Initial production remains on schedule to begin in Sept. on first-generation Kenwood HD Radio IBOC receivers, while iBiquity Digital continues tweaking technology to address AM audio quality issues that sparked National Radio Systems Committee (NRSC) to suspend standardization effort (CED May 21 p1), Kenwood Senior Vp Bob Law told us. Kenwood’s KTC-HD100 is set to sell at projected $350-$400 list soon after production begins in Sept., with availability depending on when iBiquity finalizes any changes in system to fix AM quality problem, Law said. He said “it would take a major incident” for Sept. production start to be postponed. Moreover, “we have the ability to make software changes and all,” Law said. “The product is upgradable even after it comes off the assembly line, so if there are any late or last-minute things that are done, we will be able to accommodate that” after KTC-HD100 emerges from production but before they're shipped to retail. He said upgradability also would apply even “if there’s a major change of codec” at iBiquity from PAC to alternative method such as AAC. Kenwood last month shipped 100 samples of KTC-HD100 to iBiquity, which sent them to engineering community for evaluation, Law said. Kenwood engineers will study evaluation results “and if there’s any refinement that has to be made, it will be done. We're just waiting for iBiquity to complete the process with the broadcasters.” With debut of KTC- HD100 planned for 4th quarter, “I'm not looking to produce a tremendous quantity in this year,” perhaps no more than “a few thousand,” Law said. He said Kenwood most likely would wait to ramp up production after Jan. CES, because “I just don’t believe retailers will be focused on this type of a technology as we move into the Christmas season. They've got too much else to do.”
NAB Pres. Edward Fritts said Thurs. that his organization wasn’t changing positions by withdrawing support for legislation that would restore the 35% broadcast ownership cap (CD July 10 p8). He said that since the NAB’s June 10-11 board meeting, the assn. had maintained that it would support only a “clean” bill to codify the national TV ownership cap of 35%.
The FCC at its agenda meeting Thurs. announced the creation of an Office of Homeland Security within its Enforcement Bureau, aimed at consolidating issues that relate to homeland security and emergency preparedness into a “more efficient and effective organizational structure.” James Dailey, deputy chief of the Enforcement Bureau and a 31-year FCC veteran, was named dir. of the new office. The office also will have responsibility for proceedings relating to the Emergency Alert System as well as the Commission’s Communications & Crisis Management Center and its Emergency Operations Center. FCC Comr. Copps said he hoped the action would give homeland security “the high priority it deserves at the Commission.” He said “I frankly worry that, as we as a nation move further away from 9/11, we have a tendency to let our guard down, to go back to business as usual.” He said organizational changes such as this one “can help in this effort -- or they can hurt.” It can help if “the priority remains heightened and the leadership is aggressive,” he said. It can hurt if the office “becomes just one more division among several in one bureau, or if the effort becomes one office’s job rather than every office’s job.” FCC Chief of Staff Marsha MacBride outlined the agency’s “action plan” for homeland security, including such things as: (1) Work with the Dept. of Homeland Security to promote the use of best practices developed by the Network Reliability & Interconnection Council and the Media Security & Reliability Council. (2) Develop a service restoration memo of understanding with N.Y.C. and promote it to other metropolitan areas. (3) Double participation by state and local 911 centers in the Telecom Service Priority program. (4) Help tribal groups develop critical communications infrastructure protection plan. (5) Convene a “stakeholders summit to address communications issues that confront individuals with disabilities during national emergencies.” (6) Work with the FBI to review CALEA compliance by telecom carriers. MacBride emphasized that the FCC was “just one component of a complex network of public and private partnerships” working to improve security and reliability of telecom infrastructure.
The FCC’s inquiry into technical issues of providing broadband over power lines (BPL) drew largely predictable responses from key players that faced potential competition from the nascent technology and those that had possible interference concerns: (1) Cable was worried about reasonable access and rates for poles owned by utilities. (2) Telephone companies called for uniform regulatory treatment of all broadband providers. (3) Broadcasters urged the Commission to ensure there was no interference for over- the-air broadcast stations signals, including DTV stations. (4) Utilities said existing rules for carrier current systems provided adequate protection against interference.
Top FCC officials said Wed. at the Wireless Communications Assn. (WCA) show in Washington that they expected decisions by early next year on a series of interlocking spectrum issues, including efforts to solve public safety interference at 800 MHz. The outcome of the 800 MHz proceeding has implications for replacement spectrum that Multipoint Distribution Service (MDS) operators seek in the planned reallocation of some MDS spectrum for advanced wireless services.
