Remington Arms Co. asked the FCC to waive its rules to permit deployment of a new device that would help fight terrorism and crime. It said the Remington Eyeball R1 provides live video and audio surveillance of locations otherwise not directly observable, such as buildings, caves, tunnels and alleys, and has strong endorsements from law enforcement and emergency responding agencies. The device operate at 2.4 GHz with 1,000 mW for transmitting the audio and video to a control point, and at 902-928 MHz with emitted power of less than 1,000 mW for the command and control data transmission, Remington Arms said. The Eyeball configuration would employ an antenna approved for use with the certified AeroComm AC4490-1000 chip or its equivalent and would comply with Commission requirements, it said. But it said the transmission plan doesn’t meet the FCC’s power limits, so a waiver is needed. Remington Arms said the waiver wouldn’t violate basic principles of Part 15, which requires unlicensed devices not to interfere with the licensed. “Although the Eyeball R1 will exceed the applicable Part 15 limits for analog devices, it will not create significant interference,” it said: “Any such interference will be limited to the immediate area of emergency, temporary operations or to defined training areas and will serve the higher public interest objective of safety to life and homeland security. Moreover, the potential for disruption will be of limited duration and is unlikely to recur in the same area or location.”
CTIA and the Mobile Mktg. Assn. finalized “Consumer Best Practices Guidelines for Mobile Content Services” this week and are on track to release them before month’s end, after final review by the involved parties, CTIA Vp- Wireless Internet Development Mark Desautels said Thurs. The guidelines will require content providers working with carriers to make customers double opt-in to services, he said: “We came up with these very detailed rules that are going to try and make sure that [consumers] always know what [they] are signing up to. This is a way to make sure that consumers are protected.” The effort proves mobile content issues should be left up to the industry, not the FCC, to address, he said. Desautels’ remarks came during a panel discussion of mobile content sponsored by the D.C. Bar Assn.
The European Telecom Standards Institute (ETSI) ratified the next-generation standard for satellite distribution, DVB-S2, Thurs. The announcement followed a European Space Agency (ESA) decision earlier in the week to create a research consortium to develop a DVB-S2 modem for 2-way broadband-over-satellite communications, and to verify that DVB-S2 can be used in DVB-RCS networks. Industry analysts called the ETSI ratification essentially a formality, as satellite broadcaster already embrace the standard. They said the step bodes well for international HDTV rollout and competition with cable, and probably will be followed by an equivalent ITU recommendation.
CAMBRIDGE, U.K. -- Three unlicensed spectrum technologies emerging from labs could spark competition in wireless communications, speakers said Wed. at the Cambridge-MIT conference on the future of such communications. “Things can only get broader” as ultra wideband (UWB), broadband over powerline (BPL) and radio frequency over fiber (RFF) technologies near commercial use, said Jon Crowcroft, lead principal investigator for the Cambridge-MIT Communications Innovation Institute. Each still faces technical and regulatory challenges, speakers said.
Intel backed the proposed Sprint-Nextel merger, saying it would create synergies needed to speed deployment of broadband wireless data networks and enable the next generation of media and mobile applications and services. A provider of silicon and platform solutions to the broadband wireless industry, Intel told the FCC it doesn’t have a technology commitment from either Sprint or Nextel regarding 2.5 GHz deployment efforts. But it called the companies’ efforts in that band “very promising.” The combined Sprint Nextel spectrum holdings would result in a 2.5 GHz footprint covering about 85% of the population in the top 100 BTAs. Intel said spectrum aggregation would have “substantial, pro-competitive public interest benefits.” For example, it said, it would enable “the same efficiencies that led to the aggregation of the cellular/PCS spectrum, creating national carriers from an initially highly fragmented industry.” Intel, which just launched its first WiMAX chip, stressed the 2.5 GHz band’s importance. WiMAX is targeted for licensed deployment in the 2.5 GHz and 3.5 GHz bands, it said, adding: “Without sufficient globally harmonized spectrum, manufacturers will not be able to achieve the economies of scale from high volume production of WiMAX components.”
The High Tech Broadband Coalition announced Thurs. it would oppose any statutory bars to municipal broadband networks. Pa. has passed a law barring any city or town - - except Philadelphia -- from developing a broadband or Wi-Fi network; other states, like Tex., Colo., Ia. and Fla. are eyeing similar bills. While HTBC acknowledged concern about municipal networks, it said local govts. should be able to “find solutions that are open, transparent, and reasonably competitively neutral.” Many municipalities are considering such networks, HTBC said. “Often, these municipal efforts are intended to complement wireline and cable networks by extending reach to areas that these incumbent networks do not, or cannot, reach,” HTBC said. Its policy position paper said “no statewide statutory barriers to municipal participation, whether explicit or de facto, should be erected.” HTBC said municipalities should have flexibility to set up their own networks, or partner with the private sector. “As a general guideline, however, municipalities should first assess unmet needs, underserved areas, and future requirements, as well as develop a technology-neutral requirements document,” the HTBC said. HTBC also said municipal efforts shouldn’t get preferred access to rights-of-way or other favored treatment. On Wed., House Telecom Subcommittee Chmn. Upton (R-Mich.) said municipal networks probably would emerge as a topic in the telecom reform debate. He said he believed an amendment to upcoming legislation on IP networks would limit municipalities’ right to establish their own networks. House Rural Caucus Chmn. Peterson (R-Pa.) recently said he was frustrated by the slow roll-out of advanced services to rural areas and would support municipalities’ right to build their own networks. HTBC includes the TIA, Business Software Alliance, Consumer Electronics Assn., Information Technology Industry Council, National Assn. of Manufacturers and Semiconductor Industry Assn.
SAN FRANCISCO -- NCTA Pres. Kyle McSlarrow had a “positive” meeting with Sen. Stevens (R-Ala.) Sun. at the start of NCTA’s annual convention here, as they sorted through cable’s options for curtailing indecency, McSlarrow told reporters. NCTA staff recently showed Stevens’ staff how the latest parental controls technology works. McSlarrow said he thought the talks, which included a group of industry CEOs, made headway with Stevens. “He [Stevens] wants to learn,” McSlarrow said. “At the same time, he said, ‘We need to do more. Show me more.'”
The V-chip equips parents with reasonable safeguards and lets content providers maximize programming potential without govt. intervention, Tim Collings, the V-chip’s inventor, said in comments to the FCC. Collings’ comments centered on use of V-chip technology in connection with a Commission request for tools to help parents deal with interactive children’s programming.
Utilities adopting broadband over power line (BPL) technology mainly for internal uses will be driven to deploy in more rural areas because the automation benefits are greater there, speakers said Wed. on a BPL audio conference sponsored by the United Power Line Council (UPLC). State regulators have voiced skepticism about BPL’s touted potential to fill the broadband void in rural and unserved areas.
The number of cities providing any public communications services has grown 37% since 2001 -- a good thing, according to a new study by George Ford, founder of Applied Economic Studies (AES). Rather than “crowding out” private investment by replacing CLEC carriage with municipal service, the 616 municipal networks “encourage additional entry by creating wholesale markets,” the study said. The study, based on detailed data from Fla. localities and more general information nationwide, pointed to a “statistically significant” 63% increase in private firm entry in markets that have publicly operated communications networks.