NTIA Dir. Nancy Victory called Tues. for redoubling of efforts to create “workable plan” for public safety interoperability. At start of 2-day NTIA summit on technical issues related to public safety interoperability, she said: “Without interoperability, our public safety community is left with a Tower of Babel in which no one can understand what anyone else is saying or learn what others are doing.” Victory said NTIA would work “closely” with new White House Office of Management & Budget initiative, Project Safecom, on which Federal Emergency Management Agency recently took lead (CD June 10 p2). Project is focusing on issues such as federal-to-federal and federal-to-state public safety interoperability. NTIA’s spectrum research lab in Boulder has been tasked with standards development for public safety digital land mobile radio (LMR) communications systems, she said at conference co-sponsored with Public Safety Wireless Network (PSWN). Lab will conduct interoperability testing of systems “in the near future,” Victory said. As for NTIA Spectrum Summit in April, during which agency joined with industry and other parts of federal govt. in discussing potential changes in federal policy in that area, Victory said NTIA expected to have report on solutions stemming from summit discussions “in coming weeks.” Public safety needs will play “preeminent” role in that broader review of spectrum management processes, she said. In other spectrum areas, Victory reiterated that Administration had sought delay of 700 MHz auction, for which FCC recently delayed upper band bidding by 7 months while keeping June 19 date intact for lower band. “Negotiations continue on Capitol Hill regarding whether or not the auction will go forward,” Victory said. Following NTIA’s public safety interoperability summit, she said it would examine recommendations that emerged from conference in coordination with FCC and PSWN, which is program run by Depts. of Treasury and Justice. NTIA’s Public Safety Program office also will examine spectrum needs of public safety users and work with FCC to address them, she said. In separate session, Rick Murphy, PSWN program manager for Treasury Dept., said one interoperability issue that beset some local agencies was large proportion of 3 million public safety officers in U.S. who were volunteers. “They don’t get much money to buy equipment,” Murphy said, and often accepted hand-me-down gear from their professional counterparts. Those different generations of equipment make it harder to achieve interoperability in some cases as new gear comes on line, he said. Robert Lee, PSWN program manager for Justice Dept., cited several tough questions he said lay ahead for public safety operators, including funding and spectrum needs and whether incentive programs should be created to promote interoperability solutions among public safety systems. Lee said grant funding or seed money could be used in that area, including from homeland security funding proposals now moving through Congress.
AT&T Wireless, Cingular Wireless and Verizon Wireless asked FCC to suspend action on request by New ICO to provide ancillary terrestrial service in mobile satellite service (MSS) band until Commission acted on 2 other pending proceedings. Wireless carriers, in June 7 ex parte filing, reiterated their opposition to granting flexibility to New ICO to provide terrestrial services in that band, saying it would “conflict with previous orders, circumvent the law and deny significant auction revenues to the government.” Carriers asked that FCC first act on CTIA petition seeking reallocation of MSS spectrum based on arguments that service wasn’t viable and there was need for spectrum among terrestrial carriers. After Commission turned down CTIA request last year, group filed for reconsideration in Oct. Wireless carriers also sought review of decision last year by FCC’s International Bureau and Office of Engineering & Technology, which granted applications of New ICO and others for MSS licenses. Carriers challenged decision, which they said granted licenses without auction. “The illogic of the Commission’s actions will be compounded if the MSS flex proceeding is decided before the Commission has even reviewed the propriety of both the initial license grants for satellite-only service and the original satellite-only allocation,” carriers said. “It is improper for the Commission to review whether the MSS licensees should be granted even broader authority before the Commission decides whether the original allocation, eligibility rules and license proceeding were valid.” AT&T, Cingular and Verizon urged FCC to revisit “the factual premises underlying the original MSS allocation and licensing decisions at the same time it considers whether to permit terrestrial use of MSS spectrum and eligibility issues.” Action on MSS flexibility should be suspended until FCC resolves other outstanding proceedings, they argued.
FCC denied DTV construction permit extensions for 14 more stations, it said in notice Tues., increasing total to 50. Like earlier denials (CD June 11 p7), Media Bureau said stations didn’t make adequate efforts to meet DTV deadline.
AT&T Wireless asked FCC for limited waiver of June 30 deadline for digital wireless systems to be able to transmit 911 calls from text telephone (TTY) devices. AT&T told Commission it had encountered system bugs with Nokia software that it was deploying in GSM markets but that problems hadn’t affected rollout in its TDMA markets. AT&T Wireless said multiple errors in Nokia software that contained TTY solution affected only part of its GSM network. Because “vast majority” of its subscribers are on its TDMA wireless network, it said, “any customer seeking TTY compatibility will be able to receive nationwide service” at comparable price on network. AT&T Wireless told agency it wanted extension for affected GSM markets for 3 months after date that Nokia delivered product for deployment. It said it received delivery of partly corrected software for lab testing Mon. If corrected software passes critical lab and field tests, carrier said it expected to roll out TTY solution in all operational GSM markets using that equipment by Sept. 30. AT&T Wireless said it didn’t foresee any problems in meeting June 30 deadline in its Ericsson TDMA markets. All Lucent TDMA markets have been fully enabled and all but 2 Nortel markets have TTY solutions deployed, with rest expected to receive upgrades this week. In June 7 filing, AT&T said Ericsson solution was 70% deployed and it expected to complete rollout in 2 weeks. Problems with Nokia solution surfaced in late April during field verification tests, AT&T said, and by May 15 eight errors had been pinpointed. Some bugs damaged network capacity or performance, “directly impacting basic voice and data services for customers,” company said. “Others created complete network failures.”
