Text-to-911 is now available in Maine for Verizon Wireless customers, the Maine Public Utilities Commission said Wednesday (http://1.usa.gov/181IrGe). The service requires the customer to be within range of a Verizon Wireless cell tower, it said. Verizon worked with TeleCommunication Systems to introduce the system in the state, said the PUC. “Text to 911 is intended primarily for use in two emergency scenarios: for those individuals who are hearing impaired and for those unable to make a voice call, for example during a medical emergency that renders the person incapable of speech, or in the instance of a home invasion or abduction.” The PUC advised customers to text only when it’s not possible to make a voice call, cautioning that the texting takes longer. “Text abbreviations or slang should never be used so that the intent of the dialogue can be as clear as possible,” the PUC told Maine residents.
ITT Exelis signed a contract from the Department of Defense to develop a global netted communications capacity for the agency’s Distributed Tactical Communications System. Exelis will provide a satellite-based, global “push to talk” netted communications service for voice and data, Exelis said in a news release (http://bit.ly/15yxMOq). The on-the-move, beyond line-of-sight capability “will provide enhanced communications and global connectivity through small, low power devices without reliance on local infrastructure,” it said.
The Small Company Coalition supported a petition for the FCC to reconsider the model it uses to dole out high-cost universal service support, in comments posted Tuesday (http://bit.ly/ZrFjxu). “The model in its current form is not predictable and any use of regression benchmarks should be solely as triggers for a more in-depth analysis of a carrier’s costs,” wrote the alliance of rural ILECs and broadband providers. They supported a petition for reconsideration filed by the Western Telecommunications Alliance, Eastern Rural Telecom Association and the National Exchange Carrier Association. Limiting the use of the quantile regression analysis benchmarks would reduce the “dramatic uncertainty” the industry has seen about future support, the coalition said. “As prominent American economist Frank Knight noted, there is a difference between ‘risk’ and ‘uncertainty,’ in that the former is predictable to some degree and can therefore be measured, and the latter is unpredictable and therefore cannot be measured. No one is advocating for the elimination of risk, but rather the ability to predictably measure risk and, therefore, plan accordingly,” the coalition said.
NASA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and other agencies are addressing the threat of space weather events on several fronts, said Kathryn Sullivan, acting NOAA administrator. Satellites and sensors aboard the 2015 Discovery mission and new solar instruments aboard next-generation geostationary satellite GOES-R, also set to launch in 2015, will help in research efforts and the development of space weather products, she said Tuesday at the NOAA Space Weather Enterprise Forum in Maryland. The missions and research “will play critical roles in ensuring the continuity and vital observation streams that we need for NOAA to continue issuing alerts and warnings,” she said. “Our modern dependence on sophisticated electronics technology for almost everything we do today has gradually introduced a new vulnerability into our society.” Critical infrastructures are interconnected in ways “that can lead to significant vulnerabilities in multiple vital services during space weather storms,” she said. There is a need for more resilience from the impact of the storms, she said. A 10 percent loss of an insured satellite fleet to a solar superstorm would result in $2.4 billion of insured losses, she said. “A better understanding of the space weather threat could allow insurers to develop more sophisticated risk management approaches for both the insurance sector and utility companies.” Resilience to space weather events isn’t merely a federal undertaking, she said: Strong coordination is needed across the federal agencies as well as strong public-private partnerships “to distribute and disseminate the critical environmental intelligence that ultimately will enable our communities and our companies to protect themselves from the impact of space weather events.” The NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center’s product subscription service has more than 33,000 customers, she said. Customers, including satellite companies, electric power companies and major airlines, receive products for radio blackouts, solar radiation storms and geomagnetic disturbances, she added: “The fastest growing segment of the subscription service is GPS users.”
"The Commission should put an end to USTelecom’s continual stream of complaints about the very reasonable and necessary Tribal Engagement rules,” said the National Tribal Telecommunications Association (NTTA), urging the FCC to quickly deny a USTelecom request to scale back the tribal engagement rules (http://bit.ly/ZrCi0d). USTelecom asked the commission to clarify that tribal engagement requirements only apply to Mobility Fund recipients, and not to eligible telecom carriers that don’t receive support specifically targeted to fund development on tribal lands, or whose support is being eliminated (http://bit.ly/ZrC35o). But NTTA thinks the rules should apply to all carriers receiving support for serving tribal areas. “Besides being unreasonable in its initial narrowing of the list of ETCs required to comply, USTelecom has now effectively excluded all price cap carriers,” NTTA said.
Dell Telephone Cooperative seeks review of an FCC Wireline Bureau decision dismissing its request for waiver of the high-cost USF rules, a public notice said Tuesday. The bureau had dismissed the waiver because of the availability of alternative remedies and support through a state process (CD May 1 p8). Oppositions to the request for review are due June 14 in docket 10-90, with replies due June 24.
The FCC Wireline Bureau released the “illustrative model outputs” Tuesday that show potential Connect America Fund Phase II support amounts and number of supported locations by carrier and state (http://fcc.us/ZrqIlP). The bureau also released model methodology documentation for version 3.1.2 of the Connect America Cost Model “to assist the public in understanding the current model architecture, processing steps, and data sources,” it said.
The Export-Import Bank approved a $343.3 million direct loan to Hong Kong-based Asia Satellite Telecommunications to finance the purchase of two communications satellites from a California company. The loan will support launch services, supplied by Space Exploration Technologies in Hawthorne, Calif., and launch insurance from New York-based Marsh USA, the bank said in a press release (http://1.usa.gov/1aY2iCl). The satellites are being manufactured by Space Systems/Loral, it said. Ex-Im has authorized $891 million in support of U.S. satellites and related services in this fiscal year alone, the bank said: About 60 percent of all U.S. commercial satellite sales, “over the last three years, have been financed through Ex-Im."
The Washington State Broadband Office of the Department of Commerce is giving out $300,000 in broadband access and adoption grants, it said Tuesday (http://1.usa.gov/13jAgjn). The office had received 13 applications asking for $770,000, and ultimately awarded money to six counties and 10 tribal communities, the office said. Grant winners included Washington State University, Lincoln County and the Walla Walla Valley Chamber of Commerce. “Successful proposals showed community or region wide collaboration on programs that included everything from training in e-commerce and web site development for small businesses to a region-wide project for underserved tribal lands,” the office said. Grant winners must complete their proposed work by June 30, 2014. The grants come from the federal stimulus money of NTIA’s Broadband Technology Opportunities Program.
Time Warner Cable is launching IntelligentHome, a residential management and security system, in its Ohio and Wisconsin service areas this month and will complete its rollout in New York City this fall, it said Tuesday. IntelligentHome launched in 2011 in upstate New York, Southern California and North Carolina. The service recently expanded to Dallas; San Antonio and Austin, Tex.; the Kansas City metropolitan area; South Carolina and New England. IntelligentHome allows subscribers to remotely access and control connected thermostats, lights, cameras and home safety sensors for $33.99 when combined with TimeWarner Cable TV or phone service along with TWC Internet service, TWC said.