Page 1 2 Page 1 2 | FRIDAY - SEPTEMBER 15, 2006 - ISSUE NO. 229 |
Dear friends of Wireless Messaging, Radio Programs Without Radios I have been fascinated by radio communications for most of my life. I remember the first radio that I built from plans that I found in a book in my junior-high school library. As soon as I put the old-fashioned earphone to my ear and heard music, I was hooked. That was well over fifty years ago and here I am still very interested in communications today. Wireless (radio) text and voice messaging has been my main focus for all these years, but the amazing thing now is that there is a popular new communications medium — exactly like radio broadcasting — but there are no radios required. It is called "podcasting." The editors of the New Oxford American Dictionary declared "podcasting" the 2005 word of the year, defining the term as “a digital recording of a radio broadcast or similar program, made available on the Internet for downloading to a personal audio player.” So a podcast is just like a radio program except a tall tower and a high-powered radio transmitter. along with an FCC license, is not needed to send a program out to the public. Practically anyone with a little computer knowledge and access to the Internet can create a podcast.
I have been promising a podcast supplement to this newsletter since January of this year. You may remember my humorous article about The Outhouse where I chuckled at some of the people who resisted installing a modern bathroom inside of their houses. Well, I am once again preparing materials for the podcast. I have a new digital-solid-state-stereo recorder and microphone that I am going to take to Enterprise Wireless 2006 in Orlando, Florida (September 26–28). My plan is to interview as many friends and colleagues as possible, and record some of the presentations. Then back at my desk, I hope to edit all the materials into podcasts that will be included in future newsletters. You don't have to run out and buy an iPod or other MP3 player. It should work just fine, with your computer on the Internet, as long as your computer has speakers. All you will have to do is click on a link to play the podcast — a radio broadcast without a radio. If you don't want to feel left out by this new and popular means of communication, I recommend that you do buy an iPod. They work with both the Windows and Macintosh operating systems. You will find several articles here this week about this new phenomenon. Don't be a tightwad. The new iPods can now play music videos, television programs, and most recently complete movies — in addition to holding your whole CD collection ! Go on — have some fun — download iTunes (it's free) and then buy an iPod. Now on to more news and views. |
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 central 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 web site. I am very careful to protect the anonymity of those who request it. 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.) | |||||||||||
| AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF PAGING CARRIERS |
| |||||||||||||||||||||||
| AAPC BULLETIN | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| FEATURED ADVERTISERS SUPPORTING THE NEWSLETTER |
| AQUIS COMMUNICATIONS, INC.
Engineering Services
Special Projects
Expense Reduction Services
|
| |||||||||
— COMING SOON — | ||||||||||
Wireless Messaging Software
|
Newsletter repair prices—starting at:
**Special pricing on cellular and pager refurbishment**
Ask for Special Newsletter Pricing. Please call: (800) 222-6075 ext. 306 for pricing.
|
|
Daviscomms—Product Examples For information about our Contract Manufacturing services or our Pager or Telemetry line, please call Bob Popow at 480-515-2344, bob@daviscommsusa.com or visit our web site www.daviscommsusa.com
| ||||||||
| NEWS FLASH—SATELLITE FAILURES
DON’T WAIT FOR THE NEXT SATELLITE OUTAGE Allow us to uplink your paging data to two separate satellites for complete redundancy! CVC owns and operates two separate earth stations and specializes in uplink services for paging carriers. Join our list of satisfied uplink customers.
For inquires please call or e-mail Stephan Suker at 800-696-6474 or steves@cvcpaging.com |
 We do the clever stuff in Paging & Wireless Data PDT2000 Paging Data Terminal
LED Moving Message—LED Displays 
Mobile Data Terminals & Solutions
I am an authorized Manufacturer Representative for WiPath Communications. Please contact me directly for any additional information. |
SEE WEB FOR COMPLETE LIST:
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| WIRELESS MESSAGING NEWS |
USA Mobility Deploys Emergency Response Teams and Resources in Preparation for Advancing Storm Season
ALEXANDRIA, Va., Sept. 12 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — USA Mobility, Inc. (Nasdaq: USMO), a leading provider of wireless messaging services, today announced it has deployed Emergency Response Teams and other disaster response resources to key high-risk locations to keep its wireless network operations up and running as the peak of the hurricane storm season rapidly approaches.
