increase supervision and inspection...and strictly promote the management of real-name registration for phone users," said the September notice.

Though the Chinese government has pushed for real-name registration for phone users since at least 2013 -- meaning ID cards are linked to new phone numbers -- the move to leverage AI comes as facial recognition technology gains traction across China where the tech is used for everything from supermarket checkouts to surveillance.

Online, Chinese social media users reacted with a mix of support and worry over the December 1 facial verification notice, with some voicing concerns their biometric data could be leaked or sold.

"This is a bit too much," wrote one user on Twitter-like Weibo, commenting under an article about the new rules.

"Control, and then more control," posted another.

While researchers have warned of the privacy risks associated with gathering facial recognition data, consumers have widely embraced the technology -- though China saw one of its first lawsuits on facial recognition last month.

In early November, a Chinese professor filed a claim against a safari park in Hangzhou, eastern Zhejiang province for requiring face scans for entry, according to the local court.

In addition to mobile users, Chinese social media site Weibo was forced to roll out real-name registration in 2012.

Oversight of social media has ramped up in recent years as part of the Chinese government's push to "promote the healthy, orderly development of the Internet, protect state security and public interest".

Murder victim's plight prompts EU order on emergency calls

Yahoo – AFP, 5 September 2019

The European Court of Justice ordered that mobile phone operators hand over
data enabling calls to 112 to be localised

A horrific rape and murder of a kidnapped teen in Lithuania prompted the European Court of Justice on Thursday to order mobile phone operators to hand over data enabling the localisation of calls made to the international emergency number 112.

The 17-year-old girl, who was abducted and burnt alive in the boot of a car in 2013, made 10 desperate calls to 112 begging for help. However her number did not show in the call answering centre, preventing her being located.

The girl's family lodged a lawsuit, accusing Lithuania of failing to implement an EU directive requiring telecom operators to provide for free caller information to locate calls made to 112.

Thursday's decision by the court ordered that all phone operators in the EU give that information. They must do so even for phones which do not have a SIM card inserted but which are still able to connect to the 112 service.

Currently eight of the EU's 28 member states, among them France, do not allow phones without a SIM card to make 112 calls, according to the European Emergency Number Association.

In many cases, that was to prevent children playing with old mobile phones accidentally calling the emergency services number, it said.

The EU forms the core of the countries using 112 as an emergency number for mobile phones, originally offered on the GSM standard that Europe championed.

Later other countries adopted the number too, often alongside their own national emergency numbers, including Australia, China, India, Turkey and the United States.

The European Court of Justice ordered that mobile phone operators hand over data enabling calls to 112 to be localised.

Major disruption hits KPN phone services, emergency service number fails

DutchNews, June 24, 2019

Photo: KPN

Major problems hit KPN telephone services on Tuesday afternoon, putting the emergency 112 number out of action and disrupting the company’s fixed link and mobile networks.

Police are calling on people who need emergency help to dial 088-6628240 instead, or to report to a police station. Extra police patrols have also been drafted in to increase the number of points of contact between the emergency services and the public. 

People experiencing problems in using their mobile phones should switch off their 4G services to see if this helps, KPN said. 

Phoning via Whatsapp, Facetime and Skype may also be possible as these use internet rather than the 4G network, where the problem appears to have originated. 

KPN says it is working towards a solution for the disruption, which began around 4pm but has not said when the problem may be fixed. 

Dutch railway company NS has also urged people to avoid Utrecht’s central railway station, where services have been disrupted for ‘various reasons’. 

‘We are recommending you avoid Utrecht Centraal for safety reasons,’ NS said in a statement. ‘Communication has been made more difficult by the KPN telephone breakdown.’

Mega verstoring op #UtrechtCS 😔 #geentreinennaarhetzuiden @NS_online Komen er bussen? Met airco graag 😇 pic.twitter.com/8A2BTKZIsc

— Lisette Kaptein (@lieskaptein) 24 juni 2019

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British PM approves Huawei role in 5G network: report

Yahoo – AFP, April 24, 2019

Last month, Britain identified "significant technological issues" in Huawei's engineering
processes that pose "new risks" for the nation's telecommunications (AFP Photo/
JOHN MACDOUGALL)

London (AFP) - British Prime Minister Theresa May has given the go-ahead for China's Huawei to help build a 5G network, shrugging off security warnings from senior ministers and Washington, the Daily Telegraph reported Wednesday.

