FRIDAY - MAY 14, 2004 - ISSUE NO. 112 | ||
Dear friends of Wireless Messaging and Paging, Most people don't know that back in 1912, Hellmann's mayonnaise was manufactured in England. In fact, the Titanic was carrying 12,000 jars of the condiment scheduled for delivery in Vera Cruz, Mexico, which was to be the next port of call for the great ship after its stop in New York. This would have been the largest single shipment of mayonnaise ever delivered to Mexico. But as we know, the great ship did not make it to New York. The ship hit an iceberg and sank, and the cargo was forever lost. The people of Mexico, who were crazy about mayonnaise, and were eagerly awaiting its delivery, were disconsolate at the loss. Their anguish was so great, that they declared a National Day of Mourning which they still observe to this day. The National Day of Mourning occurs each year on May 5th, and is known, of course, as "Sinko de Mayo." Sorry the joke is a week late. In the news this week are the first-quarter financial reports from Arch and Metrocall. They are in the process of merging, so this might be the last time they report separately. It will be interesting to see what their new corporate name will be. There are a couple of important items from the FCC, and a great addition to the Paging Family Tree, with information about the Pacific Northwest paging companies. If you would like to contribute to paging history, your addition to the tree would be welcome. I have posted the agenda for the SCA Wireless Forum to be held in Myrtle Beach, SC next month. You still have time to register at a reduced rate. I will be moderating an open forum on The Final Merger of Paging. I hope to see you there. By the way, the SCA is really the only pure paging show left and they could use the support of all the manufacturers and vendors of paging equipment. Many of you reading this newsletter still have time to get involved in this year's show. If you are interested, please give me a call and I will put you in touch with the right people at the SCA. Let's all support this important paging event. Now on to the news and views. | Promoting Wireless Messaging, Telemetry, and Paging.
A new issue of The Wireless Messaging Newsletter gets posted on the web each week. A notification goes out by e-mail to subscribers on most Fridays around noon Eastern US time. The notification message has a link to the actual newsletter on the Internet. That way it doesn't fill up your incoming e-mail account. There is no charge for subscription and there are no membership restrictions. Readers are a very select group of wireless industry professionals, and include the senior managers of many of the world's major paging and wireless data companies. There is an even mix of operations managers, marketing people, and engineers, so I try to include items of interest to all three groups. It's all about staying up-to-date with business trends and technology. I regularly get reader's comments, so this newsletter has become a community forum for the paging, and wireless data communities. You are welcome to contribute your ideas and opinions. Unless otherwise requested, all correspondence addressed to me is subject to publication in the newsletter and on my website. NOTE: This newsletter is best viewed at screen resolutions of 800x600 (good) or 1024x768 (better). Any current revision of web browser should work fine. Please notify me of any problems with viewing. This site is compliant with XHTML 1.0 transitional coding for easy access from wireless devices. (XML 1.0/ISO 8859-1.) |
WIRELESS NEWS | |
Metrocall Reports First Quarter 2004 Operating Results 10-May-2004 Quarterly Revenues Increase $3.6 Million to $90.7 Million Alexandria, VA, Monday, May 10, 2004—Metrocall Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: MTOH), a leading provider of paging and wireless messaging services, today announced total revenues for the first quarter of 2004 of $90.7 million and net income available to common shareholders of $7.5 million for the quarter compared to revenues of $87.1 million and net income available to common shareholders of $2.0 million for the quarter ended December 31, 2003. The Company reported basic and diluted earnings per share available to common stockholders of $1.38 and $1.31 respectively compared to basic and diluted earnings per share of $0.39 and $0.37 per share, respectively for the quarter ended December 31, 2003. Total revenues increased $3.6 million from the fourth quarter of 2003 and included both a full quarter’s revenue impact from the November 18, 2003 WebLink acquisition as well as approximately $579,000 of revenues generated from the Company’s consolidated investment in GTES, LLC. GTES, established in February 2004 to provide infrastructure support to the paging industry, is a venture that is 51% owned by Metrocall Ventures, Inc., a Metrocall Holdings subsidiary, and 49% by former management and employees of the paging infrastructure operations of Glenayre, Inc. Metrocall Holdings President & CEO Vincent D. Kelly stated, “Metrocall remains focused on servicing and