Second largest ultra-wideband (UWB) technology developer Fantasma Networks closed its doors Fri. after unnamed investor backed out of 2nd round of financing at last min. “The capital markets are extremely difficult right now,” company spokesman said. “That’s the issue, it was not a technology issue.” First round investors in Fantasma had included Paul Allen-backed Vulcan Ventures and Intel and company itself was spun off from Allen’s former technology incubator Interval Research last year. Former FCC Office of Engineering & Technology Chief Dale Hatfield joined company in Jan. as technical adviser. Shuttering of Mountain View, Cal., company leaves smaller pool of UWB developers to make case at FCC about pending regulations that would allow devices to operate in Part 15 limits, move that has stirred wireless carriers and GPS industry concerns.

House Commerce Committee telecom staff “is very busy” during recess “doing the legwork on a number of important issues,” spokesman Ken Johnson told us. Among areas of activity, he said: (1) “Team of people” is reviewing Bush Administration’s budget. (2) “We have people meeting with broadcasters on the problems being experienced in the migration to digital.” (3) “We have people reviewing the Senate campaign finance bill, with a special emphasis on provisions which would mandate lowest unit rates for politicians.” (4) “We have some folks that are examining the whole range of 3G [third-generation wireless] issues.” (5) “We're also continuing to work on our recommendations for FCC reform.”

Result of final independent tests conducted by Mitre Corp. of Bedford, Mass. to determine whether Northpoint-Broadwave technology would interfere with DBS systems is due “early next week and as early as Tues.”, industry source said. Once results are made public, issue will be put out for public comment. Source said FCC could make final ruling “any day” and didn’t have to wait for all of comments to come in. DBS industry has objected to tests’ being conducted by Mitre, which they call “unqualified” to fully evaluate Northpoint system (CD April 9 p6).

Regulatory authority over unwanted e-mails on wireless devices appears to be murky, with industry groups and consumer advocates questioning whether FTC or FCC potentially have mandate in that area and agencies themselves saying they don’t. Lack of clarity on regulatory purview is expected to drive at least some attention in Congress this year on wireless spam. While spamming incident involving short message service (SMS) on as many as 170,000 mobile phones in Phoenix has drawn widespread attention in recent weeks, analysts and industry representatives said problem still was rare in industry searching for broader consumer use of wireless Internet applications.

FCC granted Boeing authority Fri. to operate up to 800 receive-only mobile earth stations aboard aircraft in 11.7-12.2 GHz band. As part of order, Boeing must not cause harmful interference to domestic or foreign station operators, Commission said. Company must stop mobile operations if they receive notice of interference from operations, FCC said, and company must accept any interference from any authorized user.

Time Warner Cable urged FCC to issue actual ruling on last- min. bid by Gemstar-TV Guide International to withdraw its petition for special relief in bitter cable must-carry battle. Gemstar filed its intent Wed. to withdraw petition immediately, after conceding that Commission was poised to rule against it in struggle over cable carriage of its electronic program guide (CD April 12 p3). Gemstar also sought to have petition dismissed “without prejudice as a matter of right,” permitting it to file new petition later if it wanted. But Time Warner Cable, now unit of AOL Time Warner, argued that FCC had discretion to dismiss or not dismiss as it chose. NCTA, which had filed comments in support of MSO’s stance, said Gemstar “apparently concluded that it has overreached in its request for government intervention.” Arguing that cable operators “are not required to subsidize the launch of new businesses by broadcasters nor third-party vendors,” NCTA said “marketplace negotiations, rather than the threat of government regulation, already provide a mechanism for companies such as Gemstar to work with cable operators.”

EchoStar has temporarily stopped Starband shipments to retailers in effort to correct problems during installation of satellite Internet service. EchoStar informed retailers of decision in letter last week. Company said improper installation of 2-way Starband satellite dish could cause interference with other satellites. To date, no other companies have lodged interference complaints, FCC spokesman said. EchoStar spokesman said company planned to hold more training sessions on installation with Starband retailers in effort to correct problem. “As soon as we improve the installation process, then we plan to continue shipments.” EchoStar spokesman said Starband problems weren’t unusual or serious: “This is not unique for a 2-way satellite service that’s being done for the first time on a consumer level.” Current Starband customers won’t be affected, but there could be as many as 300 subscribers to service who need corrections to current installation, EchoStar said. Starband indicated concern about impact of EchoStar’s decision on business that still is trying to gain traction in difficult market. “We were disappointed that EchoStar placed a temporary hold on shipping new units based on any potential cross-polarization issues with units previously shipped and installed,” company said: “In our view, no basis exists for linking the cross-polarization issue with a halt in new shipments since the cross-polarization issue affects only certain units that were previously installed, albeit incorrectly, by a limited number of installers. The issue has been resolved.”

BellSouth urged FCC to deny request for rulemaking by opinion research firm Macro International that would exempt some long distance companies from caller ID requirements. Macro asked FCC to determine whether long distance companies -- also known as interexchange carriers (IXCs) -- were covered under same Caller ID exemption as applied to local exchange companies. Exemption is given to LECs that don’t have software needed to provide all Caller ID functions. Macro told Commission it sought ruling because it faced possible legal action by N.H. consumer. Consumer charged Macro with violating N.H. law that prohibits use of automated dialing systems that don’t pass Caller ID information to consumers. Macro told FCC call had been transported through IXC that lacked capability to provide calling party number (CPN) information to consumer, so ruling that included IXCs in exemption would clarify its case. BellSouth said giving exemption to long distance companies would defeat FCC’s effort to gain more ubiquitous Caller ID coverage. It said it surveyed traffic on its network on one day -- March 19 -- and found 25% of long distance calls didn’t have CPN information. “Adoption of the relief requested by Macro would frustrate the Commission’s goal of maximizing CPN passage by discouraging IXCs from making the investments necessary to deliver caller identification information,” BellSouth said in April 9 filing.

BellSouth formally asked N.C. Utilities Commission (NCUC) to endorse an interLATA long distance entry petition to FCC. BellSouth N.C. Pres. Krista Tillman said carrier had spent 3 years making sure it met Sec. 271 requirements for long distance entry: “Today we are sure.” BS said it expected NCUC decision “within a few months,” and if verdict was favorable it then would file at FCC. BellSouth said it faced 60 operating CLECs plus another 100 authorized, and CLECs now served 265,000 customer lines. Carrier said it recently passed operation support system (OSS) test by KPMG Consulting and had completed 700 colocated installations for 40 CLECs. It said the NCUC in 1998 found it met other 12 checklist items.

Correction: Universal service programs, including e-rate funds, have been included in FCC budget proposals for years (CD April 11 p1).