| Wireless News Aggregation |
|
Welcome Back To The Wireless Messaging News |
|
|||||||
This Week's Wireless News (and other stuff) Headlines:
|
NO POLITICS HERE This doesn't mean that nothing is ever published here that mentions a US political party—it just means that the editorial policy of this newsletter is to remain neutral on all political issues. We don't take sides.
FREE TO EVERYONE — SUPPORTED BY READERS A new issue of the Wireless Messaging Newsletter is 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 web. 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 Messaging 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 readers’ comments, so this newsletter has become a community forum for the Paging, and Wireless Messaging 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. I spend the whole week searching the INTERNET for news that I think may be of interest to you — so you won’t have to. This newsletter is an aggregator — a service that aggregates news from other news sources. You can help our community by sharing any interesting news that you find.
Editorial Opinion pieces present only the opinions of the author. They do not necessarily reflect the views of any of advertisers or supporters. This newsletter is independent of any trade association. I don't intend to hurt anyone's feelings, but I do freely express my own opinions. |
|||||||
Remote AB Switches ABX-1 switches are often used at remote transmitter sites to convert from old, outdated and unsupported controllers to the new modern Prism-IPX ipBSC base station controllers. Remotely switch to new controllers with GUI commands. ABX-1 ABX-3 switches are widely used for enabling or disabling remote equipment and switching I/O connections between redundant messaging systems. ABX-3 Common Features:
Prism-IPX Systems LLC. 11175 Cicero Dr., Alpharetta, GA 30022
|
HELP SUPPORT THE NEWSLETTER
|
|||||||
Donate via PayPal
Subscribe Here — It's Free * required field
|
 |
Advertiser Index
|
Service Monitors and Frequency Standards for Sale
(Images are typical units, not actual photos of items offered for sale here.)
|
| CERTIFIED SERVICE CENTER |
 |
Paging Transmitters 150/900 MHz The RFI High Performance Paging Transmitter is designed for use in campus, city, state and country-wide paging systems. Designed for use where reliable simulcast systems where RF signal overlap coverage is critical.
Built-in custom interface for Prism-IPX ipBSC Base Controller for remote control, management and alarm reporting.
Prism-IPX Systems LLC. 11175 Cicero Dr., Alpharetta, GA 30022
|
The Wireless Messaging News
The Board of Advisor members are people with whom I have developed a special rapport, and have met personally. They are not obligated to support the newsletter in any way, except with advice, and maybe an occasional letter to the editor.
Can You Help The Newsletter?
You can help support The Wireless Messaging News by clicking on the PayPal Donate button above. It is not necessary to be a member of PayPal to use this service.
Newspapers generally cost A donation of $50.00 would certainly help cover a one-year period. If you are wiling and able, please click on the PayPal Donate button above . |
|||||||||||||||
| SPECTRUM INTEL |
 |
| PRISM IPX Systems |
 |
||
Thousands of Users Worldwide Depend on Prism IPXOur Customers Trust Us To Make Sure That Their Messages Get Delivered
|
The Humane AI Pin is a bizarre cross between Google Glass and a pagerThe Humane AI pin has no screen, no apps, and a creepy in-your-face camera.RON AMADEO — 11/10/2023, 3:56 PM
Not since Magic Leap has a "next-generation" hardware company been so hyped while showing so little. Everyone in the tech world has been freaking out about this new pocket protector thing that wants to "replace your smartphone." It's called the "Humane AI Pin." As far as we can tell, it's a $700 screenless voice assistant box and, like all smartphone-ish devices released in the last 10 years, it has some AI in it. It's as if Google Glass had a baby with a pager from the 1990s. It's a voice assistant box, so that means it has a microphone and speaker. There's no hot word, and it's not always listening, so you'll be pressing a button to speak to it, and you'll get a response back. There's also a camera, and because you're expected to mount this on your clothing at chest level via a magnetic back piece, you'll be creepily pointing a camera at everyone the whole time you're using it. It claims to be "screenless," but it has a pretty cool 720p laser projection system that seems to function as a fine monochrome screen that projects a smartwatch-like UI onto your hand. It shows some super basic UI elements, like a circular media player or a scrolling wall of text. A few hand gestures, like tapping your fingers together, will let you interact with it. Despite claiming to be able to replace a smartphone, the Humane AI Pin is going back to the Dark Ages and not supporting any apps. We've seen so many devices live and die by their app ecosystems, and the matter-of-fact quote from the presentation was, "We don't do apps." You'll be locked into whatever features and services Humane has built into the Android-based "Cosmos" OS. So if you want to play music, it needs to be from Tidal, a service with 0–2 percent market share, because that's who the Humane people have partnered with. It's unclear if there is any other third-party functionality other than that. Humane's "Cosmos" page shows logos for Slack and then logos from Microsoft and Google, which could mean anything.