retaining our core direct subscriber base. However, the paging and wireless messaging sector continues to face significant competitive pressures from existing paging suppliers and competing mobile communications technologies.” Total revenues were $90.7 million and were comprised of revenues from Metrocall’s “legacy” operations of $72.1 million, revenues associated with the operations of the assets acquired from WebLink Wireless in November 2003 of $18.0 million and GTES LLC revenues of $0.6 million. These compared to pro forma fourth quarter 2003 total revenues of $97.5 million assuming that the WebLink transaction had occurred on October 1, 2003. Kelly further stated, “Our operating results were also influenced by three strategic activities in addition to our ongoing sales and customer service initiatives, yet are each important to our business plan: the integration of the major assets of WebLink Wireless; the expenses incurred related to the preparation of the proposed Metrocall/Arch Wireless Merger agreement and our investment in GTES.” Total operating expenses including, cost of products sold, service, rent and maintenance, selling and marketing and general and administrative expenses for the first quarter of 2004 totaled approximately $65.9 million, an increase of approximately $5.7 million from reported fourth quarter operating expenses, but a pro-forma decrease of $4.3 million from the fourth quarter of 2003 had WebLink’s operating results been included for the full quarter. Metrocall also continued to expense merger related deal costs as incurred. Operating expenses included approximately $1.2 million in general and administrative expenses related to legal and other expenses associated with the proposed merger between Metrocall and Arch Wireless, Inc. and $421,000 related to the operations of GTES. Kelly continued, “Metrocall has been able to exceed our first quarter cost containment and integration targets with respect to the WebLink Wireless acquisition. We expect to realize further recurring cost savings as the integration continues during throughout 2004.” Metrocall reported a decline of 239,522 units in service during the first quarter to 3,225,422. This reduction was comprised of 221,811 traditional paging units and 17,711 advanced (two-way) messaging units. Of the subscriber unit reduction, approximately 37.9% and 62.1% were from direct and indirect distribution channels, respectively. Average revenue per direct and indirect unit in service was $7.24 for traditional and $18.69 for advanced messaging, representing an increase of $0.15 and a decrease of $3.48 per unit, respectively from the three months ended December 31, 2003. The reduction in advanced ARPU reflects a full quarter of operations and contribution from the WebLink carrier services unit. This unit provides traditional and advanced messaging services on a wholesale basis to other telecommunications and paging carriers and generates lower average revenue per unit statistics because the Company is not required to invoice or provide customer service to the end user receiving the service. As of March 31, 2004, Metrocall had cash and cash equivalents of $14.7 million, no long-term debt securities and $6.7 million aggregate liquidation value of redeemable series A preferred outstanding, all which will be redeemed on May 17, 2004. Upon the completion of the May 17th redemption, Metrocall will be debt free, having fully redeemed $140 million of original principal in debt and preferred stock in just over a year and a half since emerging from its restructuring. On March 29, 2004, Metrocall announced the execution of a definitive merger agreement with Arch Wireless, Inc. ("Arch"). Under terms of the agreement, Metrocall shareholders will receive $150 million in cash for 2 million shares of Metrocall common stock and a new holding company will be formed to own both Arch and Metrocall of which Arch and Metrocall shareholders will own approximately 72.5% and 27.5%, respectively. The merger is subject to shareholder and various regulatory approvals. Arch and Metrocall have made various applications for these approvals and are currently developing a joint proxy/registration statement to obtain shareholder approvals. Arch and Metrocall anticipate the merger to be completed in the second half of 2004. About Metrocall Wireless, Inc. Safe Harbor Statement Under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 Source: Metrocall Press Release Arch Wireless Reports First Quarter Operating Results WESTBOROUGH, Mass., May 6 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/—Arch Wireless, Inc. (Nasdaq: AWIN; BSE: AWL), a leading wireless messaging and mobile information company, today announced consolidated net income of $4.9 million, or $0.24 per share, for the quarter ended March 31, 2004, compared to consolidated net income of $6.1 million, or $0.30 per share, for the first quarter of 2003. Consolidated revenues for the first quarter of 2004 were $124 million, compared to $165 million for the first quarter of 2003. "While the wireless messaging industry remains