WASHINGTON-The Personal Communications Industry Association last week urged the Federal Communications Commission to re-visit its rooftop access rules.The rules adopted in November to implement the Telecommunications Act of 1996 restrict access only to customers with balconies or patios. FCC regulations extended its over-the-air reception...
WASHINGTON-FCC Commissioner Michael Powell has entered the forbearance fray with a strongly worded statement about the burden-of-proof test the Federal Communications Commission uses to determine whether certain rules should be disregarded because of competition."Competition and free markets are not simply regimes that allow firms...
WASHINGTON-The wireless industry is drafting legislation to shift the burden of the forbearance test in the Telecommunications Act of 1996 from the industry to the Federal Communications Commission. This legislation is expected to be considered as part of a larger FCC reauthorization effort.Congress established...
WASHINGTON-The wireless industry, increasingly beset with new local, state and federal taxes, is hoping to capitalize on the GOP-led Congress' plans to parlay unexpectedly massive federal surpluses into a big tax cut this year.Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott (R-Miss.) and House Speaker Dennis Hastert...
WASHINGTON-The telecommunications industry forum studying whether the telephone network will work when the new century arrives needs better participation from the wireless industry, said Peter Spring of the Network Reliability and Interoperability Council.NRIC is a Federal Communications Commission advisory committee chartered to examine network...
WASHINGTON-A large contingent of telecommunications industry representatives was expected to meet with government officials Friday to present a proposal to change the rules governing how telecom carriers must treat customer privacy information. The expected proposal, however, is being panned by privacy advocates.The proposal guts...
WASHINGTON-A federal court of appeals on Friday upheld the Federal Communications Commission's spectrum cap. The decision comes as the FCC is examining whether to remove the restriction that limits carriers to 45 megahertz in a given geographic area.BellSouth Wireless Inc. had challenged the spectrum...
ALEXANDRIA, Va.-The Personal Communications Industry Association filed comments with the Federal Communications Commission urging it to refrain from creating a separate radio service pool for oil companies, utilities and railroads' safety needs.PCIA said it argued that every kind of private radio system has important...
NEW YORK-Echoing Rodney Dangerfield's complaint, wireless carriers continue to say, "I don't get no respect" as they fight skirmishes over local exchange carrier interconnection fees while the decisive battle is pending at the U.S. Supreme Court.Winter's fallow time finds the Federal Communications Commission in...
WASHINGTON-The Industrial Telecommunications Association warned the Federal Communications Commission not to use a pending proceeding involving Nextel Communications Inc. to make a de facto ruling that private wireless spectrum should be auctioned."Saia argues that the policy behind the prohibition against intercategory sharing will...
ALEXANDRIA, Va.-The Personal Communications Industry Association announced the formation of the PCIA Mobile Computing Advisory Group with Microsoft Corp., Sun Microsystems Inc., Oracle and Philips Consumer Communications.The PCIA MCAG's main goal will be to promote wireless mobile computing.The advisory board said its first task...
WASHINGTON-The Personal Communications Industry Association may use a recent economic study on wireless taxation to urge Congress to pass a Wireless Tax Freedom Act similar to the Internet Tax Freedom Act enacted earlier this year, said Mary McDermott, PCIA chief of staff and senior...
WASHINGTON-A wireless-industry proposal that would allow carriers to institute calling party pays is stalled at the Federal Communications Commission due to a lack of consensus among industry players, said Thomas Wheeler, president of the Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association." hasn't done the necessary job to...
WASHINGTON-The telecommunications industry may have an easier time convincing Congress the grandfather date in the digital wiretap act should be changed now that Rep. Bob Livingston (R-La.) has been elected House Speaker.Livingston has been fully briefed on the issue and understands the telecom industry...
WASHINGTON-The Federal Communications Commission tomorrow will argue its rules for universal-service financing are legal, while its opponent, Celpage Inc., a paging company from Puerto Rico, contends contributions to the Universal Service Fund are taxes-unconstitutional taxes.The arguments will take place in the Fifth Circuit Court...
ALEXANDRIA, Va.-The Personal Communications Industry Association announced Mark Golden, senior vice president of industry affairs, is leaving the association as of Dec. 3 to become executive director of the National Court Reporters Association.Golden served as acting PCIA president in 1994 and was responsible for...
WASHINGTON-The Federal Communications Commission this week will vote to consider lifting the 45 megahertz spectrum cap, revamping relocation rules for 2 GHz mobile satellite operators and auctioning spectrum mandated by Congress-three controversial issues with broad implications for future terrestrial and space-based wireless systems that...
The main goal for the American Mobile Telecommunications Association is regulatory flexibility or more accurately-one-size-does-not-fit-all. AMTA President Alan Shark has been fighting the good fight with the Federal Communications Commission to convince it traditional specialized mobile radio is not the same thing as commercial...
One can only imagine the potential import of the victory of Jesse "The Body" Ventura, the ex-professional wrestler and Reform Party candidate who won the Minnesota gubernatorial election last Tuesday.Policy making in America may never be the same. Jesse could change everything. Indeed, why...
WASHINGTON-The Federal Communications Commission agreed with law enforcement that five controversial features of new digital wiretap capabilities are within the law.However, the agency ruled three other capabilities are outside the law and on one other issue, the FCC chose not to make a decision....
WASHINGTON-The two trade associations representing the wireless industry last week joined other trade associations and the federal government in a major advertising campaign asking, "Are You Y2K OK?" The campaign's objective is to reach small- and medium-sized companies that may not be as diligent...
WASHINGTON-The Federal Communications Commission last week said personal communications services is a facilities-based competitor to wireline services. However, in an order rejecting BellSouth Corp.'s application to offer long-distance service in Louisiana, the FCC said PCS in Louisiana has not risen to the level of...
An open letter praising the UWCCTo the Editor: I feel compelled to write a letter of congratulations to the entire UWCC organization. It is the first time in my company's history that I have ever done this, but your rise to the wireless public consciousness...
WASHINGTON-The telecommunications industry, while failing to get the digital wiretap grandfather date statutorily changed, appears to have been successful in getting written assurances included in the end-of-the-year spending bill that this date should be changed to correspond to the compliance date of June 30,...
