CTIA cautioned the FCC against imposing location or roaming requirements for emergency texts to 911, at least at this time, in a filing made in docket 11-153. The FCC should “refrain from mandating the development of capabilities for legacy platforms,” such as SMS, “which soon will be superseded by next generation technologies,” CTIA said (http://bit.ly/1riUHWy). “As the record in this proceeding illustrates, the Commission’s goals would be best served by allowing affected stakeholders to implement the recently adopted new requirements, and providing additional time for standards work before mandating any additional capabilities be enabled.” CTIA was responding to an August NPRM. More work is required on standards before roaming can be mandated, the group said. “The record in this proceeding is replete with evidence that providing enhanced location information has not yet been demonstrated to be universally attainable.” The Telecommunications Industry Association also urged the FCC to proceed with caution on text-to-911 rules (http://bit.ly/1nsotwO). TIA cautioned “against regarding the standards development process as a mechanism through which creation of otherwise nonexistent technology functionality can be mandated.”
NCTA urged the FCC to seek comment on the full range of issues and potential consequences of expanding obligations of multichannel video programming distributors if it plans to explore the MVPD issue in a rulemaking proceeding. Expanding the MVPD definition to include online video distributors (OVDs) would misconstrue the provisions of the Communications Act “and raise a host of practical and regulatory concerns,” NCTA said in an ex parte filing posted Friday in docket 12-83 (http://bit.ly/1swUEdy). To the extent that the FCC finds that OVDs qualify as MVPDs, OVDs “must be subject to the obligations of MVPD status as well as its benefits,” like program carriage, closed captioning and emergency alerts, it said. Giving OVDs regulatory benefits that Congress provided to traditional facilities-based MVPDs without imposing their obligations “would dilute and undermine the policy goals underlying those obligations-including fair marketplace competition,” NCTA said. The filing pertained to a meeting with Chief Bill Lake and other staff from his Media Bureau, and staff from the Office of General Counsel.
FCC Commissioner Ajit Pai said he knows firsthand the importance of wireless ISPs, since he grew up in a small town in Kansas where a WISP was the only source for high-speed Internet, speaking Wednesday at WISPAPALOOZA, an annual meeting for WISPs. “I believe the FCC should be on the side of entrepreneurs like WISPs, and that means in part being in favor of unlicensed spectrum,” he said. Pai said he was looking closely at concerns raised by WISPA about restrictions the FCC places on out-of-band emissions in the 5725-5850 MHz band (see 1408250034). “I take those concerns seriously,” Pai said (http://bit.ly/11wleKQ). “And I hope the FCC will work with WISPA and develop an engineering solution and implementation schedule that will satisfy everyone’s concerns.” Pai said he's also pushing to open bands for unlicensed use. “Gigabit wireless throughput is at our doorstep,” he said. Pai said his parents still rely on Wave Wireless for service, a WISP with more than 23,000 customers in southeast Kansas. Wave’s story “isn’t unusual,” he said. “At last count, about 2,000 WISPs in the United States serve approximately 2 million consumers.”
The FCC scheduled a forum Nov. 7 on the latest advances in accessible wireless emergency communications, including text-to-911, the agency said Thursday. The forum starts at 9:30 a.m. EST at FCC headquarters (http://bit.ly/1rB07fm). The goal is to “engage technology designers, engineers and policy makers to raise awareness of the needs of people with disabilities prior to developing devices and services that can be used in and during emergencies, with the goal of saving more lives and enabling quicker responses to natural and manmade disasters,” the FCC said.
General Motors weighed in at the FCC, raising concerns about proposals that the agency subject mobile broadband to the same rules as fixed as it moves forward on net neutrality regulations. GM said it has a real stake in the issue since it's building technology into cars so they can offer a built-in vehicle hot spot. Mobile broadband in a car moving at 75 miles down a highway or stuck in a traffic jam is “fundamentally different” from a wired connection to a consumer’s home and “merits continued consideration under distinct rules that take this into account,” GM said. The FCC can't “define exceptions for ‘reasonable network management’ for circumstances it can’t imagine,” GM said. GM said the future holds a promise of continuing innovation for cars and mobile broadband. “We urge the Commission to preserve the regulatory environment that can continue to foster this,” GM said. FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler has hinted repeatedly that mobile broadband will be subject to the same rules as fixed, but with an exception allowing carriers to engage in “reasonable network management.”
Toshiba’s Telecommunication Systems Division said its VIPedge cloud-based business telephone system is now eligible for the FCC’s E-rate program, meaning it will be available to schools and libraries “at a significant discount.” Thousands of schools nationwide already use Toshiba’s IPedge and Strata CIX business telephone systems, which “can be networked together for a Hybrid Cloud solution, enabling a comprehensive, integrated solution for schools, school districts and libraries,” said Brian Metherell, Toshiba general manager-Telecommunication Systems Division, in a Tuesday news release.
United Methodist Communications urged the FCC to require mobile phone manufacturers and operators to provide access to FM radio through mobile devices. It’s a matter of public safety “in addition to convenience for individual users of these devices,” UMC General Secretary Larry Hollon said in a letter to FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler. When residential power is out, cell service and the Internet are also out, he said. The only battery device may be a smartphone, “but it is useless without cell service,” he said. With an activated radio chip, a smartphone will function similar to a transistor radio, “providing people with information essential for survival,” he said. CEA and CTIA are among those that have long opposed FCC mandates for requiring FM chips in smartphones [Ref:1208070001]. CEA representatives didn't immediately comment on the UMC letter. CTIA continues "to believe consumer preference, not government mandates, should drive decisions about mobile device functionalities," said Jot Carpenter, vice president-government affairs, by email. "Some consumers value radio capabilities and there are devices available to meet their needs. At the same time, other consumers have no interest in those radio capabilities. The current marketplace serves both segments well.”
The Phoenix Center said ithe FCC has consistently reverse or threatened to reverse “the most significant bi-partisan deregulatory achievements of the past two decades” in the past few years, in a study released Tuesday. Recent examples of reversal include the commission’s current consideration of municipal broadband preemption petitions from the Electric Power Board of Chattanooga, Tennessee, and the city of Wilson, North Carolina, as well as special access and forbearance, the Phoenix Center said. That “lack of stability in the FCC's policies combined with a pro-regulatory bias at the agency creates an uncertainty that is especially insidious” to incent broadband investment, the Phoenix Center said (http://bit.ly/1z8m7Zh).
Free Press plans a rally outside an Oct. 21 forum on net neutrality at Texas A&M University in College Station, to be chaired by FCC Commissioner Ajit Pai 1410010004. Free Press has pushed the FCC to hold hearings outside Washington (http://bit.ly/1p9FUgZ). “Pai, who opposes Net Neutrality protections, is at least willing to hear from the public,” the group said. “Free Press is working with local allies to ensure that area residents have the opportunity to speak out before and during the forum.”
The American Bankers Association asked the FCC to exempt certain time-sensitive informational calls, which are placed with no charge to the called parties, from the Telephone Consumer Protection Act’s restrictions on automated calls to mobile devices. The request came in a petition filed at the agency (http://bit.ly/1r4244b) Tuesday. ABA sought the exemption for calls about: “(1) transactions and events that suggest a risk of fraud or identity theft; (2) possible breaches of the security of customers’ personal information; (3) steps consumers can take to prevent or remedy harm caused by data security breaches; and (4) actions needed to arrange for receipt of pending money transfers,” said the petition. ABA President Frank Keating said the exemptions would ensure banks can protect consumers. “Effective fraud prevention requires the earliest possible contact with the customer,” Keating said.