AT&T was a key focus of congressional debate on the IP transition Wednesday. The House Communications Subcommittee, at a hearing on the evolution of wired communications networks, pressed AT&T’s Jim Cicconi, senior executive vice president-external and legislative affairs, on the nature of IP-enabled services and the FCC’s urgency in conducting trials. Written testimony from the hearing’s witnesses showed friction on how some IP transition principles should be executed and how to handle such controversial topics as all-IP interconnection agreements (CD Oct 23 p6).
LOS ANGELES -- “The stakes have never been higher for brick-and-mortar retailers,” said Steve Koenig, CEA director-industry analysis, at the 2013 Holiday Sales and Forecast session during the CEA Industry Forum. The goal for retailers this year is “to raise store comps,” Koenig said, saying the progressively lower prices in holiday doorbuster deals aren’t “sustainable.” The industry has to “demonstrate to Wall Street that they're getting people into the store, and they're getting them to open their wallet,” Koenig said.
State broadband conferences will focus on adoption trends rather than catering to service providers, said conference leaders in Michigan, Oregon, Utah and Wyoming on Tuesday. Three of the four conferences are sponsored in part by NTIA’s State Broadband Initiative that funds programs for mapping and adoption purposes. Community broadband, technology action plans, healthcare technology and data centers are to be discussed at the conferences.
State broadband conferences will focus on adoption trends rather than catering to service providers, said conference leaders in Michigan, Oregon, Utah and Wyoming on Tuesday. Three of the four conferences are sponsored in part by NTIA’s State Broadband Initiative that funds programs for mapping and adoption purposes. Community broadband, technology action plans, healthcare technology and data centers are to be discussed at the conferences.
Covia Labs scored a rare security certification for its emergency communications technology after years of effort. The company, based in Mountain View, Calif., now touts the Federal Information Processing Standard 140-2 certification, which applies to software responsible for public safety interoperability, it said in a news release Wednesday (http://bit.ly/GYvdOW). It described extensive review by the National Institute of Standards and Technology. The certification covers Covia Connector Software Platform as well as proprietary and third-party apps, according to Covia. “The Covia Connector is a software platform that merges voice, data and other key Command and Control functionality found on multiple, diverse devices and equipment into one, fully integrated system,” the company said, noting the technology’s use by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and U.S. Marine Corps. “Regardless of hardware, operating system or platform, the Covia Connector is optimized as a secure fast and lightweight addition that is easily ported to any device or hardware, including servers, routers, PCs, tablets, smartphones, LMR radios, drones, cameras and even Bluetooth headsets.” In August, Covia Labs CEO David Kahn told us this technology should be part of discussion surrounding FirstNet and that Covia has met with FirstNet staff (CD Aug 22 p6). “Data security and interoperable systems are two of the most significant issues to tackle as FirstNet begins to lay the groundwork for the first ever national broadband communications network for public safety,” Kahn noted in a statement Wednesday.
Covia Labs scored a rare security certification for its emergency communications technology after years of effort. The company, based in Mountain View, Calif., now touts the Federal Information Processing Standard 140-2 certification, which applies to software responsible for public safety interoperability, it said in a news release Wednesday (http://bit.ly/GYvdOW). It described extensive review by the National Institute of Standards and Technology. The certification covers Covia Connector Software Platform as well as proprietary and third-party apps, according to Covia. “The Covia Connector is a software platform that merges voice, data and other key Command and Control functionality found on multiple, diverse devices and equipment into one, fully integrated system,” the company said, noting the technology’s use by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and U.S. Marine Corps. “Regardless of hardware, operating system or platform, the Covia Connector is optimized as a secure fast and lightweight addition that is easily ported to any device or hardware, including servers, routers, PCs, tablets, smartphones, LMR radios, drones, cameras and even Bluetooth headsets.” In August, Covia Labs CEO David Kahn told us this technology should be part of discussion surrounding FirstNet and that Covia has met with FirstNet staff. “Data security and interoperable systems are two of the most significant issues to tackle as FirstNet begins to lay the groundwork for the first ever national broadband communications network for public safety,” Kahn noted in a statement Wednesday.
With many filing deadlines already having passed since the partial federal shutdown began Oct. 1, and more looming as the closure enters its third week Tuesday, the FCC potentially faces a land rush of comments the day after the government reopens. Unlike many other government sites, the FCC’s website was shuttered the day the government closed, cutting off access to documents lawyers and others need to prepare filings at the commission, especially reply comments. Several industry officials told us Friday they expect the FCC to grant a blanket waiver for all filings that came due during the closure.
The consolidation of cable companies needs to be paired with jointly developed services to get the scale needed to combat rising content costs, said Liberty Media Chairman John Malone Thursday at the company’s investor meeting in New York.
The consolidation of cable companies needs to be paired with jointly developed services to get the scale needed to combat rising content costs, said Liberty Media Chairman John Malone Thursday at the company’s investor meeting in New York.
The drive to push Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) legislation in Congress may help usher in pending trade pacts, the Trans-Pacific Partnership and the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, and ultimately benefit U.S. consumers, Senator Ron Wyden, D-Ore., told a National Foreign Trade Council event on Oct. 9. “Our economy is quite different from that of the economy of 2002, when TPA was last written, and there are new opportunities and challenges related to international trade and investment that I think will be huge winners for American workers and American families,” said Wyden. The Senator also echoed calls by an Oct. 8 George Washington University panel to include rules on the digital economy in future free trade agreements (see 13100811). “Right now, the trade rules don’t neatly apply to the digital economy. They don’t apply despite the fact that there is a growing number of protectionist practices that we’re facing with overseas and barriers popping up.”