Opposition to Airborne Cell Phones Floods FCC
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US air travelers wasted little time barraging communications regulators with hundreds of e-mails registering their opposition to ending the ban on the use of mobile phones during commercial flights.
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The U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC)Â has proposed fines totaling $2.8 million to three wireless carriers for failing to meet coverage requirements for an emergency dialing service called E911, the agency said Thursday.
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The debate over post-9/11 communications, network neutrality, and high-speed wireless is now centered around a struggle over the 700-MHz band going on in Washington, D.C. On Thursday, a hearing by Senate Commerce Committee over the upcoming 700-MHz auction raised several key issues.
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Dark days are coming for analog cellular phones.
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Verizon Wireless challenges the the FCC's proposed open-access rules for the upcoming auction of 700-MHz spectrum. Verizon's petition in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit calls the FCC regs "arbitrary and capricious."
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Airline travelers may be able to use  their mobile telephones and other wireless devices in the air  under a proposal to ease the current ban put forward by U.S.  communications regulators on Wednesday.
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A proposal for a wireless phone directory raises concerns in Congress.
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(InfoWorld) - The U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC)Â has proposed fines totaling $2.8 million to three wireless carriers for failing to meet coverage requirements for an emergency dialing service called E911, the agency said Thursday. The FCC levied the fines against Sprint Nextel, Alltel, and U.S. Cellular for failing to meet a Dec. 31, 2005, deadline for having 95 percent of their networks capable of using enhanced 911, an emergency dialing service that gives dispatchers the location of the call. FCC Chairman Kevin Martin said public safety is a top priority at the agency. "I recognize that the public expects us to get these issues right," he said in a statement. "Alltel, Sprint Nextel, and U.S. Cellular failed to meet this critical deadline by a significant margin, despite the clear requirements of the Commission and the needs of their consumers." Sprint Nextel would pay a fine of just over $1.3 million under the FCC's proposal, which the carriers can appeal. Alltel's fine would be $1 million, and U.S. Cellular's would be $500,000, an FCC spokesman said. As of the December 2005 deadline, 81 percent of Sprint's network had E911 service capabilities, while 74 percent of Nextel's network did, according to the FCC. The two companies merged in 2005. About 84 percent of Alltel's customers had E911 service, and about 89 percent of U.S. Cellular's customers did. Alltel and U.S. Cellular have since reached the 95 percent threshold, but Sprint Nextel has not, the FCC said. As of December 2005, 15 million Sprint Nextel customers did not have E911 service, the agency said. Martin called the fines "significant and appropriate." "On the wireless side, Americans increasingly expect that dialing 911 also means first responders can pinpoint a callerâs location, even when the caller is incapacitated or does not know where he or she is," he added. "Our actions today underscore the critical importance that 911 services play in the lives of the public."
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Police and firefighters need more accurate data on mobile callers. The FCC has some ideas--but fixes aren't cheap.
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Verizon Wireless Inc. has encountered strong opposition for its request that an appeals court overturn U.S. Federal Communications Commission auction rules on a portion of wireless spectrum.
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(Washington, DC-NBC) Dec. 15, 2004 - The Federal Communications Commission is preparing to give away broadband space for wireless Internet service on board airliners, and it&#39;s opening up for public comment on cell phone use.
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After tossing WiFi start-up bids for exclusive control of fallow spectrum, federal regulators want public input on how to proceed. Will a new fight over "open access" rules emerge?
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(InfoWorld) - A coalition of technology and telecommunications vendors will oppose a plan to give public safety agencies across the U.S. new wireless spectrum, saying it could jeopardize an agreement already in place that would provide spectrum for interoperable emergency communications by early 2009. Members of the High Tech DTV Coalition on Tuesday sent a letter to leaders in the U.S. Congress urging them to reject a proposal that would carve out 30MHz of wireless spectrum for public safety interoperability, instead sticking to legislation passed last year that would give emergency response agencies 24MHz of spectrum. The legislation requires U.S. television stations to move from analog broadcasts to digital television, or DTV. The alternate plan, advanced by Cyren Call Communications, could endanger the compromises in the Digital Television Transition Act, representatives of the High Tech DTV Coalition said at a press conference. Debate over the Cyren Call proposal, echoed in a January proposal from Senator John McCain, could push back by years the date when spectrum is available to emergency responders, said the coalition, whose members include Microsoft, Intel, Dell, and Verizon Wireless. The Cyren Call proposal would take a significant chunk of spectrum slated to be auctioned by the government, with the $10 billion or more in proceeds going for federal deficit reduction and emergency communications interoperability programs, the group said. "We think [the proposal] threatens the progress Congress made last year," said Jeffrey Connaughton, executive director of the coalition. "It's a distraction from what are better solutions for public safety." The High Tech DTV Coalition lobbied hard last year for a bill that frees up spectrum for public safety uses by requiring TV broadcasters to move off the upper 700MHz spectrum band by Feb. 17, 2009. After much debate in Congress, President George Bush signed the bill a year ago. The DTV transition bill represented a fragile compromise, said Jeffrey Eisenach, chairman of Criterion Economics and co-author of a report criticizing the Cyren Call plan. "It would throw, at best, sand in the gears of a process that's been going on for a long time," he said. "I don't think there's a way to unwind this and put it back together simply." The Cyren Call proposal, first advanced last April, calls on the U.S. Federal Communications Commission to put 30MHz of spectrum into a "public safety broadband trust" controlled by the agency. The spectrum would be used for commercial purposes after police, fire, and other public safety agencies' needs are met. Representatives of Cyren Call and McCain didn't immediately respond to requests for comment on the High Tech DTV Coalition. But McCain, an Arizona Republican, called for the government to do more to help emergency responders when he announced plans for public safety spectrum legislation in January. "If we do not act now, this valuable spectrum will be auctioned off, and this opportunity will be lost forever," McCain said in a statement. McCain has been calling for more public safety spectrum since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the U.S. The 9/11 Commission investigating the attacks and their aftermath recommended additional radio spectrum for first responders because police and firefighters on the scene reported being unable to communicate with each other or with rescue vehicles. The Cyren Call proposal has been endorsed by several public safety organizations, including the International Association of Chiefs of Police, International Association of Fire Chiefs, Major Cities Chiefs Association, and National Sheriffs Association.
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The FCC leads the campaign to rein in 'indecency' on the airwaves. But in a world of unlimited spectrum, some think shackling the First Amendment is what's obscene. By Frank Rose from Wired magazine.
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The Bush administration is expected to press for speedier licensing of public airwaves for auction to private companies. But telecom regulators say wireless apps need unlicensed spectrum too. By Joanna Glasner.
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Federal regulators have proposed allowing cell phones to be used on airplanes, and took steps toward bringing high-speed wireless Internet connections to passengers&#39; seats.
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Police and fire organizations called on Congress to allow more radio spectrum for communications interoperability than they're due to get in 2009.