With Hurricane Florence, the season's second hurricane, passing Bermuda, and other storms brewing in the South Atlantic, USA Mobility has deployed dozens of well-trained technical and operational personnel to key communications sites throughout the Mid-Atlantic, Southeast and Gulf Coast regions to ensure continuation of customer service in the event of storm-related outages and emergencies.
"Our first-response teams are well-positioned and well-equipped to restore communications services should our network operations incur any disruptions," said Vincent D. Kelly, USA Mobility's president and chief executive officer. "In addition to on-site personnel, we have sent other critical resources to the risk areas," he noted, "including more than 200 mobile and portable generators, eight mobile transmission trailers (also called 'coverage on wheels' or COWs), fuel supplies, and replacement parts."
Peter C. Barnett, chief operating officer, said the Company has also set aside back-up paging numbers for the risk areas that could be made available as emergency "over-dial solutions" (i.e. toll-free access with a PIN number) by critical user groups, such as police, fire and medical personnel. These toll-free numbers will be directed to paging facilities outside the hurricane risk area at the Company's Network Operations Center (NOC) in Plano, Texas. Users would dial the toll-free number, enter their local 7- or 10-digit number, then enter the callback number. The toll-free numbers and instructions have been distributed to "first responder" and medical users, and will be available on the Company's website.
USA Mobility's NOC begins monitoring storms while they are at sea. As a storm approaches, the Center begins providing situation updates to key staff throughout the Company. As the storm makes landfall, the NOC becomes the communications hub within the company and information regarding the storm's impact and affect on USA Mobility's network are communicated to the Emergency Response Teams as well as customers in risk areas.
USA Mobility's paging networks performed exceptionally well last summer in the aftermath of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita and other storms due primarily to paging's unique network architecture, which combines digital satellite control, high-powered transmitters and simulcast technology. As a result, paging services were fully restored within 48 hours in storm-impacted areas while services of most other providers -- including wire line, cellular and broadband -- took much longer. With its distinct network advantages, USA Mobility supplied thousands of additional pagers to federal, state and local emergency teams during last year's storms.
"Our goal this hurricane season is to improve even further on our network's strong performance of a year ago," Barnett added. "We want to ensure that our customers -- including thousands of businesses and commercial enterprises -- can continue to communicate with colleagues and family members as well as reach emergency services personnel if necessary." He added that customers who experience service problems should contact USA Mobility using their normal customer service phone number.
About USA Mobility
USA Mobility, Inc., headquartered in Alexandria, Virginia, is a leading provider of paging products and other wireless services to the business, government, healthcare and emergency response sectors. USA Mobility offers traditional one-way and advanced two-way paging via its nationwide networks covering more than 90% of the U.S. population. In addition, the Company offers mobile voice and data services through Sprint Nextel and Cingular Wireless, including BlackBerry and GPS location applications. The Company's product offerings include wireless connectivity systems for medical, business, government and other campus environments. USA Mobility focuses on the business-to-business marketplace and supplies mobile connectivity solutions to over 80% of the Fortune 1000 companies. For further information visit http://www.usamobility.com.
Safe Harbor 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 the effectiveness of USA Mobility's network operations during hurricanes and weather-related storms, 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 USA Mobility'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 paging products and services, the ability to continue to reduce operating expenses, 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 periodic reports and registration statements filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Although USA Mobility 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. USA Mobility disclaims any intent or obligation to update any forward-looking statements.
CONTACT: Bob Lougee of USA Mobility, 1-703-721-3080
Web site: www.usamobility.com
(USMO)
Source: USA Mobility Press Release
Onset Announces METAmessage Paging for BlackBerry
Solution Provides a Powerful Alternative for Sectors That Depend on Paging Technology and Networks; Retains Paging Simplicity and Reliability
LOS ANGELES, CA — (MARKET WIRE) — September 12, 2006 — CTIA Wireless IT and Entertainment 2006 — Onset Technology, a leading developer of beyond email applications for wireless handsets, announced today the upcoming release of METAmessage Paging software that provides paging simplicity and reliability for users of the BlackBerry® wireless platform from Research In Motion (RIM) (NASDAQ: RIMM) (TSX: RIM). The new capability delivers an alternative to businesses that may be affected by the discontinuance of traditional paging networks or that wish to efficiently add paging capabilities while maintaining only one device.
The solution will be demonstrated at the CTIA show in the BlackBerry booth and at upcoming METAmessage seminars in New York City, Boston, and Washington DC. For more information, call (831) 471-1360 x720.
