Dear Friends of Wireless Messaging,

TA Associates Sells $3.3M of MetroPCS Shares - cbl

By citybizlist Staff

RICHARDSON — Private-equity firm TA Associates has sold MetroPCS Communications (NYSE: PCS) stock worth $3.29 million, according to SEC filings.

The Boston firm sold a total of 350,000 shares in the Richardson, Texas-based cellular services provider at an average price of $9.39 each.

The stock closed trading Wednesday at $9.57.

MetroPCS was founded in 1996 as General Wireless Inc. by Roger Linquist and Malcolm Lorang, both previously executives with PageMart Wireless (now USA Mobility), a paging company. General Wireless changed its name to MetroPCS Communications Inc. in 1998. Linquist also is a founding director of the Cellular Telecommunications and Internet Association.

Established in 1968, TA is among the oldest private-equity firms. It has since 1995 raised $15 billion and has about 60 investment professionals in Boston; Menlo Park, Calif.; London; and Mumbai, India.

[source]

Hola Brasileros

A reader in Argentina needs 900 MHz 250 W Glenayre Paging Transmitters (model 8500 or 8501) and would like to buy them from someone in Brazil if possible. Send me an e-mail if you can supply.

Now on to more news and views.

Wireless Messaging News
Emergency Radio Communications Wireless Messaging Critical Messaging Telemetry Paging VoIP Wi-Fi WiMAX Location-Based Services	WIRELESS MESSAGING

This newsletter is brought to you by the generous support of our advertisers and the courtesy of iland Internet Solutions Corporation. For more information about the web-hosting services available from iland Internet Solutions Corporation, please click on their logo to the left.

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 readers' 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.

Editorial Opinion pieces present the opinions of the author. They do not necessarily reflect the views of AAPC, its publisher, or its sponsors.

Brad Dye, Ron Mercer, Allan Angus, and Vic Jackson are friends and colleagues who work both together and independently, on wireline and wireless communications projects. Click here  for a summary of their qualifications and experience. They collaborate on consulting assignments, and share the work according to their individual expertise and their schedules.

If you would like to have information about advertising in this newsletter, please click here.

American Association of Paging Carriers

Mark your calendars to spend St. Patty’s Day in Ireland with AAPC & EMMA!

You are cordially invited to attend the Global Paging Summit, March 15–17, 2011 at the Hayfield Manor in Cork, Ireland. The Global Paging Summit will facilitate the development of strategic partnerships to foster business growth for AAPC/EMMA members and the global paging industry. Dan & Linda Kiely, whom you may recall meeting in Charleston look forward to welcoming you to Cork and guarantee you the trip of a lifetime. They reassure that this summit will be a highly successful networking event and look forward to offering you a Céad Míle Fáilte (hundred thousand welcomes) to their city and country.

Hayfield Manor
The Hayfield Manor is a 5-star-estate hotel providing the finest accommodations and service in the heart of Cork city. The facility has been awarded the following:

• Condé Nast Traveler Gold List 2009—Best Places to Stay in the World
• Expedia Insider's Select Hotel 2009—Best Properties in the World  
• Condé Nast Readers Choice Top 30 Hotels in the British Isles 2008

The negotiated group rate is 129 € (approximately $165 USD) and this includes breakfast. Additional details on how to make reservations and conference registration will be available soon.

Cork, Ireland
Cork is situated in the South West coast of Ireland, and is the largest and most varied of the Irish counties. Cork City is Ireland’s second largest city and is surrounded by the river Lee, north and south banks are connected by several bridges, adding to its character. Citizens of Cork speak English with a musical “cadence” to their speech.

Click here for additional details on Cork, Ireland.

Thanks to our Premier Vendor!

Prism Paging

Thanks to our Silver Vendors!

Recurrent Software Solutions, Inc.

Unication USA

 

Thanks to our Bronze Vendors!

• Commtech Wireless
• Critical Response Systems, Inc.
• Daviscomms (S) Pte. Ltd
• Digital Paging Company
• DX Radio Systems
• Hark Technologies
• InfoRad
• ISC Technologies
• Microspace Communications Corporation
• Onset Technology
• RF Demand Solutions
• Swissphone Telecom
• United Communications Corporation

Advertiser Index

Ping attracts 1 million users in 48 hours

by Lex Friedman, Macworld.com

Apple announced last week that more than one million users signed up for Ping in the service’s first 48 hours of availability. Ping, as apparently a million of you already know, is the music-focused social network built into iTunes 10, which the company released just last week.

According to Eddy Cue, Apple's vice president of Internet Services, “One-third of people who have downloaded iTunes 10 have joined Ping.”

Ping lets you follow artists from Lady Gaga to “Weird Al” Yankovic, along with your friends. The service aims to let you see what your friends are listening to, liking, and purchasing within iTunes, and to share recommendations and insights with them.

Of course, Apple announced that Ping passed the million-member threshold last week, before the Labor Day holiday weekend. While it seems certain that the service must have added many more members since then, one wonders just how many additional folks Ping might reach were the Facebook Connect feature still available.

