The Universal Service Administrative Co.’s “unauthorized interpretation” of the covered locations rule has caused support to wireless communications provider Smith Bagley to be cut by more than $2.6 million, SBI attorneys told FCC officials, said an ex parte filing (http://xrl.us/bmxeho). In July 2010, SBI requested review of USAC’s decision to cap its interstate access support. That review has not been completed. SBI counsel said Friday that the covered locations exception requires USAC “to ensure that a competitive eligible telecommunications provider receives the same per-line support amount as the incumbent LEC for the lines qualifying for the exception,” the filing said. SBI also described a need for increased wireless coverage on the five Native American lands it serves, “which is made more pressing by the fact that many households in those areas also lack access to telephone service.” If the commission grants SBI’s request for review, SBI will be able to construct cell sites there, the filing said.
U.S. 3DS sales hit 4.5 million units in just under the system’s first year of availability, Nintendo of America said Tuesday. That’s almost twice as many units as the DS sold in its first year, it said. The 3DS went on sale March 27 in the U.S. After a decent launch, 3DS sales slowed significantly until Nintendo slashed pricing and released a stronger slate of 3DS games late last year. The 3DS was helped by the releases of Nintendo’s Super Mario 3D Land on Nov. 13 and its Mario Kart 7 on Dec. 4. Super Mario went on to sell 1.75 million copies to date and Mario Kart 7, 1.45 million, NOA said. The system will close its first year with the release of Nintendo’s Kid Icarus: Uprising on March 23. The DS remains “the best-selling gaming system in U.S. history with more than 51 million units sold,” NOA said. After its first year of availability, Nov. 21, 2004, 2.3 million had been sold in the U.S. Only 58 titles were released for the DS in its first year, while more than 100 have been released for the 3DS, NOA said. A total of 5 million DS software units were sold in its first year, while more than 9 million have been sold for the 3DS, the company said. DS hardware, software and accessories sales hit $540 million in its first year, while revenue from all 3DS products has already passed $1.2 billion, it said.
At the February 21, 2012 COAC meeting, CBP and COAC’s Global Supply Chain Security Subcommittee provided an update on various land border security issues. Officials discussed CBP’s development of C-TPAT for exports, possible Tier 3 status for Mexican and Canadian highway carriers, and the C-TPAT Web Portal 2.0, among other topics.
The 3DS, PS3 and PSP again outsold the PS Vita in Japan, according to the latest Media Create data, released Friday. The Vita had its weakest performance to date in the week ended Feb. 26, again coming in No. 4 among videogame hardware systems. Vita sales fell to 11,200 units from 12,300 the prior week, which had been its weakest showing (CED Feb 27 p6). Its Japan installed base inched up to 590,000. All weekly sales estimates are rounded to the nearest 100. The 3DS easily remained Japan’s best-selling system, but sales fell to 76,300 from 94,700. Cumulative 3DS hardware sales inched up to an estimated 5.1 million. The PS3 remained Japan’s No. 2 system, but sales grew to 27,100 from 22,000. The PSP repeated at No. 3, but sales increased to 15,900 from 14,800. The Wii was again No. 5, sales flat at 7,900. All other systems again trailed far behind. The Xbox 360 inched up one to No. 6 as sales grew to 1,500 from 1,000. The PS2 slid one to No. 7, sales dipping to 1,300 from 1,400. The DSi LL was again No. 8, sales growing to 1,000 from 900. The DSi remained in last place, sales flat at 700. Namco Bandai’s Tales of the Heroes: Twin Brave for the PSP became the best-selling game in Japan its first week available, moving 85,300 copies. Konami’s New Love Plus for the 3DS, the prior week’s No. 1 title, fell to No. 17 in its second week as sales tumbled to only 8,600 copies from 105,000. The Vita continued to be hurt by a weak slate of games. Not a single Vita title made the top 10 this time. It was a strong week for new releases on other platforms. Harvest Moon: The Land of Origin from Marvelous for the 3DS was No. 2 in its first week, moving 81,100 copies. Namco Bandai’s Naruto Shippuden: Narutimate Storm Generation for the PS3 was No. 3 in its first week, with 65,800 sold. Its I Don’t Have Many Friends Portable for the PSP was No. 4 in that title’s first week, with 57,000 sold. Capcom’s Asura’s Wrath for the PS3 was No. 5 in its first week, with 30,300 sold. Namco Bandai’s Nendoroid Generation for the PSP was No. 6 in its first week, with 22,000 sold. Its Idolmaster: Gravure For You Vol. 5 for the PS3 was No. 10 in that game’s first week, with 17,000 sold. Three more 3DS titles remained in the top 10: Nintendo’s Super Mario 3D Land, down two at No. 7 despite sales growing to 21,400 from 17,800; Nintendo’s Mario Kart 7, down four, No. 8, sales falling to 20,700 from 22,000; and Capcom’s Monster Hunter 3G, down three, No. 9 despite sales increasing to 17,800 from 17,500. The top-selling Vita game was again Sony Computer Entertainment’s Gravity Rush, but it tumbled 14 to No. 24 in its third week. There were only two other Vita games in the entire top 50: Tecmo Koei’s Ninja Gaiden Sigma Plus, which entered the top 50 at No. 27 and GungHo’s Ragnarok Odyssey, down 13 at No. 35 in its fourth week.
