CellAntenna conducted what it said was the first test of cell jamming equipment Friday at a U.S. state prison at the Lieber Correctional Institution in South Carolina. CellAntenna CEO Howard Melamed told us Monday that more tests are planned in other states, starting with Texas.
The FCC approved a waiver that will allow device maker UltraVision Security Systems to sell an ultra-wideband device it says can be used to protect nuclear power plants, cell towers, airports, government office buildings and other sensitive sites from intruders. In approving the order, the FCC took steps to address concerns raised by the Association for Maximum Service TV that the device could interfere with TV broadcasts. The devices must still be certified by the agency, but that process is expected to be completed quickly.
Dale Hatfield, former chief of the FCC Office of Engineering and Technology, has joined the transition team looking at the future of the agency under the Barack Obama administration, we've learned. The leaders of the FCC team are Susan Crawford of the University of Michigan Law School and Kevin Werbach of the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School. Hatfield is an independent consultant and adjunct professor in the Interdisciplinary Telecommunications Program at the University of Colorado at Boulder.
A top CTIA official expressed outrage Thursday that the South Carolina Department of Corrections plans to go ahead Friday with a demonstration of cellphone jamming technology at a state prison. CTIA has called the test of technology provided by vendor CellAntenna a violation of federal law and asked the FCC to step in. Chris Guttman-McCabe, CTIA vice president, said companies rarely issue a news release to announce plans to “break the law.” State prison officials hope jamming equipment will keep inmates from using cellphones smuggled into their cells.
The Bush administration, after months of speculation, released a letter raising questions about the free broadband proposal circulated by FCC Chairman Kevin Martin for the AWS- 3 band. The letter, by acting NTIA Administrator Meredith Baker, was sent to Rep. Michael Conoway, R-Texas. It touches on some concerns reportedly raised by Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez in a meeting at the White House. Baker says the administration believes spectrum auctions promote investment and innovation. “Auctions without price or product mandates create a level playing field,” the letter said. “Restrictions and conditions on spectrum use, however well-intentioned, are not the most effective or efficient way to encourage development of services or to assist under served areas.”
Lobbying at the FCC on the 700 MHz D-block is picking up, with an order on auction rules still considered likely at the FCC’s Dec. 18 meeting. Both APCO and the Public Safety Spectrum Trust were at the commission this week for meetings. Motorola said in a filing that the FCC significantly underestimated the costs of relocating some narrowband public safety operations in the 700 MHz band.
A vote is unlikely on intercarrier compensation and Universal Service Fund overhaul at the FCC’s Dec. 18 meeting, Chairman Kevin Martin told reporters Tuesday after he spoke at a Phoenix Center telecom symposium. But he left open the possibility that the FCC could act while he still is chairman at its January meeting. Martin said the FCC may act in December on rules for the AWS-3 and 700 MHz D-block auctions. He also said Comcast could face fines or other penalties for failing to respond adequately to a request by the commission for information on the policies of cable companies switching to digital (CD Nov 18 p7).
FCC Chairman Kevin Martin said he has not decided whether to meet with investigators from the House Commerce Committee as it wraps up its investigation of FCC regulatory practices and management issues. Committee Chairman John Dingell and Rep. Bart Stupak, chairman of the of Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee, both Michigan Democrats, sent Martin a letter last week saying the investigation is in its “final stages” and asking him to sit down with staff investigators by Friday. “We're still considering what we should end up doing,” Martin told reporters Tuesday. “We've been very cooperative and provided all the documents they've requested in the past, thousands of documents.”
Wireless carriers, cable companies, satellite operators and rural local exchange carriers asked the FCC not to impose Automated Reporting Management Information System reporting requirements on them, as part of an FCC push to gather more data on broadband deployment. But some state commissions and public interest group Free Press said the ARMIS requirements provide useful data and should be expanded to all companies that offer broadband service.
The National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners wrote late last week to various stakeholders inviting their “insights and ideas” on national wireless consumer protection standards that it plans to ask Congress to approve when they are finished. The letter included an online survey to be answered after interested groups consulted with their members. In July, NARUC approved a resolution asking Congress to create a state- federal task force on national consumer protection standards. NARUC decided the task force should include five state regulators, three members of the FCC, a representative of the State Attorneys General, a consumer advocate and an industry official. Vermont Commissioner John Burke, chairman of the NARUC ad hoc committee developing the standards, told us Friday the group will propose a “fairly high-level set of standards” once it confers with stakeholders. NARUC hopes to address industry concerns about a “patchwork” of state regulations on wireless standards, Burke said. But he’s not sure the extent to which wireless carriers will back NARUC’s efforts. One question, Burke said, is carriers’ comfort with NARUC’s decision that each state must choose how to enforce the standards, rather than putting state attorneys general in charge in each case. “I don’t know whether they're happy or not,” he said. “I haven’t gotten any pushback and there’s a direct outreach to them.” State commissioners will take their finished proposal to Congress, Burke said. “Congress has to look at this and decide it wants to implement such a plan.”