NextRadio appreciates FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler’s “support in acknowledging FM chips in smartphones are a great idea,” Paul Brenner, senior vice president-chief technology officer at Emmis Communications, NextRadio’s prime mover, emailed us Friday in reaction to Wheeler’s testimony a day earlier before the House Communications Subcommittee. But Brenner said Wheeler erred when he told the subcommittee that battery drain and the need for large antennas are big “technological challenges” to consumer adoption of activated FM chips in smartphones.
NextRadio appreciates FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler’s “support in acknowledging FM chips in smartphones are a great idea,” Paul Brenner, senior vice president-chief technology officer at Emmis Communications, NextRadio’s prime mover, emailed us Friday in reaction to Wheeler’s testimony a day earlier before the House Communications Subcommittee. But Brenner said Wheeler erred when he told the subcommittee that battery drain and the need for large antennas are big “technological challenges” to consumer adoption of activated FM chips in smartphones.
The FCC Enforcement Bureau said it reached a $3.4 million settlement with Verizon, ending the commission’s investigation into the telco’s role in an April 2014 multi-state 911 outage. Verizon is the 911 service provider in 11 counties in northern California, nine of which were affected by that April outage. The bureau separately issued an order Wednesday fining Oklahoma telco Hinton Telephone $100,000 following an Enforcement Bureau investigation that showed the telco failed to direct 911 calls to local public safety answering points (PSAPs).
White House Council of Economic Advisers Chairman Jason Furman urged the FCC to hold the TV incentive auction as now planned in early 2016, speaking Wednesday at a Georgetown Center for Business and Public Policy event on the five-year anniversary of the FCC National Broadband Plan. The auction was one of the 2010 broadband plan's key recommendations. Work remains to fulfill the plan, officials said at an event Tuesday that was organized by nonprofit groups (see 1503170014).
The Communications Security, Reliability and Interoperability Council (CSRIC) unanimously voted Wednesday to approve Working Group 4’s report on recommendations on communications sector cybersecurity risk management, which was meant to adapt the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s (NIST) Cybersecurity Framework. Working Group 4 released its report almost a year after CSRIC formed the working group as part of FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler’s push for the agency to increase its focus on cybersecurity as a public safety issue (see report in the March 21, 2014, issue). Wheeler said Wednesday, at what he called CSRIC IV’s “graduation ceremony,” that Working Group 4’s report would be “crucial to where we as an agency and we as industries and government have got to go” on addressing cybersecurity risk management. Wheeler continued to emphasize what he sees as the importance of the private sector leading on cybersecurity but noted that the FCC will continue to coordinate and play an oversight role. CSRIC also adopted Working Group 3’s report on expanded security best practices for Emergency Alert System stakeholders and Working Group 7’s report on updates to the prioritization of earlier CSRIC best practices.
The Communications Security, Reliability and Interoperability Council (CSRIC) unanimously voted Wednesday to approve Working Group 4’s report on recommendations on communications sector cybersecurity risk management, which was meant to adapt the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s (NIST) Cybersecurity Framework. Working Group 4 released its report almost a year after CSRIC formed the working group as part of FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler’s push for the agency to increase its focus on cybersecurity as a public safety issue (see report in the March 21, 2014, issue). Wheeler said Wednesday, at what he called CSRIC IV’s “graduation ceremony,” that Working Group 4’s report would be “crucial to where we as an agency and we as industries and government have got to go” on addressing cybersecurity risk management. Wheeler continued to emphasize what he sees as the importance of the private sector leading on cybersecurity but noted that the FCC will continue to coordinate and play an oversight role. CSRIC also adopted Working Group 3’s report on expanded security best practices for Emergency Alert System stakeholders and Working Group 7’s report on updates to the prioritization of earlier CSRIC best practices.
White House Council of Economic Advisers Chairman Jason Furman urged the FCC to hold the TV incentive auction as now planned in early 2016, speaking Wednesday at a Georgetown Center for Business and Public Policy event on the five-year anniversary of the FCC National Broadband Plan. The auction was one of the 2010 broadband plan's key recommendations. Work remains to fulfill the plan, officials said at an event Tuesday that was organized by nonprofit groups (see 1503170014).
The FCC Disability Advisory Committee got started Tuesday, holding its inaugural, mostly introductory, meeting at agency headquarters. Commissioner Mike O’Rielly cautioned the group that new regulation is often not the best approach to making communications more accessible.
The Trans-Pacific Partnership could be the benchmark for global trade rules in the future, as the World Trade Organization Doha agenda still teeters on the verge of collapse, said National Pork Producers Council President Howard Hill to the House Agriculture Committee on March 18 (here). Trade Promotion Authority is essential to locking down the best deal possible, said Hill, along with other agriculture producers, in testimony.
The FCC Disability Advisory Committee got started Tuesday, holding its inaugural, mostly introductory, meeting at agency headquarters. Commissioner Mike O’Rielly cautioned the group that new regulation is often not the best approach to making communications more accessible.