Page 1 2 3 Page 1 2 3 | FRIDAY - APRIL 28, 2006 - ISSUE NO. 210 |
Dear friends of Wireless Messaging, There is a lot of interesting news this week. Plans for the AAPC Wireless Forum in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina are shaping up. If you haven't registered and made your travel arrangements yet, please do so ASAP. (Yes, I have done mine.) You don't want to miss this event. I am looking forward to seeing old friends and making new ones. I have been corresponding with a colleague in Australia who will be attending. I am looking forward to meeting him in person. I am also helping him set up meetings with various vendors. So please check out the updated AAPC schedule of events immediately following this section. I hope to see you there. Here are this week's headlines:
I am hoping to hear from some of my EMMA colleagues about their meeting in Athens, Greece this week. Maybe I can have something in next week's newsletter about that.
Ogo a go in Germany with CT-17 for 1&1 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.) MORE PAGES
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| WIRELESS MESSAGING NEWS |
Revolutionary New Parking Service Launches In UK
ParkMagic Bring In-Car “Pay&Display” Service to UK
2006-04-26
Following the phenomenally successful ParkMagic public pilot and live launch in Ireland during 2005 ParkMagic announces the immediate availability of the service to Parking Operators and Local Authorities across the United Kingdom.
From April, in conjunction with PageOne, the UK’s premier business wireless messaging provider, ParkMagic will be available, enabling the deployment of real-time in car “pay and display” style parking payment without the need for meters, IT infrastructure or other capital costs.
“We’re delighted be working with ParkMagic to bring this dynamic service to the UK”, said Chris Jones, Managing Director, PageOne. “Utilising our highly robust, nationwide network, ParkMagic can now offer councils and parking operators across the UK a highly cost effective parking control system. Best of all, ParkMagic requires the minimum of up front infrastructure investment.”
As revolutionary as ParkMagic’s in-car display system is, motorists still find it child’s play to use. No hassles looking for change! No running to the pay and display machine in the rain! A simple phone call will credit the display unit with the amount of time needed, saving motorists both time and effort.
“ParkMagic is about simplicity and usability for all”, added Paul Fitzgerald, Chief Executive ParkMagic. “It is about accessibility and making mobile payment a real and usable payment mechanism for millions. As for how it works - it’s just magic!” adding that the company ethos was to deliver only the best of proven technology but to keep the complexity well hidden.
- end -
About ParkMagic: www.ParkMagic.net
ParkMagic is the world’s first in-car parking permit display system controlled using a mobile phone. The system was created by Philip Hayes and Paul Fitzgerald and following the success of the test-pilot in 2005, is now available to roll out across the United Kingdom and globally to city/county councils. For more information about the ParkMagic system or where ParkMagic will soon be available you can visit www.ParkMagic.net
About PageOne: www.pageone.co.uk
PageOne has been providing award winning wireless messaging solutions for nearly 20 years and has established a track record of leading the field in the introduction of innovative products and services. PageOne owns and operates a UK nation-wide paging network and provides business SMS messaging solutions; PageOne Paging and PageOne Connect respectively.
All PageOne systems are powered by the company’s own flexible platform Oventus, developed to enable the seamless integration of mobile messaging across different networks and technologies. These services have consistently been designed to meet and exceed the demands of an increasingly mobile environment, providing reliable and cost effective communications to thousands of organisations across the government, NHS and major corporate sectors.
Press Contacts UK:
Jason Bird, Stewart-Muir Communications
Tel: +44 (0)20 8971 6400
Email: jason@stewartmuir.com
Press Contacts Ireland:
Laura Kennedy, ParkMagic Public Relations
Tel: + 353 86 172 3893
Email: kennedypr@eircom.net
Source: webitpr
Expanding Horizons; Wireless Venture Partners, Inc. is Striking Forth into New Markets in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Kentucky
LAS VEGAS, April 25 /PRNewswire/—Wireless Venture Partners, Inc., the wireless products and services retailer, is expanding operations into Ohio, Pennsylvania and Kentucky.
"Our successes in the western United States have spurred us to look at new territories and markets of operation," says Kurt A. Swauger, Founder of Wireless Venture Partners (WVP). "These new markets will enable us to set even higher standards of service and product quality."
The primary market targets in each state are as follows: Cleveland and Cincinnati in Ohio, Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania, and Louisville and Lexington in Kentucky. In these markets, WVP, dubbed "America's fastest growing retailer," will offer its suite of wireless products and services, phones, accessories and wireless messaging.
WVP has already found success in western US markets. Since its founding in 2002, WVP worked first with T-Mobile Deutsche Telecom and then with Verizon Wireless. Currently, WVP owns and operates 38 Verizon branded retail locations in the Mid-West US markets, and this partnership is, Swauger says, a stepping stone toward becoming the nation's largest franchised wireless retailer. The company plans to add an additional 179 locations operating in 15 additional states by the end of 2006.
