There’s no “deep divide” between the FCC and many in public safety, just a “spirited discussion” on the future of a national wireless broadband network, APCO President Richard Mirgon said on an episode of C-SPAN’s The Communicators to air this weekend. Former FCC Office of Engineering and Technology Chief Ed Thomas said on the program that the disagreement could hurt chances of Congress’s approving funding for the network soon.
SAN FRANCISCO -- A push by a broad front of marketing-industry organizations to forestall federal action on behavioral targeting (WID June 15 p1) will burst widely into public view over the next three months, said a co-founder of the company whose technology helps power the disclosure effort. “Self-regulation is happening,” said Colin O'Malley of Better Advertising. “It’s time for everyone to get on board.”
SAN FRANCISCO -- A push by a broad front of marketing-industry organizations to forestall federal action on behavioral targeting (CD June 15 p10) will burst widely into public view over the next three months, said a co-founder of the company whose technology helps power the disclosure effort. “Self-regulation is happening,” said Colin O'Malley of Better Advertising. “It’s time for everyone to get on board.”
Public safety would get the 700 MHz D-block under major new bills unveiled separately Tuesday by Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., and by Sens. Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., and John McCain, R-Ariz. The latter bill is similar to a House one (HR-5081) introduced a few months ago by Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y. On a conference call with reporters, senior FCC officials welcomed the Rockefeller bill, even though it clashes with the National Broadband Plan’s recommendation that the band be sold at auction. An agency spokeswoman declined to comment on the McCain-Lieberman legislation.
The President has issued an administrative order which continues for one year the national emergency declared in Executive Order 13348, which includes the blocking of the property of certain persons connected to the former Liberian regime of Charles Taylor.
Washington, New York, Boston, San Antonio and other local governments that received FCC waivers to build wireless networks using 700 MHz spectrum provided the commission with updates on their efforts. In May, the agency approved 21 waiver requests on file at the commission. Meanwhile, industry commenters offered advice to the FCC on rules for a 700 MHz network that would ensure nationwide interoperability, addressing critical issues including roaming and priority access.
FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski continues to be alarmed by the gap in home broadband access between whites and minorities and said the agency is taking several steps to address that issue and enhance opportunities for people of color and small businesses seeking to enter media and telecom. With fast Internet service at home for 59 percent of African-Americans, 49 percent of Hispanics and probably around 10 percent for Native Americans, “you already know the numbers,” he told a Minority Media and Telecommunications Council conference Tuesday. “The digital divide is seriously troubling. More troubling now than in the past, because the costs of digital exclusion are rising.”
Nokia Siemens Networks (NSN) will build and run a 4G network for Harbinger Capital Partners and its SkyTerra unit, under an eight-year, $7 billion agreement, the companies said Tuesday. The new business, called LightSquared, said it will offer wholesale terrestrial-only, satellite-only and combined satellite-terrestrial services starting in the second half of 2011. The agreement is a major step toward using largely undeveloped spectrum allocated for satellite companies at the terrestrial level, and it could mean an important new customer for tower owners, analysts said. FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski lauded the agreement as an industry endorsement of the commission’s efforts on broadband spectrum.
Telephone service providers asked to be relieved of the duty of verifying customers’ eligibility for the Lifeline program. Verification should be a government function, they said in comments to the Federal-State Joint Board on Universal Service on proposed changes to the Lifeline and Link-Up programs. They split on the question of whether the Lifeline program should include broadband and whether households should be eligible for more than one discounted phone connection.
The Senate Commerce Committee unanimously approved amended Internet accessibility legislation by Sens. Mark Pryor, D-Ark., and John Kerry, D-Mass., in a voice vote Thursday morning. The bill (S-3304) aims to increase the number of hearing aid-compatible phones, improve access to 911 emergency services, and expand and update closed captioning and video description requirements. Democrats and Republicans supported the bill, despite lingering concerns by CE companies (CED July 15 p6).