WASHINGTON-The Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association and the Personal Communications Industry Association, unable to get wireline carriers and manufacturers on board, moved forward on their own last week with a lawsuit against the Justice Department and the FBI over the implementation of the 1994 digital...
WASHINGTON-Wireless and wireline carriers last week tabled a plan to sue the FBI over implementation of the 1994 digital wiretap law, just as Rep. Bill McCollum (R-Fla.) was putting the final touches on draft legislation that is not expected to give carriers the relief...
To the Editor: Before the advent of the brave new wireless world, I used to regularly read and identify with the opinion offered by Jeff Silva on numerous topics surrounding wireless regulation and the politics that control many of our futures. I quit paying attention...
WASHINGTON-Negotiations between the Justice Department and the telecom industry over a digital wiretap standard collapsed last week, an outcome that will pull the Federal Communications Commission into the fray and raise the stakes for a legislative fix.The Justice Department is expected shortly to file...
WASHINGTON-Attorney General Janet Reno said Friday she will postpone seeking Federal Communications Commission intervention in the digital wiretap controversy if the telecom industry can show progress in the coming months toward resolving implementation disputes with the FBI that have continued three-and-a-half years after the...
NEW YORK-James Bond and his high-tech Nokia mobile phone may be Hollywood's idea of the real McCoy. But truth, as journalists well know, often is stranger and scarier than fiction.For a gripping, spine-tingling experience, read this newly published book: "War by Other Means-Economic Espionage in...
WASHINGTON-The war of words between the wireless industry and law enforcement over the time frame and requirements of the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act is becoming more strident as letters between those two entities, Congress and the Justice Department, continue to circulate in...
WASHINGTON-With the first round of universal service payments having been made this month to the government by any service-offering telecommunications operation, there still is controversy surrounding how and why commercial mobile radio service providers that are not in direct competition with local exchange carriers...
WASHINGTON-The wireless industry accomplished much last year on the regulatory road to competition, but the task of creating parity with wireline services and eliminating old monopoly-related regulations is far from complete.Cellular carriers, personal communications services licensees, private radio providers, messaging companies and other wireless...
NEW YORK-Noting there is inadequate data available about the impact of cellular phone use on car crashes, a federal agency nevertheless said cell phone use does play a role in auto accidents, one that is likely to grow as more people use wireless phones...
WASHINGTON-Following a nearly two-year-old presidential memorandum, a notice of inquiry and several industry forums held earlier this year, the General Services Administration instituted rules June 11 governing the placement of commercial wireless antenna sites on government lands.Published in the Federal Register June 16, the...
DENVER-Wireless carriers in Denver now are required to take proactive steps with the community if they want their towers and antennas placed in certain areas of the city.The Denver City Council approved last week a new zoning ordinance that requires wireless operators to notify...
rederick M. Joyce, Esq. It is a time-worn political axiom that no candidate ever lost a vote by speaking in favor of Mom, apple pie, and the American flag. In 1996, politicians discovered something equally safe to advocate: Universal telephone service. For evidence of the...
Two trade associations have responded to an FBI notice seeking clear definitions of the terms "significant upgrade" and "major modification" that are used in the 1994 digital wiretap law to determine if carriers are responsible for the cost of upgrading their networks to meet...
Don Smith is the new director of wireless technology and network operations for specialized mobile radio carrier ComTec International Inc. Prior to joining the company, Smith was director of network operations for OneComm Corp. (now part of Nextel Communications Inc.) where he oversaw the...
The MultiMedia Telecommunications Association and the Telecommunications Industry Association announced an affiliation and intent to merge, creating a joint membership exceeding 1,000 companies."MMTA's focus on computer telephony integration and businesses in the communications and computing delivery channel, coupled with TIA's proven strengths in public...
WASHINGTON, D.C.-A dozen U.S. associations have asked the Federal Communications Commission to grant an exception to the 800 MHz filing freeze for companies asking only to make minor modifications in existing systems.The Request for Limited Exception to Application Freeze was filed Thursday on behalf...
WASHINGTON-In a stunning move with perhaps more symbolism than substance, Ameritech Cellular Services left the Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association last week because the trade group's aggressive wireless agenda clashed with the Midwest regional Bell telephone company's business plans."Over time it has become clear to...
A Christian-oriented newsletter editor tells readers he's found a great investment-shares in a personal communications services venture that could make people millionaires-something that had happened to him in the early days of the cellular industry. Many readers take him at his word, and now...
WASHINGTON-According to a new order adopted last week by the Federal Communications Commission, public safety answering points (PSAPs) have the next year to develop a system that accepts 911 emergency calls from cellular, broadband personal communications services and wide-area specialized mobile radio users-without delays...
I've got a scoop! I think I now know how President Clinton plans to balance the budget. By selling the budget-all five volumes of the fiscal '97 spending plan for $100.Reporters, lobbyists, trade associations and think tanks eat this stuff up. What fools we...
WASHINGTON-No matter how many times Federal Communications Commission economist Greg Rosston declared that spectrum auctions were not about money, it was clear to member associations of the Land Mobile Communications Council that money is all the commission is about when it comes to private-radio...
Plugging a Global Positioning System receiver alone into a wireless phone won't solve the problem faced by 911 emergency operators receiving distress calls from cellular users."There's no one solution," said Bob Montgomery, network manager for the Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association."There are several location technologies...
WASHINGTON-With the new year only days old, industry associations here are gearing up to continue old negotiations with the Federal Communications Commission and to begin new ones. According to Alan Shark, president of the American Mobile Telecommunications Association, 1996 will be the year when...
