Tag: Spectrum Reform

White Spaces Update: It's Amazing What You Learn From Field Testing.

Harold Feld — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 17:32:10 -0400

As folks may recall, the primary opponents of opening the broadcast white spaces for use, the broadcasters and the wireless microphone manufacturers — notably our good friend and radio pirate Shure, Inc. (official slogan:”We get to break the law ‘cause we sound so good”) — insisted that the FCC conduct field tests on the white spaces prototypes. Of course, because these are concept prototypes and not functioning devices certified to some actual standard, everyone knew this would leave lots of leeway for the broadcasters and the wireless microphone folks to declare the tests a “failure” regardless of the actual results. Which, of course, they did.

Where the Carriers Roam

Jef Pearlman — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 17:04:49 -0400

I’m a Sprint customer, but thanks to something called “automatic roaming,” I can be reached in the DC Metro subway system, where only Verizon has service. Unfortunately, because of a recent FCC order, wireless customers like me might soon be harder to reach when on the move.

Wireless roaming agreements allow customers of one carrier to get service in areas where that carrier does not have its own network. Unfortunately, a gaping hole in some recent regulation means that an order meant to ensure that wireless customers get the best possible service might actually mean that some customers don’t get any service at all, even in their home region – especially if they’re customers of one of the smaller competitive carriers. This past week, we filed a letter urging the FCC to fix the problem and ensure continued customer access to wireless networks.

FCC En Banc Hearing: Public Safety Interoperable Communications and the 700 MHz D Block Proceeding

Webmaster — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 13:16:34 -0400

July 30, 2008 - 10:30am US/Eastern to
July 30, 2008 - 2:30am US/Eastern

Brooklyn Borough Hall Hearing Room
209 Joralemon Street
Brooklyn, NY 11201

The Commission will hear from expert panelists regarding public safety interoperable communications and the 700 MHz D Block proceeding. The hearing is open to the public, and seating will be available on a first-come, first-served basis.

Of Wireless Microphones, Broadcast White Spaces, Field Testing, and Public Safety.

Harold Feld — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 13:58:21 -0400

As folks may have heard, the Public Interest Spectrum Coalition filed a complaint against wireless microphone manufacturers and a Petition for Rulemaking last week. As I explain on my Wetmachine blog here, the filing has the dual purpose of cleaning up a potentially nasty mess in the broadcast UHF bands before the public safety and new commercial services start operating on Channels 52-69, and finally have an honest conversation about wireless microphones in the context of the FCC’s ongoing proceeding to open the white spaces to productive use. (FCC Docket No.

iPhone 3G and the Problem with AT&T's "Subsidy"

Alex Curtis — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 14:11:27 -0400

I’m the sucker who just over a year ago got up at 5AM to sit in a line until 6PM to buy an iPhone. There are a lot of people like me, I met many of them in line that long day. It was actually a lot of fun, but had I known that if I had just shown up at the Apple Store at 7PM that night, I could have walked out with the same iPhone, since there was plenty of supply, I think I would have done the latter. Since June 29, 2007, I have been incredibly in love with this new computing platform called the iPhone, and I’ve written about it a bit before.

Deregulation !=Competition: an observation from the OECD Seoul Ministerial

Sherwin Siy — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 20:21:04 -0400

For the past couple of days, I’ve been in South Korea, attending the OECD’s Ministerial on the Future of the Internet Economy. Rather than try to give a blow-by-blow account, I’ve tried to package some of my thoughts in a series of posts. Here’s one:

Why is Apple Scared of the Free Market with iPhone 3G?

Alex Curtis — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 14:01:08 -0400

Disclaimer: I’m an Apple fanatic. I love its hardware, I love its software. I’ve evangelized the Mac platform to my friends, family and coworkers and I’m directly responsible for “switching” at least a dozen of them since becoming a believer myself in 2002. So, after you read this post, don’t try to claim I’m an Apple hater, because nothing could be further from the truth.

So, yesterday the iPhone 2.0 software and iPhone 3G were announced at Apple’s World Wide Developer Conference, and both will hit the streets sometime in early July. Both software and hardware get some significant upgrades: faster connectivity, more services to connect to, 3rd party applications, true geolocation with A-GPS, etc. These upgrades come at a significantly lower upfront cost to consumers: $199 and $299 for the different memory capacities, 8GB and 16GB respectively.

New Hardware Business Models

Public Knowledge Raises Concerns Over Verizon Wireless Purchase of Alltel

Webmaster — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 11:37:13 -0400

For Immediate Release: June 5, 2008

The following statement is attributed to Gigi B. Sohn, president and co-founder of Public Knowledge:

“The Verizon Wireless purchase of Alltel raises serious questions for consumers that will have to be addressed through antitrust analysis, and through public-interest conditions by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).

FCC Order Illuminates D Block Hybrid Difficulties

Art Brodsky — Mon, 19 May 2008 16:59:58 -0400

It’s a shame the Federal government is trying to take the round-about route in establishing a new network for first responders. Then the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) wouldn’t be forced into the tortuous square peg-round hole exercise it’s going through now to figure out how to get private industry to pay for an emergency-quality broadband network to be only sporadically used for emergencies.

Some of the FCC Commissioners seem to feel that way also. As Commissioner Robert McDowell said last week when the FCC asked for a new round of ideas to try to fix the failed D-block auction, public safety isn’t using half of the 97 MHz it has now due to a lack of funds and lack of coordination. The current squabbling on the D-Block auction is over only 10 MHz, albeit a desirable 10 MHz in the 700 MHz band that will be used by TV broadcasters until next February.

Public Knowledge In The Know -- May, 15 2008

Mehan Jayasuriya — Thu, 15 May 2008 17:24:21 -0400

What’s New: