GENEVA -- ITU has assigned the first global SMS short code, with the aim of coordinating postdisaster charitable contributions across national borders and mobile operators. “The idea is to make it possible to use one global number, all over the world, wherever you are, and tap that number in, and thereby donate through your mobile phone to an emergency,” said Per Stenbeck, UNICEF’s international fundraising dir.
More than 2/3 of Americans live in areas where wireless 911 calls provide emergency operators with basic enhanced 911 information, such as caller location and call back number, the National Emergency Number Assn. (NENA) said. Still, 57.3% of counties aren’t providing this information, said NENA. “Much work still needs to be done to provide this life-saving service in the significantly high number of counties, predominately rural, where it is still not available,” said NENA Pres. David Jones. “The public needs and deserves wireless E9-1, regardless of where they live or where they may visit or travel through.”
The MPAA’s settlement of a copyright infringement case in Wis. had an unusual component: The defendant agreed to participate in development of an education curriculum on copyright law for grade school students. Sources we asked had never heard of such a provision in any settlement, with either the film or music industries, but MPAA told us it has incorporated similar provisions in other cases.
The FCC in a report to Congress released late Wed. agreed with the Spectrum Coalition for Public Safety, representing law enforcement groups across the U.S., that the 24 MHz of 700 MHz spectrum set to go to public safety after the DTV transition should be adjusted to allow more ambitious broadband uses. But the Commission refused to support demands that public safety get an additional 6 MHz of spectrum.
Industry pressure has forced Nielsen Media Research to start monitoring PVR time-shifting with an unrepresentative sample of just 60 U.S. homes for inclusion in national ratings beginning Dec. 26, executives of the firm said Wed. Reporting on TV viewing will start to reflect the more complex reality emerging in homes.
The FCC in a report to Congress released late Wed. agreed with the Spectrum Coalition for Public Safety, representing law enforcement groups across the U.S., that the 24 MHz of 700 MHz spectrum set to go to public safety after the DTV transition should be adjusted to allow more ambitious broadband uses. But the Commission refused to support demands that public safety get an additional 6 MHz of spectrum.
Industry pressure is forcing Nielsen Media Research to start monitoring PVR time-shifting with an unrepresentative sample of just 60 U.S. homes for inclusion in national ratings beginning Dec. 26, executives of the firm said Wed. Reporting on TV viewing will start to reflect the more complex reality emerging in homes.
Reports of CDMA’s demise are greatly exaggerated, said analysts reacting to comments by Siemens executive Christoph Catselitz, head of that firm’s mobile networks business. He told Finnish business daily Taloussanomat the N. American market eventually will embrace GSM to synch up with the rest of the world. Catselitz cited active movement to GSM in Latin America. GSM has 1.6 billion-2 billion users worldwide, but CDMA, designed by Qualcomm, has a strong foothold in the U.S. and N. America, they said. Some even said CDMA would be the emergent technology.
Fallout from a “cyber Pearl Harbor” would far exceed the wreckage from 9/11, House Govt. Reform Chmn. Davis (R- Va.) told the Security & Technology Online (SATO) conference Wed. He wants more public-private cooperation on cybersecurity with an eye toward a highly competitive global marketplace.
Major wireless carriers face an uphill battle persuading the FCC to suspend a Dec. 31 deadline for 95% of handsets be location capable, at least based on limited waivers granted so far for smaller Tier 3 carriers, said industry and public safety sources.