The $789 billion economic stimulus bill nearing final congressional passage designates $7.2 billion for broadband grants, but the measure lacks tax credits for wireless carriers and other service providers.Crafting rules for broadband grants could become highly controversial, since guidelines governing eligibility, data speeds, nondiscrimination...
A big chunk of the billions of dollars earmarked in economic recovery bills for broadband grants for wireless and other service providers likely will not make it into the private sector anytime soon, raising questions about the intended stimulus effect at a time when...
The House gave President Obama a big victory with approval of an economic stimulus bill with $6 billion in broadband grants for wireless carriers and other service providers, setting the stage for Senate debate next week on a costlier companion measure that includes more...
The House Energy and Commerce Committee approved legislation that makes at least $1 billion available in wireless broadband grants and keeps intact open-access provisions opposed by the mobile-phone industry.Six billion dollars of the $825 billion economic recovery measure is earmarked to foster deployment of...
The incoming administration may move faster than expected to put a tech team in place, given the unsettled state of the Federal Communications Commission and President-elect Obama's desire to leverage broadband, wireless and other technologies to advance top priorities such as economic revitalization, health...
Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin Martin and the Bush administration are on a collision course over a possible Dec. 18 vote on a free, family-friendly wireless auction plan, uncharacteristically bringing into public view a high-stakes policy dispute between the Republican White House and...
After Barack Obama ran for president promising change and openness, and making a point of refusing to accept lobbyists' contributions, the president-elect's transition team secretly held a meeting with broadcasting lobbyists to discuss the digital TV changeover.The unannounced meeting was held Friday in Washington....
A major schism in the Bush administration has erupted over an anticipated Dec. 18 vote by the Federal Communications Commission on a national wireless broadband plan that T-Mobile USA Inc. and others fear will cause interference to mobile-phone operations in spectrum they paid billions...
Editor's Note: RCR Wireless News Washington Bureau Chief Jeffrey Silva asked the presidential campaigns of Sens. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) and John McCain (R-Ariz.) to respond to e-mailed questions covering a wide range of policy matters confronting the wireless industry and the telecom/high-tech sectors generally.
McCain's...
Editor's Note: Welcome to our coverage of 25 years in wireless. RCR Wireless News is celebrating with a package of stories detailing the advances of the past three decades. For full coverage please visit RCRWireless.com/25years.Policymakers must have done something right over the past 25...
Editor's Note: Following the Republican National Convention, RCR Wireless News Bureau Chief Jeffrey Silva looked at the McCain camp's tech and telecom initiatives. Last week, he reported on the Obama telecom team.John McCain's unpredictably fitting pick of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin (R) as his...
The National Telecommunications and Information Administration released a comprehensive report on federal government frequency usage, setting in motion initiatives to help agencies better exploit the airwaves - federal and private sector alike - through greater reliance on advanced technologies and adherence to various spectrum...
As the 700 MHz auction winds to a close - apparently without a winning bidder for the commercial/public-safety license or a clear roadmap for meeting first responders' communications needs - progress is nonetheless being made on other fronts.The Department of Homeland Security's Science and...
President Bush appointed Neil Suryakant Patel to head the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, a week after lawmakers raised concerns about what the leadership changeup might mean for billion-dollar public-safety and digital TV transition programs.Patel currently serves as Vice President Dick Cheney's assistant for...
The Bush administration official responsible for implementing key spectrum, public-safety and digital TV transition initiatives is leaving her post, prompting concern from lawmakers.Meredith Baker, acting head of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, oversees the Bush spectrum policy initiative, a $1 billion public-safety interoperability...
Two telecom agencies identified frequencies for testing spectrum sharing between federal and non-federal users, but there is concern that the Bush administration will not meet its self-imposed 2008 deadline for completing the project.The Federal Communications Commission designated 10 megahertz in the 470-512 MHz band...
The Bush administration's top telecom advisor John Kneuer is stepping down later this month, ending a rocky tenure characterized by the Democratic-led Congress' intense oversight of major public-safety, spectrum-reform and digital TV programs.Kneuer has headed the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, a unit of...
In the past, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration has managed now and then to wrestle away the spotlight (albeit temporarily) on major telecom-tech issues of the day from the Federal Communications Commission. NTIA, a Commerce Department unit that serves as the principal adviser...
These are tenuous times for T-Mobile USA.Having spent $4.2 billion for 120 licenses in last year's advanced wireless services auction and seeing its German sister company ready to live with the iPhone, you can understand why T-Mobile USA might be getting a little antsy...
Congress approved legislation that frees up $43.5 million for upgrades to 911 call centers. The measure, included in the 9/11 Commission Recommendations bill and funded by proceeds from the upcoming 700 MHz auction, is now headed to the White House.Under current law the $43.5...
The Bush administration, seeking to make more efficient use of the nation's dwindling supply of airwaves, took another step toward creating a test bed for sharing spectrum among federal agencies, commercial users and state and local governments.
But even with an advisory committee's...
When it comes to reporting global broadband rankings, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development has become to Bush administration telecom officials what Al Jezeera's coverage of the war on terrorism is to the White House. Indeed, it has not been unusual for Bush's...
The Department of Justice's internal watchdog revealed the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, overseer of a Bush administration plan to foster improved spectrum use by federal agencies, state governments and private-sector firms, granted more than 23,000 waivers over two years to allow law enforcement...
The growing pool of federal dollars for interoperable public-safety communications grants could get even bigger, even though the nearly $3 billion spent to date has largely failed to improve first- responder communications around the country.Senate Homeland Security Committee Chairman Joe Lieberman, an independent Democrat...