"Pagers serve over 10 million users who depend on simple, fast, and reliable alerting," said Bill Silver, President of NuTech Integrated Systems in New York City. "By satisfying this user need while adding the power of the BlackBerry platform, this solution will be an irresistible alternative to one-dimensional pager devices and networks which, quite frankly, may not be operating next year."
METAmessage Paging leverages the BlackBerry PIN-to-PIN messaging feature to deliver the following capabilities:
The solution is derived from Onset's METAmessage Emergency Communications technology that has helped numerous agencies and private enterprises ensure uninterrupted messaging in the event of infrastructure failure.
"Millions of people use BlackBerry to stay in touch with important and timely information every day," said Mark Guibert, Vice President, Corporate Marketing, Research In Motion. "METAmessage Paging provides BlackBerry users with yet another convenient method to stay connected while out of the office."
METAmessage is implemented by over 1,400 enterprise customers with over 150,000 users as a complete, out-of-the-box solution for BlackBerry. Emergency Communications is a suite of capabilities for BlackBerry that ensures effective messaging in the event of a catastrophic loss of enterprise network, email, or back-end infrastructure. Professional solutions provide fast access to time-and-billing, CRM, and document-management applications, spell checking, printing anywhere, custom message alerts, and much more.
| Highlighted Links |
| www.onsettechnology.com |
About Onset Technology
Founded in 1997, Onset Technology is the developer of METAmessage® for Wireless -- a unique software solution that gives business users access to virtually any data on their enterprise network using wireless devices such as the BlackBerry Wireless Handheld™ from Research In Motion (RIM). The software is broadly compatible with virtually all wireless devices and servers including those from strategic partners such as Microsoft and RIM, and is sold through a variety of channels including major carriers worldwide. Since its introduction, METAmessage has been widely adopted by Fortune 1000 companies, government agencies, and a range of large service organizations. For more information, visit www.METAmessage.com.
METAmessage® is a registered trademark of Onset Technology. The BlackBerry and RIM families of related marks, images and symbols are the exclusive properties and trademarks of Research In Motion Limited. Other marks are the properties of their respective owners.
Contact
Steve Koontz
831-471-1360 x111
Source: MarketWire
FCC delays decision on emergency alerts
By Jeffrey Silva
Sep 12, 2006
WASHINGTON—Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin Martin agreed to delay a decision on new emergency alert system rules expected to apply for the first time to mobile phone and other communications services. But Martin was silent when confronted by criticism about the agency’s apparent intention to move from a voluntary to mandatory EAS participation. Martin appeared before the Senate Commerce Committee at a hearing on his re-nomination to the FCC.
Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.), lead sponsor of a bill to modernize the nation’s emergency warning system, got a commitment from Martin to hold off on EAS reform after raising concerns about potential problems if the FCC acts before Congress finishes work on the Warning, Alerts and Response Network Act. DeMint said the FCC should not mandate participation in a new EAS regime.
An FCC spokesman declined comment on whether the agency planned to approve mandatory EAS rules. There were indications the FCC was poised to vote on new EAS rules at its Sept. 26 meeting. That is unlikely to occur as a result of Martin’s vow to postpone action on upgrading a Cold War-era public warning system. The FCC has been studying changes to EAS for the past two years.
The Senate today is expected to approve amending the WARN Act to a port security bill. It could be weeks, however, until it is clear whether Congress will be able to pass the WARN Act before adjourning for mid-term elections. A companion House EAS bill has yet to get out of committee.
Sen. Conrad Burns (R-Mont.) said he would send written questions to Martin on why enhanced, location-based wireless 911 is still unavailable in much of the country almost two years after E-911 legislation was signed into law.
Meanwhile, John Kneuer, nominated to head the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, took heat from Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) for failing to lay out a firm timeline to begin awarding grants from a congressionally-authorized $1 billion fund to state agencies for interoperable communications. NTIA is authorized to start making interoperability grants on Oct. 1.
Source: RCR Wireless News
New iPods get bigger, brighter, cheaper
By Mathew Honan
September 12, 2006 3:57 pm ET
 The revamped iPod family. |
Apple on Tuesday announced an update to its top-of-the-line iPod models, releasing two new models with brighter displays, enhanced battery life, new earbuds, and new software features, including games.
The new full-sized iPods come in two versions. The $249 model is equipped with a 30GB hard drive, and offers up to 14 hours of battery life for music playback or up to three and a half hours of video playback. The $349 model has a 80GB hard drive — a new iPod size record — and offers up to 20 hours of music battery life or five and a half hours of video playback time.