competitive, we continued to make steady improvements to our network operations, business processes and customer service, resulting in a 24% decline in total operating expenses from the same quarter a year earlier," said C. Edward Baker, Jr., chairman and chief executive officer. Baker added that Arch's units in service disconnect rate continued to improve during the quarter. Arch reported a net decline of 259,000 messaging units in service during the first quarter of 2004, comprised of 246,000 one-way messaging units and 13,000 two-way messaging units. Messaging units in service totaled 4,178,000 at March 31, 2004, with 3,516,000 direct units in service and 662,000 indirect units in service. During the first quarter, average revenue per direct unit in service was $10.35 compared to $3.70 per indirect unit in service. J. Roy Pottle, executive vice president and chief financial officer, said Arch continued to strengthen its financial position during the first quarter through the reduction of operating expenses and repayment of debt. Pottle noted that the company's wholly owned subsidiary, Arch Wireless Holdings, Inc. (AWHI), completed optional redemptions totaling $20 million of its 12% Subordinated Secured Compounding Notes due 2009. "With the completion of an additional optional redemption of $20 million compounded value of 12% Notes on April 30, 2004," he added, "AWHI has redeemed $40 million compounded value of the 12% Notes since January 1, 2004 and, as of today, there is $20 million in aggregate compounded value of the notes outstanding." Pottle also noted: "On April 28, 2004, AWHI announced its intention to redeem the final portion of its 12% Notes on May 28, 2004. Upon completion of the May 28 redemption, Arch will be debt free, having fully redeemed $300 million of original principal within two years of emerging from its restructuring." On March 29, 2004, Arch announced the execution of a definitive merger agreement with Metrocall Holdings, Inc. ("Metrocall"). Under terms of the agreement, a new holding company will be formed to own both Arch and Metrocall of which Arch and Metrocall shareholders will own approximately 72.5% and 27.5%, respectively. The merger is subject to shareholder and various regulatory approvals. Arch and Metrocall have made various applications for these approvals and are currently developing a joint proxy/registration statement to obtain shareholder approvals. Arch and Metrocall anticipate the merger to be completed in the second half of 2004. Arch Wireless, Inc., headquartered in Westborough, Mass., is a leading wireless messaging and mobile information company with operations throughout the United States. It offers a full range of wireless messaging and wireless e-mail services, including mobile data solutions for the enterprise, to business and retail customers nationwide. Arch provides services to customers in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Canada, Mexico and in the Caribbean principally through a nationwide direct sales force, as well as through indirect resellers, retailers and other strategic partners. Additional information on Arch is available on the Internet at http://www.arch.com. Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act: Statements contained herein or in prior press releases which are not historical fact, such as statements regarding Arch's expectations for future operating performance and completion of its pending merger with Metrocall, are forward- looking statements for purposes of the safe harbor provisions under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that may cause Arch's actual results to be materially different from the future results expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expectations include, but are not limited to, declining demand for its paging products and services, Arch's ability to continue to reduce operating expenses and maintain operating margins, Arch's future capital needs, competitive pricing pressures, competition from both traditional paging services and other wireless communications services, government regulation, reliance upon third party providers for certain equipment and services, as well as other risks described from time to time in Arch's periodic reports and registration statements filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Although Arch believes the expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, it can give no assurance that its expectations will be attained. Arch disclaims any intent or obligation to update any forward- looking statements. Source: Arch Wireless News Release | |
READER'S COMMENTS | |