"We're very excited about our forays into these three states," says Swauger. "We're looking forward to leveraging our experience and our partnership with Verizon to provide an unprecedented quality of products and services."
About Wireless Venture Partners, Inc.
Wireless Venture Partners, Inc. (WVP) was founded in 2002 by Kurt A. Swauger, a long-time wireless executive who began his career over 15 years an account manager at Paging Network, Inc. (PAGE) As an exclusive dealer of national wireless carriers, WVP expanded from its initial markets in the western United States to become a leading national wireless retailer serving over 42 US markets in 700 locations. For more information, please visit http://www.wirelessvc.com/.
Contact information:
Kurt A. Swauger
Phone: 702-216-1161
Email: Swauger@WirelessVC.com
Web: http://www.wirelessvc.com/
Source: PR Newswire
CTIA stands against proposal to create 700 MHz national public-safety network
By Jeffrey Silva
Apr 27, 2006
WASHINGTON—The U.S. mobile phone industry opposes a newly unveiled plan to reserve a large block of auction-bound spectrum for a national broadband public safety network, an initiative championed by former wireless executive Morgan O’Brien and designed to bring communications interoperability to first responders frustrated by the inability to talk to each other during large-scale emergencies.
“CTIA believes this new proposal will have the unintended consequences of halting deployment of this much needed communications system,” said Steve Largent, president of the cell phone carrier association.
 Morgan O'Brien |
Largent noted that 24 megahertz at 700 MHz already has been set aside for public safety, and $1 billion of the proceeds from the auction of frequencies in that band are earmarked by Congress to fund first-responder communications.
“A new debate would arrest the progress Congress has made in providing both the spectrum and funding that it has pledged to public safety,” Largent said. “Additionally, this new proposal would deny American consumers the benefits of the spectrum allocation and assignment, both in terms of the billions of dollars in revenue that will flow into the U.S. Treasury, as well as the delivery of new services to more than 200 million U.S. wireless consumers, many of whom rely on their wireless devices for enhanced productivity, safety and security.”
O’Brien, joined by his team of wireless industry and public safety veterans heading startup Cyren Call Communications Corp., today petitioned the Federal Communications Commission to initiate a rulemaking to reserve 30 megahertz in the upper 700 MHz band for a next-generation public safety network that would cover major metropolitan areas as well as small rural communities throughout the country.
Click here to view details of Cyren Call's proposal. Click here to view RCR's previous coverage of this story by Jeffrey Silva.
The FCC and Congress did not comment immediately on the Cyren proposal.
Cyren is headed by the two co-founders of Nextel Communications Inc. (now Sprint Nextel Corp.): O’Brien and Brian McAuley. The spectrum sought by Cyren is being returned by TV broadcasters as part of their transition to digital technology and is slated to be sold by January 2008. The U.S. government, currently facing a massive budget deficit, anticipates raising billions of dollars from the sale of 700 MHz licenses.
O’Brien said there is a narrow opportunity for fixing the interoperability problem, and it will be lost for good if the 30 megahertz is auctioned. He said he plans to travel around the nation to sell his idea to state and local government leaders and first responders themselves.
“There is enormous, bipartisan political support for giving America’s first responders more robust, interoperable communications tools, but until now we have not had the means,” said O’Brien. “The public sector has not had the necessary funding or spectrum to make it happen, and the private sector has not had the incentives. Under this proposal, it will no longer be a question of whether we have the means to enact change, but whether we have the will.”
O’Brien said the 24 megahertz Congress is currently considering is not contiguous and therefore would not accomplish the objective.
At a press conference this morning, O’Brien openly acknowledged his proposal is controversial and that Cyren faces a formidable challenge in changing hearts and minds on Capitol Hill and at the FCC. At the same time, he added, “Opposition is not something that I’m afraid of.”
Cyren envisions a public-private partnership with commercial operators that would underwrite network infrastructure deployment in exchange for leveraging the 700 MHz for wireless business opportunities. First responders and others would have preferential access to the 30-megahertz block during emergencies, but would otherwise occupy a very small portion of network capacity to satisfy day-to-day public-safety requirements.
Under the plan, the FCC would oversee a single licensee—known as the Public Safety Broadband Trust—with the authority to lease capacity in the 700 MHz block (747-762 MHz and 777-792 MHz) to entities responsible for helping construct the national broadband public-safety system. Cyren regards itself as the kind of experienced and qualified third party that could manage the trust, though the selection would be left to the FCC.
While Cyren offers a compelling solution to a public-safety communications interoperability problem that has eluded the FCC, Congress, the Department of Homeland Security and other governmental bodies to date, the proposal faces a number of challenges and likely will need backing from the public-safety community, wireless industry, the Bush administration and Capitol Hill to gain traction.
