Cingular Wireless and the Satellite Industry Assn. (SIA) asked the FCC, in separate petitions, to reconsider its decision to allow unlicensed operation of ultra-wideband (UWB) devices under Part 15 of the Commission’s rules. Cingular argued that the decision violated Sec. 301 of the Communications Act, which bars wireless transmissions without a license and “unquestionably requires a license for all low- power transmissions.” As a result, Cingular said, the Commission can’t authorize UWB operations on an unlicensed basis. It told the agency that Congress had identified 4 services in which spectrum use could be permitted without a license and that UWB didn’t fall into any of them. “The Commission’s authority to permit unlicensed UWB operations is therefore nonexistent,” Cingular said: “Once these devices proliferate, there will be no way to cure the interference they cause. This was a problem Sec. 301 was intended to prevent.” Cingular and other wireless companies have contended that the FCC erred in allowing UWB devices to operate under Part 15, in part because there hasn’t been extensive enough testing of the impact on commercial mobile radio service (CMRS) operations and Enhanced 911. Some commenters said the FCC should have conducted tests using actual UWB devices before granting authorization. Cingular said in its May 22 petition that the FCC’s UWB decisions were arbitrary and capricious: “The Commission recognized that any changes to Part 15 must continue to insulate FCC licensees from harmful interference and that, given the importance of this noninterference condition, it ’should be cautious until it has gained further experience with this technology.’ Yet the Commission rejected every conservative measure proposed by the CMRS industry to protect their operations from harmful interference and to ensure that UWB devices do not interfere with E911 calls.” It said the FCC moved forward without “an adequate test record,” even though its Technical Advisory Committee had suggested testing would be critical in any UWB decision. In a separate petition and engineering analysis, SIA said the FCC should revamp its UWB rules because they exposed fixed satellite service (FSS) operations in 4 GHz downlink bands to harmful interference. Rollout of “ubiquitous” UWB devices will interfere with C- band downlinks, creating concern for satellite operators because FSS systems make wide use of that band, SIA said. Those frequencies are used for program distribution to cable headends and radio/TV broadcast stations, broadband communications to Navy vessels, commercial weather data distribution to airlines and position location for truck fleets. “UWB interference could jeopardize the billions of dollars that FSS operators, customers and distributors have invested in FSS systems for commercial and national security purposes and could interrupt vital FSS services,” said SIA, which is seeking reconsideration of an earlier FCC rejection of a previous challenge by the group. SIA said the earlier denial was based on criticisms of the association’s findings “that do not withstand scrutiny,” the petition said. SIA argued that the interference-to-noise ratio adopted by the Commission, unlike that used by SIA, would expose FSS earth station receivers to harmful interference.

Circuit City, saddled with $14.2 million in costs for shift to noncommissioned sales force and severance payments, said its 4th-quarter net income plunged to $75.3 million from $159.3 million.

Cingular Wireless told FCC last week, before it adopted order on ultra-wideband (UWB), that it couldn’t authorize those operations on unlicensed basis. Commission (CD Feb 14 p4) largely left intact existing UWB technical rules, tweaking them in areas such as changes to facilitate operation of through-wall imaging systems by rescue personnel in emergencies. Cingular argued that adoption of Part 15 rules hinged on idea that Sec. 301 of Communications Act applied only to interstate transmissions and that low-power operations could be allowed on unlicensed basis because such transmissions generally lacked interstate component. Sec. 301 sets out licensing provisions for communications systems. “Although Section 301 did not expressly provide the Commission with jurisdiction over intrastate radio emissions at the time Part 15 was created, Congress always intended Section 301 to apply to intrastate emissions,” Cingular said. In 1982, carrier said, Congress amended Sec. 301 to clarify that FCC jurisdiction over radio communications extended to intrastate, as well as interstate, transmissions. Congress at that time spelled out that Sec. 301 should be in line with court opinions finding that all radio signals inherently were interstate, company said. “Thus, low-power, intrastate transmission requires a license under Section 301,” it said. “Accordingly, the Commission cannot authorize UWB operations on an unlicensed basis.”

Circuit City shares were down more than 10% Wed. on chain’s announcement it would cut 2,000 jobs and shift to straight hourly wage structure from commissions for salespeople on floor. Changes will mean elimination of 3,900 commissioned sales positions that, when offset by adding new hires at hourly wage, will result in net reduction of 1,800 jobs -- about 3 per store, CEO Alan McCollough told analysts in conference call. Another 200 jobs will be cut with shutdown of 10 service and repair facilities, Circuit City said.

Wireless carriers raised concerns to FCC late Mon. that “interference temperature” touted by agency’s Spectrum Policy Task Force report wasn’t yet backed up by real-world information, such as noise floor data. Responding to task force recommendation, several commenters cautioned Commission against basing spectrum allocation and policy decisions on technology advancements that hadn’t yet materialized. Among common themes that emerged in comments this week was need for more unlicensed spectrum, requirement for additional public safety bands, concern over auctioning of satellite spectrum.

Only hours after THQ cut its earnings forecast for its current quarter (CED Dec 24 p3), Midway Games drastically reduced its estimate for 4th quarter ending Dec. 31. Midway said it now expected revenue for 4th quarter would be $78-$83 million, down from $105-$155 million company had predicted. Also, instead of $15-$40 million profit Midway had forecast, it said it now expected loss, although it didn’t say how much. Announcement spurred disappointing reactions from analysts, and shares in game maker dropped.

Best Buy, crediting strong sales of digital products, reported slight increase in 3rd-quarter net income to $85 million from $80 million as overall sales rose 16% to $5.5 billion on 0.4% decline in same-store sales.

France Telecom (FT) said it reduced its debt by 301 million euros by selling its 10.85% stake in Greek mobile telecom company Vodafone-Panafon to Vodafone International Holdings. FT said it completed sale at price per share of 5.28 euros. FT also said it had acquired from Vodafone Group Plc cash settled option to cover its potential financial obligations under its 4.125% exchangeable notes due Nov. 29, 2004, for 10 million euros. That transaction will generate capital gain of 276 million euros, FT said.

Langhorne, Pa., value-priced publisher eGames said in SEC filing it had stockholders’ equity of $346,000 and working capital of $301,000 as of Sept. 30, end of its first quarter. PC game publisher reported $213,000 profit for quarter and said it “experienced $429,000 in negative cash flow… We believe that our projected cash and working capital may be sufficient to fund our operations through June 30, 2003, but there are significant challenges that we will need to successfully manage in order to be able to fund our operations through that period of time. These challenges include, but are not limited to: Agreeing to and maintaining acceptable payment terms with our vendors; increasing the speed of receivable collections from our customers; and maintaining compliance under the covenants set forth in the forbearance agreement [the company] negotiated with Fleet Bank.”

National Security Agency added extra day to next month’s FY 2003 technology acquisition conference (CD Oct 18 p12). Event is Nov. 14-15, Hanover, Md. -- 301-688-3598.