Private wireless industry groups exhorted colleagues at American Mobile Telecom Assn. (AMTA) conference Mon. to move toward common position on plan to relieve public safety interference at 800 MHz. But occasionally spirited exchanges at start of 2-day conference in Arlington, Va., stressed how far apart different user groups were on how to mitigate interference as part of notice of proposed rulemaking approved by FCC in March. How to pay for incumbent relocation and where replacement spectrum would come from are among critical issues that remain as sticking points, although all sides agreed that public safety should obtain more spectrum. “Interleaving these kinds of operations -- analog high side public safety type systems on one hand and high efficiency Nextel SMR operations on the other, they simply are going to cause these intermodulation problems and there is no way to tweak your way out of it,” Nextel Vice Chmn. Morgan O'Brien said. Several participants said time was running short to reach broader agreement on solution, including 30 additional days for reply comments on FCC’s NPRM and shrinking window on Capitol Hill to move new legislation this session. “It’s time for this industry to stop fighting among itself,” said Laura Smith, pres. of Industrial Telecom Assn. (ITA). “We have to work together to come up with a solution.”
Broadcasters “did your job of keeping all of us informed and aware” during Sept. 11 crisis, Office of Homeland Security Dir. Tom Ridge told broadcasters Mon. at NAB’s Service to America Summit. However, he said, broadcasters’ “new job” of reporting on formation of Homeland Security Dept. will be “more difficult” because there are “few visuals” and “a lot of gray areas.” Ridge said that covering creation of new agency would be “one of the most important, if not the most important, stories of our lifetime.”
Witness list for Senate Commerce Committee hearing on spectrum management today(Tues.) was announced: Sen. Jeffords (Ind.-Vt.), chmn., Environment & Public Works Committee; Peter Guerroro, General Accounting Office dir., physical infrastructure issues; Steven Price, asst. secy. of defense--spectrum, space, sensors and C3; Nancy Victory, dir., NTIA; Thomas Sugrue, chief, FCC Wireless Bureau. Hearing is 9:30 a.m., Rm. 253, Russell Bldg. Sen. Inouye (D- Hawaii) will preside.
Radar detector industry has “completely solved the problem” of interference to VSATs, and recent complaints to FCC are nothing more than “quibbling in the band,” said Radio Assn. Defending Airwave Rights (RADAR) attorney Mitchell Lazarus. RADAR represents radar detector manufacturers. Led by VSAT operators Microspace and Hughes Network Systems, satellite operators said radar detectors were causing interference and urged Commission to adopt rules to limit emissions (CD June 10 p1). Lazarus and RADAR officials in ex parte filing with FCC Mon. outlined concerns with satellite industry’s effort to regulate radar detectors.
More industry consolidation is in offing because courts and FCC have reduced regulatory constraints on mergers and acquisitions, leaving antitrust law as only significant govt. hurdle, Legg Mason said in report issued Mon. Other conclusions in firm’s report, which looks at telecom and media ownership: (1) Antitrust law is unlikely to block many media deals although it could complicate wireless, Bell/long distance and Bell/Bell consolidations. (2) “Market difficulties currently constrain industry deal-making” but that will change. “Local media acquisitions in anticipation of rule changes have already started and, eventually, the national deals will likely follow.” (3) Relaxation of ownership restrictions eventually will lead to “pressure for behavioral regulation of companies.” Media concerns already are surfacing and telco concerns are reflected at state level, report said: “Consolidation does not lead to deregulation; rather, it leads to different forms of regulation.” -- 202-778-1595.
FCC should begin setting rules for single frequency networks, or Distributed Transmission (DT), NAB, MSTV, APTS and 14 other broadcasters and equipment makers said in ex parte filing. In Distributed Transmission, broadcasters use multiple lower power transmitters operating on same channel as primary transmitter, rather than trying to cover entire area with one high-power signal. Cell-like transmitter network can be used to replace some translators and satellites and to provide more uniform coverage of reception area at lower overall power. DT takes advantage of adaptive equalizers built into DTV tuners to avoid problems caused by signals from multiple transmitters arriving on single channel. Equalizer chooses best signal and simply blocks out others, negating impact of interference. Advanced TV Technology Center has been working on DT for years. First multiple transmitter system is under construction in State College, Pa., area under FCC experimental license. Ex parte filing said DT could: (1) Provide more uniform and higher power signals over wider area while causing less interference outside reception area. (2) Fill in signal gaps. (3) Solve other interference problems. (4) Enable more set-top antennas to receive DTV. (5) Potentially allow pedestrian and mobile reception of DTV. Group said it understood FCC was about to open rulemaking on digital operation of LPTV and translators and said DT should be considered as part of rulemaking. It said ATSC already was developing technical standards for DT. Key issues to be resolved in rulemaking, it said, are granting primary status for DT transmitters (rather than secondary status for LPTV, translators and boosters), setting interference rules, handling other technical issues. Groups signing ex parte filing said that, while they supported general concept of DT, “they may differ on the specifics of how it may be implemented.”