The Commerce Department Bureau of Industry and Security added four Myanmar organizations to BIS' entity lists Tuesday for their support of the Ministry of Defense, including through providing telecom services. The companies “pose a significant risk of being or becoming involved” in activities contrary to U.S. national security and foreign policy interests, BIS said. BIS also added telecom company King Royal Technologies to the list for providing satellite communication services for the Myanmar military. King Royal didn't reply to an email sent to an address that has been associated with the company. The moves help bar the companies from doing business with U.S.-affiliated businesses.

The GSM Association said Tuesday it’s expanding its fraud prevention service offerings, in a bid to “enhance the telecoms industry’s capacity to combat robocalling and other unwanted or fraudulent calls.” GSMA is working with vendor Mobileum on a new international fraud deterrent system, it said.

All 127 frequency reconfiguration agreements (FRA) for Mexican border licensees in the 800 MHz band have been negotiated, and the 800 MHz transition administrator approved all but one as license validity issues are cleared up, the administrator said in an FCC docket 02-55 final report Monday. It said as of June 10, licensees in 99.2% of Mexican border FRAs had finished physical retunes and transitioned to new channels. It said band reconfiguration is complete in 55 National Public Safety Planning Advisory Committee regions and three U.S. territories. It said it will shut down its website, http://www.800ta.org/, by June 30.

Nearly 4 billion people, half the world’s population, use a smartphone daily, 27 years after IBM’s Simon was launched in the U.S., said Strategy Analytics Thursday. Analyst Neil Mawston called the smartphone “the most successful computer.” Apple’s iPhone “popularized the smartphone in 2007, while Google Android democratized the smartphone with an affordable software platform from 2008,” said analyst Linda Sui. SA predicts 5 billion people will use a smartphone by 2030.

The U.S. and EU will tackle AI issues together in the newly launched Trade and Technology Council because it's vital they "write the rules of the road" together, Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo told a Thursday virtual BSA|The Software Alliance event. The two regions don't have widely different views on technology, and they share commitments to privacy, democracy and equity, she said: One challenge is to determine how to regulate and set standards for emerging tech in a way that lets it flourish while safeguarding fundamental values. The European Commission unveiled an AI regulatory framework last month based on risk management (see 2104210003). The U.S. wants to develop similar, said Raimondo. She said the key is "robust industry engagement. Industry needs to lean in" and partner with the U.S. government: The goal is to "harness the power but keep a lid on the danger." Ensure tech doesn't undermine trust, said Margrethe Vestager, EC executive vice president-Europe Fit for the Digital Age: That includes ensuring there's no bias in AI. Creating trust and safety for AI is "market-creating," she said: The marketplace for the many applications for AI use within public sector activities won't function without trust. BSA launched its framework for confronting bias in AI Thursday. It calls for a process for carrying out impact assessments to identify and mitigate potential bias risks; identifies existing best practices and technical tools for lessening specific bias risks; and lays out corporate governance processes and safeguards needed for effective risk management. Separately, Raimondo met with EU officials at the June 14-16 U.S.-EU summit, Commerce newly blogged. She and EC officials agreed on the importance of data transfers and the need to continue talks on a successor to data-sharing mechanism Privacy Shield. They "recognized that, while key issues remained to be addressed in those negotiations, the liberal values and commitment to individual privacy shared by the U.S. and EU would help drive those negotiations to a mutually-agreeable resolution at the appropriate time."

Huawei believes the U.S. should “put the evidence out there” to justify recent actions to curb the presence of the Chinese telecom gear vendor’s products on U.S. networks, the company's U.S. Chief Security Officer Andy Purdy said during an episode of C-SPAN’s The Communicators set to telecast this weekend. The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Friday denied Huawei’s challenge to the FCC ban of its equipment from networks funded by the USF (see 2106220053). Commissioners are to vote July 13 on congressionally mandated changes to its system for replacing insecure U.S. network equipment from Huawei and fellow Chinese vendor ZTE (see 2106210062). U.S. restrictions hurt Huawei “pretty badly in terms of our ability to do business” in the country, Purdy said. “Things are not going very well.” If “Huawei has done bad things, show us” so “the whole world can see so that they don’t just need to create incentives” not to buy Huawei products, he said. “There is not such evidence” and there “is no connection” between Huawei and the Chinese government “other than any other company around the world would have.” The U.S. shouldn’t “do things” like the FCC did in using “predictive judgment” to justify its anti-Huawei actions, Purdy said. “That’s not really consistent with the rule of law approach” that federal agencies generally employ.

