There's no digital mapping information about the Oklahoma historical map, which the FCC recently adopted as a way to distinguish between tribal and nontribal lands in the state, said the Oklahoma Corporation Commission in an ex parte filing with the federal agency posted Wednesday in docket 09-197. The Feb. 9 deadline doesn't provide enough time to alert affected customers of a coming change in Lifeline support, said OCC. To remedy the situation, it recommends the FCC extend the effective date to 90 days from the date digital mapping information is made available to those affected parties. The boundary changes will result in a 73 percent reduction in Lifeline support -- from $34.25 per month to $9.25 per month -- for a "considerable number" of program customers, the OCC said.
International Trade Today is providing readers with some of the top stories for Nov. 9-13 in case they were missed.
CTIA and NAB were unable to resolve a key question on the broadcaster repacking after the TV incentive auction: Should the FCC stick with its current 39-month deadline for clearing the spectrum or make more decisions on timing after the auction?
Draft spectrum legislation from Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John Thune, R-S.D., may have originated without Democratic involvement, but wireless observers told us the provisions likely warrant little pushback. They see a balanced bill that includes bipartisan ideas on freeing up more spectrum beyond what's in the recent budget deal and other deployment measures, such as timeliness of federal and local authorities in siting. Also in the draft is a provision that would allow federal agencies to recoup money from spectrum they give up to auction -- up to 25 percent -- and, as expected (see 1511040047), the dig once proposal.
CTIA and NAB were unable to resolve a key question on the broadcaster repacking after the TV incentive auction: Should the FCC stick with its current 39-month deadline for clearing the spectrum or make more decisions on timing after the auction?
Draft spectrum legislation from Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John Thune, R-S.D., may have originated without Democratic involvement, but wireless observers told us the provisions likely warrant little pushback. They see a balanced bill that includes bipartisan ideas on freeing up more spectrum beyond what's in the recent budget deal and other deployment measures, such as timeliness of federal and local authorities in siting. Also in the draft is a provision that would allow federal agencies to recoup money from spectrum they give up to auction -- up to 25 percent -- and, as expected (see 1511040047), the dig once proposal.
BALTIMORE -- Funding is limited for modernization of aging CBP facilities at land ports of entry that are having trouble keeping up with today’s increased trade volumes and security requirements, said CBP officials at the East Coast Trade Symposium on Nov. 4. With congressional appropriations in short supply, CBP’s reimbursement and donation pilots won’t be enough to raise the $5 billion necessary to bring CBP’s land ports up to standard.
Lawmakers should permanently extend CBP’s donation and reimbursement pilots that allow private parties to fund land purchases and provide real property at U.S. ports of entry, said John Wagner, deputy assistant commissioner at CBP, alongside other stakeholders at a Nov. 4 congressional hearing. The public/private partnerships provide critical lifelines to ports and port communities as lawmakers fail to authorize enough funding to keep pace with growing trade, said those that testified before the House Homeland Security Border Subcommittee.
The nationwide public safety broadband network (NPSBN) could improve interoperability, capacity and reliability of public safety responses in states like Pennsylvania in cases of blizzards, gas explosions, riots, manhunts and hurricanes, a FirstNet blog post said Monday. Pennsylvania Statewide Interoperability Coordinator Mark Wrightstone earlier this year said the state's land mobile radio system, PA-StarNet -- which is used by more than two dozen agencies in Pennsylvania -- allows both voice and data traffic, uses 800 MHz trunked digital technology and services more than 25,000 subscriber devices, the post said. Wrightstone said that PA-StarNet has “extensive experience” with interoperable public safety communications, making it “ideally suited to coordinate Pennsylvania’s response to the federal FirstNet program and its mission to improve radio communications for first responders.”
UniPixel landed a preproduction order of its XTouch sensors from a major unidentified Japanese CE manufacturer for a touch screen in a 10-inch tablet product, the components vendor said in a Monday announcement. “While this pre-production order does not guarantee that this sensor will eventually enter mass production with this customer, we are excited about moving this opportunity forward to the next step.”