Motorola and Lucent are squaring off at the FCC over 700 MHz public safety spectrum. The fight touches on whether the Commission should require broadband and endorse EVDO as a single standard for public safety use, or allow flexibility. If the FCC does so, adoption of EVDO would be similar to FCC adoption of P25 as a narrowband interoperability standard. The conflict marks a Lucent push to crack a public safety market long dominated by Motorola, sources said.
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
The Supreme Court this week asked the U.S. Solicitor General for advice on whether to hear a Minn. appeal of an 8th U.S. Appeals Court, St. Louis, decision overturning a state law making wireless carriers get customer approval before raising rates mid-contract. Wireless carriers led by Verizon Wireless oppose the appeal.
Thousands of transmitters, including those police and fire departments. use, would be endangered if the FCC grants a Multispectral Solutions Inc. (MSSI) request for higher power limits in the 6 GHz band for ultra-wideband-based RFID tags, said the Fixed Wireless Communications Coalition (FWCC). The National Spectrum Managers Assn. (NSMA) also objected to the request for higher power limits.
The FCC should grant a request by Wireless Communications Service (WCS) license holders asking for a delay in build out deadlines for companies that want to offer broadband wireless at 2.3 GHz, until several areas of uncertainty are resolved by the agency, Motorola and Intel said in a filing. But Sirius urged the FCC to take the spectrum back and reopen the band for other uses. WCS spectrum was sold by the FCC in a 1997 auction for what was considered a disappointingly low $13.6 million.
Many VoIP providers may have to rely on a proposed 64.9% safe harbor to figure their universal service contributions, rather than being able to use traffic studies such as those the wireless industry uses, VoIP and wireless carrier sources said Fri. To wireless carriers’ relief, the FCC is signaling it will keep allowing traffic studies showing actual call volume as an alternative to using the safe harbor, sources said. Wireless carriers voiced alarm after reports surfaced (CD May 31 p1) the FCC planned to hike their safe harbor to 37.1% from 28.5%.
Council Tree, Bethel Native Corp. and the Minority Media & Telecom Council filed Wed. evening in U.S. Appeals Court, Philadelphia for a stay on new FCC designated entity rules, approved ahead of the advance wireless services (AWS) auction. The groups asked the court to act by June 19, the deadline for the electronic filing of short form applications to bid in the auction, set to start Aug. 9.
CHICAGO -- TIA will make stronger carrier participation a major priority next year, for its 2nd Globalcomm event, TIA Pres. Matt Flanigan told us as the first Globalcomm wound down here this week. While TIA won’t make the first move, the group is open to working with USTelecom to combine their shows into a reconstituted Supercomm, he said.
Early termination fees (ETFs) are in general “part of the rate structure of wireless services” and shouldn’t be subject to state regulation, according to a study by former FCC Comr. Harold Furchtgott-Roth, which CTIA submitted to the Commission. CTIA is mounting a major campaign to convince the FCC that ETFs should be considered part of rates and not subject to state regulation, building on a petition seeking an expedited rulemaking the association filed a year ago. FCC Chmn. Martin is a former aide to Furchtgott-Roth.
CHICAGO -- Pulver.com CEO Jeff Pulver will not oppose an FCC move to impose universal service charges on VoIP, he said. An order to that effect, circulating on the 8th floor for the June agenda meeting, would require VoIP operators to remit fees on up to 64.9% of customer revenue. In an interview at Globalcomm here, Pulver blamed investment bankers managing the IPO for Vonage’s lackluster Wall Street debut.
CHICAGO -- Basic U.S. research in telecom plummeted with the post-AT&T breakup demise of Bell Labs, and the price to U.S. firms could be high, officials warned Mon. at Globalcomm. A news conference saw calls for renewed collaboration among industry, universities and govt., and for pressure on Congress to spend more on basic research. Only 0.3% of U.S. research funding focuses on long-term telecom research, officials said.