Brad, I enjoyed looking at your paging family tree and appreciate the amount of work that went into it. As a former regional technical manager of AirSignal (everything east of the Mississippi, including Kansas City, Dallas and Minneapolis/St Paul) I have special interest in roots and branches. The breakup of AirSignal was very complicated since MCI parted it out. It was not sold whole to McCaw. Philadelphia and East Florida were sold to Contact which I believe was then bought by MobileMedia. Minneapolis was not sold to McCaw either. There was nothing left of the Florida operation by the time I was bought by MobileMedia (I was at MobileComm at this time) in 1996. There were parts of Philadelphia left including one of the technicians, Malcolm Hunter. Malcolm is still in Philadelphia some 25 years later. To further complicate the issue, McCaw parted out its various pieces of AirSignal. The west coast of Florida went to Dial Page of Charlotte, which then went to MobileMedia. Atlanta, Cleveland, Dallas, Houston, Pittsburgh, Washington, New York and Boston went to MCCA in '86. Complicated? You bet! After 26 years in paging (I started with AirSignal July 1st, 1978 and ended with Arch Jan 9th, 2004), I have seen the growth and death of an industry. I have no regrets. I knew paging was doomed some time ago. When it became easier to get a hold of the technicians in the field by calling them on their cell phones, I knew the gig was up. I know that a lot of ex-paging people claim that the industry could have done things differently and the outcome would have been different, but the reality is technology is Darwinistic. I was watching the Senate hearings on revising the Communications Act of 1996 on C-Span last night. The Chairman of Verizon made the statement that he would not bet on the future of wireline telephone. He asked the Senators why should Verizon invest any money into a technology that is outdated and has such a limited future. On the same note, BellSouth just told Georgia it was abandoning all pay phones in the state that it wasn't contractually obligated to maintain, and those they are going to pay someone else to maintain until the contract expires. So paging is not the only communications medium with a limited life. Yes, paging will remain as a niche and there will still be millions of pagers for some time and some companies will continue to make money, but it is going to be a tough row to hoe. Campbell |
SCA WIRELESS FORUM 2004 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
An excellent opportunity for wireless carriers big and small, suppliers, and network providers in the competitive wireless industry to network and learn from one another at the newest resort in Myrtle Beach! Join us for SCA's Wireless Forum 2004, June 2-4, at the NEW MARRIOTT RESORT AND GRANDE DUNES. The resort has more amenities than any other destination in the Carolinas. Activities include:
. . . or the simple but priceless pleasure of sitting on a pristine beach and soaking up the South Carolina sun. Combine these first-class accommodations and excellent conference facilities with the premier wireless and paging conference on the East Coast and make your plans now to attend!
Sponsorship and exhibitor opportunities are available. Contact linda@scawireless.com or call 910-452-0006. DON'T MISS THIS CHANCE TO EXPAND YOUR OPPORTUNITIES IN THE WIRELESS MESSAGING WORLD! | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
SCA AGENDA
|
FEATURED ADVERTISERS | |||||||||||||||||||||
Advertiser Index | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Building on its long success story in 1-way paging, Advantra International has become the expert in designing and manufacturing the most advanced and lowest cost ReFLEX™ radio modems for 2-way data-communication. The company also focuses on offering total telemetry solutions. Advantra thanks its solid reputation to its world-renowned development team, state-of-the-art manufacturing, excellent customer service and its proven track-record.
| ||||||||||||||||||||
WANTED USED MOTOROLA PAGING EQUIPMENT AND INSTALLATION ACCESORIES
| WANTED Quintron / Glenayre QT-7795 any vintage parts or chassis Universal exciters and freq. TXC-TCC controllers. UHF link receivers Angie: 1-800-842-1950 Ext: 6411 | ||||||||||||||||||||
Motorola Introduces Two New Pagers Ideal for Health Care, Hospitality, Manufacturing, and Utilities Markets Motorola's newest one-way pagers—the Advisor II pager and the LS355 pager—are ideal for users in demanding business environments who need a convenient and cost effective way to stay in touch. Both the Advisor II pager and the LS355 pager were developed for use in hospitals and medical facilities, manufacturing environments, utilities, hospitality applications, campus settings, and for businesses that own and operate their own paging systems.
Both the Advisor II pager and the LS355 pager are available in POCSAG, UHF or VHF models and ship with a one-year standard warranty. As part of the continued support of these pagers, Motorola offers a two-year Express Service Plus program. This feature provides hardware repair coverage for two years beyond the standard one-year warranty for a total of three years of pager repair coverage. Both pagers are available through Motorola Authorized Resellers. MOTOROLA and the Stylized M Logo are registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. All other product or service names are the property of their respective owners. © Motorola, Inc. 2003. | Complete Technical Services For The Ira Wiesenfeld, P.E.
