The FCC should have more authority to handle coordination of emergency communications during disasters, Senate Commerce Committee Chmn. Stevens (R-Alaska) said Thurs. at a hearing. One key example would be to give the Commission power over credentialing employees to enter disaster areas -- a role now largely performed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Stevens said. “We want to have a plan in place to be able to get in touch with people,” Stevens said. FCC Chmn. Martin said the additional authority Stevens envisioned would be “good,” but said the Commission would still work with FEMA “since they are the ones on the ground.”
PHILADELPHIA -- Local radio broadcasters shouldn’t worry about competition from satellite radio, FCC Comrs. Adelstein and Abernathy said at the NAB Radio Show here. “There is a place for satellite radio, but I don’t think they will ever be able to replicate what local broadcasters do,” Abernathy said. “I think we have the right rules in place.”
Cable and satellite industries might never converge, but they could be partners, industry officials said at an FCBA lunch Wed. After Hurricane Katrina wreaked havoc on the Gulf Coast terrestrial wireless network, satellite phones and satellite data services played a critical role in filling communication gaps left by the storm. So how about a “satellite backup” service for terrestrial wireless networks, some asked. Convergence between wireless and satellite hasn’t been a reality, a satellite industry official told us, but it could be a different story for next-generation systems.
The Va. Supreme Court in a 3-2 vote ruled that Dominion Virginia Power doesn’t have exclusive rights to control telecom carriers’ access to rights of way along a former railroad line converted to a biking trail. The court (Case 042426) upheld a lower court ruling that the power company was required legally to secure consent from the Northern Va. Regional Park Authority in 2000 before granting right of way access to AT&T to lay fiber cable. The 100-foot-wide strip of land, stretching 45 miles from Arlington County to Purcellville, follows the W&OD Railroad roadbed converted into a regional park under the Rails To Trails program. The Supreme Court agreed with a lower court finding that the 1977 easement agreement language clearly was intended to be non-exclusive. The court majority said the language clearly let the park authority sign easements with other parties after consulting with Virginia Power, which demonstrates that the agreement wasn’t exclusive. The 2 dissenters, however, said the language actually bars anyone else from occupying the right of way without Virginia Power’s consent, which would make the agreement exclusive.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has issued a notice identifying an additional 103 ports-of-entry (POE) where Phase II of the U.S. Visitor and Immigrant Status Indicator Technology System (US-VISIT), will be implemented no later than December 31, 2005.
ICANN’s board last week again postponed a final vote on .xxx, voicing concern over terms of the proposed pact with ICM Registry. The resolution’s wording wasn’t available Fri., but ICANN staff was said to have been asked to decide if those concerns might prompt revision of the registry agreement. Though his proposal for an adults-only top-level domain (TLD) has been hanging fire since 2000, registry Pres. Stuart Lawley said he remains upbeat. “We are absolutely confident that the board questions can be fully and easily resolved,” he told Washington Internet Daily.
Given growing wireless industry concerns about a tower-siting application backlog, FCC Comr. Adelstein advised Chmn. Martin he’s “immediately prepared to adopt the so-called 3-strike proposal,” an Adelstein aide told us. The FCC set a Tower Construction Notification System (TCNS) for Indian tribes to register geographic areas of historic value. Carriers wishing to build towers in those areas must notify tribes to ensure projects won’t affect historic preservation lands. Carriers can file notifications with the FCC after 2 failed attempts to contact a tribe. But industry complains that this has created a backlog of hundreds of notifications at the FCC. Under the “3-strike proposal” suggested by CTIA and backed by the United South & Eastern Tribes (USET), a notification would be treated as granted after 2 failed attempts by a tower applicant and one by the FCC to contact a tribe. Under the proposal, a carrier could refer a case to the FCC if it didn’t get a response 40 days after first notifying a tribe. The FCC then would have 20 days to contact the tribe. Adelstein thinks a 3- strike regime “would resolve the backlog problem right away,” the aide said.
The Journal of Commerce reports that U.S. Customs and Border Protection will soon announce in the Federal Register that it is eliminating the Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) requirement that importer accounts have bond riders and make periodic duty payments, thus opening ACE up to nearly all comers. (JoC, dated 08/29/05, www.joc.com )
A Fla. appeals court upheld a lower court ruling giving AT&T Wireless 2 years to dismantle and relocate a wireless communications tower from the Sherwood Forest Park in Coral Springs, Fla. WCI Communities Inc., representing the donor of the land, executor for the owner who had willed the land to the city, said the deed required the property to be used only for park purposes unless the estate or its legal successors gave explicit consent, which wasn’t given. The city in 2002 arranged with AT&T to install a cell tower in the park despite WCI objections that the deed banned commercial development. The 4th Fla. Court of Appeals (Case 4D04-3285) said the tower was off limits to the public and the city received financial compensation, so it clearly wasn’t a public parkland use and was illegal under the deed restrictions. The court affirmed the portion of the ruling giving AT&T 2 years to relocate the tower because immediate removal was impractical.
International Launch Systems (ILS) successfully launched Telesat’s Anik F1R satellite Fri., it said. The satellite will provide capacity for Canadian DTH satellite TV, plus other telecom and broadcasting services, Telesat officials said. Anik F1R also carries a navigation payload that will enhance GPS for aviation use in the U.S. and Canada. The payload is part of the FAA’s Wide Area Augmentation System Geostationary Communication & Control Segment (GCCS) initiative, operated by Lockheed Martin to provide precision guidance to aircraft. Lockheed Martin officials said the payload is the first FAA use of the GPS L5 civil navigation frequency, and a first of its kind in the Western hemisphere. Its launch last week marked “a move toward satellite-based navigation to make air traffic management safer, more reliable and more accurate,” said Lockheed Martin officials. The craft’s payload is the first of 2 to launch this year to support the GCCS program. Lockheed Martin officials said the system will tighten GPS-based aircraft position accuracy from 100’ to 27’, enabling instrument landing at airfields that previously were unsupported. Made by Europe’s EADS Astrium, Anik F1R has 32 Ku-band transponders, 24 C-band transponders and 2 navigation transponders, Telestar officials said.