About half of all “knowledge workers” globally will work remotely at year's end, compared with 27% in 2019, reported Gartner Tuesday. The hybrid workforce will continue to increase demand for PCs and tablets, shipments of which are expected to exceed 500 million units this year for the first time, it said. Gartner estimates remote workers will be 32% of employees worldwide by Dec. 31, up from 17% in 2019. It defines knowledge workers as those in “knowledge-intensive” occupations, such as writers, accountants and engineers. Remote workers by Gartner's definition spend at least one day a week working from home. The U.S. will lead other regions with 53% of its workforce working remotely in 2022, followed by the U.K. (52%), Germany (37%), France (33%), India (30%) and China (28%).

The Export-Import Bank's board approved $80.7 million in financing in the form of a loan or loan guarantee to support a SpaceX launch for Hispasat of its Amazonas Nexus satellite, plus initial in-orbit insurance for the satellite operator. Ex-Im said Monday the deal is the first financing of a satellite-related export since 2015. It said Hispasat was unable to get long-term financing for the transaction from commercial lenders. “This transaction signals the return of EXIM in support of the U.S. satellite-related industry," said Ex-Im Acting Vice Chairman James Cruse. "The need for export credit agency support is well-established in this industry, and the availability of EXIM’s financing enables SpaceX and other U.S. exporters to remain competitive."

Samsung and Vivo were the fastest-growing smartphone vendors globally in Q1, reported Strategy Analytics Wednesday. Samsung’s shipments grew 78% sequentially from 2020's Q4, while Vivo’s were up 62%. Global 5G smartphone shipments grew “a healthy” 6% quarter on quarter, reaching a quarterly record 136 million handsets in Q1, said analyst Ken Hyers. Demand for 5G smartphones “remains very strong,” especially in China, the U.S. and Western Europe, he said. SA forecasts global 5G smartphone shipments to reach 624 million handsets this year for 132% year-over-year growth.

Privacy watchdogs may enforce breaches even if they're not the lead authority -- under certain conditions -- the European Court of Justice ruled Tuesday. ECJ's decision prompted cheers from consumer groups and a cautious response from Facebook and the tech sector. The case arose when the Belgian Privacy Commission tried to stop Facebook Ireland, Facebook Inc. and Facebook Belgium from allegedly collecting personal information on the browsing behavior of account holders and non-users via cookies, social plug-ins and pixels. In 2018, a Brussels court held that it had jurisdiction and that Facebook wasn't adequately informing Belgian users about its data collection. The court ordered the social media giant to stop gathering the information in Belgium. The company appealed; that court said its jurisdiction covered only Facebook Belgium, not Facebook Ireland or Facebook Inc. The appeals court asked the ECJ to determine whether Belgium's data protection authority had the required standing to bring the proceedings, given that general data protection regulation created a "one-stop shop" for enforcement actions, and that only the Irish Data Protection Commission had jurisdiction because it's the controller for Facebook personal data in the EU. The ECJ held that a national data protection authority has the power to pursue alleged GDPR violations involving cross-border data processing even though it's not the lead supervisory authority and that it's not necessary that the controller of such personal data have a main establishment in that country. However, the ECJ said the non-lead authority can enforce only if it complies with rules governing the relationship between itself and the lead authority. The one-stop shop mechanism "requires close, sincere and effective cooperation" between authorities to ensure consistent application of the rules, the court said. Facebook said it's pleased the court "upheld the value and principles of the one-stop shop mechanism, and highlighted its importance" in ensuring uniform application of the GDPR. "While the Court has upheld the one-stop shop principle ... it has also opened the back door for all national data protection enforcers to start multiple proceedings against companies," said the Computer & Communications Industry Association, adding that this risks compliance becoming more fragmented and uncertain. "Given the existing bottlenecks in the GDPR cross-border enforcement system, all national authorities must be able, under certain conditions, to proactively take matters into their own hands, said the European Consumer Organisation.