Frontline Wireless will ask the FCC to reverse its decision on a wholesale requirement, and Google refused to say whether without wholesale it will participate in the auction, the companies said following the commission’s adoption of 700 MHz band rules. The FCC Tuesday (WID Aug 1 p2) said it was imposing a form of open access -- “no lock, no block” -- but it wasn’t requiring the winner of a 22 MHz block to offer spectrum access wholesale.
A recent round of phishing e-mails purports to come from the non-existent U.S. National Medical Association, said the U.S. Computer Emergency Readiness Team. The messages contain the Association’s name in the subject line and a link that, when clicked, leads the users to a malicious Web site, U.S. CERT said.
Frontline Wireless will ask the FCC to reverse its decision on a wholesale requirement, and Google refused to say whether without wholesale it will participate in the auction, the companies said following the commission’s adoption of 700 MHz band rules. The FCC Tuesday (CD Aug 1 p1) said it was imposing a form of open access -- “no lock, no block” -- but it wasn’t requiring the winner of a 22 MHz block to offer spectrum access wholesale.
The FCC adopted rules for the 700 MHz band Tuesday, allowing for some open access requirements on 22 MHz of spectrum and creating a 10 MHz nationwide block for a public- private partnership to build a nationwide interoperable wireless broadband network for public safety use. The commission declined to require a wholesale requirement. The commission voted 5-0, but with FCC Commissioner Robert McDowell dissenting in part. In addition, all of the commissioners except FCC Chairman Kevin Martin concurred on various parts of it.
The FCC adopted rules for the 700 MHz band Tuesday, allowing for some open access requirements on 22 MHz of spectrum and creating a 10 MHz nationwide block for a public- private partnership to build a nationwide interoperable wireless broadband network for public safety use. The commission declined to require a wholesale requirement. The commission voted 5-0, but with FCC Commissioner Robert McDowell dissenting on part of the item. In addition, all of the commissioners except FCC Chairman Kevin Martin concurred on various parts of it.
The FCC seems on track to vote Tuesday on an order firming up wireless carriers’ duty to provide automatic roaming for voice, though probably not for wireless broadband or most other data. Commission sources said Monday that with nearly all focus on the 700 MHz order the roaming item has gotten little discussion in recent weeks. “700 MHz has sucked all the air out of the room,” an FCC source said.
A half dozen cable vendors are banding together to offer a “loosely” integrated package of equipment and software systems to cable operators that are seeking to enter the commercial VoIP business. The vendors -- Acme Packet, Arris International, Broadsoft, Camiant, Pure Integration and Sigma Systems Canada -- claim their joint solution will enable cable operators to deploy flexible, SIP-based voice services for commercial customers much more rapidly than they could on their own. The vendors said operators could chop their commercial market entry time in at last half by signing up for the new package deal.
The House passed the 9/11 Commission report 371-40 Friday that includes provisions upgrading the nation’s 911 systems and allocating $400 million beginning in FY 2009 for interoperable emergency communications and a dedicated interoperability grant program. The grants, managed by the Department of Homeland Security, would require annual reports to Congress on state progress toward implementing interoperability plans. The Senate passed the bill late Thursday and it now goes to the President to be signed.
FCC Chairman Kevin Martin has made a “good start to open things up” with a proposal for the 700 MHz auction, House Telecom Subcommittee Chairman Ed Markey, D-Mass., said at an oversight hearing Tuesday. The plan could be improved by making wireless carriers let consumers switch carriers and take along their phones, Markey said. But Republicans sharply criticized the idea of putting restrictions on the spectrum, which many said would reduce auction revenue.
FCC Chairman Kevin Martin has made a “good start to open things up” with a proposal for the 700 MHz auction, House Telecom Subcommittee Chairman Ed Markey, D-Mass., said at an oversight hearing Tuesday. The plan could be improved by making wireless carriers let consumers switch carriers and take along their phones, and by addressing early-termination fees, Markey said. But Republicans sharply criticized the idea of putting restrictions on the spectrum, which many said would reduce auction revenue.