TORONTO -- At least two more likely bidders have surfaced for a hefty chunk of fresh wireless spectrum that the Canadian government plans to set aside for new service providers in a major auction set for late spring.
Regulatory fragmentation, lack of clear rules for accessing copyrighted content and ongoing feuding over private copying are stalling Europe’s online content market, the European Commission (EC) said Thursday in a communique on creative content in the single market. The plan is to make it easier for Europeans to access a richer range of music, TV programs, films and games on the Internet, mobile phones and other devices while safeguarding intellectual property rights, the EC said. It also wants to ease cross-border copyright licensing.
Ohio’s largest incumbent local exchange carriers and Intrado, a major national enhanced 911 provider, have locked horns over whether Intrado can be authorized as a competitive local exchange carrier (CLEC). At issue is the fact that Intrado provides only next-generation E-911 services to a selected class of customers and doesn’t offer common-carrier dial tone to the general public. Ohio regulators said the clash “raises unique regulatory issues” that merit hearings, which are expected to open early in 2008.
Telecom laws in several states take effect New Year’s Day. As of Tuesday, Maine became the third state to require that cellular retailers collect and recycle used cellphones. Maine’s LD-1717 requires that retailers accept any company’s phone. Verizon has been recycling its own old phones in Maine since 2001 under a national program. Now other providers must follow suit. Cellular retailers must report yearly to the Department of Environmental Protection on the number of phones collected and their fate. Other states mandating cellphone recycling are California and New York. An Oregon cellphone safety law (HB-2872) bans drivers under 18 from talking on any kind of mobile phone, except to report emergencies. As of Tuesday a Washington law (HB-1214) bans text messaging or use of text-based electronic communications devices while driving, except to report emergencies. Offenders will be cited only if stopped for another traffic violation.
The war on illegal file-sharing will top the EU’s 2008 Internet agenda, officials said. European Commission policy recommendations on online content will appear early in 2008, and the debate over ISPs’ hand in subscriber infringement is intensifying. Key issues also may include net neutrality, data security and retention of Internet and phone traffic data, sources said.
Once a narrow retail niche, private label products from flat-panel TVs and PC monitors to GPS devices and cables are seeing wider distribution at national chains, said industry officials. Growing interest in the category at Best Buy, Circuit City, Target, Wal-Mart and others stems largely from the emergence of a cadre of original design manufacturers that can supply products, industry officials said.
The FCC should make AT&T disclose its emergency alert system limitations to TV subscribers as a condition of granting the company’s request for extra time to follow EAS rules, said a lobbying group for city officials. AT&T wants a waiver through July to meet FCC requirements that cable, phone and other terrestrial pay-TV providers pass along several types of emergency messages. The National Association of Telecommunications Officers and Advisors said in a Dec. 17 FCC filing it opposes the request. If AT&T gets the extension, it should be required to give the FCC progress reports on its efforts to comply with EAS rules, the group said. “The current inability of AT&T’s video service to provide EAS communications is a public safety issue and subscribers should be fully aware.” AT&T had told the FCC that it’s “strongly committed” to carrying emergency alerts on its U-Verse IPTV service.
American Shipper reports that the U.S. and the European Union hope to conclude a mutual recognition agreement by mid-2009 of U.S. Customs and Border Protection's Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism and the EU's Authorized Economic Operator program to allow reciprocal faster customs clearance. The article notes that while progress toward mutual recognition has been made, C-TPAT's lack of inclusion of exports remains a difficulty. (American Shipper, dated 12/14/07, www.americanshipper.com)
The Senate should pass an E-911 bill (S-428) before it adjourns, the National Emergency Number Association said in a letter to Senate leaders released Wednesday. The House Nov. 13 passed HR-3403, which has bipartisan support and would clarify the obligation of VoIP providers to give full 911 and E-911 services to subscribers. The Senate reported its bill with unanimous consent Aug. 3. The legislation would require VoIP providers have access to the 911 infrastructure and give them liability protection equal to what the wireless industry has under its E-911 obligations. Other funding changes would make certain that state and local 911 fee revenue be spent only on 911 services. “It is time for the Senate to pass this bill,” said Jason Barbour, president of the association.
Pat Mitchell, who stepped down in June 2006 as CEO of the Public Broadcasting Service, made $751,489 in FY 2006, vastly out-earning other national public broadcasting organization heads, according to the latest Form 990 filings with the IRS. Mitchell’s remuneration included a $48,868 employee benefit program payment and “some end of contract items,” PBS said, declining to give a breakdown. Mitchell left PBS to head the Museum of TV & Radio.