The country's National Security Council, which is chaired by May, agreed Tuesday to allow the Chinese technology giant limited access to build "non-core" infrastructure such as antennas, the report said.

The decision was made despite concerns raised over May's approach by Home Secretary Sajid Javid, Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt, Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson, International Trade Secretary Liam Fox and International Development Secretary Penny Mordaunt.

Downing Street declined to comment but Huawei welcomed the newspaper report.

"Huawei welcomes reports that the UK government is moving towards allowing Huawei to help build the UK's 5G network," it said in a statement.

"This green light means that UK businesses and consumers will have access to the fastest and most reliable networks thanks to Huawei's cutting edge technology.

"While we await a formal government announcement, we are pleased that the UK is continuing to take an evidence-based approach to its work and we will continue work cooperatively with the government, and the industry."

The United States has however banned Huawei's 5G technology from its territory and urged allies in the so-called Five Eyes intelligence sharing collective -- which also includes Australia, Britain, Canada and New Zealand -- to follow suit.

Huawei is the leading manufacturer of equipment for next-generation 5G mobile networks with almost instantaneous data transfer that will become the nervous system of Europe's economy, in strategic sectors like energy, transport, banking and health care.

The technology titan faces pushback in some Western markets over fears Beijing could spy on communications and gain access to critical infrastructure.

Last month, Britain identified "significant technological issues" in Huawei's engineering processes that pose "new risks" for the nation's telecommunications, according to a government report.

Alibaba, Russian tech firm Mail.ru to launch new venture

Yahoo – AFP, 11 September 2018

Alibaba was founded by tech billionaire Jack Ma in 1999

Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba and Russian technology group Mail.ru on Tuesday announced a deal to launch a joint venture in Russia and former Soviet countries.

The two groups, along with the Russian sovereign wealth fund RDIF and telecom operator MegaFon, announced the creation of "a new strategic partnership" as Russia hosts an economic forum in the far eastern city of Vladivostok.

Alibaba and Mail.ru said in a statement this would "integrate Russia's key consumer internet and e-commerce platforms and launch a leading social commerce joint venture in Russia and the CIS (Commonwealth of Independent States)."

The new company will be called AliExpress Russia -- taking after the name of an existing Alibaba platform.

It will be 48 percent owned by Alibaba, 24 percent by MegaFon, 15 percent by Mail.ru and 13 percent by the RDIF, the statement said, without disclosing the amounts involved.

Mail.ru is one of Russia' biggest tech firms

Alibaba, founded by tech billionaire Jack Ma in 1999, already plays a major role in e-commerce in Russia through its AliExpress and Tmall platforms.

"We want this to be a Russian business," Alibaba Group president Michael Evans said at a press conference in Vladivostok, saying that the Chinese group was bringing "experience and technology."

Kirill Dmitriyev, general director of the RDIF, said that the Russian partners would receive a combined 52 percent percent share in the new structure.

Mail.ru, whose assets include Russia's most popular social media network VK, is owned by Kremlin-friendly billionaire Alisher Usmanov.

In 2017 it launched a platform called Pandao selling Chinese goods to Russian consumers.

Usmanov was quoted as saying in a statement that the new partnership is a "significant step for the digital transformation of the Russian economy."

The deal comes after Russia's largest bank Sberbank and internet company Yandex announced an e-commerce tie-up in August.

China's Huawei, ZTE blocked from Australia's 5G network

Yahoo – AFP,  23 August 2018

Telecom giant Huawei has long disputed claims of any links to the Chinese government

Chinese telecom giants Huawei and ZTE have effectively been banned from rolling out Australia's 5G network after Canberra warned of security risks with companies beholden to foreign governments, prompting Beijing to denounce "ideological biases".

Huawei -- one of the world's largest telecommunications equipment and services providers -- has been under scrutiny in some countries, including the United States and Australia, over its alleged close links to Beijing.

It was blocked from bidding for contracts on Australia's ambitious national broadband project in 2012, reportedly due to concerns about cyber-security.

The company has long disputed claims of any links to the Chinese government.

Canberra said in a statement that the "involvement of vendors who are likely to be subject to extrajudicial directions from a foreign government that conflict with Australian law" posed a security risk.

Acting Home Affairs Minister Scott Morrison and Communications Minister Mitch Fifield added that there was "no combination of technical security controls that sufficiently mitigate the risks".

