Telecom relay services (TRS) used by consumers with hearing or speech disabilities could be integrated into the FCC’s homeland security efforts, the Commission said at its agenda meeting Thurs. The Commission tentatively concluded that those facilities should receive the same National Security/Emergency Preparedness (NS/EP) priority under the Telecom Service Priority (TSP) System as LECs. However, “our efforts are in no way complete,” Chmn. Powell said: “Developments central to our national security bring new considerations in our efforts to ensure functionally equivalent communications for hearing-impaired and speech- impaired individuals.”
EPA’s threat to pull out of National Product Stewardship Initiative (NEPSI) dialog if parties couldn’t agree on financing models appears to have had an impact, with working group agreeing to recommend to full group 2 models to finance collection and recycling of electronics waste (e-waste). But Hewlett-Packard (HP) all but rejected options chosen by working group. HP, which said it couldn’t attend meeting because its representative had to testify at hearing on Cal. e-waste bill, called outcome of working group meeting disappointing. Its statement showed there were major difference not only among NEPSI stakeholders but also within individual groups.
The military will continue to assist in the freeing of spectrum through negotiations with NTIA, adoption of new technologies and more efficient use of existing technology, a Defense Dept. official said Mon. John Stenbit, who last Fri. shifted from Asst. Secy. for C3I to Asst. Secy. for Networks & Information (a new position), said the military already had made “fantastic milestones” in working with industry and NTIA to free spectrum for Wi-Fi and other services.
Runco will quicken pace of product introductions and revamp reporting structure of dealers and sales reps as new management makes first imprint on family-owned company, reporters were told last week at company’s annual dealer show in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico.
A workshop of Caribbean telecom regulators next week in Ocho Rios, Jamaica, that will focus on policy issues at the upcoming World Radio Conference, could win even more support for common proposals of the Inter-American Telecom Commission (CITEL), CITEL Exec. Dir. Clovis Baptista said Mon. Inter- American Proposals (IAPs) for the conference June 9-July 4 will be vetted among policymakers from 15 Caribbean administrations, Baptista told us. “IAP common proposals could receive strong support from other countries,” he said. IAPs are finalized if they are supported by at least 6 administrations and when there is opposition, if it’s less than or equal to 50% of the number of countries that support a proposal. The scope of the agenda for this year’s WRC is a concern, particularly for developing nations with limited resources, Baptista said. This year’s agenda has 44 items, compared with 11 in 1997. “It’s a concern of everybody’s because the huge amount of items to be addressed is unbelievable,” he said. He said CITEL as well as other regional organizations, in response to this agenda’s size, “did a much better job of anticipating coordination with other participants.” IAP common proposals were finalized in Feb. at a meeting in Orlando. Baptista said that the large number of agenda items posed particular challenges for developing countries that had difficulty putting resources into the WRC preparatory process in each region. Caribbean nations often have very few people working exclusively on telecom and spectrum policy issues, which makes WRC preparations a challenge, he said. Next week’s workshop, to be held in conjunction with the ITU-Development sector, is important in part because it could receive more support for CITEL IAPs that already have backing from a significant number of that group’s 34 administrations, Baptista said. CITEL said IAP drafts that didn’t receive clear-cut support at the Feb. meeting included a proposal on agenda item 1.24. That proposal would have the conference review usage of 13.75-14 GHz in line with developments at WRC 2000, when nongeostationary orbit (NGSO) fixed satellite service earth station transmitters in the band created a potential sharing issue with the space research service. Some satellite companies are interested in easing antenna size for broader deployment of broadband applications without causing interference to military radar. CITEL said one reason a common IAP didn’t emerge on that item was because there were 2 opposing proposals. CITEL members agreed to continue to circulate preliminary proposals on that and a 2nd agenda item, 1.38, for which similar competing proposals were making the rounds. Agenda item 1.38 would consider providing up to 6 MHz to the earth exploration satellite service in the 420- 470 MHz band.
The General Accounting Office (GAO) recommended Mon. that the FCC begin collecting service quality data in its annual report to Congress on the state of mobile wireless competition. The GAO report said call quality information “would provide an ongoing record to help determine whether the current regulatory framework for call quality is adequate or whether certain actions -- such as establishing call quality standards, mandating additional consumer information or reducing local government control over the siting of new base stations -- are needed.” In a letter to the GAO, FCC Chmn. Powell agreed to include such call quality information to the extent possible in future reports, although he cited a lack of objective data in that area.
