WASHINGTON-The D-, E- and F-block broadband personal communications services auction not only is the largest competitive bidding venture upon which the Federal Communications Commission has embarked to date, it also has spawned new players, regenerated old hands and created a few strange bedfellows.In this...
Several state tax offices and wireless carriers responded to the tax predicament faced by Western Wireless Corp. in Oregon.The Oregon Department of Revenue sent Western a proposed assessment that included in the valuation the $34 million Western paid for the Portland personal communications service...
WASHINGTON-As promised since the day the Federal Communications Commission approved its long-awaited first opinion and order regarding local competition and interconnection, state jurisdictions have filed in court to challenge the issue. The Justice Department, however, opposes any delay in implementing the new rules.Following a...
On the surface, neither the odds-on re-election of President Clinton nor a dramatic upset victory by GOP rival Bob Dole in the presidential race should impact telecommunications policy.The blueprint for a deregulated, competitive marketplace was etched in sacred stone with Clinton's signing of the...
WASHINGTON-It's still a low-numbers game as the second week of the D-, E- and F-block personal communications services auction winds down, and there still aren't many surprises to report. However, no markets are going for less than $1,000, as of the end of Round...
Cylink Corp. has won a waiver from the Federal Communications Commission to operate in excess of the 36 db of radiated power generally allowed in the 2.4 GHz and 5.8 GHz bands.The Sunnyvale, Calif., company manufactures outdoor spread spectrum microwave radio systems. Its primary...
The Federal Communications Commission was hit Friday with major challenges to its new hybrid radio frequency exposure guideline.Among those filing petitions for reconsideration/clarification are the Personal Communications Industry Association, the Electromagnetic Energy Association, Hammett & Edison Inc. (a consulting firm) and the Department of...
WASHINGTON-Only weeks after luring Alex Mandl away from AT&T Corp. for a reported $20 million in a much celebrated coup, Associated Communications L.L.C. now finds itself mired in controversy over the suddenly popular 18 GHz spectrum for local broadband wireless multimedia services that Mandl...
WASHINGTON-The first week of the D-, E- and F-block broadband personal communications services auctions moved along without much fanfare, either at the beginning of Round 1 or with the end of Round 4.Spectrum auctions have turned out to be much like the recent political...
WASHINGTON-The U.S. Treasury will be receiving another auction-related windfall payment sometime in the near future when the Federal Communications Commission, AT&T Corp. and the General Accounting Office decide how much money was made from the 900 number that personal communications services applicants used to...
After several broken engagements, MCI Communications Corp. thinks it has finally found a partner it can commit to long-term for wireless service, NextWave Telecom Inc.Although MCI has been down this road before, this time I think the company may have done it right.MCI-which sold...
WASHINGTON-Wireless carriers looking for relief from high interconnection costs may have to wait a bit longer before the proxy pricing suggested by the Federal Communications Commission in its recently voted interconnection order becomes a reality.GTE Corp. and the Southern New England Telephone Co. filed...
Alexandria, Minn.-based Rural Cellular Corp. said it plans to offer personal communications services and cellular service to customers in portions of Minnesota, North Dakota and Wisconsin through a joint venture with American Portable Telecom Inc.The two companies have signed a letter of intent to...
WASHINGTON-In a highly unusual case involving improper lobbying by the lawmaker who may oversee the telecommunications industry one day, the Federal Communications Commission threw out two Louisiana rural cellular licenses after ruling that a firm's reliance on wireless technology to provide fixed telephone service...
To the Editor: I am writing to clarify the law applicable to state and local regulation of personal wireless service providers, as discussed by Susan H.R. Jones in her article titled, "Who is in charge here?" in the Aug. 5 issue of RCR. Specifically, Ms....
WASHINGTON-Lawmakers return this week to tackle a handful of telecommunications policy and funding issues before adjourning in a month to campaign in House and Senate races.Appropriations bills will dominate the last month of the 104th Congress. The Federal Communications Commission and the National Telecommunications...
Were there not enough sports metaphors in politics already, the addition of former Buffalo Bills quarterback, congressman and Housing secretary Jack Kemp to the Dole prez ticket has made matters worse.Naughty Dems, lobbing toy Hail Mary footballs at Republicans at their national convention.Kemp answered...
WASHINGTON-The Federal Communications Commission apparently has come up with a winning plan to expand its current rules regarding partitioning and spectrum disaggregation by commercial mobile services licensees.Many current personal communications services licensees are looking forward to increasing their service areas not by auction but...
WASHINGTON-Richard Basile, president of On Line Communications, a Las Vegas-based paging applications mill, reached a settlement with the Federal Trade Commission to return nearly $40,000 in funds to the commission for consumer redress; in return, all litigation against him has been ended.Basile and silent...
WASHINGTON-Democrats will meet this week in Chicago to launch President Clinton's re-election campaign and try to take away the bounce that the Republican national conventional gave to the Dole-Kemp ticket earlier this month. Both major political parties are playing to middle-class voters with proposals...
WASHINGTON-Uncertainty about compliance with the new, hybrid radio frequency radiation exposure standard and growing concern with the struggling industry-funded bioeffects research program could invite unforeseen legal and operational problems for the wireless telecommunications industry."There's no guidance on compliance. They need definitions," said Ronald Petersen,...
WASHINGTON-With the final report outlining public-safety spectrum needs through 2010 due Sept. 11, members of the Public Safety Wireless Advisory Committee continue to debate from which source extra channels can be squeezed.The Department of Defense is adamant that some channels suggested in the PSWAC...
WASHINGTON-The Federal Communications Commission garnered approximately $750 million in upfront fees from the 153 qualified bidders it accepted for the next round of personal communications services auctions scheduled to begin today.Fifty original applicants did not make the cut, possibly because of botched applications, lack...
Last week, the Federal Communications Commission denied all arguments and affirmed its decision to charge Centel Cellular Co. of North Carolina with "endanger public safety for a period of five months" when it constructed in 1993 a 187-ft.-tall antenna tower without permission and without...
