A bill that would establish a Presidentially appointed council on innovation -- and set up a grant program to encourage agencies that fund research and science to allocate 3% of their R&D budgets to toward high-risk projects -- is expected to be introduced today (Thurs.). The legislation, which would also double National Science Foundation (NSF) basic research funding over 5 years and make permanent the research and experimentation tax credit, is sponsored by Sens. Ensign (R-Nev.) and Lieberman (D-Conn.).
Public TV will test a DTV datacast to deliver video to mobile devices as part of a hybrid WiMAX/WiFi network, a move officials see as promising to boost station revenue. Wis. Public Bcstg. soon will test DTV fed into WiFi and other wireless networks in Madison in collaboration with the U. of Wis. and several vendors, APTS Pres. John Lawson told us. The move dovetails with APTS-led digital emergency alert system (EAS) trials funded by the Homeland Security Dept. (DHS), Lawson said.
Public TV will test a DTV datacast to deliver video to mobile devices as part of a hybrid WiMAX/WiFi network, a move officials see as promising to boost station revenue. Wis. Public Bcstg. soon will test DTV fed into WiFi and other wireless networks in Madison in collaboration with the U. of Wis. and several vendors, APTS Pres. John Lawson told us. The move dovetails with APTS-led digital emergency alert system (EAS) trials funded by the Dept. of Homeland Security (DHS), Lawson said.
Rural electric cooperatives likely will use a “patchwork” of technologies such as broadband over power line (BPL) and satellite rather than build out BPL alone for Internet operations, said Steven Collier, vp-emerging technologies for the National Rural Telecom Coop (NRTC). With pilot projects in Fla. and Md., the NRTC is running a BPL study, with a report on results expected this month. NARUC’s BPL Task Force, studying BPL’s potential to fill rural broadband holes, will use the NRTC results to make recommendations.
The National Emergency Number Assn. (NENA) raised red flags about a request from wireless reseller TracFone that the FCC potentially lighten the regulatory load placed on it if it’s designated as the first wireless reseller with eligible telecommunications carrier (ETC) status under the USF lifeline program. Public safety sources said Tues. while TracFone is relatively small compared to a few of its peers, the issues raised aren’t, especially if other resellers also apply for ETC status.
Rural electric cooperatives likely will use a “patchwork” of technologies such as broadband over power line (BPL) and satellite rather than build out BPL alone for Internet operations, said Steven Collier, vp-emerging technologies for the National Rural Telecom Coop (NRTC). With pilot projects in Fla. and Md., the NRTC is running a BPL study, with a report on results expected this month. NARUC’s BPL Task Force, studying BPL’s potential to fill rural broadband holes, will use the NRTC results to make recommendations.
Satellite phones often weren’t used during Hurricane Katrina because “people didn’t know how to use them,” said Dennis Wingo, pres.-Assured Power & Communications. Recounting Katrina relief efforts in Jackson County, Miss., in which he took part, Wingo told the National Conference on Emergency Communications at George Washington U. that at least one Miss. sheriff kept free Iridium satellite phones in the trunk of his car rather than deploying them.
| Transportation Security Administration's (TSA's) new security procedures and changes to the prohibited items list | 12/12/05 | Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation |
| To examine the nominations of David M. Spooner to be Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Import Administration, and Richard T. Crowder to be Chief Agricultural Negotiator for Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR), with the rank of Ambassador | 12/14/05 | Senate Committee on Finance |
| "Safety of Imported Pharmaceuticals: Strengthening Efforts to Combat the Sales of Controlled Substances Over the Internet" | 12/13/05 | Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations; House Committee on Energy and Commerce |
| "International Maritime Security" | 12/13/05 | Subcommittees on National Security, Emerging Threats and International Relations, and Criminal Justice, Drug Policy, and Human Resources; House Committee on Government Reform |
A 2 GHz order splitting all 40 MHz of S-band spectrum between incumbents ICO and TMI/TerreStar won yes votes from all 4 FCC commissioners late Thurs. night, sources said, and was released at our deadline Fri. The allocation will up ICO and TerreStar holdings from 8 MHz to 20 MHz each. Had the item not been adopted before Comr. Abernathy left Fri., all commissioners would have had to revote the item under the “new” Commission, we're told.
Despite agency and business caution in moving to an Internet platform they don’t fully understand, time is running out for such enterprises to start initial plans for IPv6 transition, agency officials and experts said Thurs. Speaking at a luncheon at the U.S. IPv6 Summit organized by Juniper Networks, which released a draft “world report” on IPv6 best practices, speakers also warned the U.S. was in danger of falling behind Europe and Asia in deployment and activation of IPv6. “Any federal agency needs to have very aggressive pre-planning now” to meet OMB’s stated 2008 deadline, said Tim Quinn, Interior Dept. chief-enterprise infrastructure division for the agency CIO.