The FCC should strive for technological neutrality as it moves forward with rules for texting to 911, said AT&T Senior Vice President Bob Quinn in a call with FCC Chief of Staff Zac Katz. “During this discussion, Mr. Quinn reiterated AT&T’s concerns that, given the ongoing evolution of the marketplace for SMS services, any mandate for a text-to-911 solution must be technologically neutral in nature and should apply at the service level to all providers of text messaging services,” said an ex parte filing (http://xrl.us/bnuoyz). “By adopting an order that creates a technologically-neutral solution, the FCC can appropriately signal its expectations to the public safety community that they must not only prepare for SMS text messages to 911, but also for text messages sent via successor technologies and platforms.” AT&T also reported on a meeting last week between representatives of the company and FCC officials. “The purpose of the meeting was to discuss the differences in the prospective ‘call flows’ between a text message to 911 sent via CMRS carrier SMS service versus when a text message to 911 is sent via an Over-the-Top application that is interoperable with the SMS platform,” said an ex parte filing (http://xrl.us/bnuozf).
A group of 800 MHz Public Safety border area licensees disagreed with earlier Sprint Nextel comments on a further notice of proposed rulemaking proposing an 800 MHz band reconfiguration band plan and negotiation timetable for U.S.-Mexico border areas. “In their Comments, Sprint Nextel requests that the Commission change the presumption that public safety licensees in the Expansion Band will be relocated (unless the entity makes an affirmative decision to stay),” the licensees said (http://xrl.us/bnuouv). “Since each of these licensees may make a choice, it is unclear what is accomplished by this change. However, the Public Safety Licensees believe that such a change will result in a significantly more difficult rebanding situation in those geographic areas. Specifically, if the Transition Administrator assumes that such licensees are not moving, it will not make accommodations in frequency assignments for such moves. Then, if a public safety licensee elects to move, the entire frequency plan for the region will have to be reviewed, as the domino effect of one licensee’s move has repercussions for many other licensees.” Sprint said the FCC should adopt the proposed plan for 800 MHz reconfiguration along the Mexican border. “Timely completion of 800 MHz band reconfiguration must continue to be a priority for the public safety community,” Sprint said (http://xrl.us/bnuovo). “Completion of 800 MHz band reconfiguration is necessary to both reduce and eliminate the risk of harmful interference in the 800 MHz band and provide an opportunity to offer more advanced wireless services to the public."
New York’s plans for its new state USF fund have not gone entirely smoothly, a letter released Tuesday shows (http://xrl.us/bnuoxb). When the New York Public Service Commission announced its Aug. 16 adoption of a $17 million USF fund proposal, its plans called for “the scheduling of consideration of Phase III issues (intrastate access charges and the New York Targeted Accessibility Fund ("TAF")), and discussions on these issues will commence within 30 days” among the relevant stakeholders (CD Aug 17 p9). Administrative Law Judge Eleanor Stein expressed doubts on Friday that these stakeholders can come together properly, and the stakeholders disagreed in the Tuesday letter. Initial proposals for settlement were due to Stein Sept. 21, an earlier notice said (http://xrl.us/bnuow9). “Even if Your Honor concludes that an impasse has been reached in the collaborative, the Signatories -- a diverse group with widely varying interests that constitutes a clear majority of the parties who have been active in this proceeding -- believe, based on their exploratory discussions both within and outside of the collaborative, that they should be able to enter into a Joint Proposal with respect to Phase III issues,” the group said in a letter to Administrative Law Judge Howard Jack. These signatories include the PSC staff, the New York Cable Telecom Association, Level 3, Frontier, tw telecom, Verizon New York, Windstream, and a group of smaller ILECs. These parties want “a reasonable opportunity to finalize and submit their Phase III Joint Proposal,” they said, which would avoid “lengthy and burdensome evidentiary hearings on the merits of the access and TAF issues."
Internet regulation should be approached with extreme caution, said Karim Antonio Lesina, AT&T vice president-international external affairs, EU Caribbean, Central and Latin America. The Internet, and the investment that’s made it thrive, is successful because it’s governed by a multistakeholder model, he said by email Wednesday. “I am not saying ’things are perfect,’ but it is hard to argue against the success of the model, so we should be very careful about regulatory intervention,” he said. Everyone agrees they need global cooperation and prosperity to reduce the digital divide; sustainable networks and investment incentives; cross-border information flows; and economic growth and job creation, he said. Several organizations, such as the Internet Governance Forum, provide a way to influence Internet governance. The private sector and key European decision makers understand the importance of the IGF, which meets Nov. 6-9 in Baku, Azerbaijan, he said.
The Wisconsin Public Service Commission set new assessment rates for its USF funds, “applicable to the Technology for Educational Achievement in Wisconsin (TEACH) programs, the University of Wisconsin (UW) -- System services, the Department of Public Instruction (DPI) BadgerLink, Newsline, library service contracts and aid to public library systems, and the Public Service Commission (PSC) USF programs,” PSC Telecom Administrator Chris Reader said in a commission decision filed Tuesday (http://xrl.us/bnuosp). The assessment rates will take effect this month, the decision said. It includes a chart breaking down the monthly assessments and the details of the rate changes.
