The Federal Aviation Administration extended the deadline for an aviation rulemaking committee looking at the use of electronic devices in flight to complete its work. The 28-member group is now slated to wrap up its work in September. It had planned to finish July 31, an FAA spokesman said. The committee is looking at personal electronic devices like tablets and e-readers, but not cellphones, which are the purview of the FCC, according to a fact sheet released by the aviation agency Friday (http://1.usa.gov/130flW7). Under current FAA rules, the devices must be turned off during takeoff and landing and when aircraft are below 10,000 feet to protect key aviation systems from interference. “The FAA recognizes consumers are intensely interested in the use of personal electronics aboard aircraft,” the agency said in a statement Friday. “That is why we tasked a government-industry group to examine the safety issues and the feasibility of changing the current restrictions. At the group’s request, the FAA has granted a two-month extension to complete the additional work necessary for the safety assessment. We will wait for the group to finish its work before we determine next steps.” The Wall Street Journal reported Friday that a draft of the report indicates consensus that the restrictions should be relaxed.
The city council of Lee’s Summit, Mo., voted unanimously Thursday to bring Google Fiber to its community, making it the ninth municipality around Kansas City, Kan., and Kansas City, Mo., to sign on to the gigabit-speed service in recent months. Google Fiber confirmed the news on its blog (http://bit.ly/11Q6rmL). The city has about 91,000 residents. The council members voted on three different agreements related to allowing Google to come in and install its fiber. The Lee’s Summit agreements said Google will provide free broadband service for a certain period of time, as in other municipalities, and may provide free Wi-Fi hotspots in “certain areas of the City where there is a high concentration of pedestrian activity, such as downtown and shopping centers.” Google will connect “various City facilities and other public facilities, including schools and libraries” with its broadband for free through a 10-year-period effective with the agreement’s approval, the agreement said (http://bit.ly/15q788z). It stipulated that Google must pay applicable right-of-way permit fees, building permit fees and land use approval fees. “In consideration of the free City services, the City will allow Google Fiber to have rent-free equipment attachments and locations while free City services are provided,” the agreement said. “When free City services are not being provided, market rate rentals will be negotiated.” Google acquired the “the right to install, operate, and maintain utility equipment and fiber housing structures (known as ‘huts') on land owned by the City,” according to the document. Lee’s Summit will receive a 5 percent video services franchise fee out of Google Fiber’s gross revenue from video services sales in the area. “Mayor, I've been waiting three years to make this motion,” Councilmember Brian Whitley said when introducing the first agreement. “This is actually probably the best motion I've ever made in my career.” But Councilmember Ed Cockrell, despite being receptive to Google, worried about Lee’s Summit trees. He mentioned a town “that had all their trees whacked off” by Google in the right of way. “I understand tearing up streets -- that’s a whole other different issue,” Cockrell said. He said he worried about citizens rallying “because we killed Mother Nature” like in another Google Fiber community. “There was an absolute disregard for that city and that public,” Cockrell said. Rachel Hack, Google’s Kansas City community manager, guessed he was talking about a community along 39th Street in Kansas City, Mo., she said. “One of our contractors was clearing trees that were in the right of way growing up into the utility lines, and admittedly, some of them did not look good when they were done,” Hack told the council members. Google is working with that community and also plans to work within Lee’s Summit ordinances. “No timelines yet to announce for our expansion cities,” Hack added, describing plans in 2013 and 2014 for the two central Kansas City municipalities. But the expansion city builds will be moving “much more quickly” than in the central Kansas City area, she said. She encouraged Lee’s Summit to engage with the groups curious about innovation and high-speed possibilities that have emerged in Kansas City.
The city council of Lee’s Summit, Mo., voted unanimously Thursday to bring Google Fiber to its community, making it the ninth municipality around Kansas City, Kan., and Kansas City, Mo., to sign on to the gigabit-speed service in recent months. Google Fiber confirmed the news on its blog (http://bit.ly/11Q6rmL). The city has about 91,000 residents. The council members voted on three different agreements related to allowing Google to come in and install its fiber. The Lee’s Summit agreements said Google will provide free broadband service for a certain period of time, as in other municipalities, and may provide free Wi-Fi hotspots in “certain areas of the City where there is a high concentration of pedestrian activity, such as downtown and shopping centers.” Google will connect “various City facilities and other public facilities, including schools and libraries” with its broadband for free through a 10-year-period effective with the agreement’s approval, the agreement said (http://bit.ly/15q788z). It stipulated that Google must pay applicable right-of-way permit fees, building permit fees and land use approval fees. “In consideration of the free City services, the City will allow Google Fiber to have rent-free equipment attachments and locations while free City services are provided,” the agreement said. “When free City services are not being provided, market rate rentals will be negotiated.” Google acquired the “the right to install, operate, and maintain utility equipment and fiber housing structures (known as ‘huts') on land owned by the City,” according to the document. Lee’s Summit will receive a 5 percent video services franchise fee out of Google Fiber’s gross revenue from video services sales in the area. “Mayor, I've been waiting three years to make this motion,” Councilmember Brian Whitley said when introducing the first agreement. “This is actually probably the best motion I've ever made in my career.” But Councilmember Ed Cockrell, despite being receptive to Google, worried about Lee’s Summit trees. He mentioned a town “that had all their trees whacked off” by Google in the right of way. “I understand tearing up streets -- that’s a whole other different issue,” Cockrell said. He said he worried about citizens rallying “because we killed Mother Nature” like in another Google Fiber community. “There was an absolute disregard for that city and that public,” Cockrell said. Rachel Hack, Google’s Kansas City community manager, guessed he was talking about a community along 39th Street in Kansas City, Mo., she said. “One of our contractors was clearing trees that were in the right of way growing up into the utility lines, and admittedly, some of them did not look good when they were done,” Hack told the council members. Google is working with that community and also plans to work within Lee’s Summit ordinances. “No timelines yet to announce for our expansion cities,” Hack added, describing plans in 2013 and 2014 for the two central Kansas City municipalities. But the expansion city builds will be moving “much more quickly” than in the central Kansas City area, she said. She encouraged Lee’s Summit to engage with the groups curious about innovation and high-speed possibilities that have emerged in Kansas City.
