Over the past couple years, telecom lawmakers were known to have taken a shot or two at budgeteers if the subject of spectrum auctions happened to come up. The quips were cutting, but mostly harmless. Whatever criticism there was lacked the rhetorical passion typically...
WASHINGTON-A major fracas erupted in the House telecommunications subcommittee last week when lawmakers rebelled against congressional budget instructions to raise $26.3 billion from spectrum auctions during the next five years.Markup of a bill to expand the Federal Communications Commission's auction authority began late last...
In the beginning, it was Reed Who?But by last week's resignation announcement, the only question was, When?Arguably the most controversial, yet most constructive Federal Communications Commission chairman in history, Reed Hundt's decision last week to step down was not unexpected. It just came a...
Noise/Com Inc. introduced its BS-800 Dual Interference Signal Generators to aid in interference testing of Code Division Multiple Access and Time Division Multiple Access base stations. The products include two synthesized CW signal generators and all necessary radio-frequency components including attenuators and switches, to...
As any business owner stuck with cartons of obsolete business cards and letterhead can attest, "portability"-at least in terms of a phone number-can be a real headache. That's because changing service from one local phone carrier to another also involves the added hassle and...
WASHINGTON-Congress is slowly backtracking on spectrum auctions as a source of revenue in the bipartisan balanced budget plan, a retreat spurred by recent falling wireless license prices and financial troubles among companies that many believe spent too much for access to the airwaves early...
Lodestar Towers Inc., a developer and manager of multi-use transmission sites, broke ground on its Mt. Harvard facility in Southern California.Lodestar said the facility is the nation's first multi-use facility equipped to provide turnkey transmitter plant facilities for digital television in the Southern California...
The House Budget Committee on Friday was expected to approve a balanced budget deal reached by Congress and the White House that anticipates $26.3 billion from spectrum auctions during the next five years.The plan, which would expand the Federal Communications Commission's auction authority, expects...
WASHINGTON-"This is not an inscrutable, hard-to-figure-out issue," said Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) at a hearing last week to discuss problems with his proposed Law Enforcement and Public Safety Telecommunications Empowerment Act. "It ain't over 'til it's over. Simply put, I want to make sure...
DALLAS-PageMart Wireless Inc. entered into a five-year strategic alliance with First Cellular of Southern Illinois. Under the terms of the agreement, First Cellular will deploy additional paging transmitters on the PageMart network, enhancing PageMart's coverage area in the First Cellular market while providing PageMart...
Are lawmakers finally addressing public-safety issues?It would seem so. Sen. John Breaux (D-La.) introduced a bill that would stop the FCC from auctioning 12 megahertz of new private wireless spectrum and allow regulators to impose lease fees on licensees. And Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.)...
STOCKHOLM, Sweden-Ericsson Radio Messaging AB agreed to transfer all production and marketing rights for Ericsson's RDS products to Cetronic AB.RDS is a subcarrier technology that is used in the ordinary broadcasting network, said Ericsson.Using RDS technology, motorists in Europe can receive notification of incoming...
CARLSBAD, Calif.-Coded Communications Corp. and Racom Corp. partnered to provide wireless data access to Iowa public safety fleets, which allows them to access various law enforcement databases, broadcast their positions and file reports.The firms will share revenues made on the system.
ATLANTA-Paging Network Inc. launched its VoiceNow voice paging service in Atlanta. The service allows subscribers to receive a caller's voice message. Service packages begin at $10 per month and the VoiceNow pager may be purchased for $180 or leased for a smaller monthly payment,...
WASHINGTON-The government's recent disappointing wireless auction and the prospect of failing to meet the administration's five-year, $36 billion auction revenue goal prompted more fallout on Capitol Hill last week, including introduction of legislation by Sen. Bob Kerrey (D-Neb.) to mandate minimum bids in future...
RF Connectors, a division of RF Industries, released several BNC, N and UHF connectors for use with RG-8/U type plenum cable having .108 solid center conductors and .355 outer jacket dimensions. The cable can be used in computer, instrumentation or broadcast installations. (800) 233-1728.Two...
WASHINGTON-Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John McCain (R-Ariz.) has drafted spectrum auction legislation designed to rein in what has become a high-stakes wireless licensing process driven increasingly by budget forces, possibly at the expense of competition.Pete Belvin, a Commerce Committee telecom counsel, told an industry...
WASHINGTON-The Federal Communications Commission would be phased out over five years and spectrum management given over to a board with limited powers, under a new balanced budget proposal by a conservative think tank."Although the Telecommunications Act of 1996 eliminated many of the rules and...
NEW YORK-Electric power companies have seen the future and it is wireless.The Electric Power Research Institute, a 700-plus member organization based in Palo Alto, Calif., recently established a Wireless Solutions Office. EPRI, whose annual budget exceeds $500 million, manages science and technology research and...
SAN FRANCISCO-Ex Machina Inc. announced it is changing its name to AirMedia Inc. to reflect the growing influence of its AirMedia Live Internet Broadcast Network.The New York-based company develops and markets products and services that merge computing and wireless communications technologies with messaging software.
WASHINGTON-The Land Mobile Communications Council has weighed in as a group in favor of transferring 60 megahertz of "long-unused prime spectrum from the television broadcast allocation" in UHF channels 60-69 to public-safety, private industrial/business and commercial mobile radio users.In a March 14 letter to...
Laws won't stop traffic accidentsDear Editor: I am sure that law enforcement will want to lead the way to safer driving by laying down their mobile radio microphones while operating their cruisers, and motorbikes.Sure they will.The police drive their cars at extreme speeds in all...
Motorola counters research memoDear Editor: I would like to take strong exception to the tone and substance of RCR's March 3 article on Motorola's 1994 response to biological research conducted at the University of Washington by Drs. Henry Lai and Narendra Singh. The article failed...
BURLINGAME, Calif.-Movie star Hedy Lamarr has received a special award from the Electronic Frontier Foundation for her contribution to spread-spectrum broadcast communications.According to the foundation, Lamarr, 82, and late music composer George Antheil co-developed and patented spread spectrum technology in 1942. According to documents...