Not having a screen, or at least not prioritizing the laser projector screen, means you'll be doing a lot of work to understand what the pin is trying to tell you. There are two different lights on the device—a front one and a top one—that each blinks five or six different colors that all communicate some kind of state, so that's 11 color/location combinations to keep track of. Without a touchscreen, input is also an esoteric affair, with seven tap or swipe gestures you can perform on the front of the pin for things like answering a phone call and changing media tracks. Rather than just seeing and tapping things on a screen, the interaction guide reads like you'll be learning a second language. As much as it looks like a pager, a one-line text output on top of the device would have gone a long way for status communication. As for the hardware specs, this is an aluminum and glass box that runs some kind of eight-core, 2.1 GHz Qualcomm processor. It comes with 4GB of RAM and 32GB of storage. You keep it on your shirt with a magnetic clip that goes on the inside of your shirt, and while this back part is a low-profile magnet, there's also a "battery booster" back that is fatter and will wirelessly transfer electricity through your shirt. With no power-hungry screen, this is probably very light on battery usage. It comes with a battery booster and an exact copy of the AirPods charging case, which will store and charge the main unit. I suspect the processor model is not listed because it's a cheap one. It's hard to know exactly how much processing the AI pin is doing. The spec sheet mentions "accelerated on-device AI," but the presentation says AI responses are "streamed," so presumably, it's not doing much voice processing. They also save a ton of processing power by not needing to keep up with a high-fidelity display. Considering that the cheapest Apple Watch is surely faster than this, must pay for an expensive display, and still comes in at $300, it's hard to see where the $700 price tag comes from. Yet another thing that does voice commands
I guess we'll start with what Humane prioritizes: voice commands. You can press the front touch button and start talking to get a response. It's the same form factor as a Star Trek communicator. Humane's website recaps some of the functionality in a hushed, awestruck video that seemingly is unaware of the Google Assistant, Siri, Alexa, Cortana, Bixby, Nuance, and every other voice thing that has existed for years. Some of the response times shown in the official video are not great, with the pin taking several seconds to come back with a reply. At one point the presenters ask, "When is the next eclipse, and where is the best place to see it?" The presenters, while waiting for a response, then have enough time to explain what's going to happen and say, "This is an AI browsing the web, grabbing knowledge from all over the Internet." Then the response finally comes back. The Google Assistant answers the same question in less time, with a helpful map from nasa.gov showing visible eclipse locations. The video seems to always have cuts between the questions and responses, so it's unclear how much of this is happening in real life. It also sounds like voice responses only work while you're online. "Online" means this thing has an always-on T-Mobile connection that costs $24 a month. That subscription is "required" by the way, so even though this can also connect to Wi-Fi, you'll still need to pay the monthly fee. Presumably some of the money goes to Humane to pay for voice and AI compute costs. As miserable as that sounds, note that the voice assistants that aren't charging a monthly fee are all huge money losers. When you're not a trillion-dollar tech giant, this is the financial reality of voice and AI processing."Online" means this thing has an always-on T-Mobile connection that costs $24 a month. That subscription is "required" by the way, so even though this can also connect to Wi-Fi, you'll still need to pay the monthly fee. Presumably some of the money goes to Humane to pay for voice and AI compute costs. As miserable as that sounds, note that the voice assistants that aren't charging a monthly fee are all huge money losers. When you're not a trillion-dollar tech giant, this is the financial reality of voice and AI processing.
