ITU member countries have cleared the way for an update to a recommendation on the principles for charging, billing, international accounting and settlement for the international land mobile telephone service, according to a letter circulated by the director of the Telecommunication Standardization Bureau. The update deals with an issue between Cable & Wireless and Digicel. Mobile subscriber roaming numbers assigned to handsets using combinations of mobile country and network codes extraterritorially must be from the numbering resources of the physical location of the customer, according to a Cable & Wireless filing. The recommendation covers application of charging and accounting principles for various call routing scenarios. The ITU-T study group on telecom economic and policy issues is to consider the updates for final approval during a meeting starting Jan. 19.
The following are the trade-related bills and resolutions that were introduced in the House or Senate during January 6-7, 2009:
Rex Stores embarked on a new round of store closings, shutting locations in five states, according to local news reports. Stores in Alton, Ill., Enid, Okla., Indiana, Pa., Jefferson City, Mo., Pensacola, Fla., and Rutland, Vt., are conducting 25 percent discount sales as they prepare to close, industry officials said. Rex’s closing in Pensacola signals its departure from that market after a 30-year presence, a local newspaper reported. The chain is keeping a warehouse in Pensacola that serves Southeastern U.S. markets, including three stores in Mobile, Ala. The Jefferson City store is Rex’s last in Missouri. Rex, which peaked with 262 stores in 37 states in 2000, had 105 in 32 as of late October. That was down from 110 stores in 34 states in September. Rex shut eight locations in 2008. Rex hired Brown Gibbons Lang & Co. in June to weigh plans for its stores, including a possible sale (CED June 26 p4). The firm also is helping Rex find ways to turn its real estate holdings into cash while keeping investments in ethanol plants. Rex sold land near its Cheyenne, Wyo., warehouse earlier this year. Rex was expected to complete the review of its stores by late November (CED Sept 10 p6), but appeared to extend it (CED Dec 10 p6). In December, Rex CEO Stuart Rose told analysts in a conference that he was “more optimistic” about retail.
The year ended with Internet-related jailings in Eritrea and an arrest in China, Reporters Without Borders said Tuesday. Three customers of an Internet cafe in Eritrea were arrested Dec. 26 for visiting “opposition websites” run by the “diaspora” and the cafe was ordered by authorities to monitor the browsing of its clients, the press freedom group said. Chen Qitang, a Chinese blogger, was sentenced to two and a half years in prison Dec. 31 for posting information about land seizures by local authorities and for helping residents draft legal documents to get back their land, the group said. Reporters Without Borders said 59 bloggers were arrested and one killed in 2008, led by Iran with 18 arrests and 10 convictions, and China with 10 and three. Burma gave the longest prison sentences for blogging, 20- and 59-year sentences to two cyberdissidents, the group said.
Nintendo of America added one more new WiiWare game and one more legacy system “Virtual Console” title to its Wii Shop Channel for download to the Wii Monday. The latest WiiWare title is Konami’s Sandy Beach at 500 Wii Points, $5. The latest Virtual Console game is Kirby’s Dream Land 3 from the Super Nintendo Entertainment System at 800 Wii Points, $8… Harmonix and MTV Games added Roy Orbison songs to the Rock Band Music Store catalog of downloadable content for Rock Band games. The “Roy Orbison Pack 01,” including the songs “Oh, Pretty Woman,” “Ooby Dooby,” “In Dreams,” “Claudette,” “Mean Woman Blues” and “You Got It,” was added to the store for the Xbox 360 version of the game Monday at 800 Microsoft Points, $9.99. The individual tracks were also made available at 160 Microsoft Points, $1.99 each. The songs will also become available at the PlayStation Store for the PS3 versions of the games Jan. 15, the game makers said.
Atlantic Tele-Network’s wireless division, Commnet Wireless, acquired Nevada-based CC Communications’ wireless assets, including equipment, spectrum and towers, the companies said. The deal includes 50 operating cell sites covering 40,000 square miles and 61,000 potential customers in rural areas and public lands in western Nevada. Commnet said it will make additional investments to expand and improve the network in 2009 and offer wireless services to CC Communications.
NTIA by next week thinks it will “fully obligate” the $1.34 billion Congress appropriated for DTV coupons, Acting NTIA Administrator Meredith Baker told House Telecom Subcommittee Chairman Ed Markey, D-Mass., in a letter Friday. Responding to Markey’s call for a status report on the coupon program, Baker said reaching the $1.34 billion “ceiling” won’t mean the program has run out of money, but the NTIA will need to halt processing new coupon orders until money from expired coupons has been recycled back into the pool.
NTIA by next week thinks it will “fully obligate” the $1.34 billion Congress appropriated for DTV coupons, Acting NTIA Administrator Meredith Baker told House Telecom Subcommittee Chairman Ed Markey, D-Mass., Friday. She responded to his call for a status report on the coupon program. Reaching the $1.34 billion “ceiling” won’t mean the program has run out of money, but the NTIA will need to halt processing new coupon orders until money from expired coupons has been recycled back into the pool, Baker said.
The U.S. Air Force said it’s closing the Transformational Satellite Communications program solicitation without awarding a contract. Lockheed Martin and Boeing had been competing for work potentially worth $10 billion. Earlier, Gary Payton, deputy Air Force undersecretary for space operations, had told reporters that the award could slip into next year (CD Sept 26 p8). But the Air Force had denied reports the solicitation was being canceled. The service said it plans to release a new draft request for proposal this week for the first part of a restructured program. The satellite system is meant to send video, images and other intelligence from unmanned aerial vehicles and spy satellites to U.S. land forces and Navy ships. The first phase will include five Block 10 satellites and associated ground-control systems. The first launch isn’t expected before 2019.
The Bureau of Industry and Security has posted a statement from Under Secretary of Commerce Mancuso regarding inaccuracies in the Washington Times article, "U.S. to Tighten Export Rules on 5 Firms in China." Mancuso discussed the Validated End User Program and the U.S.-China relationship. (Press release, dated 12/17/08, available at http://www.bis.doc.gov/news/2008/bis_press12172008.htm.)