NPR Labs plans to work with manufacturers to develop “text-based radio receivers,” which will be used in a pilot project aimed at delivering radio emergency alerts to the deaf and hard-of-hearing community. The project “concentrates on reaching deaf and hard-of-hearing populations through new implementations of conventional FM broadcasts,” said Rich Rarey, manager of strategic technology applications at NPR Labs. NPR Labs was awarded a contract from the Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Emergency Management Agency to develop the project. It will be funded by FEMA for more than $360,000, and it’s contracted for one year, Rarey said in an email. The pilot effort will target people in the Gulf Coast and deliver alerts through local public radio stations and the Public Radio Satellite System, NPR said in a press release (http://n.pr/13kSdjZ). The deaf and hard-of-hearing volunteers “will be alerted to the message by a flashing indicator on their radios or a bed-shaker triggered by their radios, to ensure the message is received day and night,” NPR said. NPR Labs is in the process of refining requests for proposals for the receivers, Rarey said. The public radio organization said it will work with DHS and FEMA to identify 25 public radio stations in Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas to participate in the pilot. Some stations have already expressed interest in participating, Rarey said. Mississippi Public Broadcasting in Jackson said it’s excited about the opportunity “to expand the emergency broadcast services MPB provides to Mississippians.” The program “complements the work we are already doing and we are pleased to have another method for helping Mississippians during times of disaster,” MPB Executive Director Ronnie Agnew said in an email. NPR Labs plans to select participating stations by the end of March, Rarey said.
Maine wants its residents to have better information about its broadband access. Its broadband authority, known as ConnectME, rolled out a new website showing “valuable resources and features including, a connection speed test, an availability and provider listing, and a grant application guide,” said the state government in a press release Wednesday (http://yhoo.it/13XMeNy). ConnectME created the website with InforME, which handles other state government online functions, it said.
X2nSat picked Newtec to provide equipment for a new B2B broadband and supervisory control and data acquisition service. The service, ST4G, “will provide scalable, low-cost satellite connectivity for data, voice or Internet, reaching all corners of the North American continent and outlying areas,” Newtec said in a news release (http://bit.ly/12bh4ah). The network will use two types of high-speed very small aperture terminals from Newtec, it said.
The U.S. is on equivalent footing with much of the developed world in terms of licensed spectrum below 2.7 GHz available for mobile broadband, according to a new paper released by the FCC. The U.S. has 663 MHz available or in the pipeline, not including the “significant amount of spectrum that will be made available for mobile broadband from incentive auctions and federal repurposing,” the paper said. Of the nine other countries listed, only Australia has more, at 708 MHz, said the report. The U.K. (618 MHz), Germany (615 MHz) and France (605 MHz) all trail. The white paper, “The Mobile Broadband Spectrum Challenge: International Comparisons,” is available on the commission’s website (http://bit.ly/WhXZ3m). The FCC numbers appear to contradict arguments by CTIA that the U.S. is falling behind countries like Germany and the U.K. in terms of putting spectrum in the pipeline for the use of carriers (http://bit.ly/WhZH4I). By CTIA’s count, as of last year, 409.5 MHz of spectrum were assigned for commercial use in the U.S., with another 50 MHz in the pipeline. Germany had 615 MHz in play and 350 MHz sold in a recent auction, CTIA said. In the U.K. 375 MHz was allocated to commercial use with 310 MHz more in the pipeline, numbers similar to Japan (347 in play, 400 in the pipeline). “The report speaks for itself -- the U.S. government has already dedicated far more spectrum to its wireless carriers than almost any other country, and there are many more megahertz on the way, including through the incentive auction,” NAB President Gordon Smith said. “At some point the conversation will have to shift to how efficiently that spectrum is being used, because the U.S. wireless industry’s insatiable appetite for more will have to come to an end, one way or another.” “I think that the FCC would agree that the combination of our population, usage numbers, and the innovative expansion of mobile broadband into vertical markets such as health care, education, smart grid and more makes us a unique country from a mobile broadband perspective,” CTIA Vice President Chris Guttman-McCabe said, commenting on the report. “I think that the FCC also would agree with CTIA that the goal is to continue to lead the world in terms of the mobile ecosystem. To do that, policymakers must deliver on the promises made by the President, Congress, and the FCC to bring an additional 500 MHz of spectrum to the market, 300 MHz in the next two years. Fulfilling those promises will spur investment, create countless jobs, maintain our technological advantage, help reduce the deficit, and drive our economy forward.”
