Verizon Wireless dropped plans to build a cellphone tower in Talent, Ore., to fill in a coverage gap, after neighbors successfully opposed a zoning variance for the 45- ft. tower, it said. Verizon is looking at other sites now that the city has turned down the variance and Verizon unsuccessfully appealed to Jackson County and the Ore. Land Use Board of Appeals, it said. The tower needed a variance because it would within 200 ft. of neighboring properties. Two Suncrest Road neighbors fought the tower’s proximity, saying having a cellphone tower almost in their back yards would devalue their properties. Verizon has no plans to turn to the courts and will instead seek another site for the tower, intended to close a coverage gap between the towns of Medford and Ashland, it said.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has issued a press release announcing that the agency is beginning to implement ACE e-Manifest: Truck for Trade Act of 2002 (advance electronic cargo manifest) purposes, as follows:
On September 29, 2006, the Senate passed H.R. 6061, the Secure Fence Act of 2006, without amendment. The House passed H.R. 6061 on September 14, 2006. On October 23, 2006, H.R. 6061 was presented to the President, who is expected to sign the measure into law.
Lite-On Technology landed orders for 32W and 37W LCD TVs from Dell, sources said. Dell unveiled its first 37W LCD TV ($1,699) at the DigitalLife show in N.Y.C. last week (CED Oct 16 p2). Dell also fields 32W and 26W LCD TVs.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has issued a press release announcing, among other things, that it will begin implementation of a mandatory Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) electronic manifest (e-Manifest) policy on a port-by-port basis beginning in 2007 for advance cargo information purposes.
Mobile Satellite Services officials were still making sense of an Oct. 11 FCC 2nd Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on Aviation Radio Service, at our deadline Fri. The aviation rulemaking had been under the radar of most MSS regulatory officials, they said. Primarily involving wireless matters under Part 87 of the Commission’s rules, the order also calls for public comment on Aeronautical Mobile Satellite (Route) Service (AMSRS) standards for 1.6 GHz, 2 GHz and 5 GHz. AMSRS, a subset of MSS, links aircraft by satellite to land or other aircraft for flight communication.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has issued a press release announcing that it has completed installations of the Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) electronic manifest (e-Manifest) in all land border ports in New York. With New York implemented, ACE e-Manifest filing is now available at 49 of the 99 U.S. land border ports. (CBP press release, dated 10/10/06, available at http://www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/newsroom/news_releases/10102006.xml)
Any USF reform should encourage participation by new technologies, including satellite broadband, the Satellite Industry Assn. told the FCC. The Commission fielded comments Wed. on using reverse auctions to improve USF distribution (CD Oct 12 p6). Reverse auctions could “reveal various providers’ relative cost” of serving rural areas, SIA said, adding that satellite providers can serve rural communities efficiently and cheaply. “Satellite technology is in many respects ideally suited to delivering service to rural and high-cost areas,” SIA said: “A customer in rural Montana can get the same satellite service as a customer in downtown Chicago.” Basing universal service support on technological efficiency would cut the fund’s burden, as variations on the reverse auction have in Chile, Colombia, India, Peru and S. Africa, SIA said. The key to reverse auctions’ success is ensuring that entrants with new technologies -- including satellite providers -- can participate in the program, the satellite group said. To ensure satellite providers can participate effectively in reverse auctions, SIA said, the Commission should: (1) Not award set-asides, credits or other favorable treatments to incumbents. (2) Let satellite providers that provide broadband services on a non-common carrier basis keep that status. (3) Avoid restrictions such as service areas that give certain providers an edge over others. SIA also pushed for targeted USF pilot projects to prove satellite providers’ ability to bring telecom service to remote areas. “Reverse auctions could be used to award contracts to provide service to areas or individuals that currently lack access to any communications services,” SIA said. Pilot projects could focus on specific areas -- some tribal lands, for instance -- historically unserved by traditional telephony, SIA said.
Any Universal Service Fund reform should encourage participation by satellite broadband and other new technologies, the Satellite Industry Assn. told the FCC. The Commission fielded comments Wed. on using reverse auctions to improve USF distribution. Reverse auctions could “reveal various providers’ relative cost” of serving rural areas, SIA said, adding that satellite providers can serve rural communities efficiently and cheaply. To ensure satellite providers can participate effectively in reverse auctions, SIA said, the Commission should: (1) Not award set-asides, credits or other favorable treatments to incumbents. (2) Let satellite providers that provide broadband services on a non- common carrier basis keep that status. (3) Avoid restrictions such as service areas that give certain providers an edge over others. SIA also pushed for targeted USF pilot projects to prove satellite providers’ ability to bring telecom service to remote areas. “Reverse auctions could be used to award contracts to provide service to areas or individuals that currently lack access to any communications services,” SIA said. Pilot projects could focus on specific areas -- some tribal lands, for instance -- historically unserved by traditional telephony, SIA said.
On September 30, 2006, the House and Senate passed (agreed to) the conference version of H.R. 4954, entitled the "Security and Accountability for Every Port Act of 2006" (SAFE Port Act), which is a measure intended to improve maritime and cargo security through enhanced layered defenses, and for other purposes.