The Personal Communications Industry Association hasn't released the official number of those who attended PCS '98 two weeks ago in Orlando, Fla. It wants to take its time to ensure that it releases the most accurate number possible. I would take my time, too,...
WASHINGTON-The wireless industry is at a "watershed point," and is now beginning to compete in earnest with wireline telephony, said Tom Wheeler, president of the Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association. The industry is entering the fourth wave of its development, Wheeler said, noting the four...
CTIAChristopher Putala joined the Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association as vice president for congressional affairs. Putala worked for nine years with the Senate Judiciary Committee on a wide variety of law-enforcement issues and served as Democratic staff director and chief counsel for Sen. Joseph R....
Nearly a year into office, Bill Kennard has defied all attempts to be pigeonholed as the newest chairman of the Federal Communications Commission. He was general counsel and an understudy to former FCC chief Reed Hundt. Yet Kennard is not Hundt like. He's not...
In preparation for PCS '98, RCR sat down last month with Jay Kitchen, president of the Personal Communications Industry Association to talk about the trade show, the wireless industry in general, and PCIA specifically. The following is a transcript of that interview: RCR: What is going...
WASHINGTON-Wireless carriers this week will be writing checks-big checks-to the Federal Communications Commission to pay statutorily required regulatory fees.Regulatory fees finance approximately 80 percent of the FCC's operating expenses. These fees, set each year by Congress, have been increasing steadily to the dismay of...
WASHINGTON-Under even the most abnormal of normal circumstances, it usually is possible to handicap odds for passage of wireless legislation before Congress adjourns.But these are not normal times.An American president is under siege, and the global stage is imploding with financial meltdowns, political unrest,...
WASHINGTON-The Federal Communications Commission's Wireless Telecommunications Bureau last week issued an order granting the Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association's request for a nine-month stay of wireless number portability requirements. The Wireless Bureau said it found extending the deadline from June 30, 1999, to March 31,...
WASHINGTON-The Automobile Association of America received a powerful push from six U.S. senators last week, who urged the Federal Communications Commission to grant AAA "quasi public-safety" status, a request AAA has long been advocating. This status would allow it "the right of first refusal,"...
WASHINGTON-The Personal Communications Industry Association last week announced it is creating a new membership council to represent local multipoint distribution services operators.PCIA said it plans to represent fixed, broadband wireless interests on Capitol Hill, at the Federal Communications Commission and before other federal, state...
To the Editor: I am writing in response to two recent articles-"McCain: FCC is Running a Do Nothing Wireless Bureau," (July 20) and "McCain Lays Foundation to Revamp FCC" (July 27). These articles convey the impression that the commission exists to serve the special interests of...
The emergence of personal communications services providers is putting the often-tenuous relationship between carriers and resellers to the test in more ways than one.PCS once was viewed as the next area where resale would be used widely to increase subscriber numbers quickly. Instead, competition...
WASHINGTON-A petition by three trade associations representing railroads, utilities and the petroleum industry is being criticized soundly by other frequency coordinators, which claim the request for a separate "public service pool" would destroy refarming goals.The petition, filed Aug. 14, asked the Federal Communications Commission...
WASHINGTON-An agreement between GTE Corp. and AirTouch Paging, signed earlier this month, is a good example of how the telecommunications industry can work with "regulatory guidance but without regulatory fiat," said Rob Hoggarth, senior vice president for paging and messaging for the Personal Communications...
WASHINGTON-The wireless industry has been asked to help the Federal Communications Commission reduce a three-inch thick backlog of work yet to be completed by the FCC's Wireless Telecommunications Bureau. At the urging of congressional staff, the Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association, the Industrial Telecommunications Association...
WASHINGTON-The wireless industry last week made significant strides in its efforts to reach a conciliatory note on antenna siting with various parties with which the industry has often disagreed.Additionally, the House Commerce Committee approved legislation that encourages tower sitings on federal property and uses...
WASHINGTON-The Personal Communications Industry Association has taken another stab at urging the Federal Communications Commission to become less regulatory and less burdensome."PCIA is continuing to find ways to press for deregulation," said Mary McDermott, PCIA senior vice president and chief of staff for government...
WASHINGTON-Taking advantage of a recent court decision that the Federal Communications Commission re-examine its pay-phone compensation scheme, the Personal Communications Industry Association continues to urge the FCC to institute a caller-pays or coin-in-the-box scheme for pay-phone compensation rather than the current carrier-pays scheme. A...
WASHINGTON-The Personal Communications Industry Association last week told the Federal Communications Commission that it wanted to examine the annual budgets of the regional number portability administrators to ensure these entities operate efficiently and costs are kept down. Wireless carriers currently cannot monitor these entities...
ALEXANDRIA, Va.-The Personal Communications Industry Association announced the industry leaders who will speak at the Personal Communications Showcase '98 conference Sept. 22-25 in Orlando, Fla.Federal Communications Commission Chairman William Kennard will deliver the keynote address at the opening SuperSession, "Connect to Leadership: Building a Wireless...
WASHINGTON-Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John McCain (R-Ariz.), increasingly distressed about Federal Communications Commission wireless policy management, plans legislation next year that would overhaul the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau and mandate more deregulation.McCain, according to congressional staff and industry officials, plans to address the matter in...
WASHINGTON-Ten telecom industry associations urged the Federal Communications Commission not to impose rules designed to protect consumer privacy. In a July 20 letter to the FCC, the groups said the rules were expensive and burdensome.The associations were joined by the Small Business Administration, which...
In the eyes of some, the Federal Communications Commission's great experiment with personal communications services licensing has been a smashing success. Facilities-based competition is all around. Subscriber numbers and revenues are growing by leaps and bounds, with equipment and service prices falling just as...
WASHINGTON-The FBI and the Department of Justice are shopping an amendment to congressional appropriators to change the Justice Department budget in a way that would re-write the controversial digital wiretap act.The amendment not only addresses the date issue, but would have Congress order the...
