Univision News is working with the Center for Investigative Reporting to jointly produce investigative stories from start to finish for Spanish-speaking audiences in the U.S. and Latin America, the broadcast-TV network and nonprofit said in a Tuesday news release. “CIR will work with Univision to provide access to stories and full-length documentaries with an emphasis on the U.S. West Coast and Latin America for all the Univision broadcast platforms, including its network newscast ‘Noticiero Univision,’ and the weekly magazine program ‘Aqui y Ahora.’ Univision News will also have access to CIR print reports for translation into Spanish."
Gilat deployed the first 10,000 very small aperture terminals with Australia-based mobile technology firm Optus, to deliver broadband services to Australian households and businesses. The agreement between Gilat and Optus is part of the National Broadband Network’s satellite service in Australia, Gilat said. It includes “up to 48,000 Gilat SkyEdge II VSATs expected to be deployed over the next three years,” it said. Gilat also said it’s responsible for the VSAT customer premise equipment installation and maintenance and end-to-end management and maintenance of the network operating center and 11 hubs across three earth stations.
CTIA is rebranding its fall show to focus exclusively on enterprise and mobile enterprise deployment, the group said Tuesday. The new name for the show is MobileCON and it will debut Oct. 9-11 at the San Diego Convention Center. “What that really means is security, privacy, cloud and really burning issues, like bring-your-own-device” enterprise policies, said Robert Mesirow, CTIA vice president and show director, in an interview. “That was really the focus of the event for the last couple of years, although we sort of had our feet in two camps. We were enterprise and we were consumer and we were really waiting for the market to commit to enterprise. … This is a big, bold move CTIA is taking to really help push wireless into the enterprise and hopefully help solve some of these burning issues.” The wireless industry is moving from a “hardware-centric environment to a software-centric environment with really intelligent networks,” Mesirow said. “What is the impact of that? It’s not only for the consumer side, which we obviously still focus on in the spring, but we really needed to focus on enterprise. That’s really where things are moving.” Mesirow said there is some resistance from high-tech companies. “The easiest thing for these IT professionals to do, and the safest thing, is to say no. We need to get them to say yes.” He cited recent remarks by one high-tech company’s CEO, who said his system wouldn’t support tablets. “The day he made that announcement he checked. He had over 500 tablets touching his network,” Mesirow said. “The IT department can’t control everything.” MobileCON will offer a regulatory program for those with a Washington focus, he said. No decision has been made on whether CTIA will stream all its keynote addresses as it did at the spring show in New Orleans. More information is available at www.mobilecon2012.com.
The East Kentucky Network got permission to build and run a wireless telecom facility, the Kentucky Public Service Commission ruled Monday. It noted the telco has also sought permission to build from the Federal Aviation Administration and the Kentucky Airport Zoning Commission, with decisions pending.
The Commerce Spectrum Management Advisory Committee scheduled its next quarterly meeting Oct. 24, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. ET at the Commerce Department, Room 4830 (http://xrl.us/bnkoys). CSMAC is focused at this point on spectrum sharing between federal and commercial users in the 1695-1710 MHz and 1755-1850 MHz bands.
Achelea Global Networks is building out fiber in three states and expects to announce more areas soon. “The initial phase of this state-of-the-art, low-latency fiber optic network build will include fiber rings around Charlotte, NC; Georgia and California and construction routes that include Charlotte to Kings Mountain to Asheville, NC; and a diversity route around Kings Mountain, NC; and Charlotte to Raleigh/Durham,” the company said Tuesday (http://xrl.us/bnkoyw). It expects segments to be completed in the final quarter of 2012 and first quarter of 2013 and says it'll make those segments available as they're finished. Achelea anticipates at least a million customers nationally, comprising “carriers, large and small businesses, educational institutions, healthcare facilities, governmental agencies, public safety entities and residential customers,” it said. Services will include “the sale of dark fiber, a variety of broadband lit services, Network Maintenance & Monitoring, NOC services, Colocation, Help Desk/Technical Support and Professional Services.
California’s VoIP deregulation bill was read before the Assembly a second time Monday and ordered to a third reading. SB-1161 would prohibit California Public Utilities Commission regulation of VoIP technology until 2020 and passed out of the Assembly Appropriations Committee Aug. 8 in a 16-1 vote (CD Aug 10 p9), and faces a full Assembly vote now. and then, if passed, Senate approval of its amended version. Bills receive a vote on their third reading in the California Assembly.
The FCC Wireline Bureau asked for comment on a petition by SI Wireless for designation as an eligible telecommunications carrier to provide Lifeline service in Tennessee (http://xrl.us/bnkorp). Comments are due Sept. 10, replies Sept. 24.
The FCC Wireline Bureau asked for comment on the proposed request for proposal for local number portability (LNP) database platforms and services in the U.S. after June 2015, and the associated technical requirements document and vendor qualification surveys, it said in a public notice Monday (http://xrl.us/bnkk5h). Neustar said it hopes to retain its current role as LNP administrator. “Neustar has evolved alongside the marketplace and the industry to meet ever-changing demands,” said Senior Vice President-Carrier Services Steve Edwards. “We manage the most complex and comprehensive number portability service in the world and have achieved exemplary levels of performance and customer service.” Comments in docket 09-109 are due Sept. 13.
Broadband healthcare networks improve the quality and reduce the cost of delivering care in rural areas, said an FCC Wireline Bureau staff report evaluating the commission’s Rural Health Care Pilot Program (http://xrl.us/bnkkye). The report found that the RHCPP, which supports 50 active projects in 38 states, “provides fertile ground to help the Commission determine how best to reform the existing rural health care program, which provides ongoing support for telecommunications and Internet access services.” The report also found that consortium applications for funding are more efficient than applications by individual entities; bulk buying and competitive bidding are “a powerful combination” because they can yield higher bandwidth, lower prices, and better service quality for the pilot projects; and most healthcare providers lack the technical expertise to manage their own broadband networks. “The majority of Pilot projects have created successful broadband networks by purchasing broadband services from a third party, rather than constructing and owning their own broadband facilities,” the report said.