Corrections officials argued for passage of a bill (S- 251) allowing jamming of illegal cellphones in prisons at a Senate Commerce Committee hearing Wednesday. But public safety and the wireless industry pressed for alternative methods to solve the problem until the technology is refined enough to protect emergency and consumer communications from interference. Bill sponsor Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R- Texas, said she would include suggestions by industry and public safety in a revised draft of the bill she hopes to release next week. The committee ranking member said Sen. Mark Begich, D-Alaska, signed on as a co-sponsor Wednesday.
The communications industry has made real progress since Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast four years ago, Rex Whitacre, chief of IT operations at the Federal Emergency Management Agency, said after speaking Tuesday at the AT&T Business Continuity Forum. Whitacre said the biggest change is that FEMA has “pushed control” to local and state governments as much as possible, so the agency now plays a coordinating and support role.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection has issued an updated version of its 2006 Frequently Asked Questions regarding the enforcement of the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service's wood packaging material (WPM) regulations.
An AT&T emergency petition on Universal Service Fund contributions is expected to flare up old arguments before the new FCC, telecom industry officials said Monday. Late Friday, the company urged “immediate commission action” to adopt the plan by AT&T and Verizon for a pure numbers-based mechanism, in light of the all-time high 12.9 percent contribution factor that kicked in earlier this month. But AT&T’s foes don’t appear to have budged on the subject.
Grants to fire departments nationwide under a federal program that pays for interoperable communications and other equipment are going to small fire departments on a disproportionate basis, Kevin O'Connor, assistant to the general president of the International Association of Fire Fighters, said in testimony during a House Science Committee hearing. O'Connor and other witnesses also urged Congress, during a hearing by the Technology and Innovation Subcommittee, to keep the FIRE Grant program at current levels.
Home penetration of fixed broadband is on track to reach 500 million subscribers worldwide next year, Futuresource Consulting said. More than 60 percent of homes get broadband through local telephone providers, with cable accounting for most of the rest, the group said. Japan and South Korea lead in broadband speeds, with average download speeds of 30 Mbps in each country. In Europe, Sweden comes out on top, averaging 14 Mbps last year. In the U.S., the national average in 2008 was just 2.7 Mbps, Futuresource said. “Download speeds are becoming the next broadband battleground for the ISPs in developed countries,” said Patrik Pfandler, Futuresource senior market analyst. Markets in many developed countries are becoming saturated, but alternative “hot spots” are starting to emerge, Pfandler said. “Our research shows Africa and the Middle East will experience spikes this year that equate to 33 percent growth. Longer term, India is the country to watch out for over the next four years. With one of the lowest household penetration rates for fixed broadband at the moment -- at just over 2 percent, or five million subscribers -- the market is projected to grow five-fold by 2013, to almost 25 million lines.”
The Senate Agriculture Committee is hoping for a vote “sooner [rather] than later” and expects one “fairly soon” on RUS administrator nominee Jonathan Adelstein, a committee spokesman said. The Committee has asked Adelstein some questions, which Adelstein must reply to in writing before the committee vote can proceed, although the questions and who asked them won’t be made public until they're answered, the spokesman said. -- TW
Home penetration of fixed broadband is on track to hit 500 million subscribers worldwide next year, Futuresource Consulting said. More than 60 percent of homes get broadband through local telephone providers, with cable accounting for most of the rest, the group said. Japan and South Korea lead in broadband speeds, with average download speeds of 30 Mbps in each country. In Europe, Sweden comes out on top, averaging 14 Mbps last year. In the U.S., the national average in 2008 was just 2.7 Mbps, Futuresource said. “Download speeds are becoming the next broadband battleground for the ISPs in developed countries,” said Patrik Pfandler, Futuresource senior market analyst. Markets in many developed countries are becoming saturated, but alternative “hot spots” are starting to emerge, Pfandler said. “Our research shows Africa and the Middle East will experience spikes this year that equate to 33 percent growth. Longer term, India is the country to watch out for over the next four years. With one of the lowest household penetration rates for fixed broadband at the moment -- at just over 2 percent, or five million subscribers -- the market is projected to grow five-fold by 2013, to almost 25 million lines.”
The FCC should write detailed rules on 911 network competition, said public safety groups in comments responding to an FCC Wireline Bureau public notice. The notice arose out of two arbitrations involving interconnection disputes between competitive 911 network provider Intrado Communications and Embarq and Verizon (CD June 8 p6). However, some telecom companies said the broad issue of 911 competition should be dealt with in a separate proceeding.
The FCC should pay attention to the needs of rural America as the commission works on its national broadband strategy due in Congress by Feb. 17, said a June 26 letter to the agency from the Congressional Rural Caucus. The commitment to increasing broadband deployment must be part of an “ongoing effort to connect our communities,” the letter said. The FCC should offer suggestions on improving interagency information sharing in its report to Congress, it said. The broadband plan also needs to “recognize the need for reform of the Universal Service Fund” to support broadband. “Special efforts should be made to provide predictable, targeted support to achieve the final goal of universal service.”