Oceanic Time Warner Cable has begun deployment of its Wi-Fi hotspot network for its customers statewide in Hawaii, said the company in a news release Friday (http://yhoo.it/1beaRhk). Access to the network is free to customers with standard Internet and to business-class Internet customers, said Oceanic. On Oahu, customers can access more than 400 TWC Wi-Fi hotspots now, with more locations coming, including at Sunset Beach, Kailua District Park, the Stan Sheriff Center Area and others, said Oceanic.
More than a dozen House members from California asked the FCC to investigate location accuracy problems of wireless 911 calls. House Communications Subcommittee ranking member Anna Eshoo, D-Calif., released the letter (http://1.usa.gov/14RMsHb) in a press release Thursday, citing an August CalNENA report (CD Aug 14 p4). “We urge you to carefully review all available data, including the CALNENA report and relevant mobile carrier information, to determine the underlying factors for this trend,” the 13 representatives wrote in their letter to FCC acting Chairwoman Mignon Clyburn. The letter also urges the FCC to “proceed expeditiously” in adopting a proposed rulemaking to improve indoor location accuracy for wireless calls. Four senators also sent Clyburn a letter Thursday, which said the recent report “raises concerns.” They urged the FCC to consider such accuracy issues at an upcoming Public Safety Bureau workshop. That letter was signed by Senate Communications Subcommittee Chairman Mark Pryor, D-Ark., Senate Intelligence Committee Chairwoman Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., Barbara Boxer, D-Calif. and Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn.
The California Legislature passed a bill to develop a comprehensive earthquake early warning system, said sponsor State Sen. Alex Padilla (D) in a news release Thursday (http://bit.ly/16pZvTN). The state currently uses the California Integrated Seismic Network system, which is a demonstration earthquake early warning system, said Padilla. The fully developed system required in Senate Bill 135 would process data from sensors across the state, detect the strength and progression of an earthquake, alert the public within seconds and provide up to 60 seconds of advanced warning before potentially damaging ground shaking is felt, said Padilla. The legislature also approved a bill to authorize the California Public Utilities Commission to award broadband infrastructure grants and loans to entities that provide broadband to un-served areas of California, said Padilla (http://bit.ly/18WOl7y). Senate Bill 740 expands eligibility requirements and funding for the California Advanced Services Fund, said Padilla. Assembly Bill 1299 was also approved to provide funding broadband expansion in affordable housing units on Wednesday. All of these bills will be sent to the governor to sign within 12 days of transmittal, or they will become law without signature.
Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, is still unsatisfied with Tom Wheeler, the administration’s nominee for FCC chairman. Cruz still hasn’t received answers to the questions he posed to Wheeler regarding rules on political speech regulation, his spokeswoman told us Thursday night. Observers, when speculating on how quickly a Senate vote may happen for the potential FCC nominee pairing of Tom Wheeler and Mike O'Rielly, told us last week that a Cruz hold may be an obstacle to a full Senate vote (CD Sept 13 p1). Cruz threatened a hold during a July Commerce Committee hearing, and his spokeswoman reiterated Thursday that “he’s keeping options on the table that will help lead to his questions being answered.” In questions for the record, Cruz asked Wheeler, “Does the FCC have the authority to implement the kind of requirements laid out in the DISCLOSE Act?” He asked Wheeler whether Congress or the FCC has “primary authority” in regulating political speech and about how Wheeler’s answer would play a role in his chairmanship. The answer Wheeler provided to Cruz refers to the authority Congress has granted the FCC, including “certain disclosure responsibilities related to sponsorship identification (Sec. 317) and political disclosure (Sec. 315).” But Wheeler does not directly answer Cruz’s question: “In determining the scope of those provisions, I will be guided by the Constitution, especially the First Amendment, Congress’ directives under the Communications Act, and legal precedent,” he told the senator.
Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., requested more data from carriers about the number of requests law enforcement agencies make for personal cellphone information. “There are legal, constitutional and privacy implications of sharing consumers’ mobile telephone information,” Markey said in a statement Thursday. “We need to know what is being collected and the legal authorities by which law enforcement is requesting the records, possibly of innocent people being swept up as part of these digital dragnets.” He requested information from several carriers last year as a member of the House. The data he requests covers 2012 and includes, according to his office: (1) geolocation of device, (2) call detail records, (3) text message content, (4) voicemail, (5) cell tower dumps, (6) wiretapping, (7) subscriber information, and (8) data requests. He sent a letter requesting this information to U.S. Cellular, Sprint Nextel, T-Mobile US, Leap Wireless, Cricket Communications, MetroPCS, Verizon Communications, AT&T and C Spire Wireless.
The FCC Wireline Bureau seeks comment on a petition by Tularosa Basin telco and Southwest Texas telco for limited waiver of the intercarrier compensation revenue recovery rules for rate-of-return carriers. Tularosa Basin’s net reciprocal compensation revenue “was inadvertently added by error in the initial FY2011 Base Period Revenue in the Data Request of another company, Southwest Texas,” the public notice said (http://bit.ly/15ViQPg), quoting the petitions. Also, “Southwest Texas did not have reciprocal compensation revenue or expense for the data collection period,” the notice said. Comments in docket 03-109 are due Sept. 23.
Almost a third of adult social media users include location information in social media posts, up from 14 percent in 2011, according to a new study from the Pew Internet and American Life Project (http://bit.ly/15ViAj7). Fewer are using services like Foursquare to “check in” or share locations with friends, it said. Just 12 percent checked in as of May, compared with 18 percent in February 2012. Seventy-four percent of adult smartphone users get directions or other information based on location on their phone, the survey said. Pew surveyed 2,252 people 18 and older from April 17 to May 19 on both landline and cellphones, it said.
Liberty Global enlisted ActiveVideo’s CloudTV software platform to expand its reach of user experiences offered by Horizon TV, said the companies in a news release (http://bit.ly/1d8NvI3). CloudTV enables IPTV, cable and other pay-TV providers to reduce costs and time-to-market for multiplatform television experiences, and the latest version of the platform, CloudTV H5, features innovations in network scalability that support an accelerated deployment of differentiating user interfaces and applications in HTML5, said the companies. “Liberty Global is constantly innovating and leading in delivering compelling and differentiated TV experiences leveraging cloud-based architectures,” said Aamir Hussain, Liberty Global Europe managing director. “Liberty Global is using ActiveVideo’s CloudTV platform to complement its cloud UI strategy and expand Horizon-like experiences, including cloud DVR, VOD navigation and advanced applications, to STBs and connected devices."
The FCC’s tribal engagement rules raise Administrative Procedure Act, First Amendment, and Paperwork Reduction Act concerns, officials from USTelecom, CTIA and NTCA-The Rural Broadband Association told agency officials Wednesday, an ex parte filing said (http://bit.ly/15ViyaV). The groups repeated their 2012 request that the commission clarify its “further guidance” rules on tribal engagement are “intended to provide a best practices guide.” They also said there’s a need for written guidance clarifying that Form 481 reports need not address compliance with the rules.
The FCC Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau will host a forum Oct. 1 and hold technology demonstrations related to cybersecurity issues “consumers face,” including a focus on safeguards for children’s use of the Internet, the agency said Thursday. The forum will “bring together teens, parents, educators and subject matter experts to discuss the issues surrounding cybersecurity (online safety) and the use of technologies that can assist in keeping children safe on the Internet,” the FCC said in a news release. The event, to run 1-3 p.m., will be in the commission meeting room (http://fcc.us/15Y9UT6).