Game Boy Advance (GBA) SP sales have soared in Europe after the recent price cut to Pounds 69.99 ($130.78 at $1=Pounds 0.579), Nintendo Europe said Fri. The company said it saw an increase of more than 200% in the first 2 weeks of sales after the first price cut on the front-lit SP system. Nintendo Europe Senior Dir.-European Mktg. Jim Merrick called it “a record sales uplift for the handheld console.” He added that the system’s European installed base was now almost 5 million.
Senate Commerce Committee Chmn. McCain (R-Ariz.) will propose a $1 billion subsidy for DTV converter boxes when the Committee takes up new legislation designed to set a 2009 deadline for broadcasters to vacate the analog spectrum. The Commerce Committee is scheduled to mark up the bill tomorrow (Wed.) The bill relies on estimates that auction proceeds from that portion of the 700 MHz band of spectrum could net the govt. $30-$70 billion and quotes both testimony from FCC Chmn. Powell and New America Foundation figures.
Senate Commerce Committee Chmn. McCain (R-Ariz.) will propose a $1 billion subsidy for DTV converter boxes when the Committee takes up new legislation designed to set a 2009 deadline for broadcasters to vacate the analog spectrum. The Commerce Committee is scheduled to mark up the bill Wed. The bill relies on estimates that auction proceeds from that portion of the 700 MHz band of spectrum could net the govt. $30-$70 billion and quotes both testimony from FCC Chmn. Powell and New America Foundation figures.
U.S. emergency first response agencies are at least 15-20 years away from fully interoperable communications, David Boyd, dir. of DHS’s SAFECOM program said Tues. Boyd and other panelists at a New Millennium Research Council discussion of interoperable communications agreed that getting better equipment by itself will not solve U.S. problems.
Election year politics and the fight over intelligence reform could doom legislation introduced Tues. by Senate Commerce Committee Chmn. McCain (R-Ariz.) and Senate Govt. Affairs ranking Democrat Lieberman (Conn.) that would clear 700 MHz spectrum for emergency communications by expediting the DTV transition, sources said Wed.
The Tower Siting Policy Alliance, representing 2 tower companies and 3 major wireless carriers including Cingular, said in a filing at the FCC it would support a compromise offered by historic preservationists on the National Programmatic Agreement (NPA) on wireless towers, if that will lead to a successful agreement. The offer comes amidst reports the NPA may still get an FCC vote this week.
The Washington Post reports that the World Trade Organization (WTO) has agreed to a European Union (EU) request to allow scientists to testify in the dispute brought by the U.S., Canada, and Argentina over the EU moratorium on approving genetically modified foods for sale in Europe. According to the Washington Post, this means that the WTO panel's report will be issued in late March 2005, rather than before the end of 2004. (Washington Post Pub 08/27/04, www.washingtonpost.com)
Globalstar said it was chosen by the Tesuque Tribal Police as part of the group’s voice and data solution. The group will use the phones with laptops for access to law enforcement databases, in addition to using them for backup communications when cellular and radio signals aren’t available. Meanwhile, Globalstar said it chose WaveCall Communications as its preferred fixed maritime product supplier. WaveCall will be the reseller in markets where its dealers are located, and it will allow Globalstar Gateway Operators to sell its products through individual agreements, Globalstar said.
The barriers to information sharing among all govt. levels are legal and cultural rather than technological, and information shouldn’t be shared in a hierarchal fashion, Patrick Hughes, asst. secy. for information analysis for the Dept. of Homeland Security (DHS), testified in a Tues. hearing by the House Govt. Reform Committee’s Technology Subcommittee. A design architecture with technical and procedural transparency is needed to improve information sharing, Hughes said. DHS established the Information Sharing & Collaboration Program, which will work with the DoJ, FBI, Dept. of Defense, CIA and the Terrorist Threat Integration Center (TTIC) to bring together the Homeland Security Information Network, Law Enforcement On-Line and Regional Information Security System (RISS) networks, Hughes said. The FBI has been working closely with the TTIC to provide access to internal FBI databases through the Intelink-TS website, according to Willie Hulton, deputy asst. dir., FBI’s Counterterrorism Div. The FBI will produce the FBI Daily Report and FBI National Report to provide intelligence briefings to personnel in the field and external customers, Hulton said. Progress has been made on the state and local levels using the RISS network, which currently serves nearly 7,000 local, state, federal and tribal law enforcement agencies in all 50 states, D.C., U.S. territories, Australia, Canada and England, said RISS Chmn. Gerard Lynch. A public safety and criminal justice sharing system under the name SHIELD (Securing the Homeland by Integrating Existing Local Databases) shares data among 14 Dist. and federal public safety, criminal justice, and court agencies with agencies in N.Y.C., Pa., Mass. and Va. according to Suzanne Peck, Chief Technology Officer for the govt. of D.C.
The FCC has made “great strides” as part of its year-old outreach campaign to ensure that rural Americans have access to affordable, high-quality telecom services, Consumer & Governmental Affairs Bureau (CGB) Chief Dane Snowden said at the Commission’s meeting Thurs. He said the program that targeted the Appalachian Region, the Miss. Delta Region and Alaska Native Villages -- “3 key regions where the needs are particularly acute” -- resulted in: (1) A 30% increase in the number of subscribers in tribal areas receiving Lifeline assistance. (2) An increase of about $1.5 million in Universal Service high-cost support to tribally owned telecom carriers in 2003 and an additional $2.5 million in 2004. (3) “Much greater attendance” at the Indian Telecom Initiatives regional workshop, as well as other outreach events. (4) More requests for consultation and participation from consumers, local govt. and community groups. (5) “A dramatic increase in the number of hits on the [FCC] Web page.” Snowden said the CGB had also focused on promoting advanced services in other rural areas of the U.S., including via visits to Kan. and S.D.