Personally, I find Ping a bit frustrating to use. The interface is clunky and the lack of notifications about new comments strikes me as confusing as, say, Lady Gaga's successful career. Still, AppleInsider reports that Apple has already made a few improvements to the service—removing spam and bogus accounts, and adding more navigation elements—so there's hope. Perhaps by the time Ping hits its 20 millionth member, the service will have evolved from Gaga-style novelty to Katy Perry-quality lasting power.

hmce@bellsouth.net	Click to e-mail
http://www.h-mce.com	Paging Web Site
Joshua's Mission	Helping Wounded Marines Homepage
Joshua's Mission	Joshua's Mission Press Release

Newsletter Supporter

PAGING & WIRELESS
NETWORK PLANNERS LLC
WIRELESS SPECIALISTS

www.pagingplanners.com
rmercer@pagingplanners.com

R.H. (Ron) Mercer Consultant 217 First Street South East Northport, NY 11731
Cell Phone: 631-786-9359

John W. Kluge, Founder of Metromedia, Dies at 95

By MARILYN BERGER
Published: September 8, 2010
The New York Times

John W. Kluge, who parlayed a small fortune from a Fritos franchise into a multibillion-dollar communications empire that made him one of the richest men in America, died on Tuesday night at a family home in Charlottesville, Va. He was 95.

The John W. Kluge Foundation confirmed his death.

Mr. Kluge was the creator of Metromedia, the nation’s first major independent broadcasting entity, a conglomerate that grew to include seven television stations, 14 radio stations, outdoor advertising, the Harlem Globetrotters, the Ice Capades, radio paging and mobile telephones.

An immigrant from Germany, Mr. Kluge (pronounced KLOOG-ee) came to the United States in 1922 and took his first job at the age of 10 as a payroll clerk for his stepfather in Detroit. He made his first million by the time he was 37.

He made his first billion — it was actually almost two billion — in 1984, when he took Metromedia private in a $1.1 billion leveraged buyout and then liquidated the company, more than tripling his take.

He sold the television stations, including WNEW in New York, for more than $2 billion to Rupert Murdoch, who was expanding his communications empire.

Mr. Kluge’s sale of 11 radio stations brought close to $290 million. The outdoor advertising business went for $710 million. The Harlem Globetrotters and the Ice Capades, which together cost the company $6 million, brought $30 million.

Critics complained that he had reaped the bonanza after having paid Metromedia’s stockholders too little when he took the company private. But Mr. Kluge maintained that the value of the company shot up afterward, when the Federal Communications Commission increased the number of television stations a company could own from seven to 12 and ruled that only two cellular telephone systems could operate in a given city.

“That changed the price of poker,” he said.

In 1986, Forbes magazine listed Mr. Kluge as the second-richest man in America (after Sam Walton, the founder of Wal-Mart Stores). By this year, after a bankruptcy of the Bennigan’s and Steak and Ale restaurant chains in 2008, Mr. Kluge had dropped to 109th on the Forbes list with a fortune of $6.5 billion.

Mr. Kluge savored the chance to move into new areas of high technology. He had no patience for those he called “self-important corporation types cut out of the same cookie cutter” who tended to stick to what was safe. He often took Wall Street by surprise, but as the financial analyst Allen J. Gottesman said in 1986: “Whatever he does works out real well. You always assume there was a good reason, and you usually find out later that it was a good move.”

Not everything he touched turned to gold. In 1965 he bought Diplomat magazine in Washington and tried to change it from a society sheet into a serious publication of world affairs. “I lost a million dollars before I ever knew I lost it,” he said.

Three years later he negotiated a proposed $300 million merger of Metromedia with Transamerica only to join in calling off the deal “by mutual consent” in a two-paragraph statement months later, saying a merger would “adversely effect” the growth plans of both companies.

But he never lost his zest for developing new businesses or his taste for complex financial deals.

“I love the work because it taxes your mind,” he said in an interview for this obituary, one of the few he ever gave, after he turned 72. “Years ago, I could have taken a few million dollars and joined the country club and gotten into this pattern of complaining about the world and about the tax law.”

He was critical of corporation executives who put themselves in the limelight. There were no public relations officers on his payroll. He liked to do business behind an unmarked door.

“I think a great deal of publicity becomes an obstacle,” he said. “I’d love to be in the woodwork all my life. I enjoy it when I know who the other people are and they don’t know who I am.”

But it was inevitable that people would come to know who he was, first in the business world as the man with the Midas touch and then as a generous contributor to schools and hospitals.

In his later years his name appeared in the society columns as the host for charity parties that he and his third wife, Patricia, gave on their yacht, the Virginian, or as a guest at dinner dances. (He had taught dancing at an Arthur Murray studio when he was in college.) He grew flowers and collected paintings, African sculpture and Indian, Chinese, Greek and Egyptian objets d’art.

But nothing gave him more pleasure than putting a deal together. And the creation of Metromedia, considered a triumph of financial structuring, may have been his greatest pleasure of all.

The most satisfying day in his life, he said, was the day Barney Balaban of Paramount told him, “Young man, you bring me $4 million and you’ll be able to have the Paramount stock in the Metropolitan Broadcasting Company.”