While basic questions like that are not very impressive, OpenAI is a partner on the device, so some of the demos were of some pretty advanced voice functionality. One command, "Catch me up," would summarize unread messages from your email and instant messaging, just like a secretary. On one hand, that sounds like a neat feature if you're so incredibly busy you can't read your incoming messages from friends and co-workers, but on the other hand, it would be frustrating to have a boss who doesn't actually read the e-mails you send them. Thankfully, you can also have the messages appear on your hand via the projector. You can also have the AI search through your messages, which sounds incredible. "What's the gate code that Andrew sent me?" results in it reading back a number. So, the AI has access to all your messages and can sift through them with a fuzzy voice search to find what you want. Again, though, this doesn't support apps, so you're hoping Andrew's message came through whatever chat service this supports. As far as we can tell, that means SMS, Slack, and maybe Gmail and Outlook. If it was via any of the world's most popular instant messaging platforms, like iMessage, WhatsApp, or Facebook Messenger, you're out of luck. You can dictate messages, and after hearing the robot voice read your text back to you for confirmation, you can even have ChatGPT (presumably) rewrite what you've spoken with a command, like, "Make me sound more excited." There are also the usual basics like phone calls and playing music, and, like most smartphones, it can also do a back-and-forth voice-to-text translation. It has a laser screen! pew pew
While this is the 10 millionth thing in the world that does voice commands, the laser display system sounds totally rad. This is a 720p, 25 mW laser beam scanning projection system that pumps out graphics in a monochrome teal color. It's a class 2 laser, so just like a barcode scanner, it's safe for accidental exposure but can damage your eyes if you stare at it. Stick out your palm in front of the device, and the laser will kick on, showing a minimal user interface. The UI this puts out could not be closer to a smartwatch: a small display focused on a single task, with big buttons, three or four lines of text, and minimal controls usually laid out in a top-bottom-left-right configuration. If we just say "exactly a smartwatch UI," you've understood everything there is to know about the UI. The media player has a circular progress bar, with previous and next to the left and right; pause at the bottom; and three lines of text for the artist, title, and timestamp. The message view is a scrolling-heavy affair: Each line of text is about three or four words, and you get five lines of text in a rectangular box. You can interact with the UI via hand gestures detected by the camera. You can't tap on your palm with your other hand, so picking something in one of the four cardinal directions involves a tilt gesture. Have you ever played Super Monkey Ball? So, imagine there's a marble on your palm, and tilting your hand will make the ball roll off in that direction—that's how you select a button. Tapping your thumb and index finger together will trigger the function. Closing your hand will bring up the "Home Screen," which again is extremely smartwatch-like. The main screen is the time, one line of marquee text about incoming notifications, and a button at the top that says "nearby." Tapping your fingers together will scroll through the bare-bones pages of the home screen. Its weather feature shows a very simple icon of the current weather (a sun, cloud, etc.) and two giant digits for the current temperature. The only other page was the date, which showed only "Sun 15 Oct." Tilt your hand to the top button for "nearby," which in the video showed "Theater district" and what looked like three cardinal direction buttons that were not legible. On paper, the display specs and UI don't match up. The 720p resolution of the projector is double that of most smartwatches, and your palm is bigger than a smartwatch, yet the UI here shows dramatically less data than you'd get on an Apple Watch. Presumably, Humane is concerned about the visibility limitations of the projection system, so everything is very big and simple. At many, many points in the official professionally shot video, the display is not legible despite the hand it's projected on being perfectly in focus. For instance, I have no idea what the "nearby" screen does because it was shown on camera yet never in focus. I guess the laser display has a fixed focus and a small sweet spot. The one thing that separates this from just being a smartwatch is the camera. You'll be constantly pointing a 13 MP sensor at everyone and everything, and after remembering the intense hatred Google Glass got for doing that, the inclusion of a camera is a big negative in a lot of people's eyes. Humane seems to slightly understand this with a "Trust light" that will light up if it's recording, but the people you'll be making uncomfortable with this don't know about the light, and the light next to a webcam camera still doesn't stop people from putting tape over it. Just like Google Glass, you'll get to use the camera like a fancy Go-Pro and do hands-free recording of whatever you're doing. A double tap with two fingers will also take a picture. The camera can recognize objects, so you can hold things out in front of your chest and give a voice command. Some of the examples seemed implausible, like one back-and-forth where the user holds up a book: "How much is this online?" robot voice: "This is $28 online." "Great, buy it." And that was the end of the demo. The real world is far more complicated than that. Buy it from whom? From where? When will it get here? Is this a real product or a scam? Is it new or used? Paper or hardback? The robot voice didn't even confirm that it recognized this as a book, nor did it read a title. The demo had such little confirmation of what was happening that you could be purchasing any random rectangular-shaped object for $28. Between this, filtering notifications, and offering information recaps, the general "Let AI take the wheel" simplification of everything is something you'll have to be comfortable with to use the AI Pin. Another camera and voice demo was nutrition tracking, where you can hold up some food, ask about the nutrition facts, and then awkwardly announce to everyone in earshot, "OK, I'm going to eat it." Your pager will then keep a running total of health goals for protein or calories.