In Beijing, foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang said China was "gravely concerned", accusing Canberra of making "all types of excuses to create hurdles and taking discriminatory measures".

"We urge the Australian side to abandon ideological biases and create a sound environment for the fair competition of Chinese enterprises in Australia," Lu said.

Huawei Australia tweeted that the decision was an "extremely disappointing result for consumers".

"Huawei is a world leader in 5G. Has safely & securely delivered wireless technology in Aust for close to 15 yrs," the firm said.

The move came amid tensions between Beijing and Canberra that have seen Australia refocus its foreign aid programmes to win hearts and minds in the Pacific, where China has been flexing its muscles too.

Beijing has extended loans to the impoverished nations in the region, with Canberra raising fears some might get trapped with unsustainable debts, handing China influence.

Australia in June said it would negotiate a security treaty with Vanuatu and also fund and build an undersea communications cable to the Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea.

The Solomons arrangement came after the Pacific nation was convinced to drop a contract with Huawei.

US Supreme Court says warrant needed to get cell phone location data

Yahoo – AFP, Chris Lefkow, June 22, 2018

The US Supreme Court ruled that police need a warrant before obtaining cell phone tower
location data about a suspect from telecom companies (AFP Photo/JUSTIN SULLIVAN)

Washington (AFP) - In a landmark digital privacy case, the US Supreme Court ruled Friday that police need a warrant before obtaining cell phone location data about a suspect from telecom companies.

In a 5-4 decision, the nation's highest court said such data is protected under the Fourth Amendment of the US Constitution, which guards against unreasonable search and seizure.

The case revolved about police acquisition of mobile phone location information about a robbery suspect, Timothy Carpenter, without a warrant.

Data from Carpenter's cell phone -- 12,898 location points over a period of 127 days -- was used to show the device was in the vicinity when several robberies took place, and the suspect was convicted.

Carpenter's attorneys and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) argued that the seizure of his cell phone location data records was unconstitutional.

The Supreme Court reversed a lower court's ruling which said police did not need a warrant to obtain such data.

Chief Justice John Roberts sided with the four liberal justices on the court in the decision.

"We decline to grant the state unrestricted access to a wireless carrier's data base of physical location information," the court said in its opinion.

"The government's position fails to contend with the seismic shifts in digital technology that made possible the tracking of not only Carpenter's location but also everyone else's, not for a short period but for years and years," it said.

"Prior to the digital age, law enforcement might have pursued a suspect for a brief stretch," the court said.

"(But) when the government tracks the location of a cell phone it achieves near perfect surveillance, as if it had attached an ankle monitor to the phone's user," it said.

"Whoever the suspect turns out to be, he has effectively been tailed every moment of every day," it said. "Only the few without cell phones could escape this tireless and absolute surveillance."

'Groundbreaking victory'

Nathan Freed Wessler, an attorney with the ACLU who argued the case before the court in November, called the ruling a "groundbreaking victory for Americans' privacy rights in the digital age."

"Today's decision rightly recognizes the need to protect the highly sensitive location data from our cell phones," Wessler said.

"But it also provides a path forward for safeguarding other sensitive digital information in future cases -- from our emails, smart home appliances, and technology that is yet to be invented."

Democratic Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon described the ruling as a "BIG win for privacy."

"I've argued for years that the sheer volume of information about every single American that's collected by our phones and computers requires a fundamental rethinking of the idea that giving your information to a company means the government can get it too," Wyden said.

In its opinion, the court left open the possibility of warrantless collection of data in what it described as "urgent" situations such as "bomb threats, active shootings and child abductions."

EU firms lash out at new net privacy rules

Yahoo – AFP, March 7, 2018

EU firms fear tech giants like Google will have even more power once the
new rules come into force (AFP Photo/LOIC VENANCE)

Paris (AFP) - Dozens of European media, telecom and internet firms criticised Wednesday the EU's new online privacy rules, saying they will effectively hand US tech giants even greater power over user data.

On May 25, the European Union's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) will come into force.

It is designed to protect users' online privacy, but in an open letter titled "Europe cannot afford to miss the data revolution", the companies said it will "reinforce already dominant players in the data economy".

In their view, the rules "would threaten the development of European startups and innovative companies, online advertising, telecom operators, and other sectors alike; and would undermine the essential role of press and media in European democratic life".

The European Parliament has adopted the regulation but European governments have yet to approve the text.

Under the new regulation, users will be asked once and for all whether to accept cookies, rather than every time they visit a new website.

