WASHINGTON-Associations representing private wireless users do not see a need for the petition, filed late Friday by the American Mobile Telecommunications Association, urging the Federal Communications Commission to auction large chunks of spectrum in the 450-470 MHz band." does not favor auctioning 450-470 MHz...
ALEXANDRIA, Va.-The Personal Communications Industry Association Foundation announced the winners of its 1999 Leadership Awards, to be held at a reception at PCS '99 in New Orleans in September.The awards recognize individuals and companies that have shown outstanding leadership in helping to improve their...
WASHINGTON-The Personal Communications Industry Association last week applauded a new Federal Communications Commission's ruling that Ameritech Corp.'s imposition of local number portability end-user charges on commercial wireless carriers is illegal."We consider this a big victory for all carriers that use Type 1 interconnection," said...
WASHINGTON-A wild flurry of lobbying on telecom appropriations bills late last week ended with Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kan.) withdrawing an amendment to relax the spectrum cap and House subcommittee members deciding against bankruptcy changes advocated by the Federal Communications Commission and approved by the...
WASHINGTON-What began this spring as a congressional effort to restructure the Federal Communications Commission in the post-telecom act era could end up as a major rewrite of wireless policy.Wireless lobbyists and others see FCC reform as a vehicle to secure the kind of deregulation...
WASHINGTON-The Federal Communications Commission last week rejected a telecommunications industry proposal to use a product-line approach to make telecom products accessible to the estimated 54 million Americans with disabilities.The FCC "certainly rejected the product-line approach by name, but what they seem to be saying...
WASHINGTON-New allegations surfaced last week that the Federal Communications Commission is giving Nextel Communications Inc. preferential treatment, claims that come on the coattails of a proposed antitrust settlement between Nextel and the Justice Department that many dispatch operators strongly oppose, and as the agency...
ALEXANDRIA, Va.-The Federal Communications Commission needs to "strike the proper balance" between regulation and forbearance, the Personal Communications Industry Association told a congressional task force on July 2.PCIA was responding to a request from Rep. Paul Gillmor (R-Ohio) for information on how the FCC...
WASHINGTON-Admitting the disabilities provisions of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 are arcane, but saying the "impact is huge," the Federal Communications Commission this week is expected to adopt rules allowing the disabled community to participate in the telecommunications-dominant world.The FCC long has been expected...
WASHINGTON - Nextel Communications Inc. last week met stiff opposition to efforts to secure private wireless spectrum and approval for the transfer of 900 MHz dispatch licenses from bankrupt Geotek Communications Inc."Because of the inter-category sharing freeze and the strict prohibition against commercial ...
WASHINGTON-Congress sent the White House a bill on Thursday designed to limit liability stemming from the onset of the millennium bug. President Clinton is expected to sign the measure.The Personal Communications Industry Association hailed the bill's passage as a "victory for the wireless industry...
WASHINGTON-A technical committee for Code Division Multiple Access technology development is working on an adjunct standard of the technology that could be used for Phase II enhanced 911.The specification would "put part of the global positioning system receiver in the phone and part on...
WASHINGTON-Outspoken Federal Communications Commission member Harold Furchtgott-Roth joined the wireless industry on June 4 in blasting the agency's latest plan to fund discounted Internet connections for schools and libraries and in criticizing the overall administration of the universal service program."There will be no offsetting...
WASHINGTON-The Federal Communications Commission June 7 announced it will auction 2,499 licenses for paging services on Dec. 7. The licenses are in the upper bands (929-930 MHz and 931-932 MHz). There are approximately 14,000 licenses in the lower bands that will be auctioned at...
WASHINGTON-The Federal Communications Commission last week began investigating various issues fixed wireless carriers believe make it difficult for them to offer facilities-based competition to landline incumbent telcos.The Personal Communications Industry Association has been at the forefront of this battle, urging the FCC to require...
The subject of organ donation is rarely a casual conversation. It's a frightening subject because it forces you not only to confront your own mortality, but the mortality of your loved ones.And yet, educating the public about organ transplants is a challenge Arlene Harris...
WASHINGTON-The Federal Communications Commission is in full preparation for the paging license auction set to begin before the end of the year.Meantime, the FCC must grapple with a host of other issues of interest to paging carriers, including interconnection, numbering and how customer information...
WASHINGTON-The Federal Communications Commission's Wireless Telecommunications Bureau told private wireless advocates it is inclined to grant 54 waivers by Nextel Communications Inc., which would allow Nextel to use private wireless spectrum commercially.Senior WTB officials including Chief Thomas Sugrue told private wireless advocates from the...
WASHINGTON-Two powerful telecommunications lawmakers have brought the wireless industry into the debate about the amount of funding for Internet connections for schools and libraries, known as the e-rate.Reps. Thomas Bliley (R-Va.), chairman of the House Commerce Committee, and Billy Tauzin (R-La.), chairman of the...
WASHINGTON-The fallout of last week's Federal Communications Commission decision on solving the dead-zone problem saw the chairman's office denouncing the industry's response and consumers advocates split.As expected, the FCC did not mandate technical requirements for how wireless carriers address calls that fall in areas...
ALEXANDRIA, Va.-The Personal Communications Industry Association announced Omnipoint Communications Inc. President George Schmitt was elected chairman of the PCIA board of directors. Formerly the association's treasurer, Schmitt succeeds Metrocall Corp. Chairman and Chief Executive Officer William Collins.
WASHINGTON-The PCIA Foundation last week bestowed its annual awards on two significant telecommunications policy makers.The Personal Communications Industry Association's 1999 Eugene C. Bowler Award was given to Thomas S. Tycz, chief of the Satellite and Radiocommunications Division of the FCC's International Bureau. Tycz, who...
WASHINGTON-The Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association blasted Rep. Charles Bass' (R-N.H.) pro-local antenna siting bill, saying it would undermine public safety and competition and potentially make local zoning authorities hostage to anti-tower activists."We urge Congress not to enact the Local Zoning Preservation Act of 1999...
WASHINGTON-The General Accounting Office, the investigative unit of Congress, is looking into the internal controls of how the Federal Communications Commission collects regulatory fees, the GAO confirmed last week.Regulatory fees are a separate assessment from filing fees. Regulatory fees go to offset congressional appropriations,...