WorldCom/MCI said it reduced its financial guidance for 2003-2005 primarily because of projected reduced revenue in its consumer and small business segments. It said it expected its 2003, 2004 and 2005 revenue to be $24.5 billion, $24.6 billion and $25 billion, respectively, down from previously projected $24.7 billion, $25.8 billion and $27.8 billion. The company said the revenue reductions reflected “intense pricing competition fueled by new entries of unlimited bundles, aggressive new DSL offerings and rapid adoption of national do-not-call legislation. Collectively these impacts have reduced consumers and small business effective rates in key markets by as much as 40% since April.” However, it said projections for its large and global business segments remained “relatively unchanged” for 2003 and 2004, reflecting “continued customer loyalty.” WorldCom also cut its EBITDA forecast for 2003, 2004 and 2005 to $2.7 billion, $3.7 billion and $4.1 billion, respectively, from $2.8 billion, $4.1 billion and $5.4 billion, reflecting the lower revenue projections, partly offset by lower sales, general and administrative expenses. “We believe these adjustments better reflect the changing market conditions,” MCI CFO Robert Blakely said: “We remain on track to emerge from Chapter 11 protection later this fall.” Under the revised financial projections, the return to WorldCom bondholders remains “virtually unchanged, with lower EBITDA being offset by a projected improved cash position,” the company said.
The World Radio Conference (WRC) in Geneva reached a hard-fought compromise proposal Wed. on how to coordinate nongeosynchronous earth orbit (GEO) radionavigation systems, an issue that emerged as one of the thorniest of the conference. The agreement appeared to bridge what otherwise would have been an impasse between European administrations, which sought a regulatory-heavy coordination process, and the U.S., which backed coordinating radionavigation satellite systems (RNSS) through an informal consultation process. At our deadline Wed., the proposal, which has implications for Europe’s planned Galileo system and U.S. GPS operations, still awaited final approval in plenary before the WRC ends Fri. Despite the 11th-hour agreement, several sources said the outcome still was far from certain.
The U.S. govt. has begun a formal review of whether MCI/WorldCom should receive govt. contracts in the wake of one of the largest corporate fraud cases in history, the Senate Govt. Affairs Committee said. The General Services Administration (GSA), which oversees procurement for federal agencies, began a “suspension proceeding” against MCI/WorldCom. The proceeding comes as the Govt. Affairs Committee continues to investigate the company’s worthiness to receive federal contracts. “We need to make sure that the federal government is diligently reviewing the companies with whom it does business,” said Committee Chmn. Collins (R-Me.). MCI has more than $770 million in govt. contracts.
Public safety groups said a recent U.S. Appeals Court, D.C., ruling on wireless local number portability (LNP) bolstered their arguments for why the FCC shouldn’t grant forbearance to Tier 3 carriers on certain E911 mandates. (Tier 3 carriers are defined as nonnationwide and having fewer than 500,000 subscribers at the end of 2001.) In Nov., the Tier 3 Coalition petitioned the FCC to forbear from enforcing E911 Phase 2 location accuracy requirement until after Dec. 31, 2005. In an FCC filing Fri., the Assn. of Public Safety Communications Officials, National Assn. of State 911 Administrators and National Emergency Number Assn. cited the D.C. Circuit’s interpretation of “necessary” as it applied to the FCC’s statutory forbearance authority. The court rejected CTIA and Verizon Wireless challenges to the Commission’s decision to not grant forbearance on wireless LNP requirements. The public safety groups said the court hadn’t interpreted “necessary” as meaning a rule could be retained only if its enforcement was absolutely required to protect consumers. “Instead, it said that Congress’ intent in using the term in Section 160 was ‘not plain’ on the face of the statute, but must be evaluated in context,” they said. When it comes to forbearance, the court said it is reasonable to read “necessary” as involving a strong link between what the agency has done by way of regulation and what it permissibly sought to achieve with a regulation. “The connection between the permissible goals of saving lives and property through location of emergency callers and the accuracy standards that are means to these ends has only strengthened in the 7 years since the Phase 2 rules were adopted -- as those standards have proven achievable with current technology in many rural areas, by many smaller carriers,” the public safety groups said. They reiterated their argument that individual waivers were preferable to granting a blanket forbearance request to the smallest carriers.
The Council on Foreign Relations said in a report that $10.4 billion was needed for 911 service and funding of federal, state and local emergency responders should be tripled over the next 5 years. The report said the National Emergency Number Assn. (NENA) described 911 system as beset with longstanding policy, technical and operational problems. State and local budget problems are contributing to 911 problems, NENA said, as many states and localities are siphoning away funds to pay for other govt. programs. “Improving 911 will require more than just money,” NENA Pres. Richard Taylor said. “Establishing a secure, reliable and adequate funding mechanism for 911 and other emergency responders is an essential step for protecting our families, communities and homeland security.”