Users will have the option of going invisible online, while the rules enshrine the so-called "right to be forgotten" legislation.

But the European Commission is concerned over the lack of awareness among both users and small firms of the imminent change.

Who says no to cookies?

Furthermore, it is unclear whether the bulk of users would ever opt out of allowing cookies while browsing -- leaving them at the mercy of targeted advertising from the very tech giants that power their browsing and social media experiences.

While Google, Apple and Facebook are based in the United States, they will also have to apply the new regulations to their European users.

Nonetheless, the European firms fear they will bear the brunt of the changes, potentially depriving EU advertisers of user information they need to connect to consumers.

Among the signatories of the letter is a leading French media association, the SPQN -- of which AFP is a member.

Other signatories include French telecom giants Orange and SFR, German group Deutsche Startups and the European Magazine Media Association.

Speaking to AFP, data company France Digitale's co-chair Jean-David Chamboredon said: "We risk handing over the total monopoly to some operators, which will always find a way to collect user data."

The US tech giants already an outsize role in the French online advertising market, capturing a whopping 92 percent of the sector's growth in 2017.

Palestinians get 3G internet after decade-long row

Mail Online – AFP, 23 Janaury 2018

A file picture shows a young Palestinian woman using a mobile phone in the 

West Bank city of Ramallah on November 5, 2014

Palestinians in the occupied West Bank began receiving 3G mobile telecommunications services on Tuesday, after years of wrangling with the Israeli authorities.

The Jawwal and Wataniya firms began offering the service to their customers Tuesday morning, with Palestinians seeing the option appear on their phones for the first time.

Israel had previously blocked Palestinian mobile companies' access to the necessary frequencies.

Third generation services were originally launched in the early 2000s, and much of the world already has 4G technology, while 5G is expected in the next year.

Ammar Aker, chief executive of the Paltel communications company which owns Jawwal, told AFP it had been a decade of work to get Israel to agree to 3G.

"We launched 3G technically and commercially about midnight on Monday. This is a strategic step we have been waiting for for more than 10 years. We hope it has a positive affect on the national communications (infrastructure) and economy."

The launch coincided with a one-day strike across the West Bank in protest at the visit of US Vice President Mike Pence to Jerusalem and the US administration's recognition of the disputed city as the capital of Israel.

The Palestinians see at least the eastern part of the city as the capital of their future state and boycotted Pence's visit.

A Wataniya spokesman, Shadi al-Qawasmi, said stores were closed because of the strike but that 3G services were still offered on mobile devices.

The service will be available only in the West Bank for now and not in the Gaza Strip, blockaded by Israel for more than a decade.

The companies say they need Israeli permits to bring in equipment necessary. Egypt has also kept its border with Gaza largely closed in recent years.

Dutch detectives unravel 3.6 million encrypted emails sent by criminals

DutchNews, March 9, 2017

Photo: Depositphotos.com

Dutch detectives have gained access to 3.6 million encrypted emails sent by criminal gangs which will be used in dozens of prosecutions, the public prosecution department said on Thursday. 

The information in the mails will provide evidence for criminal cases, including murder, armed robbery, drugs, money laundering and other forms of organised crime, the department said in a statement. 

The messages were found on servers in Canada belonging to a Dutch company called Ennetcom. Last year, the public prosecution department won the right to have the Ennetcom servers copied and the seven terabytes of information sent to the Netherlands for investigation. 

Ennetcom was the ‘biggest provider of encrypted communications in the Netherlands’, the department said. The company also has sales points in South America and other countries in western Europe. 

The owner of Ennetcom was arrested last April when the network was shut down as part of the investigation. He has since been released from jail but is facing prosecution.

Dutch draw up new law to block ‘damaging’ telecom sector takeovers

DutchNews, February 16, 2017

Server farms will also fall under the new rules. Photo: Depositphotos.com 

Takeovers in the telecoms sector which could damage the national interest will be stopped in the Netherlands, if new legislation drawn up by economic affairs minister Henk Kamp becomes law. 

The draft bill will enable ministers to prevent takeovers of ‘telephony, data centres, hosting services and internet’ companies which are ‘of vital importance to national security and public order,’ according to an economic affairs ministry statement. 

The legislation will give ministers the option of banning or reversing takeovers within the telecoms sector with the aim of securing continuity, the reliability of services and the public interest, the ministry said. 