Not having an app ecosystem still means all your data has to go somewhere, so there is a web portal called ".Center"—the first character in that name is a period—that will house what looks like photos, notes, history, and nutritional data from your voice assistant. I've got to ask: Why wasn't this just a smartwatch? Some of the OpenAI-powered responses are pretty neat, but there's no reason not to have that just show up on a screen or be read aloud by a smartwatch. A standalone smartwatch would also be a nice middle ground between "offline" and being a constantly scrolling TikTok zombie—plus, it wouldn't come with all the ultra-creepy camera problems. Everything in the smartphone world has claimed to be AI-powered for years, but no one has really rethought things now that the ChatGPT-style large language models are so much more capable. Starting with the lack of a real screen and no apps just seems extremely limiting. Even if you find a device like this interesting, not having an app store feels like a death sentence. Right now, it's completely unclear what services the Humane AI pin can interact with, and it feels like that list will only be about five items long. So far, the market has proven that basically no one wants to switch core services for some random piece of hardware. Orders for your chest-mounted voice assistant start November 16. Listing image by Humane
|
| Source: | arsTECHNICA | Thanks to Barry Kanne |
| Readers of the Newsletter who are Ham Radio Operators |
|
| Source: | Amateur Radio callsigns of readers. Please click here to add yours. |
Providing Expert Support and Service Contracts for all Glenayre Paging Systems.The GL3000 is the most prolific paging system in the world and Easy Solutions gladly welcomes you to join us in providing reliable support to the paging industry for many more decades in the future. Easy Solutions provides cost effective computer and wireless solutions at affordable prices. We can help in most any situation with your communications systems. We have many years of experience and a vast network of resources to support the industry, your system and an ever changing completive landscape.
Experts in Paging Infrastructure
Please see our web site for exciting solutions designed specifically for the Wireless Industry. We also maintain a diagnostic lab and provide important repair and replacement parts services for Motorola and Glenayre equipment. Call or Easy Solutions |
INTERNET Protocol Terminal The IPT accepts INTERNET or serial messaging using various protocols and can easily convert them to different protocols, or send them out as paging messages. An ideal platform for hospitals, on-site paging applications, or converting legacy systems to modern protocols.
Additional/Optional Features
Prism-IPX Systems LLC. 11175 Cicero Dr., Alpharetta, GA 30022 |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Mauricie cities are still forced to use pagers CANADA November 17, 2023
Many towns in Mauricie still struggle with "service gaps" in cellular coverage. In the Berthier-Maskinongé constituency, elected officials are trying to fix it. The mayor of Saint-Mathieu-du-Parc, Claude Mayrand, is angry about the problem. He sets an example for his municipal employees. "The only way to talk to them is to send a signal to a pager and then say, Meet me here; I need to talk to you." He estimated that 75% of the municipality's territory does not have a cellular network. Berthier-Maskinongé MP Yves Perron is leading a consultation to target cell holes in his riding to pass information on to the CRTC. Its cartography lists the municipalities of Saint-Mathieu-du-Parc, Saint-Édouard-de-Maskinongé, Saint-Élie-de-Caxton, and Saint-Alexis-des-Monts. The Pointe-du-Lac sector in Trois-Rivières also has some holes. "There are streets that are quite urbanized, and there is a problem. I'm in Place Dubois; it's a residential area; I have a problem," explained municipal councilor François Bélisle. By passing on this information, Yves Perron hopes that the CRTC's next call for tenders will meet the needs of his constituents. According to him, questions of public safety have arisen. "Serious things have happened. I was told a story in Saint-Édouard about an accident in the forest. We think that if there is a possibility of having a cell phone, the risk is low. That's what's important," explained Mr. Perron. The mayor of St-Mathieu-du-Parc is crossing his fingers that it will soon be his municipality's turn. "If we have a second tower, we can achieve higher radiation. When will this happen? We don't know, but for now, we are working on ways to work," he concluded, holding his pager. |
| Source: | Nation World News |
Paging Data Receiver PDR-4 The PDR-4 is a multi-function paging data receiver that decodes paging messages and outputs them via the serial port, USB or Ethernet connectors. Designed for use with Prism-IPX ECHO software Message Logging Software to receive messages and log the information for proof of transmission over the air, and if the data was error free.
