The World Radio Conference (WRC) in Geneva last week, continued to disagree on how to treat earth stations aboard vessels (ESVs). Several regional groups, including those representing N. and S. America and Europe, said in the WRC preparatory process that ESVs should be covered as a footnote in the ITU Radio Regulations and that those operations were an application in the fixed satellite service (FSS), even though the system was a broadband operation on a moving ship. Some administrations, including Arab states, have argued that ESVs should fall under the Maritime Mobile Satellite Service because they operated on moving platforms. An ITU roundup of last week’s developments at the conference, which ends July 4, said “fundamental” differences remained on whether to treat ESVs as an FSS or MSS service. “The Arab states say that in 1997, they asked whether ESVs would be mobile or stationary, and the answer was that they would be stationary,” the ITU said. “But after 2000 they were told that these stations will in fact be mobile,” leading to the Arabs’ concern that ESVs be treated as a mobile maritime satellite service. The allocations committee last week approved a resolution on the special requirements of countries that were geographically small or had narrow operating FSS earth stations at 13.75-14 GHz. The resolution would allow FSS dishes in that spectrum to shrink to 1.2 m from 4.5 m if certain power limits sought by the U.S. and others were met to protect military radars. The ITU said the resolution on small countries “encourages administrations deploying maritime and land mobile radiolocation systems in the band 13.75-14 GHz to rapidly reach bilateral agreements relating to the operation of FSS earth stations in this band with the administrations of those geographically small and narrow countries deploying these FSS earth stations.” A separate compromise was reached on high-altitude platform stations (HAPs), systems that can provide wide-area fixed wireless services from balloon-like devices in the stratosphere of the earth. The ITU said it already had received notification of plans to deploy those systems at 47.2-47.5 GHz and 47.9-48.2 GHz. Individual administrations can decide to deploy the systems, but their rollout can affect neighboring countries. The ITU said the compromise included resolution of the potential use of the bands 27.5- 28.35 GHz and 31-31.3 GHz by HAPs in the fixed service. “Results of some ITU-R studies indicate that in these bands, sharing between the fixed service systems using HAPs and other conventional fixed service systems in the same area will require that appropriate interference mitigation techniques are developed,” the ITU said. The ITU Radio Bureau will continue studies, including power limits applicable to HAPs ground stations to facilitate sharing with space station receivers. It also will study sharing between systems using HAPs and the radioastronomy service. The allocations committee agreed to change 2 footnotes to allow the use of HAPs in the fixed service within 300 MHz at 27.5- 28.35 GHz and at 31-31.3 GHz in certain countries.
American Airlines will relax onboard cellphone restrictions starting July 8, saying last week it was the first airline to do so. The move comes as an FAA advisory group is moving ahead with studies on the potential impact of the use of personal electronic devices (PEDs) on aircraft.
Several factors are holding back early attempts at deal making under the FCC’s new ownership rules adopted June 2 but not yet effective since they haven’t been published in the Federal Register. There’s much uncertainty because of court appeals to come, whether the rules will be stayed as requested by Comrs. Adelstein and Copps, and a Commission freeze on all transfer applications since new forms haven’t been approved by Office of Mgmt. & Budget and aren’t available.
Additional details emerged Thurs. on new Pioneer set-tops that combine DVD-R/RW recorder and TiVo-based hard disc drive (CED June 26 p3), including possibility company will offer rebate toward step-up TiVo EPG service.
NTCA urged Senate leaders to “act expeditiously” to pass HR-762, which would limit the fees charged to telecom companies for stringing lines over public lands. The bill was passed by the House in April. In letters to Sens. Domenici (R-N.M.), chmn. of Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, and Craig (R-Ida.), chmn. of the Senate Subcommittee on Public Lands, NTCA said the bill would make it easier for telcos to provide services to rural customers by guaranteeing “reasonable, not excessive, compensation for right-of-way access.” NTCA said “fees collected by public lands managers should be predicated upon fair market value, not the amount of commerce generated on accessed lands.”
A working group at the World Radio Conference (WRC) in Geneva Mon. couldn’t resolve an impasse on how to allow smaller fixed satellite service (FSS) antennas at 13.75-14 GHz while protecting military radars. “We're in a deadlock,” Vincent Meens, working group chmn., said. “There’s a need for the administrations to get together and have a dialog that might enable us to reach a compromise.”
Following criticism of his Tues. statement condoning development of technologies to remotely damage PCs of illegal music downloaders, Senate Judiciary Committee Chmn. Hatch (R- Utah) said Wed. his comments were meant only to spur industry to find ways to stop growing theft of copyrighted, personal or sensitive materials. Hatch’s comments came at committee hearing on risks associated with peer-to-peer file-sharing. “I am very concerned about Internet piracy of personal and copyrighted materials, and I want to find effective solutions to these problems,” Hatch said Wed. “I think that industry is not doing” enough about problem, he said: “I do not favor extreme remedies -- unless no moderate remedies can be found. I asked the interested industries to help us find those moderate remedies.” Hatch’s earlier comments reportedly acknowledged that Congress would have to exempt copyright owners from liability for damaging PCs. But InternetMovies.com owner Michael Rossi said Wed. that such exemption from federal antihacking laws would “give copyright owners the power to destroy instead of creating. This is America, soon to be land of the free to hack.” Rossi is suing MPAA over Digital Millennium Copyright Act cease-and-desist order forcing InternetMovies’ ISP to shut site down following allegations it was distributing unreleased movies.
Nev. Gov. Kenny Guinn (R) signed a wireless siting bill (SB-426) requiring local govts. to establish explicit standards and processes for reviewing wireless antenna facility construction permits. The new law says applications involving wireless facilities that are architecturally compatible with existing structures, attach to existing structures or are colocated with an existing wireless facility can be handled via administrative review and staff approval. Applications denied by the staff will be taken before a local zoning board or other designated local land use authority. The law prohibits local land use authorities from considering effects of radio frequency emissions if the facility complies with FCC emissions regulations.
Unless proved otherwise, existing copyright law -- properly enforced -- is the way to deal with peer-to-peer (P2P) file-sharing, House Judiciary Subcommittee on Courts, the Internet & Intellectual Property (IP) Chmn. Smith (R- Tex.) said Tues. Govt.-mandated controls on P2P technologies are “hard to write, easy to ignore and hard to repeal if unintended consequences harm the marketplace,” Smith said at a Progress & Freedom Foundation (PFF) conference on “Promoting Markets in Creativity: Copyright in the Internet Age.” However, he acknowledged there was no way to completely protect IP rights.
CHICAGO -- A whole new wave of digital cable set-top boxes is washing over the cable industry, thanks at least in part to increased collaboration with the consumer electronics industry. At the NCTA convention here this week, more than half a dozen manufacturers are showing off their latest advanced set-tops on the exhibit floor. Their roster includes such CE giants as Pioneer, Panasonic, Sony and Zenith, cable stalwarts Motorola and Scientific-Atlanta and high-tech upstarts Pace Micro Technology and UEC Technologies.