The FCC backed away from a fight with wireless carriers over revised E-911 rules. The commission asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit to vacate a stay the court issued in March of the FCC’s location-accuracy rules, which carriers insisted were unrealistically tough. The filing came while the APCO conference was taking place in Kansas City, Mo.
The following are the trade-related bills and resolutions that were introduced in the House or Senate during July 31-August 1, 2008:
A national emergency communications plan released Thursday fills alert system gaps, the Department of Homeland Security said. “More than 50,000 independent agencies across the Nation routinely use emergency communications, and each of these agencies is governed by the laws of its respective jurisdiction or area of responsibility,” the plan said. “In such an environment, collaborative planning among all levels of government is critical for ensuring effective and fully coordinated preparedness and response.” The plan is available on the department’s website, http://www.dhs.gov.
USTelecom debuted a toolkit that aggregates material on national and regional emergency preparedness and response related to telecom infrastructure. The resource explains the roles federal agencies, states and the private sector play, and includes links to situation updates, reports, activities and other public and private information. “As anyone familiar with the vast emergency response networks of our nation can attest, this was no small undertaking,” said USTelecom CEO Walter McCormick on Wednesday. “But at every turn, whether meeting with government officials or our own member companies, it was reinforced just how unique and valuable this educational resource could be. By facilitating access to timely, essential public information, this toolkit can help strengthen understanding of the many different mechanisms in place both to safeguard our nation and to facilitate timely recovery of critical infrastructure.” The toolkit can be found at the USTelecom Web site. USTelecom is distributing a CD-ROM version to member companies, safety agencies and executive and legislative branch staff, it said. Also on Wednesday, USTelecom launched a “social media newsroom” on its Web site. The space includes a blog, press releases, videos and links to USTelecom Facebook and MySpace pages.
Top New York Police and Fire Department officials warned Wednesday that they would hesitate to use a national wireless broadband network run by a public-private partnership, as the FCC wants. The two testified at an FCC en banc hearing in Brooklyn on the 700 MHz D-block’s future. An agency official said after the hearing that a proposal for regional licenses appears to be gaining ground at the FCC, but it’s not clear whether Chairman Kevin Martin will support the idea.
On July 29, 2008, WTO Director-General Lamy announced that ministers have failed in their effort to agree on blueprint Doha agreements in agriculture and industrial products. Out of 20 topics, convergence was reached on18 but the gaps could not narrow on the 19th - the special safeguard mechanism in farm products for developing countries. Nevertheless, the results represent twice or three times more than has been achieved in any previous multilateral negotiation, and this collapse does not mean the end of the Doha Round. (WTO release, dated 07/29/08, available at http://www.wto.org/english/news_e/news08_e/meet08_summary_29july_e.htm)
APCO is alerting the FCC that it is ready to sever ties with the Public Safety Spectrum Trust, saying so in meetings with commissioners and their staffs, we have learned. Top officials from APCO and the PSST are to testify Wednesday at the FCC en banc on the future of the D-block at the Brooklyn Borough Hall in New York City.
The World Trade Organization provided an update on the Doha Round and posted information on Day 3. WTO Director-General Lamy said that "two days of talks among 30 representative ministers in the "Green Room" have been constructive but discussions in smaller groups are now needed to intensify the negotiations." (WTO press release, dated 07/23/08, available athttp://www.wto.org/english/news_e/news08_e/meet08_summary_23july_e.htm.)
PORTLAND, Ore. State regulators Wednesday called for a joint federal-state task force to develop national wireless consumer protection standards enforced by a partnership of federal and state authorities. The resolution, adopted by the board of the National Association of Regulatory Utilities Commissioners, marks a major change in NARUC policy.
SES Americom agreed to continue serving the Navajo Nation until Aug. 1, an SES spokesman told us Tuesday. SES had planned to cut off service to the Navajo Nation on Tuesday (CD July 22 p14), but was persuaded by the FCC to continue serving the tribe, the spokesman said. “The FCC suggested we could be flexible once again,” he said, noting that SES extended service past the end of its contract with OnSat.