“The most important feature we’re adding today is that we’re going to make the iPod more affordable and accessible,” said Jobs, who pointed out that $249 is the lowest price ever for a full-sized iPod model.
Both models feature screens that Apple claims are 60 percent brighter than previous fifth-generation iPod models, and come in either black or white. And both models ship with Apples newly redesigned iPod earbuds.
“We've been working on this for 18 months, studying a thousand ears, to find just the right headphones,” Apple CEO Steve Jobs said at today’s Apple product announcement event.
The iPod’s software has also gotten an update. The iPod’s new search feature lets users use the scroll wheel to input letters for an instant live search of all the content on that iPod. The new Quick Scroll feature displays a rectangular overlay of the letter you’re currently scrolling through, if you’re scrolling quickly through an extremely long list of items.
As with iTunes 7 and the new iPod nanos, these new iPods feature support gapless playback, allowing one track to flow seamlessly to the next without a pause in-between.
Another major new feature supported by these and all other fifth-generation iPods is Apple’s new collection of $5 games, downloadable from the iTunes Store. The games released today are Bejeweled, Cubis 2, Mahjong, Mini Golf, Pac-Man, Tetris, Texas Hold’em, Vortex, and Zuma.
Source: PlayListMag
Microsoft Zune officially revealed
September 14, 2006
Posted by Matthew Miller @ 11:45 am
It is now official, the Microsoft Zune will be out in time for the holidays. I assume this means we'll probably see devices available in November and maybe even October if we are lucky. I was unimpressed with the new Apple iPod announcements since I wanted to see something with a larger display. As a MacBook Pro owner I would probably have been over at the Apple Store that day with a more compelling announcement. Cesar Menendez is a Microsoft employee working on the Zune project and I highly recommend checking out his blog with links to some great Zune coverage. Apparently, some music bloggers were invited to Microsoft campus last week and had a chance to get a sneak peek at the device. I particularly enjoyed the 3hive and Sterogum blog entries.
I now know what will be on my Christmas list, but doubt I'll be able to wait that long and will probably make the purchase as soon as they are available. The larger display, ability to share and purchase tunes via WiFi, and the unlimited subscription service have swayed me to not buy an iPod at this time and wait for the Zune launch. There was no pricing information given for the 30GB media player or more specifics like what type of formats it will be compatible with, what type of connections it uses (USB, miniUSB, or proprietary), so we'll have to keep our eyes on the Zune sites to track down this information as it becomes available. I think I like the brown model and am saving up for mine right now.
Microsoft is definitely trying to help with the "shared community" experience like it obtained with the Xbox Live service and this is actually one feature that I find attractive for the Zune. I will be able to share and receive songs from friends, coworkers, and others and listen to it 3 times over a 3 day period and if I like it then I can tag it to purchase or add to my subscription service right then and there. What a great way to share and discover more songs and artists. If I was a musician I would personally be quite excited about this type of community sharing that should increase exposure for many artists. I know I personally tend to only buy what I know I like and really need a subscription service or this ability to share songs to branch out and find some new, great music.
I also hope that podcasts are supported well on this new platform and music service as the wireless sharing could also be a great way to share and learn about podcasts from others who I hang out with or meet in different situations. I think Microsoft is starting to think outside the box in many areas of the company and look forward to seeing what innovators can do with the backing of a large company. What do you think of the Zune?
Source: ZD Net
| FEATURED ADVERTISERS SUPPORTING THE NEWSLETTER |
 |
|
GTES has recently made the strategic decision to expanding its development activities to include wireless location technologies; a market that researchers forecast could reach $3.6 billion by 2010. In support of this new strategic direction, GTES has developed SHERLOC™ a complete one-stop wireless location service, providing the flexibility of being protocol neutral and network agnostic. Targeted at business customers who need to track their high-value shipments or better manage their service or delivery fleets, SHERLOC™ is a hosted application that combines configuration flexibility with ease of use. GTES is offering SHERLOC™ services both directly and through authorized resellers. If your company has an interest in finding out how location services can enhance your revenue stream, and has the contacts and expertise to make you successful in the location marketplace, please contact us for further information at www.sherlocgps.com and select “Reseller Opportunities,” or call us at 770-754-1666 for more information. www.gtesinc.com GTES is the only Glenayre authorized software support provider in the Paging industry. With over 200 years of combined experience in Glenayre hardware and software support, GTES offers the industry the most professional support and engineering development staff available. Continued Support Programs CALL US TODAY FOR YOUR SUPPORT NEEDS
|
 Prism Message Gateway Systems Your Choice of Options
Popular Choice for Domestic and International
Logical Choice
Go ahead . . . be choosy . . . choose Prism Systems International
Streaming Video from the |
|
| |||||||||||
We at Unication have listened and delivered.