Intense battle in fledgling market for handheld GPS devices appears to be taking shape at retail as Cobra Electronics ships GPS-100 by midmonth, posing first major challenge to dominant supplier Garmin Industries.
Stakeholders who are deploying Enhanced 911, including state regulators, wireless carriers and public safety officials, told the FCC Tues. that coordination efforts were improving, in part due to a culture shift toward more cooperation. But at the first meeting of the agency’s E911 Coordination Initiative, they cited remaining challenges, including the raiding of state E911 funds for other purposes and the extent to which new wireless devices should be built with E911 in mind. National Emergency Number Assn. Pres. John Melcher said a new estimate forecast that it would cost public safety agencies $8.4 billion over the next 5 years to implement wireless E911 in every county.
The National Communications Systems (NCS) said Thurs. it had expanded the wireless priority system (WPS) with T-Mobile USA to parts of the Northeast and Midwest following expansion earlier this year beyond the initial cities of Washington and N.Y. The new cities include areas around Albuquerque, Austin, Chicago, Cincinnati, Dallas-Ft. Worth, Denver, Detroit, Honolulu, Milwaukee, Oklahoma City, Salt Lake City, Tulsa, Wichita. The program added 15 cities in Jan. John Graves, program dir. for WPS and the Govt. Emergency Telecom Service, said more T-Mobile markets would be added in coming months. He said NCS still was on track to add other GSM carriers “in the near future,” as well as eventual CDMA operators. The system is designed to give priority on wireless networks to national security and first responders in emergencies without bumping existing users off the system. T-Mobile was the first carrier for that service through a contract NCS signed with DynCorp.
The FCC and the National Communications System (NCS) opened a national campaign Thurs. to urge public safety answering points (PSAPs) to register in the Telecom Service Priority (TSP) program. The FCC said joint research conducted with NCS indicated less than 10% of 7,500 PSAPs in the U.S. now participated. The program, created in 1988, gives govts. and key industries priority over other telecom users in emergencies. In case of a national emergency, the program ensures certain dedicated voice, backbone and access circuits for priority users can operate despite severe network congestion or disruption. The FCC said 911 centers “readily qualify” because they offer services essential to health and safety. NCS Deputy Mgr. Brenton Greene and FCC Office of Engineering & Technology Chief Edmond Thomas wrote to the National Emergency Number Assn. (NENA), National Assn. of State 911 Administrators (NASNA) and the Assn. of Public Safety Communications Officials (APCO), which are part of the campaign on TSP. “Lack of participation could jeopardize the restoration of essential service provided by the PSAP administrators during times of disaster and could put citizens at substantial risk of injury or loss of property at times when they are most vulnerable,” they wrote. The FCC said it would be the federal TSP sponsor for all PSAP administrators because, under the program, all non-federal organizations seeking coverage must have a federal sponsor. The Commission developed initial guidelines to help PSAPs enroll. It said in an attachment to the letters to the public safety community that since Sept. 11, 2001, the agencies had been reviewing the “scope and effectiveness” of the TSP program. While they found it operated well in disasters, certain groups were underrepresented, particularly PSAPs. “This lack of participation by certain key organizations represents a serious vulnerability in our homeland security,” FCC and NCS said. The current lag in PSAP participation “could jeopardize the restoration of essential services provided by the PSAP administrators during times of disaster and, therefore, put citizens at substantial risk of injury or loss of property at times when they are most vulnerable.” NCS and the FCC said PSAPs might not join the program because they mistakenly believed telecom service providers automatically gave a high priority to restoring their lines in emergencies. NCS said it would expedite its processing of TSP applications by PSAPs. Current rules give NCS up to 30 days to do so, but it pledged to process valid PSAP TSP applications within 14 days -- only 3 days for most of them. APCO said that, along with industry standards bodies, it would develop additional “industry-specific guidelines” for PSAPs to assist in their enrollments. The FCC stressed Thurs. that a PSAP user didn’t have to purchase TSP coverage for all its lines. Typically, there’s a one- time charge of $100 for a local line and a monthly charge of about $3, but it said most TSP users sought coverage for only a portion of their lines to keep costs down. NASNA said it would provide information to its members to help enroll in the program and do follow-up with 911 center administrators. NENA said it also would provide information to its members and propose revisions in its standards to reflect adequate levels of TSP participation by PSAPs.