Prism-IPX Systems LLC. 11175 Cicero Dr., Alpharetta, GA 30022 |
Wireless Network Planners
|
|||||||||
R.H. (Ron) Mercer |
 |
| Telephone: 631-786-9359 | |
wirelessplannerron@gmail.com  |
|
Sorry But If Your Password's On This List, You Need To Change It ASAPDayna McAlpine Thu, 16 November 2023, 9:01 am GMT-6
Guys, it's 2023 – why are so many of us still using '123456′ as our password? Don't believe us? Well, NordPass, the password management tool from the team behind NordVPN, partnered with independent researchers to release its study of the 200 most common passwords used in 2023 – and 123456 is the world's most common password. The uncreative combo was counted more than 4.5 million times with the word 'admin' coming in second place. What does this mean for your cyber security? According to NordPass, it takes hackers less than a second to crack '123456′ and 'admin', so if you're still using either, it's seriously time to change! A third of the world's most popular passwords consist of purely numerical sequences such as '123456789′, '12345', and '000000'. Unsurprisingly, 'password' also was in the top 10 most common passwords list. The analysis also found that people use the weakest (and easiest to remember) passwords for their streaming accounts (Netflix), while the strongest letter and number combos are reserved for financial accounts. Password combinations that people used for their streaming accounts included (brace yourself): 'Netflix', 'netflix123', 'disney123' and 'disney2020'. And although banking accounts had stronger passwords, 'visavisa1' and 'paypal123' were still found to be used to protect them. NordPass warns that as many as 70% of the passwords in this year's report can be cracked in less than a second. Tomas Smalakys, the chief technology officer of NordPass, said: "With the terrifying risks password users encounter, alternative methods in online authentication are now essential. "Passkey technology, considered the most promising innovation to replace passwords, is successfully paving its way, gaining trust among individuals and progressive companies worldwide. "Being among the first password managers to offer this technology, we see people are curious to test new things, as long as this helps eliminate the hassle of passwords." |
| Source: | uk news yahoo |
| Inside Towers Newsletter |
Wireless Industry Slams FCC's Digital Discrimination RulesReaction to the FCC's passage of digital discrimination rules was just as impassioned as commissioners' explanations on Thursday. CTIA President/CEO Meredith Attwell Baker said: "Wireless providers invest billions of dollars each year to rapidly expand and fortify their networks across the country and play a leading role in the Lifeline and Affordable Connectivity programs, putting them at the forefront of closing the digital divide." She said "unfortunately," the action "upends Congress's carefully balanced framework, pursuing an approach that far exceeds the agency's authority." "Regulatory second-guessing of business plans puts at risk the investment, innovation and competition that benefit wireless consumers today," continued Baker. "This approach risks casting a cloud of uncertainty around nearly every aspect of broadband service and slowing progress on our shared goal of equal access and digital inclusion." WIA President/CEO Patrick Halley said: "All Americans deserve access to the best wireless networks in the world — and a highly competitive U.S. wireless industry delivers on that promise every day. Virtually every American has access to three or more 4G providers and 5G service already reaches 325 million Americans. Ensuring access to these networks is important, and there are many efforts underway by industry and government to facilitate such access." "Unfortunately, the Digital Discrimination Order adopted by the FCC today is unprecedented in scope and unworkably vague. It's unfortunate that the FCC chose not to take steps to facilitate more competition and more deployment and instead took the regulatory fork in the road." NTCA–The Rural Broadband Association CEO Shirley Bloomfield said, "We share the overarching goal of creating an environment in which broadband access, adoption and engagement are fostered for every American. We still need to see the final order as approved and, in particular understand better its application to operations in deeply rural areas. Especially for smaller rural operators, it is important that the FCC's digital discrimination rules take proper account — as Congress intended — of technological and economic considerations that clearly affect the advancement of universal service." "To avoid undermining the ongoing progress already being made toward overcoming digital divides, the rules must not create an uncertain environment where broadband providers will be anxious that decisions they make, however well-intended