TracFone said it withdrew a Dec. 1, 2010, petition for declaratory ruling on Lifeline and eligible telecom carrier issues in light of the FCC’s recent Lifeline reform order (CD Feb 1 p1). “In the Lifeline Reform Order, the Commission addressed some of the issues set forth in TracFone’s petition,” the company said (http://xrl.us/bmwk9m). “The Commission’s elimination of Link Up support to all ETCs on non-Tribal lands mooted TracFone’s request for a declaratory ruling confirming that an ETC is not eligible to receive Link Up benefits unless it ... imposes on its customers a customary charge for commencing telecommunications service.”
The FCC denied a waiver request by Springfield, Mo., which constructed a land mobile radio station in the 800 MHz band, years after the construction deadline passed. The city was supposed to complete construction of the facility in 2005. The station was built in 2011 instead and the city asked the FCC for a waiver. “We note that Springfield failed to timely file its request to extend or waive the construction deadline, therefore, its authorization terminated automatically on the date the construction period expired,” the Wireless Bureau said (http://xrl.us/bmwkxu). If the city wants to continue operating the station, it must ask for special temporary authority to do so, the bureau said.
The Bureau of Transportation Statistics reports that trade using surface transportation between the U.S. and Canada and Mexico, was 11.6.0% higher in December 2011 than in December 2010, totaling $74.2 billion. Surface transportation includes freight movements by truck, rail, pipeline, mail, Foreign Trade Zones, etc. In December 2011, 85.5% of U.S. trade by value with Canada and Mexico moved via land, 10% moved by vessel and 4.5% moved by air.
AT&T is still exploring options in response to Public Knowledge complaints about a proposed AT&T service that would let content providers and app developers pay for the mobile data their customers use (CD Feb 28 p17), a company spokesman said. “We haven’t landed on any new business models for supporting consumers’ use of data-intensive applications, but we're always thinking about how we can innovate and collaborate with others to provide the best mobile experience for our customers."
AT&T is still exploring options in response to Public Knowledge complaints about a proposed AT&T service that would let content providers and app developers pay for the mobile data their customers use (WID Feb 28 p7), a company spokesman said. “We haven’t landed on any new business models for supporting consumers’ use of data-intensive applications, but we're always thinking about how we can innovate and collaborate with others to provide the best mobile experience for our customers."
The 3DS, PS3 and PSP again outsold the PS Vita in Japan, according to the latest Media Create data, released Friday. The Vita had its weakest performance to date in the week ended Feb. 19, again coming in No. 4 among videogame hardware systems. Vita sales fell to 12,300 units from 13,900 the prior week, which had been its weakest showing (CED Feb 21 p10). Its Japan installed base inched up to 578,800. All weekly sales estimates are rounded to the nearest 100. The 3DS easily remained Japan’s best-selling system, sales jumping to 94,700 from 67,600. Cumulative 3DS hardware sales inched up to an estimated 5 million. The PS3 remained Japan’s No. 2 system, sales flat at 22,000. The PSP repeated at No. 3, sales slipping to 14,800 from 15,900. The Wii was again No. 5, sales dipping to 7,900 from 8,200. The PS2 remained No. 6 as sales improved to 1,400 from 1,200. The Xbox 360 repeated at No. 7, sales dipping to 1,000 from 1,100. The DSi LL was again No. 8, sales slipping to 900 from 1,000. The DSi remained in last place, sales flat at 700. Konami’s New Love Plus for the 3DS became the top-selling videogame in Japan its first week available, moving 105,000 copies. But its Suikoden: The Woven Web of a Century for the PSP, the prior week’s No. 1 title, fell to No. 9 in its second week as sales tumbled to 13,700 from 61,800. Sega’s Binary Domain for the PS3 reached No. 2 in its first week, moving 73,700 copies, while Square Enix’s Theatrhythm Final Fantasy for the 3DS was No. 3 in its first week, selling 67,200 copies. There were four more 3DS titles in the top 10: Nintendo’s Mario Kart 7, No. 4 again despite sales dipping to 22,000 from 23,800; Nintendo’s Super Mario 3D Land, up one at No. 5 despite sales falling to 17,800 from 19,700; Capcom’s Monster Hunter 3G, down one at No. 6, sales dropping to 17,500 from 21,300; and Capcom’s Resident Evil: Revelations, down five at No. 8 as sales fell to 15,700 from 26,100. Vita software again fared much worse than 3DS games in general. The top-selling Vita game was again Sony Computer Entertainment’s Gravity Rush, but it fell eight to No. 10 in its second week as sales tumbled to 10,200 from 43,500. There were again only three other Vita games in the entire top 50: this time, Chunsoft’s Kyokugen Dasshutsu ADV: Zennin Shiboudesu at No. 15 in its first week, with 6,500 sold; GungHo’s Ragnarok Odyssey, down 13 at No. 22 in its third week; and Namco Bandai’s Tales of Innocence R, down 20 at No. 46 in its fourth week. Acquire’s Sumioni (Ink Demons) for the Vita, No. 42 the prior week, fell out of the top 50 in its second week. Sony’s Hot Shots Golf: World Invitational for the Vita fell off the chart the prior week.