Not many issues can get Google, Microsoft and NCTA on the same side of the table like Globalstar's proposal for the FCC to create a private Wi-Fi channel in the 2.4 GHz band. Microsoft and the New America Foundation's Open Technology Institute organized a panel about Globalstar's terrestrial low-power service proposal, with the panelists each raising questions about or criticizing TLPS. "It's not that we're all convinced it won't work," said Russell Fox of Mintz Levin, counsel to the Wi-Fi Alliance. "There's been no meaningful demonstration from an engineering basis that it will work."
Public safety officials may be able to use parts of FirstNet by 2018, acting Executive Director TJ Kennedy told the House Communications Subcommittee Tuesday during an oversight hearing. Congress passed the law mandating the creation of the national public safety broadband network in 2012, addressing recommendations following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Lawmakers lauded improvements in FirstNet activity, after a rocky start, but focused on the significant work that remains.
Much more work remains to find the spectrum the wireless industry needs to meet growing demand, said Kara Romagnino, CTIA director-regulatory affairs, Friday in a blog post. CTIA is encouraged by the launch of the Broadband Opportunity Council, which looks at federal efforts to speed deployment of broadband, Romagnino said. “Federal agencies can -- among other things -- work to improve their spectrum usage in order to free up additional capacity for providing wireless broadband service; coordinate multi-agency activities and improve cross-agency processes; remove barriers to broadband deployment on federal and Tribal lands; and encourage growth of federal mobile wireless platforms, mobile health applications and mobile learning applications,” she said.
Much more work remains to find the spectrum the wireless industry needs to meet growing demand, said Kara Romagnino, CTIA director-regulatory affairs, Friday in a blog post. CTIA is encouraged by the launch of the Broadband Opportunity Council, which looks at federal efforts to speed deployment of broadband, Romagnino said. “Federal agencies can -- among other things -- work to improve their spectrum usage in order to free up additional capacity for providing wireless broadband service; coordinate multi-agency activities and improve cross-agency processes; remove barriers to broadband deployment on federal and Tribal lands; and encourage growth of federal mobile wireless platforms, mobile health applications and mobile learning applications,” she said.
Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., urged the White House to support reauthorization of the Broadband Technology Opportunities Program, in comments posted Friday on the Broadband Opportunity Council’s (BBOC) request for comment on broadband availability and deployment issues. A group of House Democrats led by House Communications Subcommittee ranking member Anna Eshoo, D-Calif., and Rep. Jared Huffman, D-Calif., urged the U.S. Department of Agriculture in a separate filing to “modernize” regulations for the Rural Utility Service’s Telecom Infrastructure Loan and Loan Guarantee program to “better facilitate high-speed rural broadband deployment.” BBOC, which the White House created March 23 to spur broadband investment and adoption (see 1503230064), sought comment on ways the federal government can modernize “outdated regulations,” identify regulatory barriers to broadband deployment and promote broadband adoption.
Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., urged the White House to support reauthorization of the Broadband Technology Opportunities Program, in comments posted Friday on the Broadband Opportunity Council’s (BBOC) request for comment on broadband availability and deployment issues. A group of House Democrats led by House Communications Subcommittee ranking member Anna Eshoo, D-Calif., and Rep. Jared Huffman, D-Calif., urged the U.S. Department of Agriculture in a separate filing to “modernize” regulations for the Rural Utility Service’s Telecom Infrastructure Loan and Loan Guarantee program to “better facilitate high-speed rural broadband deployment.” BBOC, which the White House created March 23 to spur broadband investment and adoption (see 1503230064), sought comment on ways the federal government can modernize “outdated regulations,” identify regulatory barriers to broadband deployment and promote broadband adoption.