and prudent as a matter of business planning, could be subject to second-guessing by regulators and potential penalty," Bloomfield continued. "As we review the order, we hope that the commission will be open to further discussions regarding the scope and implementation of today's order and that small rural broadband providers can stay focused first and foremost on the job of delivering robust and affordable broadband in the hardest-to-serve reaches of our country." Benton Institute for Broadband & Society Senior Counselor Andrew Jay Schwartzman said, "With respect to broadband, our nation has had a hard time fulfilling the mandate of Section 1 of the Communications Act to ensure that all Americans have access to telecommunications services 'without discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, or sex….' Among other things, some Internet service providers have redlined many neighborhoods and ignored the needs of large geographic sections of the country." "In 2021, by a bipartisan vote, Congress gave the FCC new powers to make that promise a reality." Schwartzman said the vote "adopts historic rules defining and enforcing a clear prohibition on digital discrimination. Importantly, the FCC also proposes new recordkeeping and reporting requirements to make sure that ISPs comply with the law." Schwartzman concluded, "The aggressive pushback from some telecommunications companies and their anti-regulatory allies was hardly a surprise, and we can also expect them to take these rules to court. The FCC and supporters of universal broadband stand ready to make sure these important rules are allowed to do what Congress intended." Rep. Yvette Clarke (D-NY) said, "During COVID, even as the digital industry exploded, America lived with a digital divide. The inability to access broadband puts many essential services out of reach. In the pandemic, we witnessed everything, from the inability to access telehealth services, to millions of children across this nation struggling to log in to their classrooms. On the two-year anniversary of the bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the FCC is making good on this mandate, to make sure no one, regardless of who they are, where they live, are shut out of the benefits of the digital age." By Leslie Stimson, Inside Towers Washington Bureau Chief |
| Source: | Inside Towers newsletter | Courtesy of the editor of Inside Towers, Jim Fryer. Inside Towers is a daily newsletter by subscription. |
| BloostonLaw Newsletter |
ACP Transparency Data Collection Certifications Due November 30On November 9, the FCC issued a Public Notice announcing that the deadline to upload and certify Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) Transparency Data Collection information has been extended to November 30. The filing window, which opened on September 8, was originally scheduled to close on November 9 at midnight. Service providers should not wait until November 30 to upload and certify the required data. In light of last week's extension, it is especially unlikely that the FCC will provide relief for service providers who do not meet the extended deadline, regardless of future technical difficulties. BloostonLaw Contacts: Sal Taillefer. HeadlinesDigital Discrimination Draft Sees Significant Debate Ahead of November 15 Open MeetingIn the days leading up to the FCC's November 15 Open Meeting, at which it will consider a Report and Order and Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on preventing digital discrimination, the agency has seen a substantial amount of concern. Last week, Commissioner Carr criticized the document, stating that it would "give the federal government a roving mandate to micromanage nearly every aspect of how the Internet functions—from how ISPs allocate capital and where they build, to the services that consumers can purchase; from the profits that ISPs can realize and how they market and advertise services, to the discounts and promotions that consumers can receive." Numerous ex parte presentations were also filed:
As we reported in a previous edition of the BloostonLaw Telecom Update, the FCC has indicated the Report and Order would do the following:
