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...
Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mich.), chairman of the House Commerce subcommittee on oversight and investigations, said he soon plans to re-introduce legislation making permanent the National Telecommunications and Information Administration's public-safety interoperability grant program. NTIA, a unit of the Commerce Department, recently contracted with the...
The Senate is set to vote this week on a homeland security bill that includes more federal support for interoperable public-safety wireless communications.The legislation addresses a serious first-responder problem highlighted in rescue efforts in the immediate aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks....
Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mich.), chairman of the House Commerce subcommittee on oversight and investigations, accused the National Telecommunications and Information Administration of surrendering control of a $1 billion first-responder wireless grant program to another agency that recently told Congress the Sept. 30 deadline...
Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mich.), chairman of the House Commerce subcommittee on oversight and investigations, blasted the National Telecommunications and Information Administration for surrendering control of a $1 billion first-responder wireless grant program to an another agency that recently told Congress the Sept. 30 deadline...
Most of the energy these days in Washington is understandably focused on the Next Big Auction. And why not? 700 MHz bidding later this year could attract a mix of mobile phone, satellite, WiMAX and other players collectively ready to spend between $10 billion...
The Bush administration shows signs of internal division over a $1 billion public-safety wireless interoperability grant program, with implementation delays undercutting post-9/11efforts to improve communications among first responders and attracting increased oversight by Congress. The House Homeland Security Committee wants the administration to explain...
The House Homeland Security Committee asked the Bush administration to explain why implementation of a $1 billion public-safety wireless interoperability grant program continues to be delayed, with lawmakers expressing particular concern about Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff's admission that his department and the Commerce...
THE SENATE COMMERCE Committee greeted Cyren Call Communications Corp.'s public-safety broadband plan with a non-committal mix of interest, skepticism and outright hostility, a reaction compounded by an industry-funded study that concludes the initiative is a risky business proposition and could actually undermine first-responder communications.Democratic...
Senate lawmakers blasted Bush administration policy-makers over the implementation of a $43.5 million matching grant program to upgrade emergency dispatch centers so they can receive and process enhanced 911 location data from mobile phones.The Enhanced 911 Act, signed into law in December 2004, directed...
The Senate Commerce Committee has decided President Bush's top telecom policy adviser could use some help with his agency's $1 billion public-safety communications interoperability grant program, the second time this week the National Telecommunications and Information Administration has been subjected to congressional oversight.Senate Commerce...
WASHINGTON-The Bush administration's top two telecom officials said wireless issues will have high priority this year, with policymakers anxious to see wireless networks evolve into a competitive alternative to the telephone-cable TV broadband duopoly and to examine avenues for making more efficient use of...
The Bush administration's top telecommunications policy advisor said a report will be released early this year detailing the federal government's use of spectrum, information largely kept out of the public's eye even at a time when public and private entities are clamoring for a...
Lawmakers staked claim to pet telecom issues, with bipartisan support emerging out of the gate for legislation forcing the Federal Communications Commission to exploit vacant broadcast guard-band spectrum for unlicensed wireless services, including Wi-Fi. Sens. John Kerry (D-Mass.) and John Sununu (R-N.H.), both members...
WASHINGTON-The new Democratic-controlled Congress is already pushing a pair of bills intended to improve public-safety communications interoperability.One initiative, included in a comprehensive bill to implement recommendations of the 9/11 Commission, would create a distinct grant program within the Department of Homeland Security dedicated to...
WASHINGTON-Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said he would cooperate with Congress if it pursues legislation to increase the supply of public-safety spectrum. Chertoff acknowledged federal, state and local first responders must not only be able to talk with one other during emergencies but also...
WASHINGTON-Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said he would cooperate with Congress if the new, Democratic-controlled House and Senate pursue legislation to increase the supply of public-safety spectrum. Chertoff acknowledged federal, state and local first responders must not only be able to talk with one...
WASHINGTON-The 109th Congress adjourned on a positive note for the wireless industry and the public-safety community, approving legislation that makes illegal the practice of impersonating mobile-phone subscribers to obtain their phone records, and ordering the Bush administration to award $1 billion in public-safety interoperable...
WASHINGTON-Public-safety interoperability, a political football since 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina, has become a red-hot political hot potato.Following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, and again when deadly storms ravaged the Gulf Coast last year, policy-makers voiced indignant outrage that federal, state and local public-safety...
WASHINGTON-The National Telecommunications and Information Administration set Dec. 13 for the first public meeting of a new federal advisory committee created to assist the agency in pursuing new policies envisioned in President Bush's 2003 spectrum initiative. The panel-comprised of industry officials and academics-will advise...
WASHINGTON—The Commerce Department today released names of individuals on the White House-level spectrum advisory committee, a component of a 2003 Bush wireless initiative that has been awkwardly managed and failed to date to deliver tangible results. "Our new spectrum advisory committee will help us...
