Five years after Congress approved a law designed to help law enforcement catch criminals, rules to implement the digital wiretap act have been decided. Now comes the difficult part-carrying out those mandates.Instead of playing tug-of-war in the public eye about the problems industry is...
WASHINGTON-The Federal Communications Commission rejected privacy and industry concerns in approving six of nine additional capabilities to an industry interim technical standard implementing the digital wiretap act.The decision was not surprising. Last October, the FCC tentatively concluded five of the nine so-called punch-list items...
ARLINGTON, Va.-U.S. factory sales of telecommunications products in the first half of the year rose to nearly $41.6 billion, an 18-percent increase from last year's first-half sales of $35.2 billion, according to figures released by the Telecommunications Industry Association."The substantial growth in factory sales...
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-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-The Federal Communications Commission is expected to issue rules next month on what telecommunications carriers and manufacturers must do to comply with provisions of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 dealing with disabilities access.The rules are expected to cover a wide range of issues, including...
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...
ARLINGTON, Va.-According to statistics compiled by the Telecommunications Industry Association, U.S. exports of telecommunications equipment for first quarter 1998 totaled nearly $5.3 billion, and the greatest increases were in paging alert devices and cordless telephones, which jumped 95 percent and 42 percent, respectively."Despite overall...
SAO PAULO, Brazil-The Telecommunications and Electronics Consortium for Latin America and the U.S. Government both have filed comments with Anatel in Brazil regarding Anatel's proposed rules on equipment purchases by telecom operators.In a letter to Anatel, the U.S Government said, "These proposed requirements that...
WASHINGTON-U.S.-Sino trade relations, which only a month-and-a-half ago hit an all-time high with dramatic telecom market-opening concessions by China, have fallen into disarray.President Clinton, already on the defensive because of NATO's accidental bombing of the Chinese Embassy in Belgrade, is getting pulled in all...
Some Telecommunications Industry Association members and U.S. carriers were angered last week by comments attributed to a TIA senior executive by the French Press Agency. The incident illustrates the continuing technology holy wars and brings to surface concerns a few large members have about...
WASHINGTON-The wireless industry hopes to give the Federal Communications Commission a final report in June on how the deaf community can use text telephones (TTYs) with a digital wireless phone to call 911, said Todd Lantor, director of government relations for the Personal Communications...
WASHINGTON-As the Federal Communications Commission moves closer to setting guidelines to make telecom equipment and services accessible to disabled individuals, the wireless industry is pressing regulators to back off proposed rules that it claims are too restrictive and burdensome and that run counter to...
WASHINGTON-Just when it appeared the United States and China were on the verge of a major trade agreement promising huge wireless export opportunities and Chinese membership in the World Trade Organization, a high-tech espionage controversy has erupted that throws both would-be breakthroughs into doubt...
WASHINGTON-The Department of Justice has signed a letter of intent with a telecommunications manufacturer to buy software and give it to carriers to implement the digital wiretap act, Attorney General Janet Reno told a congressional panel last Thursday."We have signed a letter of intent...
WASHINGTON-Personal communications services subscribers use their phones more than cellular subscribers, said the Telecommunications Industry Association last week.PCS subscribers use their phones for 300 minutes per month while cellular subscribers use their phones for 140 minutes per month, TIA said in a report, "1999...
ARLINGTON, Va.-At the International Trade Commission, Telecommunications Industry Association President Matthew J. Flanigan testified regarding the economic effects on the United States of China's accession to the World Trade Organization.According to Flanigan, "China's accession to the WTO will not erase all the difficult commercial...
ARLINGTON, Va.-The Telecommunications Industry Association released figures from the U.S. Department of Commerce that state sales of telecommunications equipment rose to $78.8 billion at the close of 1998, an 11-percent increase over 1997."Despite economic downturns abroad, the strong U.S. domestic market buoyed 1998 telecom...
ARLINGTON, Va.-The Telecommunications Industry Association said it filed comments with the Federal Communications Commission strongly suggesting advanced telecommunications capability is not being deployed to all Americans in a reasonable and timely fashion.Advanced telecommunications capability allows consumers access to various services, such as fast Internet...
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 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,...
WASHINGTON-Cellular operators last week overwhelmingly opposed a revised consumer-group proposal to route 911 analog calls to the cellular carrier most likely to complete the call, but it remains unclear whether carriers are ready to embrace a new Telecommunications Industry Association plan to handle emergency...
SONYSony Electronics' Personal Mobile Communications-America announced the availability of a dual-mode 800 MHz analog/Code Division Multiple Access version of its D-Wave Zuma wireless handset. The lithium ion battery provides up to 2.3 hours of talk time or up to 45 hours standby time in...
WASHINGTON-The newly installed chairman of the Telecommunications Industry Association also is the head of a company with a product and a position on implementing the digital wiretap act that differs from that taken by TIA."The difference is pretty clear ... TIA is looking at...
