ORLANDO -- Former President Bill Clinton said cellphones and other wireless technologies can drive the world together or apart. He gave a standing-room-only speech Thurs. to the CTIA convention. On the same stage, former President George H.W. Bush described the importance of wireless communications to the modern presidency.
Howard Buskirk
Howard Buskirk, Executive Senior Editor, joined Warren Communications News in 2004, after covering Capitol Hill for Telecommunications Reports. He has covered Washington since 1993 and was formerly executive editor at Energy Business Watch, editor at Gas Daily and managing editor at Natural Gas Week. Previous to that, he was a staff reporter for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and the Greenville News. Follow Buskirk on Twitter: @hbuskirk
Chmn. Martin didn’t intend to endorse a band plan by Access Spectrum and Pegasus for the 700 MHz guard bands (CD March 19 p4) that the companies call their broadband optimization plan (BOP), an FCC spokesman said Mon. The spokesman clarified that Martin was voicing a commitment to the general principle of allowing use of the 24 MHz public safety spectrum for broadband, along with narrowband or voice, in answering Rep. Stupak’s(D-Mich.) question at last week’s House oversight hearing. Some observers, including Access Spectrum, which put out a statement, heard Martin’s statement as endorsing the BOP. “The Chairman had not intended to leave an impression that he was endorsing the details of BOP or any other specific plan,” the spokesman said.
ORLANDO -- Verizon Wireless is in hot pursuit of as much as 1/2 the 60 MHz of the 700 MHz spectrum that the FCC will auction starting this year, sources said at the CTIA show this week. T-Mobile -- which fattened up its spectrum portfolio during last summer’s Advanced Wireless Services auction -- is also expected to be a player in the auction. AT&T officials confirmed this week they're looking at the 700 MHz auction but haven’t made a decision on whether to participate.
The EPA is targeting cable and satellite set-top boxes and other digital viewing and recording devices for an Energy Star standard, after issuing final specifications in Jan. for DTV converter boxes. A May 15 meeting of concerned parties in Washington will jump-start the new specification effort, the EPA said.
A band plan by Access Spectrum and Pegasus for the 700 MHz guard bands, known as the broadband optimization plan (BOP), was endorsed by Chmn. Martin last week during the House Commerce Committee’s FCC oversight hearing, in response to a question from Rep. Stupak (D-Mich.). But sources said Fri. Martin may retreat from his purported support for the plan.
With an FCC decision likely as early as April, parties from across the wireless world entreated the Commission one last time on proposals for creating a national broadband network for public safety. The comments lead inevitably to the conclusion that an FCC proposal for public safety in a late 2006 rulemaking is “deeply flawed,” the Assn. of Public Safety Communications Officials (APCO) said.
The FCC approved on circulation a long-awaited order revising rules on how wireless and wireline carriers have to guard customer proprietary network information (CPNI), sources confirmed Wed. The order began circulating on the 8th floor in late Dec. Sources expect the order to be released as early as today (Thurs.).
The Dept. of Transportation hopes this year to run initial field tests of its Next Generation 911 project but needs a location, Laurie Flaherty, a leader of the program for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), said Tues. Key decisions on the program will be made the next few months, Flaherty told the National Emergency Number Assn.’s annual D.C. meeting.
The Departments. of Defense and Energy are nearly ready to test airborne communications systems designed to stand in for land-based systems in a major emergency. The communications craft, part of the U.S. Northern Command (USNORTHCOM), would be sent aloft on short notice by the President.
The risk that emergency alerts sent to cellphones could cause networks to crash as subscribers respond en masse is a key topic as the FCC Commercial Mobile Service Alert Advisory Committee sets standards for warnings, officials said Mon. The committee met for a 2nd time at FCC hq for an update on emerging issues as it writes a final report (CD Dec 13 p3).