The New York City Transit Authority sought a 42-month waiver of the FCC’s Jan. 1, 2013, narrowbanding deadline. Some other large systems also are applying for waivers, raising a host of issues for the FCC, where officials say they won’t grant waivers lightly. The transit authority’s filing speaks to the complexity of meeting the deadline and the difficulty, especially for large systems. The authority said it will need until June 2016 to complete the transition to a narrowband system.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection has announced that the Advisory Committee on Commercial Operations of U.S. Customs and Border Protection (COAC) will meet on February 21, 2012 in Washington, D.C. Topics to be discussed at the meeting include Air Cargo Advance Screening, the one government at the border initiative, and IPR enforcement. There will be comment opportunities before and during the meeting. The registration deadline to attend or listen to the webcast of the meeting is February 17.
FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski praised Comcast for expanding its commitment to broadband adoption (CD Feb 1 p8). “Having more Americans who are digitally empowered will mean more students able to access the benefits of digital learning, more Americans with the skills needed to find and land the jobs of today and tomorrow, and millions more customers for online businesses,” he said.
Distributed antenna systems (DAS) and small cell technologies will play a big role in meeting the FCC’s goals of expanding the reach of wireless broadband, Wireless Bureau Chief Rick Kaplan said Wednesday, at the start of an FCC workshop. The all-day workshop gave the commission a broad overview of a topic likely to get increasing attention, with DAS offering one of the best alternatives to installing cell towers in hard to reach areas.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection has issued the following news releases related to commercial trade and related issues:
Nintendo of America will ship a “pearl pink” version of the 3DS Feb. 10 at $169.99, it said Monday. That’s the same price as the “cosmo black,” “aqua blue” and “flame red” versions already on the market. The pink SKU was previously available in the U.S. only as part of a limited-edition bundle with the Nintendo game nintendogs + cats. Nintendo said last week it would ship “coral pink” and “ice white” versions of the 3DS in the U.K. Feb. 10 (CED Jan 26 p11). Those SKUs had only been available as part of bundles with the games nintendogs + cats and Super Mario 3D Land in that market.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection has issued the following news releases related to commercial trade and related issues:
Pennsylvania State Police asked for a one-year waiver of the FCC’s Jan. 1, 2013, narrowbanding deadline for private land mobile radio systems below 512 MHz. The agency warned that changing its radios is a big job. “The existing ... VHF radio system consists of 2,500 mobile VHF radios, 1,200 portable radios, 80 dispatch stations, and 109 VHF base stations,” according to a filing at the FCC (http://xrl.us/bmpzie). “The current VHF equipment was purchased over 25 years ago, and is not narrowband-capable.” The FCC also posted last week waiver requests of various lengths from the city of South Lake Tahoe, Calif.; Rockland County, N.J.; Pittsylvania County, Va.; and the Hillsborough Township (N.J.) Police Department. FCC officials have warned repeatedly that while many licensees have not narrowbanded their systems, waivers will not be readily approved (CD Aug 10 p1).
The State Department has announced that the “Islamic State of Iraq” is being added as an alias (and other possible transliterations thereof) to its 2004 Specially Designated Global Terrorist and Foreign Terrorist Organization designations of al-Qa’ida in Iraq (aka Jam’at al Tawhid wa’al-Jihad, aka The Monotheism and Jihad Group, aka The al-Zarqawi Network, aka al-Tawhid, aka Tanzim Qa‘idat al-Jihad fi Bilad al-Rafidayn, aka The Organization of al-Jihad’s Base of Operations in Iraq, aka al-Qaida of Jihad in Iraq, aka al-Qaida in Iraq, aka al-Qaida in Mesopotamia, aka al-Qaida in the Land of the Two Rivers, aka al-Qaida of the Jihad in the Land of the Two Rivers, aka al-Qaida of Jihad Organization in the Land of the Two Rivers, aka al-Qaida Group of Jihad in Iraq, aka al-Qaida Group of Jihad in the Land of the Two Rivers, aka The Organization of Jihad’s Base in the Country of the Two Rivers, aka The Organization Base of Jihad/Country of the Two Rivers, aka The Organization of al-Jihad’s Base in the Land of the Two Rivers, aka The Organization Base of Jihad/Mesopotamia, aka The Organization of al-Jihad’s Base of Operations in the Land of the Two Rivers, aka Tanzeem qa’idat al Jihad/Bildad al Raafidaini). Global terrorist notice (FR Pub 01/26/12) notice here; Foreign terrorist notice (FR Pub 01/26/12) here.
The PS Vita was again outsold in Japan by the 3DS, PS3 and PSP, according to the latest Media Create data, released Friday. The 3DS easily remained Japan’s best-selling system in the week ended Jan. 22, but sales fell to 81,000 from 100,700 the prior week (CED Jan 23 p9). Cumulative 3DS hardware sales grew to an estimated 4.7 million in Japan, according to Media Create’s data. All weekly sales estimates are rounded to the nearest 100. The PS3 remained Japan’s No. 2 videogame hardware system, but sales slid to 21,200 from 30,300. The PSP repeated at No. 3, but sales declined to 17,200 from 22,500. The Vita was again No. 4, but sales fell to 15,200 from 18,400. The new Sony handheld system’s Japan installed base inched up to 516,500. The Wii remained No. 5, but sales fell to 10,200 from 14,200. Sales of every other system again trailed far behind. The Xbox 360 repeated at No. 6, but sales grew to 1,600 from 1,500. The DSi LL was again No. 7, sales slipping to 1,200 from 1,500. The PS2 inched up one to No. 8, sales improving to 900 from 800. The DSi fell one to last place, sales falling to 800 from 1,200. It was an especially weak week for software sales, with no game selling more than 35,100 copies. Nintendo’s Mario Kart 7 for the 3DS inched up one to return to the top of the videogame software chart after a one-week absence, but sales were weaker than the 52,300 copies sold the prior week. The top four sellers were all for Nintendo’s handheld 3D system. Sega’s Rhythm Thief & the Emperor’s Treasure, at No. 2, was the top-selling new release, moving 31,600 copies. Capcom’s Monster Hunter Tri G remained No. 3, but sales slid to 31,400 from 44,600. Nintendo’s Super Mario 3D Land repeated at No. 4, but sales tumbled to 26,100 from 40,200. Fifth was D3Publisher’s Onechanbara Z: Kagura for the 360, which moved 22,000 copies. The weak game release slate for the Vita continued to take a toll and software for the system had its worst week to date. Sony’s Hot Shots Golf: World Invitational was again the best-selling Vita game and this time was the only game for the system to make the top 50. But the game tumbled to No. 31 from No. 23 in its sixth week. There were three Vita games in the top 50 the prior week. The system won’t ship in North America and Europe until Feb. 22.