Loral Space & Communications wants FCC authority to launch and operate hybrid Ku-band/C-band replacement satellite at 37.5 degrees W. Earlier, FCC considered and rejected arguments that Orion or Loral had rights to C-band authority at 37.5 degrees W. Petitions to deny are due April 16.
Rep. Udall (D-Colo.), joined by 18 co-sponsors, introduced bill that would devote $5 million over 2 years toward Small Business Administration (SBA) telecommuting pilot project. HR- 1031, offered March 14, would start educational and outreach projects in no more than 5 SBA regions and require agency to submit program evaluation report to Congress. Udall said legislation would help small businesses remove biggest hurdle -- “a lack of know-how” -- to implementing successful telecommuting programs.
Airia said it chose Square Peg Communications to supply uplink transmission equipment for global live in-flight service. Service will use Inmarsat’s existing satellite network to show BBC World TV live news feed and sports channel.
Ind. Utility Regulatory Commission (IURC) is scheduled to decide today (March 19) whether to approve Ameritech’s proposal for continuation of its Opportunity Indiana price cap regulation program. In return for continued price caps on basic service and rate deregulation of most other services, Ameritech promised to commit more than $700 million to network upgrades, offer new reduced-rate local service options, roll out high-speed Internet access, meet tough service quality standards enforced by annual fines of $30 million. Service quality enforcement has been top issue during deliberations, with Ameritech saying fines would keep it on its toes and critics saying they were structured in way that Ameritech wouldn’t pay maximum fine unless there were catastrophic service collapses.
FCC denied request by Viacom for postponement of deadline for company to come into compliance with TV ownership cap as condition for transfer of CBS Corp. and other subsidiaries to Viacom. In its application for interim relief, Viacom had contended that it was likely to prevail in pending challenge to lawfulness of rule itself and argued that it would suffer irreparable injury as result of complying with condition. Rule prohibits grant, transfer or assignment of any TV licence to any entity if it would result in its having cognizable interest in TV stations with aggregate national audience reach exceeding 35%. FCC said to be successful in such request for relief, Viacom must demonstrate: (1) It has substantial likelihood of succeeding on merits. (2) It would suffer irreparable harm with grant. (3) Grant wouldn’t substantially harm others. (4) Relief would be in public interest. Commission concluded that Viacom had failed to demonstrate that postponement was justified. In dissent, Comr. Furchtgott-Roth said that while he reserved judgment on ultimate review of 35% ownership cap, he believed that facts before Commission and recent decision by U.S. Appeals Court, D.C., invalidating Commission’s cable ownership cap warranted interim relief sought by Viacom.
XM Satellite Radio received FCC authorization to modify satellite. Authorization will allow XM to modify certain technical aspects of SDARS system in order to achieve 1/3 increase in system capacity and improve service, FCC said.
Orbimage added near real-time surface current information to SeaStar Fisheries Information Service, company said. Service will allow captains to find productive fishing areas faster. It will be available worldwide in version 4.5 of SeaStar service.
In future carrier networks, many OSS applications will communicate and cooperate through bus architecture, Telcordia executives said Thurs. at FCC Office of Engineering & Technology tutorial. “Today 5 [service] processes means 6 OSS vendors and 13 OSS applications,” Telcordia Chief Strategist for Operation Solutions Mike Swartz said. Rather than close coupling of processes in monolithic OSS suite, applications will be connected to one another only as needed through computer mediator or what Telcordia calls Common Clearinghouse. Shared architecture touted by company also creates opportunities for “off-the-shelf” OSS, thriving market Telcordia leads. Swartz said OSS was $20 billion market. Today, 25% is spent in-house by carriers, down from 50% in past. Future OSS must be fast, efficient and support diverse services, Telcordia Vp-Solutions Design Steve Cohen said: “Unlike old stable regulated markets, new service lead times are driven by competitive offers in the marketplace.”
Alcatel won contract from Taiwan’s Chunghwa Telecom to supply 1.26 million ADSL lines to cover all major cities in Taiwan. Company said it believed this was “world’s largest order of ADSL lines by one telecom operator.”
Impediments to DTV transition may be “too great to overcome” without additional govt. intervention, Rep. Dingell (D-Mich.) said at House Telecom Subcommittee hearing Thurs. He said “under normal circumstances” it would be best to allow “unfettered marketplace” to determine outcome of transition, but private sector resolution of must-carry, copyright protection and technical standards issues were impeded by govt.-mandated 2006 transition deadline and return of analog spectrum, he said.