The FCC Wireline Bureau sought comment on service obligations for Connect America Phase II, and determining who is an unsubsidized competitor, according to a public notice released Tuesday (http://bit.ly/WislmI). The bureau seeks comment on how to determine which census blocks are served by an unsubsidized competitor, how price cap carriers will demonstrate they are meeting the FCC’s requirements for reasonable comparability, and what other providers will need to demonstrate to be deemed unsubsidized competitors. Comments in docket 10-90 are due March 28, replies April 12.
TS2 Satellite launched Ka-band satellite services in Afghanistan. The services are available through capacity on Avanti’s HYLAS 2 satellite, TS2 said in a press release (http://bit.ly/YETCxC). The satellite is equipped “with Ka bandwidth transponders that enable bi-directional data transmission and additional services,” it said. HYLAS 2 was placed last year at 31 degrees east, and it will provide backbone and corporate network solutions and “ensured communications in case of terrestrial network failures,” TS2 said.
The FCC’s regression model has incorrectly classified Alaskan telcos as less than 100 percent “tribal,” even though the Bureau of Indian Affairs has designated all of Alaska as 100 percent tribal, officials from Arctic Slope Telephone Association Cooperative, TelAlaska and Copper Valley Telecom told an aide to Commissioner Ajit Pai Monday (http://bit.ly/XiesS9). The Wireline Bureau has acknowledged the error, but has not yet corrected it, the groups said. They also questioned the regression model’s underlying climate data inputs. The groups praised the upcoming Arctic Fibre undersea fiber project that will bring fiber landings to Alaska while providing “vastly superior” pricing and capacity than is now available, they said.
FCC Commissioner Mignon Clyburn got a tour of Windstream’s Little Rock, Ark., data center Friday, the telco said in an ex parte filing (http://bit.ly/Wi7DDq). While there, Windstream discussed the need to quickly provide a second round of Connect America Fund Phase I funding. If the commission adopts its suggested modifications to the Connect America Fund Phase I program, Windstream expects to be able to bring 4/1 Internet service to at least 100,000 locations that lack it today, the telco said.
The Maryland Public Service Commission wants utilities to perform better after last year’s June derecho storm, which caused many power and communications outages in the Mid-Atlantic. The commissioners focus on measures electric utilities should take, but include some communications concerns as well as point to the significance of electricity for telecom. “Telephone service for more and more people is dependent on electricity; computers, modems, and handheld devices may have backup battery capacity but eventually require a power source,” the PSC said in its Wednesday order (http://bit.ly/YZm2jZ). “As this use of the various appliances and technologies has increased, perhaps without being fully aware of it, our dependence on electricity has also increased.” Among its recommendations, the PSC directs companies to submit “a report on any improvements made to communications systems since the Derecho” by March 29 and a report “on any further improvements planned and a timetable for completing such improvements” by May 31, the order said. These improvements may translate into mobile applications for handheld devices and smartphones, according to the commission. The order urges the companies to harmonize their telephone and website messages during outages and wants customers notified of what’s going on. Utilities should “provide timely and accurate information as to restoration efforts that are underway (crew status with status levels clearly defined and ETR) via telephone, mobile application and website; download applications for mobile access to information with such information updated at a defined minimum interval; and incorporate dynamic notification capabilities into customer information systems such as alternate contact information during outages, and choice of notification method (phone/text/email) and preferred time of day of notification,” the PSC said.
Cablevision’s antitrust lawsuit filed against Viacom Tuesday could bring attention to industry practices that harm consumers, Public Knowledge said. Cablevision alleged that Viacom forced it to carry ancillary networks in order to obtain core networks (CD Feb 27 p11). “Many subscribers may not realize that large media conglomerates such as Viacom often force cable companies to include unpopular channels in subscriber bundles and to pay for them,” PK said in a press release (http://bit.ly/1293T9O). Cable companies benefit from an uncompetitive market “that allows them to pass along costs to consumers and keep prices high,” it said. “Broadcasters also have rules that force cable subscribers to subsidize them.” The Parents Television Council asked other distributors to join with Cablevision, “and we call on the other conglomerate bundlers of cable programming ... to respond to market demand and finally give meaningful choices to cable consumers,” it said in a press release. “In a free marketplace, consumers -- not the programmers -- would be able to decide for themselves which cable networks they want to purchase.”