WASHINGTON-The Federal Communications Commission is drafting a proposal that would give states more authority over the thorny issue of how carriers compensate each other to carry one another's traffic.Giving that authority to states is an anathema to the wireless industry, which believes it only...
WASHINGTON-Baltimore superlawyer Peter Angelos confirmed he may take over mobile phone-cancer litigation in Maryland that was dealt a major legal setback recently, but he distanced himself from press reports last week that said his law firm intended to file lawsuits around the country against...
WASHINGTON-The Bush administration and a Republican-majority Federal Communications Commission likely will put their stamp on wireless issues in 2001, even though telecom issues are largely nonpartisan."Understand a lot of these issues are not Republican/ Democrat. They are not liberal/conservative. They are not in many...
WASHINGTON-The Wireless Data Forum announced its membership overwhelmingly approved its proposed merger with the Cellular Telecommunications and Internet Association.The WDF said the merger means CTIA will increase its emphasis on mobile data and wireless Internet issues.
Despite recent studies pointing the other way, a tumor of doubt still remains as to whether the use of cellular phones can cause cancer.Two new studies, one sponsored by the National Cancer Institute and the other by the American Health Foundation, last week confirmed...
A federal district judge in Baltimore dismissed on Thursday a radio-frequency health lawsuit against Verizon Communications, formerly Bell Atlantic Corp., and SBC Communications Inc., and it told the plaintiff, Christopher J. Newman, that he had until Jan. 16 to refile his claim of fraud...
WASHINGTON-The Cellular Telecommunications & Internet Association last week called on the Federal Communications Commission to institute a bill-and-keep mechanism for reciprocal compensation.Reciprocal compensation is the money carriers pay each other to carry each other's traffic."In light of the fact that the already has...
WASHINGTON-The Federal Trade Commission last week began looking into the various consumer questions-including privacy-and emerging technologies of the wireless Web by holding a day-and-a-half workshop."If people can be located every time they use wireless technology, is that a good thing?" asked FTC Chairman Robert...
WASHINGTON-A new book describes top cellular lobbyist Thomas Wheeler as obsessed with controlling public relations for industry-funded mobile phone-cancer research conducted in the 1990s and claims he attempted extraordinary measures to downplay suspected health risks.In "Cell Phones: Invisible Hazards in the Wireless Age," Dr. George...
WASHINGTON-The British government, acting on recommendations of a blue-ribbon scientific panel, called for $10 million in new mobile phone-health research on Friday and for precautions in order to limit radiation exposure to children and teenagers.The implementation of the Stewart commission by Britain's Department of...
WASHINGTON-The chairman of the Federal Communications Commission said last week he thinks the time has come to mandate digital wireless phones be compatible with hearing aids."It is time to think about a mandate. ... We were very very patient," said William Kennard, noting that...
WASHINGTON-As the Occupational Safety and Health Administration prepares to launch a new tower safety program aimed at curbing increased injuries and fatalities that have accompanied phenomenal wireless growth during the past decade, the agency is struggling with how to deal with a gaping loophole...
Imagine for a moment the 3G spectrum bands-698-960 MHz, 1710-1885 MHz and 2500-2690 MHz-are the three Florida counties of Miami-Dade, Palm Beach and Nassau.If you think South Florida is a mess, wait until President Clinton's third-generation wireless initiative plays out. It could turn into...
WASHINGTON-The Federal Communications Commission may propose charging carriers for telephone numbers.Also at its open meeting on Thursday, the FCC is expected to tell the wireless industry that in addition to being ready to convert to local number portability by Nov. 24, 2002, the industry...
WASHINGTON-A major personal injury lawsuit is expected to be filed this week in Illinois against Motorola Inc. and possibly others by a former technician with the company who claims his brain tumor was caused by mobile-phone radiation.The suit, the second in the past four...
I'm beginning to think those mobile-phone studies on memory loss are for real. How else to explain the superb op-ed penned by Ron Nessen in the Nov. 19 Washington Post?The piece, "Remember the President Who Helped Us Rise Above Rancor," blended nostalgia and realism...
The Cellular Telecommunications and Internet Association, Motorola Inc. and others convinced the Illinois Supreme Court to stay the publication in USA Today last week of a notice of class-action litigation alleging privacy violations in connection with an epidemiology study funded by the wireless industry....
WASHINGTON-The U.S. Supreme Court, confronted with four appeals challenging the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) mobile-phone radiation standard and congressional intervention, in October granted the government's request for more time to respond to lawsuits seeking to have the high court hear their cases.Petitions for certiorari,...
WASHINGTON-As the nation prepares for a sea change that will come when a new president is elected, the wireless industry's main trade association experienced some major changes recently and prepared for an upcoming campaign on one of its thorniest issues-driver distraction.From `industry' to `Internet'The...
WASHINGTON-The Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association last week said it will soon ask the Federal Communications Commission and the Federal Trade Commission to craft national wireless location privacy rules that call for consumer pre-consent.The move comes amid controversy over what law governs location privacy today...
SANTA CLARA, Calif.-Here we go again.After 10 years of asking the question, we finally have an answer."Everybody has been asking when wireless data is going to come," said Tom Wheeler, CTIA president and chief executive officer, at the closing keynote of the organization's Wireless...
WASHINGTON-In what appears to be a win for bankrupt PCS carriers, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit in New Orleans has ruled in favor of Metro PCS (formerly General Wireless Inc.) and against the Federal Communications Commission.The current and future fate...
WASHINGTON-A relatively minor mobile-phone case in Illinois state court-involving allegations of privacy invasion and health risk coverup in connection with an epidemiology study-has mushroomed into one of the largest class-action lawsuits in U.S. history.Judge Ellis Reid of the Circuit Court of Cook County in...
ST. LOUIS-Both leading presidential candidates in last Tuesday's debate here reiterated plans to beef up the military with next-generation technology, positions that could conflict with President Clinton's directive to force the Pentagon and others to surrender radio spectrum to third-generation mobile-phone carriers.In a post-Cold...
