U.S. Trade Representative (USTR)

Stakeholders in a dialog on managing electronics waste (e- waste) will take a final crack at agreeing on a national system for the collection and recycling of used computers, TVs and other CE products at what’s expected to be the last meeting of the National Electronics Products Stewardship Initiative (NEPSI) in Portland, Ore., today and tomorrow (Feb. 10-11). But almost all players were skeptical that a viable agreement would emerge, mainly because of the division among manufacturers on a financing system.

The National Emergency Number Assn. (NENA) stressed Fri. it opposed any delay in the FCC mandate for wireless service providers using an E911 handset-based solution. NENA Thurs. released the findings of a Strategic Wireless Action Team (SWAT) effort in which private sector, govt. and public safety officials examined E911 implementation (CD Feb 6 p6). Among the findings, the report recommended that performance requirements for wireless carriers focus on “near-term handset and network cell site activation” goals. It said FCC enforcement should prevent “unintended consequences” such as forced handset replacement. In a joint statement, NENA Pres. Richard Taylor and SWAT Chmn. John Melcher said Fri. that NENA opposed any delay in FCC deadlines for providers using a handset-based solutions. “NENA continues to support current FCC rules and regulations as written,” they said. They cited pending House and Senate bills that would provide additional money and accountability measures to ensure that E911 was rolled out as quickly as possible. Handset replacement has been a particularly important issue for Nextel, which last year called on the FCC to lift its Dec. 31, 2005, deadline for wireless handsets to be Phase 2 capable as long as interim benchmark dates for handset deployment were met.

Vonage CEO Jeffrey Citron warned Fri. that “premature regulations could kill the nascent VoIP industry.” Speaking at a policy lunch sponsored by the Progress & Freedom Foundation in Washington, Citron said regulations could slow broadband deployment, undermine the U.S. position as a technological leader and force service providers offshore. He urged legislators to “bring clarity to the VoIP regulatory framework to protect competition. New laws are needed to ensure Internet applications remain free from regulation.”

Only 1/2 of all public safety answering points (PSAPs) will be able to pinpoint wireless callers with the precision of Enhanced 911 Phase 2 by 2005, the National Emergency Number Assn. (NENA) said in findings announced Thurs. NENA’s Strategic Wireless Action Team (SWAT) wrapped up a year-long effort by private sector, govt. and public safety officials to examine E911 implementation. But disagreements over some findings indicate rifts on issues such as carrier cost recovery, state coordination and federal funding.

The FCC granted temporary extensions of 12-month waivers on Emergency Alert Systems (EAS) for Vista III Media, which owns small cable systems in Miss. Based on financial data and other information, the agency granted a 9-month waiver for the Holly Springs system and 6-month waivers for the systems in Aberdeen and Nettleton. FCC rules require cable systems serving fewer than 5,000 subscribers from a headend to either provide national level EAS messages on all programmed channels or install EAS equipment and provide a video interrupt and audio alert on all programmed channels and EAS audio and video messages on at least one programmed channel by Oct. 1, 2002. Vista has had waivers since then.

Sen. Dorgan (D-N.D.) congratulated NTCA on its 50th anniversary year in brief comments Tues. on the Senate floor. He recounted the history of the NTCA, which emerged from the National Rural Electric Cooperative Assn. (NRECA) June 1, 1954. Dorgan also highlighted the role of the Rural Utilities Service in providing financial assistance to NTCA members.

The FCC Wireline and Wireless bureaus told AT&T Wireless last week they agreed with the company’s interpretation of customer proprietary network information (CPNI) requirements linked to priority access service (PAS), which gives priority access to wireless networks to national security and rescue workers during emergencies. AT&T Wireless had asked the Commission to confirm it could disclose certain CPNI as part of the PAS program. The carrier is in talks with the National Communications System (NCS) to provide PAS. NCS already has a contract with T-Mobile USA to provide the service. AT&T Wireless said NCS and its agent, Computer Sciences, had asked that it provide PAS subscribers’ call records, including location and charges, so they could ensure the system wasn’t being misused. Because NCS and Computer Sciences provide wireless carriers with a list of authorized users, AT&T Wireless said it couldn’t obtain customer consent to the disclosure of CPNI information before it began service. Sec. 222 of the Communications Act bars carriers from disclosing customers’ CPNI to 3rd parties without customer approval or a court order. But AT&T Wireless argued the customer information at issue in the PAS program would be covered by an exception to Sec. 222, which allows disclosure in certain cases to protect against fraudulent or unlawful use. The letter to the carrier from Wireline Bureau Chief William Maher and Wireless Bureau Chief John Muleta also said the contractual provisions that AT&T Wireless had said it would use to protect customer privacy would specify that the CPNI provided to NCS could be used only under the terms in the antifraud provisions of Sec. 222. It would require NCS to provide notice to PAS users that the records of those calls might be provided by a wireless provider to NCS or Computer Sciences.

The Alliance for Telecom Industry Solutions (ATIS) created a committee to develop a way to provide E911 service on IP-based phone networks. ATIS, which develops technical standards, said its Emergency Services Interconnection Forum (ESIF) had created an IP Coordination Committee to help design an IP-based E911 system. ATIS said the new committee would coordinate with the National Emergency Number Assn., which also was working on the problem.

Public safety groups called on President Bush Thurs. to push the FCC to finish the 800 MHz proceeding. They backed a proposal, supported by Nextel, for reducing interference to their systems in that band. Harlin McEwen, retired chief of police of Ithaca, N.Y., and chmn. of the communications & technology committee of the International Assn. of Chiefs of Police, said pending proposals were stalled at the FCC and the issue had become mired in a “corporate battle.”