While CTIA was critical of the Cyren plan, rural cellular carriers appear willing to give it a hard look.
Moreover, O’Brien argues the debate his firm will ignite needs to be viewed in a broader, three-dimensional context in which spectrum is but one component.
“It’s not simply a spectrum problem. It’s a spectrum and funding problem,” said O’Brien. Indeed, safety communications requirements cannot always be consistently accommodated through sometimes erratic budget cycles of state and local governments, including those that are strapped for cash.
The U.S. government wants to auction in coming years the 700 MHz frequencies O’Brien has requested for a national broadband public safety network. The government is betting wireless, cable TV, Internet companies and others will be willing to pay billions of dollars for wireless licenses in frequencies with superb propagation characteristics. Some of the anticipated auction proceeds already have been spoken for in the form of local and federal programs requested by various lawmakers.
“Cyren recognizes that this 700 MHz spectrum has been designated in the Communications Act to be auctioned for commercial purposes. However, it believes that the public interest demands that this designation be revisited and already has committed itself to pursuing legislative relief,” stated the startup.
Source: RCR Wireless News
 FCC Chairman, Kevin Martin |
FCC chairman nominated for new term
Apr 26, 2006
President George W. Bush has tapped FCC Chairman Kevin J. Martin of North Carolina for a second, five-year term on the Commission starting July 1. The White House submitted Martin's name to the US Senate this week for confirmation. Martin says he's honored to be nominated for a second term as a commissioner and as FCC chairman. "This is an exciting time of growth and innovation in the communications sector," Martin said in a statement. "I look forward to working with the Administration, Congress, my fellow commissioners and the talented staff at the FCC to provide all Americans with the services and opportunities offered by the best communications system in the world today." His FCC colleagues issued statements expressing their confidence in Martin's leadership. Martin succeeded Michael Powell as FCC chairman in 2005. In the meantime, politics reportedly is keeping the FCC from having a full slate of commissioners. In February, the White House nominated Republican Robert M. McDowell of Virginia to fill the still-vacant fifth seat on the FCC. The Senate Commerce Committee okayed the telecommunications attorney's nomination in March, but US Senator Mary Landrieu (D-La) reportedly has blocked any of President Bush's non-judicial nominations—including McDowell's—from going forward to a vote by the full Senate. Landrieux is said to be unhappy with the pace of Hurricane Katrina recovery assistance to the Gulf Coast. The situation leaves the FCC split at two Republicans and two Democrats. If the Senate stalemate continues, Martin could continue to serve on the FCC beyond his term's expiration.
Source: ARRL
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Hurricane Communication Devices Inadequate, Pose Danger for Responders
04/26/2006
With only 37 days before the start of the hurricane season, a new report reveals that many emergency responders in eight hurricane-prone states are not equipped with necessary communication gear.
Using government data and news reports, the report released by the First Response Coalition (FRC), "The Imminent Storm 2006: Vulnerable Emergency Communication in Eight Hurricane Zone States," examines the interoperability efforts in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina and Texas.
As forecasters predict an active and dangerous 2006 hurricane season and with lessons learned from last year's Hurricane Katrina, which claimed the lives of over 1,300 people in Louisiana and Mississippi, improving first responder communications has become imperative, said Steven Jones, executive director of the FRC.
"Once again, interoperability has received national attention following a disaster, but as we enter another potentially deadly hurricane season, first responders still can't talk to one another," Jones said.
The report details which of the eight states have implemented successful interoperability plans and which others have only begun to conduct needs assessments.
Mississippi has had 13 meetings to discuss how to merge its 40 radio systems and hasn't yet implemented a plan, the report said. Although Alabama's Emergency Management Agency provides pre-programmed radios to first responders during disasters, it has no statewide network. Georgia has just begun to deploy an $8 million voice-over- Internet protocol network, and a planned 800-megahertz communication system in North Carolina won't be finished until 2010, the report said.
Media reports indicate that representatives from the North Carolina Department of Crime Control and Public Safety and the North Carolina Highway Patrol have classified the report as "incorrect" and "misleading." Calls made to both offices were not returned as well as calls made to agencies and departments from the other seven states.
In addition, the report also noted a large discrepancy on how much funding has been spent on interoperability within the states as there have been different reports showing a wide range of funding – between $200 million and $5 billion – appropriated for interoperability grants.
Another big concern in not being able to communicate is the danger it poses to the emergency responder as well.
"Not only are emergency worker not able to effectively coordinate rescue efforts, but they are compromising their individual safety since they don't have the luxury of having situational awareness," Jones said.
A classic example, Jones said, was during 9/11, when New York firefighters failed to receive evacuation notices from the New York Police Department because the two departments operated with two different radio technologies.
The report offers five recommendations to speed the arrival of communications interoperability for emergency responders:
—Katherine Torres
Source: Occupational Hazards
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