European countries are moving toward agreement on a European Commission (EC) proposal aimed at easing regulatory barriers to broadband deployment over power lines (BPL). At its Oct. 13-14 meeting, the EC’s Communications Committee (COCOM) reached consensus on a draft recommendation members think “is the right thing to do,” a Commission official said. The recommendation tracks the approach the FCC recently took on broadband over power line, he said. Telcos say they're committed to opening broadband markets, but remain concerned about interference issues. The technology is called powerline communications (PLC) in Europe.
BONN -- European nations should coordinate their regulation of VoIP, regulators contended here Sun. at a forum hosted by the German Regulatory Authority for Telecom & Post (RegTP). “The Danish industry is afraid of ‘island’ solutions,” said Jorgen Andersen, dir. gen. of Danish regulator NITA. “VoIP is an international phenomenon, and national singular approaches would be bad for the German market,” said Iris Henseler-Unger, RegTP vp. Still, European regulators are by no means unanimous on how to proceed with VoIP regulation.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has announced the release of a new guide aimed at helping the commercial agricultural transportation industry protect people, property, products, processes, information, and information systems by enhancing security, including security against a potential terrorist attack.
VoIP provider Vonage said it’s now able to provide R.I. subscribers with E-911 location service, a step one FCC official said was “a terribly exciting development for public safety.” However, Vonage CEO Jeffrey Citron said R.I. was a unique case, noting that both the regulatory and technical structure of the 911 system will make it challenging to provide E-911 to other districts. Because R.I. owns the selective router for 911 and has only one public safety answering point (PSAP) for the entire state, there were fewer complications to bring E-911 online, Citron said Thurs. Since most states have numerous PSAPs and most 911 selective routers are controlled by ILECs, achieving access to the 911 system is difficult. Citron said each state could change rules on accessing the 911 system, but having to appeal to each state would be tedious and could produce inconsistent results, Citron said. “We need a national plan,” said Citron, who said the FCC could establish the access rules that are needed. Vonage utilizes services from Intrado, a leading emergency communications provider, to help R.I. determine a caller’s location. The system relies on Vonage subscribers to supply home location information; the system doesn’t determine location based on where the VoIP call originated. Mary Boyd, Intrado vp-govt. affairs, said until a national policy is developed, each state would have to “step up one at a time.” Meanwhile, the National Emergency Number Assn. (NENA) said it would host a “next generation E-911 forum” to further examine and develop E- 911 service. The forum will include “all 911 stakeholders” and will be held in Washington Nov. 17. The forum will include a technical roundtable, a policy roundtable and an operational/educational roundtable.
The National Emergency Number Assn. (NENA) said Mon. that Sen. Sununu (R-N.H.) had issued a hold on S-1250, E- 911 funding legislation sponsored by Senate Communications Subcommittee Chmn. Burns (R-Mont.) Last week, Senate sources said Sununu placed the hold because he thought the bill allocated too much money. Sununu has in the past said there were several federal programs from which public safety organizations could draw funding for E-911 enhancement and additional funding wasn’t needed. Congress recessed for the elections without approving the E-911 bill. Burns, who originally asked for $500 million in annual funding for E-911, is now asking that a $250 million version of his bill be considered. The version that passed the House (HR-2898) would designate $100 million be spent.
The Washington Trade Daily (WTD) has reported that the House of Representatives has passed the conference version of HR 4520, which would repeal the World Trade Organization (WTO)-illegal Foreign Sales Corporation/Extraterritorial Income Act (FSC/ETI). According to WTD, the Senate is expected to act on HR 4520 on October 8th or 9th. (See ITT's Online Archives or 10/08/04 news, 04100899 1, for BP summary of the Conference Committee's approval of HR 4520.) (WTD Pub 10/08/04, www.washingtontradedaily.com)
The CE industry is reportedly putting the final touches on a financing model to support a national electronics waste collection and recycling system, after months of deliberations to bridge differences between TV and computer manufacturers. But state agencies are getting increasingly restive with the slow pace of progress in intra-industry deliberations and are promising a new round of legislative initiatives next year.
The federal govt.’s National Incident Management System (NIMS) must put much more emphasis on interoperable communications, L.A. County Fire Chief Michael Freeman told a House hearing Wed. The ability of first responders to communicate emerged repeatedly as a critical issue at the hearing by the Committee on Homeland Security’s emergency preparedness and response subcommittee. NIMS was launched by the Bush Administration under the Dept. of Homeland Security to coordinate response to terrorist attacks and disasters, including communications.
The future may hold price increases for DirecTV customers, DirecTV Group Vice Chmn. Eddy Hartenstein told investors Tues., although no decisions have been made. Speaking at a Merrill Lynch conference, Hartenstein said increases would be due in part to increased HD programming, but “we'll have to wait and see how negotiations go with content providers.”
The future may hold price increases for DirecTV customers, DirecTV Group Vice Chmn. Eddy Hartenstein told investors Tues., although no decisions have been made. Speaking at a Merrill Lynch conference, Hartenstein said increases would be due in part to increased HD programming, but “we'll have to wait and see how negotiations go with content providers.”