The Federal Trade Commission has sent letters to 78 retailers nationwide warning them that they may be breaking the law by selling clothing and other textile products that are labeled and advertised as "bamboo," but are actually made of manufactured rayon fiber that is derived from bamboo.
At the December 2009 Trade Symposium, U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials discussed CBP's business resumption plans. The purpose of CBP's business resumption planning is to make certain that U.S. borders are secure while ensuring legitimate travelers and trade (particularly urgently required goods) continue to cross without undue delay during and following a disruptive event.
Native-American and Alaskan tribes will get priority in establishing new radio stations serving tribal lands, as expected (CD Dec 29 p2), said an FCC order released Wednesday. “Although well over a million Native Americans and Alaska Natives live on over 55 million acres of tribal lands across the United States, only 41 radio stations are currently licensed to native tribes,” the commission said in a news release. “Companies controlled by tribes that want to establish new radio stations designed to serve communities located on tribal lands” also get priority under Section 307(b) of the Communications Act, it said. Commissioner Robert McDowell hopes “the new stations that result - whether AM or FM, commercial or noncommercial - help to promote tribal self-sufficiency and economic development,” he said. Tribes “have been woefully underrepresented among the radio ownership ranks” and members “simply do not have access to a critical source of information that can contribute significantly to the economic and community development of Native peoples,” Commissioner Mignon Clyburn said. Commissioner Michael Copps said the new rule “is tailored to advance the interests of the Tribes in a manner that satisfies Supreme Court precedent concerning both tribal sovereignty and the Equal Protection Clause of the Constitution.” A rulemaking sought comment on whether to start tribal bidding credits and to extend the priority to “Non-Landed Tribes.” Comments are due 60 days after the further rulemaking notice appears in the Federal Register, replies 30 days later.
APCO is in discussions with U.S. officials over how to restore emergency communications in Haiti after the earthquake last month. Haiti’s two public safety answering points that answer emergency 114 and 118 calls were “reportedly destroyed,” and so was Haitian Police’s land mobile radio system, the group said. APCO President Richard Mirgon said “the restoration of essential emergency communications systems is critical to saving lives and maintaining the health of the population, including those individuals from other countries who are providing aid. Lessons learned from Hurricane Katrina demonstrate the need and method for interim and long term emergency communications restoration.” NENA has also been in discussions aimed at restoring emergency communications systems in Haiti, said NENA CEO Brian Fontes: “We are standing ready to help out in anyway that would be appropriate.”
On February 1, 2010, the President transmitted the fiscal year 2011 budget to Congress. (FY 2011 is from October 1, 2010 through September 30, 2011.)
A dispute in Maine illustrates a wider conflict over Section 271 of the 1996 Communications Act, officials said. The Maine case pits FairPoint Communications against competitive local exchange carrier Great Works Internet in a fight over interconnection rates for dark fiber loops. Filings by the companies to the Maine Public Utilities Commission prompted the commission to ask the FCC for a declaratory ruling on carriers’ Section 271 duties. The FCC seeks comments by March 1, replies by March 15.
The DOT's Bureau of Transportation Statistics reports that trade using surface transportation between the U.S. and its North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) partners Canada and Mexico was 2.9 percent lower in November 2009 than in November 2008, dropping to $58.9 billion. Surface transportation consists largely of freight movements by truck, rail and pipeline. About 88 percent of U.S. trade by value with Canada and Mexico moves on land. (Press release, dated 01/28/10, available at http://www.bts.gov/press_releases/2010/bts005_10/html/bts005_10.html)
The Satellite Industry Association added Cobham SATCOM Land Systems, Glowlink, SAT-GE, and Trace Systems as member companies, the association said.
AT&T “respectfully” disagreed with arguments T-Mobile made in a Dec. 22 letter urging the re-auction of the 700 MHz D-block for commercial use, in an ex parte letter to the FCC. “AT&T believes that 10 MHz of spectrum will be inadequate for public safety’s future capacity needs,” the carrier said: “The full 20 MHz (10+10) allocation of 700 MHz spectrum will be needed to meet public safety demands over the next decade and beyond.” AT&T disputed T-Mobile arguments that public safety has 100 MHz of spectrum available that could be used for broadband. The 50 MHz public safety has in the 4.9 GHz block “is not suitable for mobile use and cannot replicate the advantages to public safety offered by the 700 MHz spectrum band, that is, superior propagation, better line of sight capabilities, greater call density capability.” AT&T said 50 MHz of narrowband spectrum proposed by T-Mobile “is also not practical for public safety use. They noted that 10 MHz of the spectrum is below 200 MHz, which is too low for broadband use. And, 18 MHz of the spectrum is already allocated to narrowband Land Mobile Radio (LMR) systems. This LMR spectrum would be very difficult to reallocate for broadband use and does not contain the large segments of contiguous spectrum that is generally required for broadband technologies like LTE.”
Three matching broadband grants totaling nearly $27.8 million were approved by California’s Public Utilities Commission. California Advanced Services Fund grants to California Valley Broadband, Broadband Associates International and Verizon will underwrite projects in the Central Valley, on the northern coast and in the state’s northeast. Two are conditional on the sponsors’ getting NTIA grants for most of the project costs. Besides creating jobs, the projects will “indicate how California and the federal government, working together and using stimulus funds, can greatly benefit our communities,” commission President Michael Peevey said. “Moving to quickly approve funding allows California to take advantage of federal stimulus funds.” He said the state stands to receive as much as $225.3 million in NTIA broadband money. The valley project proposes to build a wireless network for Fresno, Madera, Merced, Sacramento, San Joaquin, Solano and Stanislaus counties. Of a total cost approaching $79 million, the state grant will cover 10 percent, if the NTIA awards 80 percent of the total. The project envisions Wi-Fi and WiMAX delivering services including VoIP at speeds reaching 20 Mbps down and 6 up. The network could reach nearly 41,000 unserved households and more than 36,000 underserved households, the commission said. The project would create about 560 jobs, stimulate growth and improve Central Valley life, it said. California Valley Broadband, a consortium of Moreno Trenching, Mika Telecom Group and MT2 Telecom, formed in May 2009 to develop the project. The Northeastern California Broadband Project, by Broadband Associates International, would install 640 miles of fiber from an existing company backbone at State Highway 299. The service area would be about 6,000 square miles and would connect schools, colleges, health centers, businesses and residents in Butte, Colusa, Glenn, Lake, Lassen, Modoc, Nevada, Plumas, Shasta, Sierra, Tehama and Yuba counties. To get the state’s 10 percent portion, which comes to slightly more than $18 million, Broadband Associates must land an 80 percent NTIA grant slightly exceeding $163.1 million. The project would connect 11 county offices of education, 599 K-12 schools, five community colleges and the California State University at Chico, along with libraries, health centers, businesses and residents, the commission said. The sponsor’s partners on the project are Level 3 Communications and the Corporation for Education Network Initiatives in California’s California Research and Education Network. Verizon’s Sea Ranch Project would install new fiber in unserved and underserved portions of a 20-square-mile area in the Sea Ranch, Cazadero and Timber Cove areas on Sonoma County’s northern coast. The project, which will serve about 232 households in a community where the asking prices of homes for sale on one website run $519,000 to $1.7 million., envisions speeds of 7 Mbps download and 0.768 Mbps upload. No NTIA money is involved. The state’s 40 percent contribution is slightly more than $1.8 million.