About Unication Co., Ltd.
|
|
| BLOOSTON, MORDKOFSKY, DICKENS, DUFFY & PRENDERGAST, LLP |
BloostonLaw Telecom Update 4 AUCTION 66 WINDS DOWN WITH NEARLY $14 BILLION IN BIDS AFTER 122 ROUNDS: After 122 rounds, the results for the Advanced Wireless Services (AWS-1) auction or Auction No. 66 stood at $13,872,101,200 in gross bids (or $13,693,574,550 in net bids). The auction, which began August 9 with 168 qualified bidders, is offering 1,122 licenses in the 1710-1755 MHz and 2110-2155 MHz bands. The top bidders by net provisionally winning bids (PWBs) are T-Mobile License LLC, with 119 PWBs at $4.2 billion; Verizon Wireless, with 8 PWBs at $2.8 billion; SpectrumCo LLC, with 137 PWBs at $2.4 billion; MetroPCS AWS, LLC, with 8 PWBs at $1.4 billion; and Cricket Licensee (Reauction) Inc., with 99 PWBs at $1.3 billion. The top bidders by number of PWBs are AWS Wireless Inc. (157); SpectrumCo (137); T Mobile (119); Cricket (99); and American Cellular (85). BloostonLaw contacts: Hal Mordkofsky, John Prendergast, Gerry Duffy, and Cary Mitchell. FCC GENERALLY AFFIRMS ACCESS BPL RULES: At its August 3 open meeting, the FCC generally affirmed its rules for Access Broadband over Power Line (BPL) systems while maintaining safeguards against harmful interference to existing radio services. If harmful interference does occur, the Commission said it will take appropriate action to remedy the situation. The decision was adopted in response to a number of petitions for reconsideration of the BPL rules established in October 2004. In the Memorandum Opinion and Order (MO&O), the Commission again acknowledged the significant benefits of Access BPL, reaffirmed its commitment to address interference issues, and reemphasized that the Part 15 rule changes were made to ensure that Access BPL operations do not become a source of interference to licensed radio services. Specifically, the MO&O (1) Affirms the FCC’s rules regarding emission limits for BPL, including its determination that the reduction of emissions to 20 dB below the normal Part 15 emissions limits will constitute adequate interference protection for mobile operations; (2) Denies the request by the amateur radio community to prohibit BPL operations pending further study and to exclude BPL from frequencies used for amateur radio operations; (3) Denies the request by the television industry to exclude BPL from frequencies above 50 MHz; (4) Affirms the July 7, 2006, deadline for requiring certification for any equipment manufactured, imported or installed on BPL systems, with the proviso that uncertified equipment already in inventory can be used for replacing defective units or to supplement equipment on existing systems for one year within areas already in operation; (5) Affirms the requirement that information regarding BPL deployment must be provided in a public database at least 30 days prior to the deployment of that equipment; (6) Adopts changes regarding protection of radio astronomy stations by requiring a new exclusion zone and amending consultation requirements for these stations; (7) Adopts changes to provide for continuing protection for aeronautical stations that are relocated; and (8) Denies the request by the aeronautical industry to exclude BPL operating on low-voltage lines from frequencies reserved for certain aeronautical operations. BloostonLaw contacts: Hal Mordkofsky and John Prendergast. |
Source: Blooston, Mordkofsky, Dickens, Duffy and Prendergast, LLP
For additional information, contact Hal Mordkofsky at 202-828-5520 or halmor@bloostonlaw.com
 Continue on to Page 2  |
Managing on-premise and wide area communications systems is challenging for any telecommunications department. For fast, easy and accurate notification, enhance your performance with the Emergin Communication Gateway (ECG). Integrating this suite of wireless messaging software to automate alarm notification, monitoring and dispatch allows decision makers to receive more timely information so they can respond quicker with better results. The ECG serves as a communications hub for the entire organization to dispatch, escalate and acknowledge critical alarms.
CLICK HERE 