The FCC has also indicated that the Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking would propose that each provider be required to submit an annual, publicly available supplement to the Broadband Data Collection, and to maintain a mandatory internal compliance program to ensure that the provider regularly assesses whether and how its policies and practices advance or impede equal access to broadband Internet service in its service areas. BloostonLaw Contacts: Ben Dickens and Sal Taillefer. FCC Proposes E-RATE Program Support for Wi-Fi Hot Spots for Students Without Internet at HomeOn November 8, the FCC released the text of its Notice of Proposed Rulemaking seeking comment allowing schools and libraries to apply for funding from the FCC's E-Rate program for Wi-Fi hotspots and wireless Internet access services that can be used off-premises. Comment and reply comment deadlines have not yet been established. Specifically, the NPRM proposes making clear that off-premises use of Wi-Fi hotspots and wireless Internet access services by students, school staff, and library patrons for remote learning and the provision of virtual library services serves an educational purpose and enhances access to advanced telecommunications and information services for schools and libraries. As proposed, eligible schools and libraries would be permitted to request E-Rate support for the off-premises use of Wi-Fi hotspots and services. According to a Press Release, the Emergency Connectivity Fund (ECF) has funded more than $120 million Wi-Fi hotspot device purchases and nearly $1.3 billion for associated services to provide off-premises broadband connectivity to students, school staff, and library patrons who otherwise would lack sufficient broadband access needed to fully engage in remote learning. BloostonLaw Contacts: Ben Dickens and Sal Taillefer. White House Reveals National Spectrum Strategy, Looking to Free Up More SpectrumThe Biden administration today previewed its national spectrum plan, which will include efforts to free up and additional wireless spectrum in response to growing private sector demand, especially for 5G and IoT applications. The White House plan authorizes a two-year study on potentially repurposing five spectrum bands, for a total of 2,786 megahertz. NTIA will conduct the study. The five bands under immediate examination include the "Lower 3 GHz band" (3.1-3.45 GHz), 5030-5091 MHz, 7125-8400 MHz, 18.1-18.6 GHz, and 37-37.6 GHz. These band are currently occupied by DOD and other "mission critical" federal operations; and much of this spectrum would mesh with other bands auction by the FCC in recent years. Of course, the FCC will have to regain its auction authority from Congress if it is to award any new spectrum by competitive bidding. At least some of the spectrum would likely be made available for unlicensed use, and/or shared use with Federal incumbents. This would be accomplished in part by development of a national test bed for dynamic spectrum sharing. With regard to the Lower 3 GHz Band, DOD recently concluded that sharing with private sector is possible "if certain advanced interference mitigation features and a coordination framework to facilitate spectrum sharing are put in place." This spectrum could supplement the other 3 GHz band spectrum recently made available via the Priority Access License (PAL) auction, general access (GAA) license free usage scheme, for advanced telecom that requires better propagation than many of the capacity-rich 5G spectrum blocks sold at auction. IndustryUSDA Announces $273 Million in New ReConnect Grant and Loan AwardsLast week, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced $273 million across 16 grant and loan awards to expand access to high-speed Internet across eight states. These investments include $260 million as part of the fourth round of the ReConnect Program funded by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, which provided a total of $65 billion in broadband infrastructure funding. Specifically, USDA awarded $45,443,175 in loans and $228,177,784 in grants to 15 projects in Alaska, Arizona, Illinois, Michigan, Missouri, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas. Oklahoma and New Mexico were the biggest recipients of funding, with Oklahoma obtaining approximately $7,500,000 in loans and 70 million in grants for four projects, and New Mexico obtaining approximately $70 million in grants for three projects. Examples of approved projects include:
A full project chart is available here. Tribal Access to Wireless Spectrum Webinar Scheduled for November 16On November 8, the FCC announced that on November 16 at 1 pm ET, it will hold a webinar on the August 4, 2023 Public Notice seeking comment on ways in which the Commission can improve its understanding of how and the extent to which Tribal Nations and the Native Hawaiian Community are able to access wireless spectrum. The FCC noted that its current wireless licensing application forms collect certain types of demographic or other identifying information from Tribal or Native Hawaiian applicants and seeks input on how to refine the licensee and demographic information collected on such forms. The November 16th webinar will provide an overview of information currently collected through license applications and is designed to assist interested parties in how to submit comments responsive to the Public Notice on Tribal Access to Wireless Spectrum and Related Data. The deadline for filed public comments is November 30, 2023. DeadlinesJANUARY 31: FCC