| ||||||||||||||||||||
Advertise Here Your company's logo and product promotion can appear right here for 6 months. It only costs $500 for a full-size ad in 26 issues—that's $19.23 an issue. (6 month minimum run.) Details about the various advertising plans can be read here. | |||||||||||||||||||||
Authentium's COMMAND Antivirus™ Authentium's representative in Mexico:
Enrique Llaca | |||||||||||||||||||||
A fast and reliable alarming system is an indisputable prerequisite for emergency fire and rescue services to respond successfully and efficiently. State-of-the-art paging enables groups as well as individuals to be alerted. The Quattrino Voice and Memo two tone pagers are suitable for everyone, even for those working in an emergency during severe weather conditions. Continual further development of previous popular models has resulted in a practical, reliable and user-friendly device, innovatively housed with ergonomic operating controls. Design elements include a very long standby function and weather proofing to the European IP54 specifications. I am an authorized Manufacturer Representative for Swissphone. Please contact me directly for any additional information. |
ReFLEX Two-Way Paging/Data Messaging Systems Technical Services support for existing paging systems SIMULCAST SYSTEMS ARE OUR SPECIALTY!! call (217) 221-9500 or e-mail sales@AdvancedRF.biz 301 Oak St., Suite 2-46A, Quincy, IL 62301 | ||||||||||||||||||||
Please click on the image above for more information. | |||||||||||||||||||||
WANTED 900 MHz PageThru™
| |||||||||||||||||||||
|
Thank you to all of Brad's readers who provided equipment and leads for my last want list. I continue to search out and recreate early wireless e-mail systems from the 80s and 90s and am looking to acquire the following:
If you have any of the above or a lead on same please contact us.
| ||||||||||||||||||||
![]() AAPC’s Mission Statement Defines Purpose
Our industry must move forward together or we will perish individually. If you want to get involved, please click here. Come and join us! The AAPC "newsroom" is a great source of information. The AAPC also hosts the Paging Technical Committee site. There is a lot of good paging industry information here. Click on the logo above to get a membership application. | High-speed simulcast paging with protocols such as POCSAG and FLEX™ requires microsecond accuracy to synchronize the transmission of digital paging signals. ![]() Zetron's Simulcast System uses GPS timing information to ensure that the broadcasted transmissions between the nodes of the Simulcast System and associated transmitters are synchronized to very tight tolerances. This system is ideal for public or private paging system operators that use multiple transmitters and wish to create new paging systems or to build out existing systems into new regions. For more information about Zetron's High Speed Simulcast Paging System, the Model 600 and Model 620, go to: www.zetron.com/paging.
| ||||||||||||||||||||
Prism Message Gateway Systems Your Choice of Options
Popular Choice for Domestic and International
Logical Choice
Go ahead… be choosy… choose Prism Systems International
| ![]() MAXPage
Commtech Wireless introduces MAXPage, a desktop paging terminal packed with features. Alpha, Numeric, Tone, & Voice Serial Interface Telephone Interface Alarm Inputs Features*
*Some of the features listed are optional and are not supplied as standard For more information, simply fill out the feedback form or contact us on the details below.
| ||||||||||||||||||||
Download Mr. Mercer's resumé. | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Protect your Internet-enabled paging system! The Hark SAFe is a hardware firewall with SPAM and virus blocking designed to protect email servers, corporate intranets, and unified messaging systems like the Hark Omega Messaging and IPT products. System includes a Linux based operating system with Web-based configuration (no keyboard and monitor needed!). Price is $995.00 including hardware! Firewall protects your Internet enabled paging system:
SPAM blocker eliminates un-wanted email:
Virus blocker:
| ||||||||||||||||||||
Daviscomms USA Inc. is your direct connection to Daviscomms (S) Pte Ltd., the leading pager manufacturer in the world with many years experience in Engineering, Design, and Manufacturing of highly-reliable, premium-quality FLEX and POCSAG Alphanumeric and Numeric pagers. Daviscomms offers unparalleled quality, features and functions. We perform our own stringent quality testing as well as certification by Underwriters Laboratories (UL) to meet all of their standards. All of our paging products meet FCC and IC Standards for use in the USA and Canada. Our manufacturing facility, located in Malaysia, is a 40,000 square foot, state-of-the-art facility. Customers, globally, choose Daviscomms for our QUALITY, RELIABILITY, ON-TIME DELIVERY, COMPETITIVE PRICING and our TOTAL COMMITMENT to providing the best value for their needs.
