CTIA President Tom Wheeler called it the biggest issue facing the wireless industry in 1996. Last Thursday, he simply said, "Hooray."The Federal Communications Commission revamped interconnect agreements last week as part of sweeping rule changes aimed at bringing competition to the local exchange.For the...
For those who are banking on the growth of specialized mobile radio during the next few years, there is good news and there is good news. The good news is: The transition to digital technology will continue to grow, adding new voice and data services,...
WASHINGTON-With less than a ringing endorsement from two commissioners, the Federal Communications Commission last week adopted hybrid radiofrequency exposure guidelines that may violate a new law regarding technical standards used by government agencies.The new RF guidelines are stricter than existing ones, combining exposure limits...
NEW YORK-Advanced Radio Telecom Corp., a 38 GHz provider of wireless local loop service, announced Aug. 1 it had pulled a planned initial public offering of common stock and a concurrent debt issue."We are postponing both issues pending improved market conditions," said Thomas A....
WASHINGTON-President Clinton last week nominated former wireless regulator Regina Keeney to the Federal Communications Commission, an appointment that while popular could run into delays in the Senate because of the presidential election this fall.Keeney, who served as senior Republican communications counsel on the Senate...
WASHINGTON-The Federal Communications Commission's adoption last week of a sweeping local-competition docket at best opens the door for some wireless carriers to become true head-to-head competitors with local exchange carriers, and at least will help lower prices wireless carriers and subscribers pay for service.Aug....
The telecommunications landscape has been changing so fast lately that it has been hard to keep up with all the new technologies, the new regulations and the new spectrum allocations. That was before Congress added the Telecommunications Act of 1996 to the picture.Underlying all...
WASHINGTON-Following July 30 rulings by two different U.S. appeals courts, the Federal Communications Commission's D-, E- and F-block broadband personal communications services auctions will start Aug. 26. The application date for bidders was July 31.Judges Walter Stapleton and Collins Seitz of the U.S. Court...
WASHINGTON-A newly authorized low-power radio service in the 216-217 MHz band will accommodate planned short-range communications devices for the hearing impaired, health-care telemetry services and stolen-merchandise tracking by public-safety entities.At its July 25 open meeting, the Federal Communications Commission adopted new rules that changed...
SAN DIEGO-NextWave Personal Communications Inc. has submitted a down payment of more than $20 million to the Federal Communications Commission for the seven personal communications services licenses the company won at re-auction last week. NextWave made a pre-auction deposit of nearly $7 million last...
WASHINGTON-Could there be such as thing as spectrum pollution?That's a question federal regulators are now pondering.While it has not been established that a problem exists, the Federal Communications Commission believes the issue is worth investigating because of the potential adverse economic impact to wireless...
WASHINGTON-Even before the Federal Communications Commission voted last week to solicit comments regarding the possibility of taking back UHF broadcast channels 60 through 69, the National Association of Broadcasters let it be known that non-broadcast use of these channels probably would be unacceptable during...
WASHINGTON-Members of a small-business personal communications services coalition met with staffers representing Sen. Christopher (Kit) Bond (R-Mo.), chairman of the Committee on Small Business, to ask for his intervention if their emergency petitions filed last week at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the...
WASHINGTON-The Environmental Protection Agency and the Food and Drug Administration signed off on hybrid radio frequency radiation exposure guidelines being unveiled by the Federal Communications Commission this week.However, there was speculation late last week that a lawsuit might be filed to block the new...
Dear Editor: Small businesses are the foundation of our nation's economic success; they create jobs, spur innovation and spark competition. The Federal Communications Commission is committed to fostering the entry of small businesses into the telecommunications industry. Thus, it was with amazement that I read...
Deregulatory gains by the cellular telephone industry during the past three years have given way to a series of setbacks that could come back to haunt policymakers in the brave new world of regulation that started in 1993 and culminated with the Telecommunications Act...
WASHINGTON-President Clinton, continuing to pitch low-risk, low-cost initiatives linked to telecommunications, last week called on Attorney General Janet Reno, the Federal Communications Commission and the private sector to create a community policing number for non-emergency calls to relieve over-congested 911 systems.The directive, made in...
WASHINGTON-Following what they characterized as an unsuccessful meeting with Wireless Telecommunications Bureau personnel last week, three personal communications services small-business concerns filed a petition for reconsideration regarding revised D-, E- and F-block auction rules.Personal Technologies Services Inc., DigiVox Corp. and the National Paging &...
WASHINGTON-A group of 310 C-block personal communications services licenses should be issued within the next two weeks, but it is doubtful that those won by NextWave Personal Communications Inc., PCS 2000 L.P., DCR PCS Inc. and Meretel Communications L.P. will be among them.The Federal...
Talk is cheap.Take the Federal Communications Commission's grandiose pronouncements over the past two years on behalf of women, minorities and small businesses.Most disappointing recently is the agency's refusal to delay the Aug. 26 auction of PCS blocks D, E & F to give small...
WASHINGTON-The Clinton administration and federal regulators have promised the public safety community a chunk of TV channels 60-69 in exchange for supporting efforts to free up that spectrum soon for auctions. The deal appears to circumvent normal rulemaking processes and calls into question the...
SEATTLE-Xypoint Corp. is developing enhanced 911 applications that will help wireless carriers and emergency dispatchers determine the location of wireless callers.These groups don't have to reinvent the wheel, said Kenneth Arneson, president and chief executive officer of Xypoint. Arneson was formerly vice president of...
WASHINGTON-Rep. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) said the new telecommunications law does not erase federal jurisdiction of wireless telecommunications, a strong statement aimed at dissuading federal regulators from abandoning a proposed bill-and-keep interconnection plan in favor of broad guidelines that could stifle local competition and the...
WASHINGTON-Looking forward to the next round of personal communications services auctions set to begin Aug. 26, Michele Farquhar, chief of the Federal Communications Commission's Wireless Telecommunications Bureau, promised to "expedite the process, just like we did today."And with that, the lightning sale of 18...