FORM 555, ANNUAL TELECOMMUNICATIONS CARRIER CERTIFICATION FORM. All Lifeline Program service providers are required to file the FCC Form 555, except where the National Verifier, state Lifeline administrator, or other entity is responsible. Since January 31 falls on a weekend or holiday this year, Form 555 may be filed by February 1. The FCC Form 555 must be submitted to the Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC) electronically via USAC's E-File (One Portal). Carriers must also file a copy of their FCC Form 555 in the FCC's Electronic Comment Filing System, Docket 14-171, and with their state regulatory commission. The form reports the results of the annual recertification process and non-usage de-enrollments. Recertification results are reported month-by-month based on the subscribers' anniversary date. BloostonLaw Contacts: Ben Dickens and John Prendergast. JANUARY 31: CARRIER IDENTIFICATION CODE (CIC) REPORTS. Carrier Identification Code (CIC) Reports must be filed semi-annually by the last business day of January, for the period ending December 31, and by the last business day of July for the period ending June 30. These reports are required of all carriers who have been assigned a CIC code by NANPA. NANPA assigns CICs to entities that: purchase FG B or FG D access; purchase FG B translation access; are service providers; are switchless resellers; or are Billing and Collections Clearinghouses. Failure to file could result in an effort by NANPA to reclaim it. BloostonLaw contact: Ben Dickens. JANUARY 31: Form 855 HAC Compliance Certification. The next Hearing Aid Compatibility regulatory compliance certification, certifying compliance with the FCC's HAC handset minimums as well as enhanced record retention and website posting requirements for the 2023 calendar year, will be due January 31, 2024, for all CMRS service providers (including CMRS resellers) that had operations during any portion of 2023. Companies that sold their wireless licenses during the 2023 calendar year will need to file a partial-year HAC compliance certifications if they provided mobile wireless service at any time during the year. BloostonLaw has prepared a 2023 HAC Regulatory Compliance Template to facilitate our clients' compliance with the revised HAC rules. Contact Cary Mitchell if you would like to obtain a copy of the HAC Regulatory Compliance Template. BloostonLaw Contact: Cary Mitchell.
Calendar At-a-GlanceNovember December January Blooston, Mordkofsky, Dickens, & Prendergast, LLP is a telecommunications law firm representing rural telecommunications companies, wireless carriers, private radio licensees, cable TV companies, equipment manufacturers and industry associations before the FCC and the courts, as well as state and local government agencies. Our clients range from Fortune 500 companies to small and medium-sized enterprises whose vitality and efficiency depend on the effective deployment of communications. |
|
||||||
| TECHNICIAN'S CORNER |
|
| Source: | YouTube |
| MUSIC VIDEO FOR THE WEEK |
“Doctor My Eyes”Jackson Browne Experience the magic of collaboration as Playing For Change brings together the legendary Jackson Browne, with some of the greatest musicians from around the world for a stunning rendition of his classic, "Doctor My Eyes." This Song Around The World reunites members of "The Section"— Leland Sklar and Russ Kunkel, who played on the original 1972 song. This reimagining blends the amazing musical stylings of Zakir Hussain, Giovanni Hidalgo, Char and 11 amazing musicians from around the globe, along with a special introduction of the extraordinarily talented Chavonne Stewart, who all collectively create an evocative piece that speaks to the unifying power of music. |
| Source: |
 Best regards,  Newsletter Editor 73 DE K9IQY Licensed since 1957 |
Current member or former member of these organizations. | ||||
 |
Betta Enthusiast |
|
 |
||
| Brad Dye |
MENSA MEMBER |
A Public Library of  Paging and Wireless Messaging Information |
Wireless  Messaging |
||
Critical Messaging  Association |
European Mobile Messaging Association  Former Board Member |
ZP5TQ  Radio Club of Paraguay |
Quarter Century  Wireless Association |
||
Back To Paging  Still The Most Reliable Wireless Protocol For Emergencies! |
American Association  of Woodturners |
U.S. Navy  Radioman |
U.S. Navy Radioman  Second Class Petty Officer |
Boy Scouts of America  National Honor Society |
Creator of the  Paging Wheel of Fortune |
National Skeet  Shooting Association |
Institute Electrical and  Electronics Engineers |
American Radio  Relay League |
The Radio Club  of America |
Life is good! |
|
The National  Rifle Association |
CONTACT INFO & LINKS
|
Amateur Radio
|
VETERAN  United States Navy |
||
| Home Page | Directory | Consulting | Newsletters | Free Subscription | Products | Reference | Glossary | Send e-mail |
IMPORTANT 