At Daviscomms, we are proud to provide our customers with end-to-end manufacturing solutions while delivering superior quality and support. Daviscomms is at the forefront of the industry with its commitment to leading-edge technology, cost-effective manufacturing and the highest degree of customer service. Daviscomms delivers low cost, high volume manufacturing solutions to our customers. We help maximize time-to-market objectives while minimizing procurement, materials management, and manufacturing costs. For information about our contract manufacturing services or our Bravo-branded line of numeric and alphanumeric pagers, please call Bob Popow, our Director of Operations for the Americas, 480-515-2344. (Scottsdale, Arizona) or visit our website www.daviscommsusa.com. |
RTS Wireless ADVX System Programming Concepts, Inc. provides authorized RTS ADVX Wireless Gateway Support & Enhancements. Our RTS lab includes source code control, development tools, and test beds for all deployed RTS systems. Call now to sign-up for our first class support of your aging RTS system. More info ... PCI (www.programmingconcepts.com) has been in business for 24 years providing custom application programming for medium to large businesses. PCI's primary business segments include web enabled application development, financial industry systems, telephony (IVR, CTI, and Wireless), Secure Enterprise Instant Messaging System, Microsoft Customer Relationship Management (MS-CRM) Applications, and a wide variety of commercial applications. Contact Sales sales@programmingconcepts.com | ||||||||||||||||||||
DX Radio Systems, Inc. manufactures high quality, high specification type communications products. The following is a list of products that DX Radio Systems, Inc. manufactures or supplies as a single supplied product and can be included as part of a turnkey system:
Performance that is tough to find anywhere at a price you can afford.
| |||||||||||||||||||||
PAGING FAMILY TREE | |||||||||||||||||||||
1) Telecomm Systems, Inc. (TSI) was owned by Les Smith in Eugene, Oregon. He operated paging, telephone answering service, and RCC mobile phone service in most of the state, with offices in several cities. TSI began in 1953, but paging came later. 2) Another company, headquartered in Portland, built a statewide paging system. The name of the parent company was Port Services, Inc. (not shown). The owner was Al Herman. His primary business involved services to ships at the Port of Portland. The paging companies were something of a hobby. The statewide paging system that Port Services operated had local names in each region:
3) Telecomm Systems, Inc. purchased this family of paging companies from Port Services in 1985. At the time, Rich Pierce managed the paging operations for Port Services. TSI kept Rich Pierce and promoted him to President and General Manager of the combined company. I was with TSI when it purchased the paging companies from Port Services in 1985, and moved from Eugene to Portland to oversee the integration and expansion of the two systems as the Regional Technical Manager (it was a funny title—I was the Technical Manager of the entire operation, both old and new—there was no other region). I reported directly to Rich. 4) Under Rich's leadership, TSI continued to grow:
5) Meanwhile, US West had been operating paging in all 14 states where it offered telephone service. US West decided to discontinue its paging operation, and sold it to a newly formed company called Westlink. The principals at Westlink (at least some of them) had been running the paging operation for US West Paging. I can't recall their names. 6) The owners of TSI sold the company to Westlink in 1995. As the sale was nearing completion, I resigned from TSI to assume responsibilities as Director of Technical Services for another paging company, called Tele-Waves, headquartered in Yakima, Washington. 7) Westlink sold its entire operation to Arch Paging shortly thereafter—either 1996 or 1997. 8) Tele-Waves is still in existence. I left the company in 2002. This information was prepared for Brad Dye's Paging Family Tree by: Bob Young, President The Paging Family Tree continues to grow, thanks to many helpful messages from readers. Can you help? |
MORE NEWS | ||
ITA, AMTA to coordinate paging, special-emergency frequencies May 07, 2004 12:35 PM EST WASHINGTON—The FCC’s Wireless Telecommunications Bureau said Thursday it had certified the Industrial Telecommunications Association and the American Mobile Telecommunications Association as frequency coordinators in the 929-930 MHz paging frequencies and the special-emergency frequencies below 512 MHz. “After careful consideration of the information before us, we are persuaded that ITA has the qualifications necessary to follow the rules and regulations in performing frequency coordination in the 929-930 MHz paging and special-emergency categories. We therefore grant ITA’s request for certification to provide frequency coordination,” said D’wana Terry, chief of the public safety and critical-infrastructure division of the FCC’s Wireless Telecommunications Bureau, and Roger Noel chief of the WTB mobility division. “Since AMTA has already requested certification for these categories in the context of this proceeding, we hereby certify AMTA to coordinate frequencies in these two categories.” ITA filed its request June 27, 2002. In comments, AMTA did not oppose ITA’s request but asked that it too be certified. Both entities