The Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials sent the FCC a letter Jan. 10 endorsing rechartering the commission’s Emergency Access Advisory Committee, a step the FCC formally took the next day (CD Jan 14 p5). The letter was posted by the FCC Wednesday (http://xrl.us/boa8i5). “Of particular interest to APCO International is a report remaining from EAAC related to Text to 911,” the letter said. “As has been conveyed to your Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau APCO continues to have serious concerns regarding the ability of all major wireless carriers to provide Text to 911 while their customers are roaming outside of their home areas. We are also concerned about the ability for carriers to provide bounce back messages to their customers when they are roaming and Text to 911 isn’t available. We believe these two particular areas must be clearly resolved in the coming months and certainly prior to the voluntary launch of Text to 911 nationwide."
Sprint Nextel continues working its way through state regulators to gain approval of holding company management changes. The changes are a result of Softbank acquiring majority control of Sprint in October. The acquisition called for multiple changes on the holding company level involving the entities Starburst I and Starburst II. The Virginia Corporation Commission granted Sprint Nextel, Sprint Communications of Virginia and Starburst II additional time in the review of the companies’ Nov. 29 joint petition for approval of indirect transfer of control of Sprint Communications of Virginia to Starburst II. The Wednesday order (http://xrl.us/boa8hj) extends the period of review another several weeks until Feb. 27. Sprint Communications of Virginia gave the commission a letter Wednesday (http://xrl.us/boa8ig) showing which jurisdictions have approved the proposed transfer. The list shows 22 states and the District of Columbia have granted varying levels of approval. Sprint reported approval, pre-approval or, if no approval necessary, the appropriate notice given in 11 of these jurisdictions: Colorado, Delaware, District of Columbia, Georgia, Indiana, Louisiana, Nebraska, Nevada, Ohio, South Dakota and Texas. Sprint promised the New York State Public Service Commission the changes will be “seamless” late last year (CD Nov 26 p9).
The FCC’s Public Safety Bureau reminded wireless carriers that deploy handset-based location accuracy technologies of Friday’s deadline for meeting the initial E911 benchmark for location accuracy standards at either a county-based or public safety answering point-based geographic level. “The Bureau also reminds ‘new’ CMRS providers that they are subject to the same location accuracy benchmark requirement,” said a public notice (http://xrl.us/boa8ie). “Further, the Bureau reminds all CMRS providers, including those that deploy network-based location accuracy solutions, and E911 System Service Providers of the requirements for transmitting E911 location accuracy confidence and uncertainty data to PSAPs."
Part of an April 8-9 World Trade Organization symposium to raise awareness of e-commerce for small and medium sized enterprises with a focus on trade and development, is expected to focus on mobile technologies, a trade official who wasn’t authorized to speak with press told us. Research has indicated that people in least developing countries were using mobiles, not computers, for e-commerce, she said. Officials are putting the final touches on the program, which is expected to be made public next week, a WTO spokesman said. E-commerce and cloud computing are significant in negotiations ramping up for a international services agreement, Peter Allgeier, president of the Coalition of Service Industries, told us. Services proponents are trying to boost national involvement in negotiations with the aim of increasing the amount of world trade in services that would be covered by the agreement. The agreement is not being negotiated in the WTO. A proposal by Cuba and Ecuador to the WTO in July referred to the aim of boosting access to, and spurring “the free flow of the technologies,” for use of e-commerce by small and medium enterprises. A separate WTO symposium on services, possibly in June, may address network buildout and spectrum for e-commerce, the trade official told us. The focus will be on future services trends and best practices, she said. Another e-commerce symposium is expected toward the end of the year. Establishing WTO services sub-committees and setting up meetings by sector could attract the experts needed to discuss the issues in “an intelligent way,” she said. The usual WTO participants aren’t competent to discuss spectrum use and other telecom matters, she said. Experts won’t attend a day-long meeting if only a tiny portion deals with spectrum or telecom, she said, because budgets are too tight.
