A late push by broadcasters to insert FM chipsets into cellphones (CD Nov 13 p11) threatens to derail efforts to develop an emergency alert system for wireless, CTIA warned the FCC in comments on the National Broadband Plan notice on public safety issues. CTIA said the Commercial Mobile Service Alerts Advisory Committee already considered and rejected using FM chipsets for emergency alerts. Public safety groups, meanwhile, offered some additional advice on how first responders may use a national wireless network if one is eventually put in place.
SkyTerra Subsidiary listed the regulatory actions required to expedite the deployment of a mobile satellite services system with an ancillary terrestrial component (ATC) that could provide broadband using a large block of L-band spectrum, during a conference call with FCC officials Tuesday. The call was in response to a request from John Leibovitz of the Broadband Task Force for regulatory information on the technology’s deployment. Representatives of the task force, offices of Strategic Planning and Engineering and Technology and the International Bureau attended. SkyTerra also asked the commission to expeditiously grant applications for reuse of spectrum assigned to Mexican satellite operations, modifications of its ATC authorization and transfer of control of SkyTerra to Harbinger Capital Partners. The company also asked the agency to recognize that the National Broadband Plan needs a flexible approach to maximize full use of spectrum for hybrid satellite/terrestrial systems, the ex parte filing said. The commission should continue to require “dual-mode” terrestrial/satellite devices for public safety agencies as they adopt mobile broadband services, SkyTerra said in comments on the agency’s public notice on public safety and the broadband plan. Satellite can provide “unique survivability and ubiquitous coverage” in the event of emergency and could offer interoperability among public safety networks, SkyTerra said. Many agencies that will not be served by the 700 MHz network already rely on mobile satellite services in addition to their primary networks.
The Port of Oakland reports that six major U.S. West Coast ports and two western railroads came together at the World Shipping Summit (WSS) in Qingdao, China to announce their collaboration. The U.S. West Coast Collaboration (USWCC) is comprised of the major container-ports on the U.S. West Coast - Seattle, Tacoma, Portland, Oakland, Long Beach, and Los Angeles - along with BNSF Railway Company and Union Pacific Railroad. The USWCC showcased the benefits of the U.S. West Coast as the premier region for trans-Pacific trade. (Press release, dated 11/12/09, available at http://www.portofoakland.com/newsroom/pressrel/view.asp?id=186)
FCC members urged industry, government and public safety officials to pull together to finish the nationwide interoperable public safety network that’s been in limbo since 2001. At an agency field hearing Thursday at Georgetown University, Commissioner Michael Copps said he hopes and expects the National Broadband Plan will provide “some real compass direction on how the spectrum should be used to bring our public safety hopes to reality.” The plan provides “as good a shot at getting a broadband public safety network up as we're going to have for a long, long time,” but that doesn’t guarantee the opportunity will be seized, he said.
New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson preserved $3 million that would have been cut from the E911 Enhancement Fund by signing Monday a bill cutting $68 million from the state College Affordability Endowment Fund. The action will protect $900,000 in federal E911 money for the state, his office said. The National Emergency Number Association and CTIA had asked in October that Richardson spare the state E- 911 money, endangered by general austerity.
Telecom is central to making the U.S. more energy- efficient, federal CTO Aneesh Chopra said at a Nokia Siemens environmental conference Tuesday. “Technology and telecommunications have an opportunity to advance the sustainability agenda in part because we're such energy hogs,” Chopra said. “I come from Virginia, where half the economic prosperity of the state is born out of the telecommunications sector and these massive data centers, which are deployed all around the state, and boy do they consume a ridiculous amount of energy.”
The government can’t sell businesses and consumers on identity management without explaining how it will benefit privacy and simplify the sometimes difficult process of “vetting” users’ identities and privileges, a Department of Homeland Security official said on a Digital Government Institute webcast Tuesday. Bruce McConnell, cybersecurity counselor to National Protection & Programs Directorate Deputy Undersecretary Phil Reitinger, partly blamed the lack of interoperability standards for what he called the “immature market” for ID management products and services. “Everybody can log on to Facebook” without much hassle, and that’s the direction the government is going in, he said.
The Department of State has posted Secretary Clinton's November 11, 2009 remarks at the APEC Conference. Clinton noted that the U.S. has engaged the Burmese authorities in high-level dialogue to advance the goals of democratic reforms and human rights. She added that U.S. sanctions will remain in place until the U.S. sees meaningful progress in key areas. Clinton added that officials discussed a wide range of economic and foreign policy issues, especially expanding trade and ensuring sustainable and inclusive growth. (Remarks, dated 11/11/09, available at http://www.state.gov/secretary/rm/2009a/11/131796.htm)
Telecom is central to making the U.S. more energy- efficient, federal CTO Aneesh Chopra said at a Nokia Siemens environmental conference Tuesday. “Technology and telecommunications have an opportunity to advance the sustainability agenda in part because we're such energy hogs,” Chopra said. “I come from Virginia, where half the economic prosperity of the state is born out of the telecommunications sector and these massive data centers, which are deployed all around the state, and boy do they consume a ridiculous amount of energy.”
Serving people with disabilities must be a high priority of U.S. broadband policy, said FCC Commissioners Michael Copps, Mignon Clyburn and Robert McDowell, during a commission field hearing at Gallaudet University, a school in D.C. for people with impaired hearing. “It’s not just something nice for us to do,” said Copps, who hosted the event. “It’s their right. … Access denied is opportunity denied.” Marlee Matlin, an actress who has won an Academy Award and is deaf, called for closed captioning in video media streaming online. The hearing followed an FCC order late Thursday clearing up outstanding technical issues related to the Nov. 12 transition of Internet-based telecom relay services to 10-digit phone numbers.