are currently frequency coordinators for other private-wireless bands. A frequency coordinator is a private-sector entity that recommends which channels should be used in an area taking into consideration other users and interference concerns. The Federal Communications Commission began certifying multiple coordinators in 1997. Because many different organizations may believe that a certain channel is available for use, frequency coordinators are required to communicate on a daily business which frequencies they intend to assign and to whom. “To encourage and facilitate the cooperation between in-category coordinators, we will require that each coordinator communicate at least once each business day with each other in-category coordinator. Even on days that there is no coordination, communication between coordinators is required,” said Terry and Noel. Prior to the wireless bureau’s decision, the Personal Communications Industry Association was the only certified frequency coordination in the 900 MHz paging frequencies, and PCIA and the International Municipal Signal Association/International Association of Fire Chiefs were the only certified frequency coordinators for the special-emergency frequencies. Source: RCR Wireless News For the complete FCC order in "pdf" format click here.
FCC PROPOSES RULES TO FACILITATE WIRELESS BROADBAND Washington, D.C. —In an initiative to increase the use of radio spectrum to provide greater service to the American public, the Commission today proposed to allow unlicensed devices to operate in the broadcast television spectrum at locations where the spectrum is not in use by television stations. In order to ensure that no interference is caused to TV stations and their viewers, the Commission proposed to require unlicensed devices to incorporate “smart radio” features to identify unused TV channels. These proposals advanced by the Commission are intended to allow the development of new and innovative types of unlicensed broadband devices and services for businesses and consumers by utilizing vacant spectrum that is particularly well suited for these purposes. Due to the physics of signal propagation, transmissions in the TV band can travel farther and can better penetrate into buildings than transmissions in the spectrum where existing unlicensed wireless broadband operations are permitted. As a result, allowing unlicensed operations in the TV bands could benefit wireless internet service customers by extending the service range of current providers’ (WISPs) existing operations, particularly in rural and underserved areas. The Commission believes that by carefully tailoring this initiative to protect incumbent television service, it provides a balanced proposal for the American public, for WISPs and for television station operators. These proposals also have the potential to provide benefits to broadcasters as well, as they may facilitate the provision of interactive TV services. Part 15 of the Commission’s rules permits the operation of unlicensed radio transmitters on a non-harmful interference basis to authorized services. Accordingly, any such uses would have to be on a strict non-harmful interference basis, and the Commission proposed specific technical requirements to ensure that TV reception is not impaired. The Commission’s Part 15 rules have enabled the development of a large number and variety of devices including wireless computer networking cards, wireless connections to printers and keyboards, and wireless headsets and computer connections for cellular and PCS phones. Many of these devices currently operate in the 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands. In the Notice, the Commission proposed to classify the unlicensed broadband devices that could be used in the TV bands into two general functional categories. The first category would consist of lower power “personal/portable” unlicensed devices, such as Wi-Fi like cards in laptop computers or wireless in-home local area networks. The second category would consist of higher power “fixed/access” unlicensed devices that are generally operated from a fixed location and may be used to provide a commercial service such as wireless broadband internet access. The Commission proposed to allow both of these types of operations in the TV spectrum, provided appropriate measures are taken to ensure that operations are limited to unused TV channels. Different interference avoidance requirements are proposed for these two different types of unlicensed broadband applications. These proposals should provide flexibility to permit a wide range of unlicensed broadband uses and applications and ensure that the most appropriate and effective mechanisms are in place to limit such unlicensed use to only unused TV channels. Action by the Commission May 13, 2004, by Notice of Proposed Rule Making (FCC 04-113). Chairman Powell, Commissioners Abernathy, Copps, and Adelstein, with Commissioner Martin Concurring. Separate statements issued by Chairman Powell, Commissioners Copps, Martin, and Adelstein. Office of Engineering and Technology contact: Mr. Hugh L. Van Tuyl, (202) 418-7506, e-mail Hugh.VanTuyl@fcc.gov. ET Docket Nos. 04-186 and 02-380. _ FCC_ Source: FCC News Release |
FEATURED ADVERTISERS SUPPORTING THE NEWSLETTER | ||||||||||||||||
TGA Technologies
| GL3000 Cards
Transmitters
Motorola PURC UHF RF Trays & UHF 110W PAs, tested and ready to ship. Motorola PURC Advanced Control Units, tested and ready to ship.