Communications Daily will observe the federal Martin Luther King Day holiday on Monday, Jan. 21. Our next issue will be Tuesday, Jan. 22.
A federal appeals court deferred to FCC interpretation of its rules, in an unpublished decision Wednesday (http://xrl.us/boa4gx). The call center software provider inContact had argued the FCC Wireline Bureau exceed its authority in finding the 60-day deadline to appeal a USAC decision starts from the date of an invoice (CD Dec 17 p6). The bureau had denied inContact’s petition for review of a USAC decision, and the full commission upheld that order. In its opinion, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit upheld the commission’s position that a USAC invoice is a “decision” that starts the countdown clock. “We see no basis for upsetting the Commission’s interpretation of its rule,” the court said. “When an aggrieved party appeals an invoice directly to the FCC, as occurred here, there is not necessarily anything other than the invoice itself that the agency is being asked to review.” The court declined to consider inContact’s argument that its due process rights were violated because it had no notice the invoice would be treated as a decision. The company only made a “cursory due process argument” in its application for FCC review, and “merely stated that it was denied the opportunity to challenge the accuracy of the charges because of the Bureau’s determination,” the unanimous court wrote. “Because inContact did not raise the issue of notice before the Commission, we may not consider it."
C Spire Wireless, Sprint Nextel and Verizon Wireless say they haven’t experienced any impacts from a winter storm that has brought freezing rain, sleet and flooding to large portions of the southeastern U.S. Impacts from the storm had prompted Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant (R) to declare a state of emergency in 45 counties in the northeastern part of that state; the storm has affected portions of other states along the East Coast and Gulf Coast, the National Weather Service said. Verizon Wireless’s network was “performing well” as of Wednesday afternoon, a spokeswoman told us, saying the carrier will “continue to monitor our network 24/7 to ensure it is performing for our customers.” Sprint’s network isn’t “experiencing any impacts” from the storm, which The Weather Channel refers to as Winter Storm Helen, a Sprint spokeswoman said. However, the carrier is “diligently monitoring the storm progress and [has] plans in place to deploy resources if the storm poses a significant threat,” the spokeswoman said. C Spire “has not experienced any service interruptions or impacts” to its network from the storm, the carrier said late Tuesday in a news release. The carrier was “taking precautionary steps to bolster its network and mobilize employees to protect against potential damage” Tuesday amid concerns about deteriorating conditions, said Eric Hollingsworth, C Spire vice president-network operations (http://xrl.us/boa4g7).
CBS said it will convert its CBS Outdoors Americas business into a real estate investment trust (REIT) and plan to sell its outdoor businesses in Europe and Asia. “We have studied the benefits of converting our Americas operations into a REIT and we are increasingly enthusiastic that this transaction -- as well as the sale of our businesses in Europe and Asia -- will achieve significant value for shareholders,” CEO Leslie Moonves said. CBS said it will seek a private letter ruling from the Internal Revenue Service, which if granted could lead to the completion of the REIT conversion in 2014.
AT&T wants to relinquish its status as an eligible telecom provider (ETC) in New York, it told the State Public Service Commission (http://xrl.us/boa4et). The telco cited “recent changes to the federal Lifeline reimbursement system” as its reasoning. It has had the status since July 2003, according to its petition this week. “As of January 1, 2013, all of AT&T’s current Lifeline customers reside in Verizon’s service territory, so another ETC already serves the areas in which AT&T is seeking to relinquish its ETC designation,” AT&T said. It already has a draft message, included in the petition, notifying customers that AT&T will be dropping Lifeline discounts after March 31.
The New Jersey Division of Rate Counsel (NJDRC) asked the FCC for more time to file an opposition to several requests by Comcast to be let out of local rate regulation. The deadline is Jan. 22, and the NJDRC asked for another 30 days to Feb. 22 to lodge its opposition. It said it needs more time to review some of the confidential material submitted in the proceeding that it received Jan. 10 (http://xrl.us/boa4ea).