The FCC Wireless Bureau approved a waiver sought by Breitling U.S.A. for its dual band emergency watch, branded as the Emergency2 watch. Last year, the bureau sought comment on the proposed waiver (see 1411040040). The device, intended for use on land, can be used to transmit a distress signal on 406.0-406.1 MHz for communication with the Cospas-Sarsat satellite system and a lower-powered homing signal on 121.5 MHz, the bureau said. Breitling needed a waiver because the locator watch doesn't meet all of the requirements for Radio Technical Commission for Maritime Services (RTCM) devices. No commenter opposed the waiver and most supported the request “unreservedly,” the bureau said. Breitling told the FCC that incorporation of a personal locator beam (PLB) into a wristwatch casing, instead of the more traditional handheld device “renders certain requirements in the RTCM standard irrelevant or infeasible, but argues that the Emergency2 provides the offsetting advantage that it is always immediately at hand and ready to operate, with no added risk of harmful interference to others,” the bureau said. Breitling sought a waiver of various manual control, battery and labeling requirements in the RTCM standard. “There appears to be no dispute that most of the requirements in the RTCM standard from which Breitling requests a waiver are irrelevant or infeasible for a PLB incorporated into a wristwatch casing,” the bureau said. “For example, the requirements for integral manual on/off controls, a separate test switch, a highly visible orange or yellow case, and certain labels contemplate a handheld, box-shaped device.”
The Enterprise Wireless Alliance asked the FCC to convene a meeting on the future of the 800 MHz band. EWA said it could take in both a proceeding on the 800 MHz expansion/guard band (EB/GB) and a proposal to introduce new, full-power, interstitial 12.5 kHz “offset” channels in the 809-817/854-862 MHz band. “The possibility cannot be ignored that open entry to interstitial spectrum would create the same land rush by what the Alliance considers speculative applicants claiming Specialized Mobile Radio (SMR) eligibility that the industry and FCC have witnessed since EB/GB channels were made available in certain markets,” EWA said. Attendees should include frequency advisory committees "certified by the FCC to provide Part 90 800 MHz frequency coordination services, equipment vendors whose customers seek access to the 800 MHz band to capitalize on emerging technologies, and other parties that the FCC believes would contribute to the discussion,” the alliance said in docket 15-32.
The FCC Wireless Bureau approved a waiver sought by Breitling U.S.A. for its dual band emergency watch, branded as the Emergency2 watch. Last year, the bureau sought comment on the proposed waiver (see 1411040040). The device, intended for use on land, can be used to transmit a distress signal on 406.0-406.1 MHz for communication with the Cospas-Sarsat satellite system and a lower-powered homing signal on 121.5 MHz, the bureau said. Breitling needed a waiver because the locator watch doesn't meet all of the requirements for Radio Technical Commission for Maritime Services (RTCM) devices. No commenter opposed the waiver and most supported the request “unreservedly,” the bureau said. Breitling told the FCC that incorporation of a personal locator beam (PLB) into a wristwatch casing, instead of the more traditional handheld device “renders certain requirements in the RTCM standard irrelevant or infeasible, but argues that the Emergency2 provides the offsetting advantage that it is always immediately at hand and ready to operate, with no added risk of harmful interference to others,” the bureau said. Breitling sought a waiver of various manual control, battery and labeling requirements in the RTCM standard. “There appears to be no dispute that most of the requirements in the RTCM standard from which Breitling requests a waiver are irrelevant or infeasible for a PLB incorporated into a wristwatch casing,” the bureau said. “For example, the requirements for integral manual on/off controls, a separate test switch, a highly visible orange or yellow case, and certain labels contemplate a handheld, box-shaped device.”
The FCC Wireless Bureau approved a waiver sought by Breitling U.S.A. for its dual band emergency watch, branded as the Emergency2 watch. Last year, the bureau sought comment on the proposed waiver (see 1411040040). The device, intended for use on land, can be used to transmit a distress signal on 406.0-406.1 MHz for communication with the Cospas-Sarsat satellite system and a lower-powered homing signal on 121.5 MHz, the bureau said. Breitling needed a waiver because the locator watch doesn't meet all of the requirements for Radio Technical Commission for Maritime Services (RTCM) devices. No commenter opposed the waiver and most supported the request “unreservedly,” the bureau said. Breitling told the FCC that incorporation of a personal locator beam (PLB) into a wristwatch casing, instead of the more traditional handheld device “renders certain requirements in the RTCM standard irrelevant or infeasible, but argues that the Emergency2 provides the offsetting advantage that it is always immediately at hand and ready to operate, with no added risk of harmful interference to others,” the bureau said. Breitling sought a waiver of various manual control, battery and labeling requirements in the RTCM standard. “There appears to be no dispute that most of the requirements in the RTCM standard from which Breitling requests a waiver are irrelevant or infeasible for a PLB incorporated into a wristwatch casing,” the bureau said. “For example, the requirements for integral manual on/off controls, a separate test switch, a highly visible orange or yellow case, and certain labels contemplate a handheld, box-shaped device.”