Commentators said the new law was inspired by the attempt by Mexican telecoms company America Movil to take over KPN in 2013. Kamp said at the time he was powerless to stop the takeover, which eventually failed. 

Dutch ministers also intervened last year when Belgian state postal company Bpost tried to take over PostNL. That takeover bid also flopped. 

Criminal activities

‘Our country will not benefit from takeovers by foreign firms which are linked to criminal activities, are financially vulnerable or do not have a transparent ownership structure,’ Kamp said in the statement. 

The draft legislation has now been put out to consultation and Kamp hopes to submit it to parliament before the summer. 

The ministry is also looking at ways of ensuring the continuity of other services, such as postal delivery.

US charges dozens in India-based call center fraud racket

Yahoo – AFP, Paul Handley, October 27, 2016

US Justice Department arrested 20 people in connection with Indian call centers
that cheated American of hundreds of millions of dollars (AFP Photo/Ali al-Saadi)

Washington (AFP) - US justice authorities announced action Thursday to shut down a group of Indian call centers that had cheated victims in the United States of hundreds of millions of dollars.

The Justice Department said tens of thousands of victims, most of them from South Asia, were extorted by callers pretending to be US tax or immigration officials threatening them with arrest and deportation if they did not remit money to the government.

But the victims were then directed to people working with the call centers in the United States to collect the "fines" through prepaid debit cards or wire transfers, and the money was quickly laundered out of the country, according to the Justice Department.

The agency said it had arrested 20 people and unveiled charges against five call centers and 32 individuals in India in the Ahmedabad-based operation.

The US attorney in the southern district of Texas set charges against a total of 56 people and five Indian companies for conspiracy to commit identity theft, false personation of an officer of the United States, wire fraud and money laundering.

The department will seek the extradition of those in India charged in the case.

"These individuals demanded immediate payments from the people they called to avoid deportation, to avoid arrest or to cover supposedly unpaid income taxes," said Assistant Attorney General Leslie Caldwell.

"In the process, these criminals took hundreds of millions of dollars from this scam alone. The victims include people all over the United States... and targeted primarily immigrants and the elderly."

The call center racket made use of informal money transfer businesses known as hawalas to move the money. Many of those businesses did not know the money being transferred was part of an extortion scheme, according to the Justice Department.

Caldwell said the five call centers and individuals targeted were apart from the arrests early this month of some 70 people by Indian authorities also involved in call center scams.

"We want to commend the Indians for having done that because we think it's important that they come in, in addition to our enforcement efforts," said Caldwell.

The indictment names the call centers involved as HGlobal, Call Mantra, Worldwide Solution, Zoriion Communications and Sharma BPO Services.

Caldwell said the call centers worked together on the scam but did not identify any one individual or group leading the scheme.

She said it was unlikely any of the victims, most of them cheated between 2012 and 2015, would get their money back.

"Often once the money's paid, its gone," she said.

Caldwell warned that the arrests do not mean the end to such scams.

"These people are persistent. If you get phone calls, and I do expect these people are resilient and will not give up, my advice to you is just hang up," she said.

AT&T agrees to buy Time Warner in over $80 bn deal: banking source

Yahoo – AFP, October 22, 2016

Telecom giant AT&T has struck a deal to buy entertainment company Time
Warner for more than $80 billion, to add in-house content to its distribution
services (AFP Photo/Saul Loeb, Stan Honda)

New York (AFP) - Telecom giant AT&T has struck a deal to buy entertainment company Time Warner for more than $80 billion, to add in-house content to its distribution services, a banking source familiar with the negotiations said Saturday.

An official announcement is expected before Monday's trading session on Wall Street.

AT&T is the second-largest US wireless carrier and third-largest cable TV provider in the United States, while Time Warner controls a valuable stable of entertainment content suppliers, including Warner Bros. film and TV studios, the HBO television production group, cable news giant CNN, and the TNT and TBS cable channels.

A union of the two media titans -- together worth more than $300 billion in market value -- is certain to face tough scrutiny from antitrust regulators because of potential ripple effects across media platforms.

A deal could price Time Warner at more than $105-110 per share, or more than $80 billion, the source said.

Analysts believe the transaction also could prompt other big deals involving large media companies.

The Wall Street Journal reported Friday that Apple had approached Time Warner about a possible deal a few months ago, but the talks failed to make progress. Apple is continuing to monitor the negotiations, the newspaper said.

