U.S. Trade Representative (USTR)

ORLANDO, Fla. -- The wireless infrastructure industry is recession proof “unless someone is willing to stop communicating,” Crown Castle CEO John Kelly said at the PCIA conference’s Titans of Towers panel. The panel included CEOs from four major wireless infrastructure companies. The executives also discussed the role spectrum auctions, mergers and distributed antenna systems will play in the industry.

The telecom industry argued vehemently against modifying special access rules in a House Telecom Subcommittee hearing Tuesday, as Democratic leaders pushed for new pricing policies. Democratic leaders also condemned the FCC’s forbearance petition policies as lacking transparency, preventing Congress from exercising “appropriate” oversight. “Unacceptable,” House Commerce Chairman John Dingell, D- Mich., said in a back-and-forth discussion with Verizon Executive Vice President Tom Tauke.

GENEVA -- Debate over a new chairman for the World Radio Conference (WRC) this month in Geneva will go down to the wire, as deadlock over two candidates plays out days before of the treaty-making conference. Maximum political pressure will arise as the clock winds down, officials said. However, an alternate candidate could emerge to keep the issue off center stage.

Government and industry officials endorsed a national “cybersecurity awareness” campaign, though they were vague on financing and other details as they raised the matter at a Washington conference. McAfee data unveiled at the National Cyber Security Awareness Summit Monday show that consumers aren’t as secure online as they believe.

The State Department has issued a notice, effective September 26, 2007, announcing its determination that two Iranian entities and a North Korean entity have engaged in proliferation activities that warrant the imposition of measures pursuant to Executive Order (EO) 12938 as amended by EO 13094 and EO 13382, including a ban on U.S. government procurement.

Growing health concerns over Wi-Fi have led the EU’s environmental watchdog, the German government and local authorities in the U.K. to urge curbs on its use. But the European Commission and Britain’s Health Protection Agency say there’s no proof Wi-Fi is a problem.

Growing health concerns over Wi-Fi have led the EU’s environmental watchdog, the German government and local authorities in the U.K. to urge curbs on its use. But the European Commission and Britain’s Health Protection Agency say there’s no proof Wi-Fi is a problem.

Demand for 700 MHz spectrum in the coming auction could drop if the FCC lets unlicensed mobile devices provide mobile Internet and home networking service in the “white spaces” between TV channels, a group of broadcasters told FCC officials last week in meetings, an ex parte filing shows. “Why would one arm of the government, namely the FCC, pursue a proceeding that would enable the unlicensed device developers to use television frequencies, at the same time that the same government is hoping that these and other types of devices would drive demand for the frequencies to be auctioned?” the filing said. FCC offices were toured last week by officials from the Association for Maximum Service TV, the Utah Broadcasters Association, the National Alliance of State Broadcasters Associations, the Pennsylvania Association of Broadcasters and the Nevada Broadcasters Association, as well as an Alaskan broadcaster. Industry representatives met separately with Office of Engineering and Technology officials including Julius Knapp, Media Bureau staffers, aides to Commissioners Deborah Tate and Michael Copps, and an adviser to Chairman Kevin Martin. The broadcasters questioned the timing of the white spaces rulemaking and its connection to the DTV transition. They cited what they see as a double standard for licensed TV stations. “Why also would the FCC be so careful as to prevent one digital television station from causing more than .05% interference to another digital television station… but not seem to care about interference caused to potentially hundreds of millions of TV receivers throughout the country?” they said. And use of the devices could jeopardize broadcasters’ emergency role as “the premier ‘first informer,'” they said. “The entire concept of allowing such devices flies in the face of everything that the FCC, the Department of Homeland Security, state and local emergency management authorities, the broadcast industry and other stakeholders have worked so hard to preserve and protect,” they said.

Demand for 700 MHz spectrum in the coming auction could drop if the FCC lets unlicensed mobile devices provide mobile Internet and home networking service in the “white spaces” between TV channels, a group of broadcasters told FCC officials last week in meetings, an ex parte filing shows. “Why would one arm of the government, namely the FCC, pursue a proceeding that would enable the unlicensed device developers to use television frequencies, at the same time that the same government is hoping that these and other types of devices would drive demand for the frequencies to be auctioned?” the filing said. FCC offices were toured last week by officials from the Association for Maximum Service TV, the Utah Broadcasters Association, the National Alliance of State Broadcasters Associations, the Pennsylvania Association of Broadcasters and the Nevada Broadcasters Association, as well as an Alaskan broadcaster. Industry representatives met separately with Office of Engineering and Technology officials including Julius Knapp, Media Bureau staffers, aides to Commissioners Deborah Tate and Michael Copps, and an adviser to Chairman Kevin Martin. The broadcasters questioned the timing of the white spaces rulemaking and its connection to the DTV transition. They cited what they see as a double standard for licensed TV stations. “Why also would the FCC be so careful as to prevent one digital television station from causing more than .05% interference to another digital television station… but not seem to care about interference caused to potentially hundreds of millions of TV receivers throughout the country?” they said. And use of the devices could jeopardize broadcasters’ emergency role as “the premier ‘first informer,'” they said. “The entire concept of allowing such devices flies in the face of everything that the FCC, the Department of Homeland Security, state and local emergency management authorities, the broadcast industry and other stakeholders have worked so hard to preserve and protect,” they said.