U.K. regulator Ofcom said Thursday it’s launching a probe of the nation’s cloud services market. “If competition concerns are identified it could lead to further action,” Ofcom said. Ofcom is also probing “digital services such as WhatsApp, Zoom and smart speakers, as online and traditional networks converge.” Cloud computing is "a huge and fast-growing market, which uses remote servers to offer services such as software, storage and computing power,” said a news release: “The user, who could be a person or business, makes use of these services but doesn’t manage them directly. The cloud has become an essential part of how products are delivered to telecoms users, as well as viewers and listeners of TV, radio and audio content.” Amazon, Microsoft and Google “generate around 81% of revenues in the UK public cloud infrastructure services market,” Ofcom said: “We will examine the strength of competition in cloud services generally and the position the three hyperscalers hold in the market.”

More than 10 million vehicles will be capable of short-range vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communications by 2025, reported ABI Research Wednesday. The V2X movement is “full steam ahead” in China, nearing an “inflection point” in Europe and is “closer to getting the green light” in the U.S., it said. Europe last year was the region with the largest fleet of short-range V2X communication-enabled cars but all from a single automaker, Volkswagen, said ABI: "Given the lack of commitment of more automakers so far, by 2023, China alone will overtake Europe. The inauspicious scenario in Europe is leading industry players to place more emphasis on cellular network tests for the time being. However, there are still fundamental business model challenges to be overcome with this route.”

The FCC signed an updated memorandum of understanding with the Body of European Regulators for Electronic Communications (BEREC) that “expands their current partnership, with a new focus on combatting unwanted robocalls and the promotion of 5G, 6G, and beyond,” the FCC said Monday. “Our broadband and communications technology goals will be better achieved by working collaboratively with our partners and informed by lessons learned around the world,” said FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel. The MOU “outlines how the FCC and BEREC will engage in regular information exchanges, including the sharing of the technical skill sets and best practices, and conduct bilateral meetings, seminars, and workshops to facilitate actions in their respective home countries around topics of mutual interest,” the regulator said.

The Bureau of Industry and Security released an interim final rule Thursday expanding an authorization for the release of some controlled software and technology to all entities on the agency’s Entity List if the release is for the purposes of standards-setting activities. Previously, the authorization had applied only for some Entity List entities, namely Huawei and its affiliates. The interim rule takes effect Friday. The long-anticipated interim final rule also amends definitions related to the authorization, including by setting a new definition for what is a standards-setting activity. It allows for the release of software and technology for cryptographic standards. The previously issued authorization had also mentioned only technology, and not software. Industry had called for the expansion of the authorization in recent years, saying that restricting the authorization to Huawei was causing uncertainty and chilling participation in standards bodies (see 2204130072). The national security threat from ceding U.S. participation “outweighs the risks related to the limited release of certain low-level technology and software to parties on the Entity List in the context of a ‘standards-related activity,’” BIS said in the new interim final rule.

Huawei “has been facing a lot of challenges the past few years,” including a 29% revenue decline in 2021 amid U.S. export sanctions and weakening smartphone demand, William Tian, Huawei Consumer Business Group president-West European region, said in an IFA 2022 keynote interview Saturday. “The past few years have been incredibly hard for everyone,” he said. “But we are still going. We are still innovating.” Said Tian: “We have not given up.”

All calls or texts to 988 in Canada will be routed to a mental health crisis or suicide prevention service effective Nov. 30, 2023, said the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) Wednesday. Canada's adoption of a three-digit mental health and suicide prevention system using 988 was expected (see 2208230007). CRTC said as part of 988 implementation, areas that still have seven-digit dialing will transition to 10-digit dialing by May 31. It said the Public Health Agency of Canada will determine what entity will manage 988 calls.

The U.K. and Ukraine began talks on a new digital trade agreement during a meeting Tuesday between British Trade Secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan and Ukraine's First Deputy Prime Minister Yuliia Svyrydenko. The agreement will seek to drop barriers to digital trade in a bid to boost Ukrainian jobs following Russia’s invasion, said the U.K. Department for International Trade Wednesday. The U.K. decided earlier to eliminate import tariffs on all goods from Ukraine.

The FCC released its memorandum of understanding with Canada's Radio-television and Telecom Commission on combating robocalls Wednesday. The updated agreement was signed and took effect in June (see 2206060041). The agencies agreed to cooperate on "enforcement activities" and "facilitate mutual exchange of information, knowledge, and expertise." The agreement also included a commitment to "collaborate on initiatives to promote regulatory, policy, technical, and commercially viable solutions to unlawful robocalls and caller id spoofing."

With 90% of the world’s semiconductor manufacturing capacity in Taiwan, mobile carriers need a plan of action if China invades the island nation, Strand Consult said in a Tuesday report. “China is not the same country it was 10 years ago, and Taiwan … has geopolitical significance,” Strand said: “Just as Russia exploits Europe’s dependence on gas, China will exploit the world’s dependence on its information technology industry. Just as Russia threatens to turn off the gas, China can also turn the screws with its IT products and services.”

President Joe Biden on his 140-minute call Thursday with President Xi Jinping explained to the Chinese leader the administration’s “core concerns with China’s unfair economic practices, which harm American workers and harm American families,” a senior administration official told reporters Thursday in a background briefing. But Biden on the call “did not discuss any potential steps he might take” to remove or reduce the Section 301 tariffs on Chinese imports, said the official. “It would be wrong to believe that somehow a decision on any next steps was somehow waiting for this conversation.” On Taiwan, Biden “underscored” to Xi that the U.S. opposes “unilateral changes to the status quo by either side, and commitment to the maintenance of peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait,” said the official. The two leaders discussed that the U.S. and China “have differences when it comes to Taiwan, but that they have managed those for over 40 years and that keeping an open line of communication on this issue is essential to doing so,” said the official.