WASHINGTON-The Federal Communications Commission last week reaffirmed resale rules for most commercial wireless carriers, but carved out exemptions for rank-and-file dispatch operators and start-up mobile phone firms not owned by incumbent wireless carriers.The ruling was generally well-received, but got a thumbs down from resellers."It's...
WASHINGTON-The Federal Communications Commission last week gave four states interim authority to implement number conservation measures, including number pooling.The states-California, Florida, Massachusetts and New York-had argued it was necessary to implement number relief measures now rather than wait for the FCC to finish with...
WASHINGTON-After last year's PCS show was largely disrupted by Hurricane Georges, Jay Kitchen, president of the Personal Communications Industry Association, said he's been assured this year's show will not be a repeat performance.The list of speakers at Personal Communications Showcase '99, set to begin...
WASHINGTON-The Personal Communications Industry Association last week urged regulators to question certain aspects of an agreement by giant wireline telcos on how to reduce the amount long-distance companies pay local exchange carriers to connect their customers' calls.The agreement by the Coalition for Affordable Local...
WASHINGTON-The Federal Communications Commission last week largely kept in place rules that restrict how much spectrum a carrier can control in any geographic area to no more than 45 megahertz. The FCC relaxed the cap to 55 megahertz in rural service areas.Additionally, at its...
WASHINGTON-With lawmakers back at work, the wireless industry will shift gears to push for passage of pending bills and try to position other legislation for congressional approval in 2000.Before the House and Senate recessed in August, the industry was forced to play defense against...
WASHINGTON-The Federal Communications Commission is expected this week to consider rules for the deployment of enhanced 911 automatic location identification technologies.The rules will come at an FCC Open Meeting on Wednesday, when the commissioners also will vote on whether or not to lift the...
WASHINGTON-The Federal Communications Commission ruled analog specialized mobile radio operators must comply with the digital wiretap act, even though there are no technical guides for them to follow.Currently, when law enforcement wants to tap an analog interconnected SMR, officers are given a cloned handset,...
WASHINGTON-A recent agreement by giant wireline telcos about how to reduce the charges long-distance companies pay to local exchange carriers to connect their customers' calls may end up costing the wireless industry, said the Personal Communications Industry Association."Wireless is not part of the problem...
WASHINGTON-The Federal Communications Commission is expected this week to announce it will consider lifting the spectrum cap-the restriction that a telecom carrier can control no more than 45 megahertz in a geographic area-at its Sept. 15 meeting.A staff proposal suggests modifying the cap in...
WASHINGTON-In what a spokeswoman for the Personal Communications Industry Association termed a "comedy of errors," the wireless industry and the Federal Communications Commission last week missed an opportunity to tout the wonders of wireless technology in developing countries.FCC Chairman William Kennard and key FCC...
WASHINGTON-SBC Communications Inc. and Ameritech Corp. agreed to include wireless issues in their proposed conditions for license transfer, said the Personal Communications Industry Association."In a nutshell, we are pleased that the scope has been expanded," said Angela Giancarlo, PCIA director of federal regulatory affairs.The...
WASHINGTON-The Personal Communi-cations Industry Association and Paging Network Inc. last week submitted proposals to the Federal Communications Commission to take the proposed conditions of the SBC-Ameritech merger, "currently `wireless-free' and make them helpful not only for wireline competitors, but for wireless competitors as well,"...
WASHINGTON-The Federal Communications Commission this week is expected to start struggling with the definition of competition as it reviews comments submitted in its competitive networks docket.Is it competition that allows a renter to choose between different apartment buildings based on what telecommunications services are...
Soon my constant companion will leave me-no I don't mean my husband or my adorable bulldog-rather I mean my Sprint Spectrum phone.I (along with all of the other Sprint Spectrum subscribers) am being "upgraded" to Sprint PCS. In other words, I am being moved...
WASHINGTON-A federal appeals court has thrown out recently changed rules on how telecommunications carriers use information about their customers.The court issued the ruling as the wireless industry celebrated the Federal Communications Commission's decision to relax some of its rules regarding how carriers use information...
WASHINGTON-Nextel Communications Inc. is charging that private wireless receives a subsidy because it does not pay for its licenses. The enhanced specialized mobile radio operator made the remarks in reply comments filed at the Federal Communications Commission.The FCC is establishing a record on what...
WASHINGTON-The major trade associations representing mobile phone carriers are staying out of the legislative battle over whether the Federal Communications Commission should be able to take back radio-frequency spectrum licenses from carriers when they go bankrupt, including the licenses held by Metro PCS and...
WASHINGTON-Whether the spectrum cap should stay or go-one issue that distinguishes incumbent cellular operators and upstart personal communications services operators-"will hopefully" be decided by the Federal Communications Commission at its September meeting, said Thomas Sugrue, chief of the FCC's Wireless Telecommunications Bureau.The Cellular Telecommunications...
WASHINGTON-The telecommunications industry and the Federal Communications Commission late Thursday held off an attempt by two members of Congress to allow states to make decisions regarding the allocation of telephone numbers.The allocation of telephone numbers is a critical issue for the wireless industry. Just...
WASHINGTON-With telephone penetration as low as 20 percent on some Indian reservations, the Federal Communications Commission last week began exploring ways to extend telecommunications services to tribal lands.The lack of telecom services on tribal lands stunned the FCC. By comparison, 90 percent of Americans...
WASHINGTON-Whether a recent appeals court ruling on universal service will have a positive or negative impact on wireless carriers depends on how you interpret a footnote in the decision.Footnote 31 of the decision from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in...
WASHINGTON-The Personal Communications Industry Association said last week the PCIA Microwave Clearinghouse had identified more than $100 million in reimbursable costs for microwave relocation.Additionally, the Microwave Clearinghouse signed an agreement with the unlicensed personal communications services ad hoc committee for 2 GHz microwave transition...
WASHINGTON-The pace of technological change-rapid and frenzied-will have an impact on regulation, and in turn, how regulation impacts the wireless industry in the next millennium, most policy makers agree.The Federal Communications Commission already is changing the way it conducts business; that is, the way...
