FCC Official Declines to Vote On AT& T Deal
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Federal Communications Commissioner Robert M. McDowell announced yesterday that he would disqualify himself from voting on AT&T's proposed purchase of BellSouth on ethical grounds, depriving the FCC of a potential swing vote that could have broken the stalemate among its Democratic and Republican...
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U.S. Senate Commerce Committee   Chairman Ted Stevens said on Thursday he was still unable to   muster enough votes for his telecommunications bill, which   could die if Republicans lose power in the November elections.
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AT&T Inc  said on Friday it  plans to participate in an upcoming government auction of  airwaves in the 700-Megahertz spectrum band, but it is still  deciding whether to bid for a portion of the spectrum reserved  for open access.
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Blog: AT&T's deal to sell the iPhone drew criticism from Democrats, and a defense from Republicans. The arrangement might led to an open access requirement for a 700 MHz spectrum auction next year.
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Blog: U.S. International Trade Commission has denied a request for a stay on a ban imposed earlier this month on the import of new handsets using Qualcomm's 3G chips.
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A majority of the U.S. Federal  Communications Commission has voted to conditionally approve  Cingular Wireless' proposed acquisition of AT&T Wireless  Services Inc. AWE.N, a source familiar with the matter said  on Wednesday.
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Cingular Wireless has urged U.S.  communications regulators to reject a request by rival Nextel  Communications Inc. NXTL.O to lower the cost of its plan to  swap airwaves with the government, which is aimed at reducing  interference with public safety communications.
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In contrast to AT&T, company says it's not interested in installing filters on its network or inspecting packets for possible piracy, citing concerns about customer privacy.
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An executive for Verizon Wireless  urged U.S. lawmakers and regulators to reject proposals that  would impose open-platform requirements on valuable wireless  airwaves that are scheduled to be auctioned off soon by the  government.
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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 company won't say whether it will participate in Ofcom's auction of radio spectrum, citing a U.S. ruling.
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The US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) did not issue a ruling this week that finally permit in-flight Wi-Fi - contrary to hundreds of reports on the Internet and elsewhere.
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Despite a grilling from a Senate committee yesterday, Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin J. Martin said he would not postpone a Dec. 18 vote on a controversial media-ownership rule.
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A federal court won't consider Qualcomm's request for a stay of a trade commission order that bans the importation of its chips into the U.S.
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Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin J. Martin said yesterday he did not know how soon it would consider AT&T's proposed $86 billion acquisition of BellSouth after the deal was left off the agenda for Wednesday's meeting because of a continuing stalemate between the commission's...
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Or any of the other biggies, for that matter AT&amp;T chief executive Randall Stephenson has told the Financial Times that despite speculation it's not planning to buy Vodafone.â¦
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Several lawmakers protested a spectrum auction proposal from the chairman of the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC), saying his plan could limit the number of bidders and raise costs to consumers.