The deal comes amid challenges facing media companies from the decline of conventional cable television as consumers increasingly turn to streaming on mobile technology.

AT&T had $147 billion in revenues in 2015 while Time Warner reported $28 billion.

AT&T has pursued an aggressive expansion, paying almost $50 billion to buy satellite television provider DirectTV in 2015.

Time Warner shares soared 7.8 percent Friday following reports of the talks. They were up another 4.9 percent in afterhours trading on fresh reports suggesting the two sides were even closer to a deal.

AT&T dropped 3.0 percent during regular-hours trading Friday, and fell another 0.7 percent in after-hours trade.

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WNMC trains spotlight on the future of news

"Recalibration of Free Choice"–  Mar 3, 2012 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Caroll) - (Subjects: (Old) Souls, Midpoint on 21-12-2012, Shift of Human Consciousness, Black & White vs. Color, 1 - Spirituality (Religions) shifting, Loose a Pope “soon”, 2 - Humans will change react to drama, 3 - Civilizations/Population on Earth,  4 - Alternate energy sources (Geothermal, Tidal (Paddle wheels), Wind), 5 – Financials Institutes/concepts will change (Integrity – Ethical) , 6 - News/Media/TV to change, 7 – Big Pharmaceutical company will collapse “soon”, (Keep people sick), (Integrity – Ethical)  8 – Wars will be over on Earth, Global Unity, … etc.) - (Text version)

“…6 - The News

Number six. I'll be brief. Watch for your news to change. It has to. When the media realizes that Human Beings are changing their watching habits, they're going to start changing what they produce for you to watch. Eventually, there's going to be something called "The Good News Channel," and it will be very attractive indeed. For it will be real and offset the drama of what is today's attraction. This is what families at night, sitting around the table, will wish to watch. They'll have something where the whole picture of a situation is shown and not just the dramatic parts. You will hear about what's happening on the planet that no one is telling you now, and when that occurs [we have no clock, dear one], it's going to compete strongly with the drama. I keep telling you this. Human nature itself is starting to be in color instead of black and white. Watch for it. And that was number six ….”

"The Recalibration of Awareness – Apr 20/21, 2012 (Kryon channeled by Lee Carroll) (Subjects: Old Energy, Recalibration Lectures, God / Creator, Religions/Spiritual systems  (Catholic Church, Priests/Nun’s, Worship, John Paul Pope, Women in the Church otherwise church will go, Current Pope won’t do it),  Middle East, Jews, Governments will change (Internet, Media, Democracies, Dictators, North Korea, Nations voted at once), Integrity (Businesses, Tobacco Companies, Bankers/ Financial Institutes, Pharmaceutical company to collapse),  Illuminati (Started in Greece, with Shipping, Financial markets, Stock markets, Pharmaceutical money (fund to build Africa, to develop)), Shift of Human Consciousness, (Old) Souls, Women, Masters to/already come back, Global Unity.... etc.) - (Text version)

“…  Government

Let us speak of government. We're not speaking of your government, but of any government - the way it works, how it survives, how it has survived, the way it campaigns, and how it elects leaders. It's going to change.

Years ago, I told you, "When everybody can talk to everybody, there can be no secrets." Up to this point on this planet, government has counted on one thing - that the people can't easily talk to each other on a global scale. They have to get their information through government or official channels. Even mass media isn't always free enough, for it reports that which the government reports. Even a free society tends to bias itself according to the bias of the times. However, when you can have Human Beings talking to each other all at once, all over the planet without government control, it all changes, for there is open revelation of truth.

Democracy itself will change and you're going to see it soon. The hold-outs, the few countries I have mentioned in the past, are doomed unless they recalibrate. They're doomed to be the same as they have been and won't be able to exist as they are now with everyone changing around them.

I mentioned North Korea in the past. Give it time. Right now, the young man is under the control of his father's advisors. But when they're gone, you will see something different, should he survive. Don't judge him yet, for he is being controlled.

In government, if you're entire voting base has the ability to talk to itself without restriction and comes up with opinions by itself without restriction, it behooves a politician to be aware and listen to them. This will change what politicians will do. It will change the way things work in government. Don't be surprised when some day a whole nation can vote all at once in a very unusual way. Gone will be the old systems where you used to count on horseback riders to report in from faraway places. Some of you know what I am talking about. Government will change. The systems around you, both dark and light, will change. You're going to start seeing something else, too, so let's change the subject and turn the page. ”