An FCC task force on the digital TV transition was rechartered this month by FCC Chairman Kevin Martin, agency officials said. The body, largely dormant for years, is being reanimated amid Capitol Hill scrutiny on what some legislators call laggard efforts to coordinate industry and government efforts to educate Americans on how to get over- the-air TV after Feb. 17, 2009 (CED Feb 14 p1). Martin announced the resumption of the task force’s work at a Feb. 13 House Telecom Subcommittee hearing. He provided few details, and his comments drew little notice.

The FCC should reject a proposal by Alaska’s General Communications Inc. (GCI) for a Tribal and Native Alaskan carve-out from any cap on high cost Universal Service Fund support for competitive eligible telecommunications carriers (CETCs), the Rural Telecommunications Group said. “The GCI carve-out exempts the entire state of Alaska from any CETC cap since the total state is considered Tribal land,” RTG said: “Even urban Anchorage would be covered by the exemption… GCI’s supposedly ‘limited, competitively neutral exclusion’ is anything but… and would harm small, rural carriers that provide universal service in some of the most high cost areas of the Nation, including Alaska.”

FCC Commissioner Jonathan Adelstein will open a DTV transition event Thursday on educating residents of rural areas and tribal lands. Cathy Seidel, the FCC’s Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau chief, will moderate the event, 9 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. at the FCC. Officials of the U.S. departments of Labor, Interior and Health and Human Services, the National Congress of American Indians, the Navajo Nation Telecommunications Commission and the American Library Association are on the first panel. Representatives of Alaska, Massachusetts, the American Farm Bureau, the National Association of Counties, 4-H, the Appalachian Regional Commission and the National Grange are on the second panel. Questions can be sent during the event to dtvworkshop@fcc.gov.

FCC Commissioner Jonathan Adelstein will open a DTV transition event Thursday on educating residents of rural areas and tribal lands. Cathy Seidel, the FCC’s Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau chief, will moderate the event, 9 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. at the FCC. Officials of the U.S. departments of Labor, Interior and Health and Human Services, the National Congress of American Indians, the Navajo Nation Telecommunications Commission and the American Library Association are on the first panel. Representatives of Alaska, Massachusetts, the American Farm Bureau, the National Association of Counties, 4-H, the Appalachian Regional Commission and the National Grange are on the second panel. Questions can be sent during the event to dtvworkshop@fcc.gov.

CNN Money reports that tough safety measures implemented in response to the high-profile toy recalls in 2007 will drive up the cost of China-made toys by at least 10% in 2008. (CNN Money, dated 01/07/08, available at http://money.cnn.com/2008/01/07/news/international/bc.apfn.as.fin.hongkong.ap/index.htm?postversion=2008010713)

The first FCC digital TV workshop of 2008 will focus on rural and tribal land residents. It will be Jan. 31 at FCC headquarters. A Feb. 28 event will deal with people with disabilities and the transition.

The first FCC digital TV workshop of 2008 will focus on rural and tribal land residents. It will be Jan. 31 at FCC headquarters. A Feb. 28 event will deal with people with disabilities and the transition.

The FCC shouldn’t automatically let cities and counties initiate emergency alerts, now triggered only by the President and by state authorities, said broadcasters, cable operators and telecommunications companies. Responding to a rulemaking, some TV industry filers said municipalities should send alerts to state agencies for redistribution to broadcast, cable and telco TV. A municipal body said authorizing cities to sound alerts would improve safety in disasters. Talks continue on multilingual alerts between broadcasters and advocates for people who don’t speak English (CD Nov 7 p4), another subject of the rulemaking, a participant said.

Conterra Ultra Broadband and CellularOne of Arizona are working with the Navajo Nation to improve broadband and data transport across tribal lands. The companies and a proposed “tribal corporation” will develop an IP-based ethernet network providing middle and last-mile wireless solutions for cellular voice/data and broadband, plus high capacity bandwidth to communities, businesses, schools, and other tribal entities. The new strategy will “encourage infrastructure sharing… to maximize all available telecommunications facilities on Navajo Lands,” the companies said.

Conterra Ultra Broadband and CellularOne of Arizona are working with the Navajo Nation to improve broadband and data transport across tribal lands. The companies and a proposed “tribal corporation” will develop an IP-based ethernet network providing middle and last-mile wireless solutions for cellular voice/data and broadband, plus high capacity bandwidth to communities, businesses, schools, and other tribal entities. The new strategy will “encourage infrastructure sharing… to maximize all available telecommunications facilities on Navajo Lands,” the companies said.