| |||||||||||||||
![]()
www.gtesinc.com GTES is the only Glenayre authorized software support provider to the paging industry. The GTES team consists of highly qualified and seasoned associates who were formerly a part of Glenayre's paging infrastructure support and engineering operations. We are poised and ready to "Partner" with you to ensure the viability of your network, reduce your long-term cost of ownership, and to provide future solutions for profitability. GTES will offer product sales, maintenance services, software development and product development to the wireless industry. GTES SUITE OF PRODUCTS GTES Partner Program Product Sales On-Site Services Software Development Product Training CALL US TODAY FOR YOUR SUPPORT NEEDS | Intelligent Paging & Mobile Data Hardware & Software Selective is a developer and manufacturer of highly innovative paging receiver/decoders and mobile data equipment. The PDT2000 Paging Data Terminal is THE MOST INTELLIGENT PAGING RECEIVER IN THE MARKET. The PDT2000 is a large display pager designed for desktop or in-vehicle mounting and is widely used by emergency services and in onsite paging systems for forklift dispatch etc. All of the following capabilities are standard features of the PDT2000 and of our other paging data receivers:
Our mobile data equipment includes a range of Mobile Data Terminals (MDTs) which may be interfaced to a variety of wireless networks including trunked and conventional radio, GPRS & CDMA cellular, Mobitex etc. Automatic Vehicle Location (AVL) and GPS solutions, Dispatch & Messaging software. We offer mobile communications dealers and systems integrators a "fast to market" job dispatch and job management capability. Specialised local area paging systems, paging interception and message reprocessing software, field force automation and mobile dispatch solutions. We export worldwide.
I am an authorized Manufacturer Representative for Selective Communications. Please contact me directly for any additional information. | |||||||||||||||
Paging Training Course Specially designed course for sales, marketing, and administration personnel. Engineers will only be admitted with a note signed by their mothers, promising that they will just listen and not disrupt the class. (This is supposed to be funny!) This is a one-day training course on paging that can be conducted at your place of business. Please take a look at the course outline to see if you think this might be beneficial in your employees: Paging training course outline. I would be happy to customize the content to meet your specific requirements. Although it touches on several "technical" topics, it is definitely not a technical course. I used to teach the sales and marketing people at Motorola Paging and they appreciated an atmosphere where they could ask technical questions without being made to feel like a dummy and without getting a long convoluted overly-technical answer that left them more confused than before. A good learning environment is one that is non-threatening. Let me know if you would like to receive a quotation, or if you would like to have any additional information. | ||||||||||||||||
Satellite Uplinking Service
Glenayre Technical Support
Call or write today to learn more Alan Carle, Dir of Engineering 888-854-2697 ext. 272 or | CUSTOM APPLICATIONS
Please call me so we can discuss your need or your idea. Or contact me by e-mail for additional information. |
WI-FI NEWS | |
Wi-Fi Roundup May 12, 2004 Wi-Fi continues to be a hot topic in the wireless industry. Several companies have announced deals and deployments recently; here's a glimpse of what has been happening in the sector.
Source: Wireless Week |
UNTIL NEXT WEEK | ||||||||||||||||||||
FLEX, ReFLEX, FLEXsuite, and InFLEXion, are trademarks or registered trademarks of Motorola, Inc. | ||||||||||||||||||||
THE WIRELESS MESSAGING AND PAGING INFORMATION RESOURCE |