Sens. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa., and Dick Durbin, D-Ill., introduced a bill Thursday to require TV coverage of all open Supreme Court proceedings. The Cameras in the Courtroom Act would permit the justices to prevent televised coverage of their proceedings if they determine by a majority vote that doing so would constitute a violation of the due process rights of one or more of the parties before the court. “We can all agree that the American public deserves the opportunity to see firsthand the arguments and opinions that will shape their society for years to come,” Durbin said in a joint news release. “The accountability, transparency and openness that this bill would create would help increase understanding of, and appreciation for, the highest court in the land and the decisions the court makes,” said Grassley. Grassley and Durbin had previously sponsored the Sunshine in the Courtroom Act (S-410), which would require cameras in the courtrooms, and which failed to pass in the last session of Congress. The high court has never allowed reporters to bring cameras or tape recorders inside, and didn’t allow cameras to record oral argument about the national healthcare law in March (CD March 19 p16). The justices have raised concerns that televising their hearings could hurt their collegiality and overall ability to make objective decisions (CD Dec 7/11 p1).
Sens. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa., and Dick Durbin, D-Ill., introduced a bill Thursday to require TV coverage of all open Supreme Court proceedings. The Cameras in the Courtroom Act would permit the justices to prevent televised coverage of their proceedings if they determine by a majority vote that doing so would constitute a violation of the due process rights of one or more of the parties before the court. “We can all agree that the American public deserves the opportunity to see firsthand the arguments and opinions that will shape their society for years to come,” Durbin said in a joint news release. “The accountability, transparency and openness that this bill would create would help increase understanding of, and appreciation for, the highest court in the land and the decisions the court makes,” said Grassley. Grassley and Durbin had previously sponsored the Sunshine in the Courtroom Act (S-410), which would require cameras in the courtrooms, and which failed to pass in the last session of Congress. The high court has never allowed reporters to bring cameras or tape recorders inside, and didn’t allow cameras to record oral argument about the national healthcare law in March. The justices have raised concerns that televising their hearings could hurt their collegiality and overall ability to make objective decisions.
Pinnacle Communications “has engaged with tribal leaders” of the former reservations of the Choctaw Nation, which the Oklahoma telco serves, the company said. “While the Chief was unavailable to speak with us, the chief directed their information technology coordinator to visit with us regarding our services and the needs of the tribes” (http://bit.ly/11obcsi). Tribal members were “unavailable for a face to face” visit, but the telco had multiple phone and email discussions about how to address tribal needs, it said. The FCC last year offered guidance on the 2011 tribal engagement obligations imposed on eligible telecom carriers that deal with tribal groups. “The discourse should be between decision-makers on both sides,” the agency’s Office of Native Affairs and Policy said, stating the goal should be to have “an honest dialogue to learn from one another” (http://bit.ly/11ob3EZ). Carriers have said the rules are so burdensome that they might creative disincentives to serve tribal lands (CD Sept 28 p6).
The House Appropriations Committee’s fiscal year 2014 transportation spending bill, released June 18, includes a boost in federal highway spending but cuts to nearly every other section, including a $25 million decrease for the Maritime Administration, more than $700 million from the Federal Aviation Administration and no funding for high-speed rail. In a statement, Committee Chairman Hal Rogers, R-Ky., said the bill meets fiscal constrains while maintaining funding, “making the best use of limited tax dollars by focusing investments on transportation infrastructure critical to our economy … while reducing or eliminating funding for lower-priority programs.” According to a Committee statement (here) the bill includes:
Julie Kitka, president of the Alaska Federation of Natives, traveled more than 5,500 miles to get to a hearing on Capitol Hill on the effect of USF reforms on tribal areas. So did Steve Merriam, CEO of an Alaskan telephone cooperative. Alfred LaPaz of the Mescalero Apache Tribe traveled 2,800 miles. Which is why it’s “beyond my imagination,” said Rep. Don Young, R-Alaska, that FCC officials weren’t willing to “travel the mile and a half up the road” to “answer the questions that I would like to ask them.”
Increased coal and liquefied natural gas exports were portrayed as both a threat to the environment and sustainable U.S. prosperity, and a huge economic opportunity the U.S. must seize now, at a June 18 House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee hearing on energy export barriers. The U.S. has the potential to become the “preeminent supplier” of energy, and “help take the power back from [Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries],” said Committee Chairman Fred Upton, R-Mich. “All that’s missing is the additional infrastructure to make additional exports possible.” Part of the hearing, held by the Energy and Power Subcommittee, focused on barriers to liquefied natural gas exports: the Department of Energy has only granted two permits to export LNG to countries the U.S. does not have a free trade agreement with. There are 20 permits to export LNG to non-FTA countries pending.
ORLANDO -- Hybrid front projectors, having established a foothold in the business market, will now target the CE segment as component costs decline, making mainstream pricing possible, industry executives said at the InfoComm show