Europe saw a 16.4 percent increase in the number of fiber-to-the-home/building subscribers in the first half of 2012, and FTTH/B coverage is growing fast, the FTTH Council Europe said Wednesday. The survey covered the 27 EU members plus Andorra, Croatia, Iceland, Israel, Macedonia, Norway, Serbia, Switzerland and Turkey (the EU27+9). By mid-2012, the EU27+9 had nearly six million subscribers and 32 million homes passed, it said. Russia offers “huge market potential,” with more than five million FTTH/B subscribers and 15.8 million homes passed, it said. Spain and Luxembourg have now made the list of leading FTTH/B economies, it said. But the top three rankings -- Lithuania, Norway and Sweden -- were unchanged, the council said. And some key EU economies, such as the U.K. and Germany, “are still conspicuously absent,” it said.
The European Commission wants to update radio equipment laws to ensure manufacturers and importers comply with rules on interference avoidance, it said Wednesday. The radio and telecommunications terminal equipment industry is “one of the few hi-tech sectors where the EU is a global leader,” and producers need more confidence that the sector can continue its successful growth, said Industry and Entrepreneurship Commissioner Antonio Tajani. The EC proposed to: (1) Strengthen compliance, so consumers have access to radio products that operate without interference. For instance, it said, market surveillance and customs officers could carry out better checks on the safety of products using more effective tools. (2) Clarify the legislation to spell out the obligations of manufacturers and importers. (3) Simplify the directive by cutting down on red tape. The proposal would also introduce several new provisions, such as ensuring that software can only be used with radio equipment after the compliance of that particular combination of software and equipment has been shown; and requiring interoperability with accessories such as chargers. Changes to the directive need approval from the Council of Ministers and European Parliament.
Now that U.S. household penetration of smartphones has topped 50 percent, that’s “created all kinds of confidence and interest with consumers in terms of the ways that they're going to use their phones,” John Gerzema, executive chairman of New York-based Brand Asset Consulting, told the CEA Industry Forum in a keynote speech Monday. Brand Asset Consulting surveyed tens of thousands of consumers for a new study into intended smartphone use, said Gerzema, whose firm has performed brand-oriented research for many major companies. When consumers were asked how they plan to use their smartphone in the next six months, two-thirds said they would use it to check their account balances or pay bills, while nearly half said they would use it to search for coupons or deals, or for transferring money between accounts, he said. “So there seems to be tremendous interest and excitement that this is not just a phone anymore, it’s a super-smart device.” Smartphones have their “limits,” judging from the prevalence of consumers who say they still prefer using a conventional laptop or desktop over a smartphone or tablet when researching an expensive or complicated purchase, Gerzema said. “There’s only 10 percent of the ad spending on mobile, with respect to the mobile behavior that’s out there,” he said. “So from a marketing standpoint, you're not seeing equilibrium between the marketing investment that most manufacturers and most companies are making in mobile and how people are actually using it. Mobile is taking off in a huge way, but the marketing investment is not there,” based on how much is being spent on ads, Gerzema said.
Telco executives criticized the Connect America Fund Phase I process that doled out only $115 million of the $300 million allocated for broadband buildout (CD July 25 p3). The FCC did not apply a principle of “technology neutrality,” so only ten companies were eligible for that support, said NCTA Vice President Jennifer McKee at a Broadband Breakfast event Tuesday. In contrast, Phase I of the Mobility Fund made $300 million available in an open competitive bidding process to all wireless providers, and virtually all of that money was claimed, she said. The commission should “learn the lesson that it’s better to have more people able participate in a process if you actually want to meet your goals of getting broadband out quickly,” she said. “The money that wasn’t taken isn’t doing anything to expand access for anybody right now,” said Tim Donovan, vice president-legislative affairs for the Competitive Carriers Association. Jeffrey Lanning, CenturyLink assistant vice president-federal regulatory, said the $300 million CAF Phase I fund was “kind of thrown together” at the end of the process. Even though only $115 million was accepted, the full $300 million “will all be used,” he said, noting the commission is currently looking at a notice of proposed rulemaking to tweak the rules going forward.
The FCC Wireless Bureau waived its Jan. 1 VHF/UHF narrowbanding deadline to Oct. 31, 2013, for an electric utility. “Based on the record before us, we conclude that PacifiCorp has presented sufficient facts to meet the high standard for grant of the requested waiver,” the order said (http://xrl.us/bnui3k). “PacifiCorp has been diligently preparing for the transition to narrowbanding since 2003 by allotting all the necessary funding to meet the deadline, licensing new narrowband frequencies, placing all switching infrastructure for the new system in service, and replacing all mobile and portable radios with narrowband-capable models.” It doesn’t appear the waiver “will significantly harm neighboring systems,” the order said: The utility’s “system operates independently of similar systems used by neighboring utilities or jurisdictions, and does not have any interoperability or interdependence with other radio systems."