CTIA fired back at NAB comments last week urging a...
CTIA fired back at NAB comments last week urging a renewed discussion at the FCC of the “merits of radio-enabled smartphones.” NAB heralded comments by Commissioner Michael Copps at Thursday’s public safety workshop also raising the issue. “While cellphone signals…
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jammed and power was down during Hurricane Irene and the recent East Coast earthquake, it was the robust ‘one-to-many’ transmission architecture of local broadcasting that kept listeners and viewers in touch and informed,” NAB said. Wireless networks worked after both the Virginia earthquake and the hurricane, CTIA Vice President Chris Guttman-McCabe said on the association’s blog. “An examination of FM radios in cellphones is moot,” Guttman-McCabe said. “NAB is already well aware that there are dozens of mobile devices currently offered with enabled FM radio. At least 41 phones are offered with enabled FM radio and that number continues to grow, as NAB itself acknowledges.” NAB then responded to the CTIA’s response. “Broadcasters welcome a debate on whether broadcasting is more reliable in times of crisis than cellphone networks, which is why NAB supports VOLUNTARY activation of radio chips in cellphones,” NAB spokesman Dennis Wharton said in response. “Surely, cellphone companies are not blind to the fact that tens of thousands of Americans were unable to connect with loved ones after the recent East Coast earthquake because of an overload in the ‘one-to-one’ cellphone network."