Sanford Bernstein analyst Craig Moffett questioned whether simultaneous reverse and forward auctions make sense for the upcoming incentive auction of broadcast spectrum (CD Sept 17 p1). “Suffice it to say there are more questions than answers at this point,” Moffett told us via email. “We've never really seen an auction like this, so a lot will have to be invented out of whole cloth. It’s never going to work if there are current processes for supply and demand. Bidders won’t know what the licenses are worth until they know whether they can cobble together regionally or nationally contiguous blocks."
MetroPCS expressed support for transitioning legacy 911 services to next generation operations, “but highlighted its concerns with proposed interim Text-to-911 solutions” in a meeting with Public Safety Bureau Chief David Turetsky and other FCC officials. “MetroPCS also was concerned about the lack of liability protection for wireless carriers that are mandated to participate in a Text-to-911 program,” said a filing at the FCC (http://xrl.us/bnp5m9). “MetroPCS noted that text messages regularly are delayed on signaling channels and are more likely to be delayed in the event of a natural disaster such as a hurricane, earthquake or tornado -- all instances where an influx of emergency 911 contact is likely to occur. MetroPCS noted that as a result, customers may be provided a false sense of security when trying to reach 911 via SMS."
Vodafone told the ITU’s Telecommunication Standardization Bureau that country code +690 for the New Zealand territory of Tokelau appears to have been traded, and not being used for its assigned purpose, we've learned. The territory, which is three Pacific atolls, assigned the number range to Zeatel Ltd. for carrying the islands’ voice traffic. Zeatel asked Vodafone Mobile Networks to make the numbers available for providing audiotext services that wouldn’t be terminated on Tokelau, we've learned. Preparatory talks for the World Conference on International Telecommunications in December have focused on traffic hijacking and numbering misuse.
Wireless power transmission technologies for transferring power to mobile devices will be studied in the ITU-R, the director of the Radiocommunication Bureau said in a letter to members. No frequency bands have been specifically associated with the technology, it said. The ITU-R study group on spectrum management will gather information on applications for the technology, the technical characteristics of emissions, and the state-of-play of standardization, it said. The work is also examining use of the technology for solar power, in airborne platforms, and on lunar stations, it said. Other international organizations will be notified of the work, it said, namely the International Maritime Organization, the International Civil Aviation Organization, the International Electrotechnical Commission, the International Special Committee on Radio Interference, and the Inter-Union Commission on Allocation of Frequencies for Radio Astronomy and Space Science. The World Health Organization, the International Radiation Protection Association, and the International Commission on Non-ionizing Radiation Protection deal with the issues of non-ionizing radiation exposure related to systems using wireless power transmission technologies, it said.
Broadcaster, carrier and cellphone manufacturer representatives continued their disagreement on whether more mobile devices should include FM chips to receive terrestrial radio, in written comments Friday. NAB, CTIA and CEA executives met with staff from the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee Friday to discuss how FM chips in cellphones could assist in national emergencies, a committee spokeswoman said. Chairman Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., is interested in FM radio chips because it’s an emergency issue, a radio executive invited to attend had said (CD Aug 10 p14). Carriers “continue to believe that decisions about device functionality should be driven by consumer demand and competitive considerations rather than government fiat,” CTIA Vice President Jot Carpenter said. “NAB would be better served to expend its energy exploring commercial opportunities instead of asking the government for help.” Broadcasters aren’t “seeking legislation, nor a mandate,” an NAB spokesman said. “Rather, we ask for voluntary activation of radio chips that are currently installed in most cellphones in America. Giving consumers the option of free and local radio on mobile devices would be good for the carriers and good for the 260 million Americans who listen to local radio every week.” CEA sees consumer demand as the “key driver of features in mobile devices,” Vice President Julie Kearney said. “Consumers do, in fact, have the choice to purchase a phone with FM radio capability, though research shows that it isn’t a desired feature. If NAB and the broadcasters want to start designing mobile phones, then they should be talking to consumers, carriers and manufacturers, not Congress and the FCC.”
The House Commerce Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations scheduled a hearing on the FCC’s role in handling LightSquared’s attempt to build a terrestrial network. The hearing will be Sept. 21 at 9:30 a.m. in Room 2123, Rayburn Building. It will “examine the process and decision-making leading up to the FCC’s grant of a conditional waiver to LightSquared” last year, the committee said in a press release. Lawmakers also will focus on whether the agency’s handling “was consistent with prevailing FCC policies, procedures and precedents,” it said. Earlier this year, the committee requested FCC documents concerning LightSquared and its stalled plans to build the terrestrial service (CD Feb 29 p1).
The FCC Media Bureau certified Paul Bunyan Rural Telephone Cooperative as an open video system in Big Falls, Minn., said an order released Friday. No parties commented on the company’s certification application, the order said (http://xrl.us/bnpsj6).
The current Internet governance model is effective at promoting Internet growth worldwide, Analysys Mason argued in a study released Sept. 10. Michael Kende, co-head of Analysys Mason’s regulatory sector, argued in the study that any restrictive revisions to the International Telecommunications Regulations (ITRs) that attempt to impose regulations on the Internet could impede further development. The ITRs, which the ITU set up in 1988 to regulate how international operators compensate one another for voice calls, will be revised in December at the World Conference on International Telecommunications. “We understand that some countries are seeking to impose this regime on Internet traffic, with the apparent purpose of providing additional revenues to increase the build-out of infrastructure in various types of markets,” Kende said in the study. Adapting the ITRs to also govern Internet traffic is “not only unnecessary, but could harm the development of the Internet in developing countries,” he said (http://xrl.us/bnpsi3).
The Regional Internet Registry for Europe, the Middle East and parts of Central Africa, RIPE NCC, ran out of regular IPv4 address space as of Friday. With one last block of Ipv4 addresses still in the hands of the RIPE NCC address managers, they now allocate numbers according to a tightly controlled last-mile policy, officials said. All requesters only can receive one block of 1,024 IPv4-addresses, even if they need more. RIPE NCC is the second of the five RIRs that has used up its pool. The Asian RIR, APNIC, ran out April 19, 2011. According to APNIC Chief Scientist Geoff Huston, who has been monitoring the distribution of the final Ipv4 resources, the American Registry for Internet Numbers (ARIN) will be next, with a projected date for the last IPv4 addresses to be distributed next August. The Latin American and African Registries still have some time to go because consumption rates are smaller in those regions. Once the Ipv4 addresses are used up, the registries still have some last-mile reserves, some of which are also kept for unforeseen developments.
Apple didn’t comment Friday on initial iPhone 5 demand as its pre-order campaign for the device kicked off. The company said Wednesday that it would start taking orders for the iPhone 5 on Friday, but the device wouldn’t ship in the U.S. until Sept. 21. However, consumers trying to order one at Apple’s website on Friday were informed that any SKU of the device wouldn’t be available to ship for two weeks, apparently meaning Sept. 28. That led to speculation that Apple already sold out of launch quantities. Apple shares closed 1.2 percent higher Friday at $691.28. Earlier Friday, share prices grew to more than $695, the highest price for Apple stock ever. Phone recycling comparison website sellcell.com said Friday that it saw a more than 800 percent increase in iPhone trade-ins last month compared to August 2011, as consumers tried to get rid of their current iPhones to buy the new model. The number of consumers who want to recycle their phones has “surged,” and the company is seeing a “record breaking $8 million worth of trade-ins” in the U.S. and U.K. in September alone, it said. Sellcell.com data indicated that the 8-GB iPhone 3G and 16-GB iPhone 3GS are topping the list of the most recycled handsets now.