FirstNet may begin implementing the proposed nationwide 700 MHz national public safety broadband network (NPSBN) as soon as 2013, the FirstNet board said at its inaugural meeting Tuesday. All 15 members praised the $7 billion initiative and talked about next steps. But multiple organizations and a new report underscore FirstNet’s challenges of funding, scheduling and exclusion, and they questioned the manner in which the federal government has handled several suspended stimulus grants.
DTS, which purchased Phorus in July, unveiled the Phorus Android-based wireless audio platform Wednesday in New York. DTS is positioning the uncompressed content distribution technology against Bluetooth and Sonos, while at the same time incorporating Bluetooth into the platform as an all-purpose solution for users who don’t have Android devices. Unlike Bluetooth, a single-room solution with a range of 30 feet, or Sonos with its proprietary mesh network platform, DTS’s Phorus Play-Fi system operates over a home’s Wi-Fi network, Dannie Lau, CEO of Play-Fi developer and DTS subsidiary Phorus, told us.
California’s VoIP bill has become wrapped up in the larger deregulation push of U.S. telcos. Several industry statements have increasingly worried consumer advocates in recent months. But an AT&T senior vice president argued the transition away from copper is a natural extension of federal policy and promotes deeper conversation on how to develop new, appropriate regulations. The state bill would cause “irreparable harm” if passed into law, The Utility Reform Network (TURN) wrote Gov. Jerry Brown. SB-1161 would prohibit the California Public Utilities Commission from regulating VoIP unless allowed by state or federal statute.
A few new product introductions were displayed at the latest ShowStoppers event in New York Monday night, led by an NFC (Near Field Communications)-equipped all-in-one PC from Hewlett-Packard. The Spectre One, the first all-in-one in HP’s stylized Spectre line, is one of a series of Windows 8-based all-in-one PCs the company introduced Monday.
U.S. negotiators should emphasize quality over speed when working on the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF) analyst Stephen Ezell said during a teleconference about its new report on the TPP (http://xrl.us/bnnig6). The report says U.S. TPP negotiators should work on decreasing market barriers and increasing intellectual property rights protections among TPP participants. “It’s more important to get the TPP done right than to get it done right away,” Ezell said during the teleconference, saying the terms of the TPP will be seen as a “gold standard” across the world and in the future.
U.S. negotiators should emphasize quality over speed when working on the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF) analyst Stephen Ezell said during a teleconference about its new report on the TPP (http://xrl.us/bnnig6). The report says U.S. TPP negotiators should work on decreasing market barriers and increasing intellectual property rights protections among TPP participants. “It’s more important to get the TPP done right than to get it done right away,” Ezell said during the teleconference, saying the terms of the TPP will be seen as a “gold standard” across the world and in the future.
Participating Government Agencies (PGAs) should look to CBP's protocol for processing holds and pauses as a way to improve the PGA process, said the Advisory Committee On Commercial Operations (COAC) Trade Facilitation Subcommittee in a list of recommendations based of its first-ever trade survey. Survey respondents said interactions with CBP on holds and pauses was far more favorable than dealing with PGAs. The subcommittee advises the process reviews could be performed through the Centers of Excellence and Expertise (CEEs). The list of recommendations were posted Aug. 10.
The FCC should reject AT&T’s proposals on how the agency should handle renewal applications by Wireless Communications Service licensees, Green Flag Wireless said in a letter to the commission. Those proposals were laid out by AT&T in an ex parte filing last month (http://xrl.us/bnjm2z). “The thrust of AT&T’s presentation to the Commission’s staff seems to have been an effort to circumvent both the existing rules adopted by the Commission to handle precisely the situation that has arisen and the sixty-odd years of precedent establishing that incumbents may not simply be granted a renewal in the absence of substantial service,” Green Flag said (http://xrl.us/bnjm3w). “AT&T adopts an attitude of prima facie entitlement to the WCS spectrum and invites the Commission to join with it in devising a scheme to eliminate the irksome complication of competing applications. ... The right to equal treatment is not merely a legal nicety that must be given grudging obeisance. AT&T did absolutely nothing with these licenses during the license term. There are no equitable or other considerations that should give a regulator pause in stripping a do-nothing incumbent of its license.” AT&T’s proposals are “both contrary to law and contrary to the public interest,” Green Flag said. “Rather than clarifying the current situation, the proposal would muddy the waters further, overturn a half century of settled law on renewal expectancies, and set a dangerous precedent in support of spectrum warehousing."
The 700 MHz waiver order released by the FCC last Monday approved the interoperability showings of Charlotte, N.C., and Harris County, Texas. The order otherwise did little to smooth their way to starting early first responder networks, officials said. Meanwhile, government and public safety officials told us, there appears to be no real accounting of how much the 21 700 MHz waiver recipients have spent so far on the groundwork to build out networks that may well never start.
Apple shares closed 4.3 percent lower Wednesday at $574.97 despite the company’s report of stronger profit and revenue for Q3 ended June 30 and executives providing a confident forecast on an earnings call late Tuesday. CEO Timothy Cook said Apple remains unfazed by iPad rivals.