Fred R. Conrad/The New York Times John Kluge in 1995.

With that $4 million, Mr. Kluge got into the television business as chief executive of Metropolitan, which consisted of two stations — WNEW and, in Washington, WTTG — and two radio stations. He renamed the company Metromedia in 1961 because he intended to expand it beyond broadcasting.

Mr. Kluge held to a simple maxim: make money and minimize taxes. He made it his business to study the tax code. In 1981, for example, he received tax benefits when he bought buses and subway cars from New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority and leased them back to the authority for a tax savings of $50 million over five years.

He also found a way to enhance the company’s revenue by marrying the profits of broadcasting to the depreciation that came with billboard advertising.

“I sold the banks the idea that the Ford Motor Company that advertises on radio and television would also advertise on billboards,” he recalled. “From a financial orientation, if you took the pretax profits of radio and television and the depreciation of outdoor advertising, you increase the cash flow. I impressed the bank so much that I borrowed $14 million and got our money back in 27 months.”

John Werner Kluge was born Sept. 21, 1914, in Chemnitz, Germany. His father died in World War I. After his mother remarried, John was brought to America by his German-American stepfather to live in Detroit. The stepfather, Oswald Leitert, put him to work as a boy in the family contracting business.

Mr. Kluge said he left home when he was 14 to live in the house of a schoolteacher. “I was driven to have an education.”

He worked hard, and successfully, to lose his foreign accent and to get the grades he needed in high school to win a scholarship to college. He first attended Detroit City College, which was later renamed Wayne State University, and transferred to Columbia University when he was offered a full scholarship and living expenses.

At college he distributed Communist literature. “I was never an official member of the Communist Party, but I was quite liberal,” he said many years later. But what got him in trouble was his card playing. At one point the dean called him in to warn that he was in danger of losing his scholarship.

“I told him, ‘Dean, you will never catch me gambling again,’ ” he later recalled, “and it was then that I realized the dean of Columbia University didn’t understand the English language. I had told him he’d never catch me gambling again.”

Mr. Kluge later channeled his fondness for gambling into high-stakes finance. “I don’t really get comfortable when I haven’t got something at risk,” he said. Even as a billionaire twice over, he borrowed money to leverage his next ventures.

Mr. Kluge graduated from Columbia in 1937 and went to work for a small paper company in Detroit. Within three years he went from shipping clerk to vice president and part owner.

After serving in Army intelligence in World War II, he turned to broadcasting and, with a partner, created the radio station WGAY in Silver Spring, Md., in 1946. “It cost us $90,000,” he recalled. “I went up and down the street on Georgia Avenue in Silver Spring to get investors.”

In the 1950s he acquired radio stations in St. Louis, Dallas, Fort Worth, Buffalo, Tulsa, Nashville, Pittsburgh and Orlando, Fla. Meanwhile, he invested in real estate and expanded the New England Fritos corporation, which he had founded in 1947 to distribute Fritos and Cheetos in the Northeast, adding Fleischmann’s yeast, Blue Bonnet margarine and Wrigley’s chewing gum to his distribution network.

In 1951 he formed a food brokerage company, expanding it in 1956 in a partnership with David Finkelstein, and augmented his fortune selling the products of companies like General Foods and Coca-Cola to supermarket chains.

Mr. Kluge served on the boards of numerous companies, including Occidental Petroleum, Orion Pictures, Conair and the Waldorf-Astoria Corporation, as well as many charitable groups, including United Cerebral Palsy.

His philanthropy was prodigious. About a half-billion dollars went to Columbia alone, mainly for scholarships for needy and minority students. One gift, of $400 million, was to be given to the university by his estate when he died.

Mr. Kluge also contributed to the restoration of Ellis Island and in 2000 gave $73 million to the Library of Congress, which established the Kluge Prize for the Study of Humanities.

Mr. Kluge and his third wife, the former Patricia Rose Gay, lived in a Georgian-style house on a 6,000-acre farm near Charlottesville called Albemarle House. He had another home in New Rochelle, N.Y., on Long Island Sound, and an apartment in Manhattan, where he kept much of his modern art collection, including works by Giacometti, Kenneth Noland, Frank Stella and Fernando Botero. He traveled to his houses in his plane and helicopter.

Mr. Kluge became acquainted with the woman who would become his third wife at parties when she was in her mid-20s and he was about 60. “At one party,” he said, “she cooked the dinner and then she did a belly dance on the table and I said to myself, ‘Where have I been all my life?’ ”

A small scandal erupted in 1985 when Mrs. Kluge was chairwoman of a charity ball in Palm Beach, Fla., attended by Charles and Diana, the prince and princess of Wales. The British press disclosed that a nude photograph of Mrs. Kluge had been published a decade before in a British magazine called Knave, which was owned by her first husband. To avoid embarrassment, the Kluges were traveling abroad on the night of the ball.

Their marriage ended in divorce in 1991, and Mrs. Kluge received a big settlement as well as the Virginia estate. He married again, to Maria Tussi Kuttner, who survives him.

Mr. Kluge is also survived by his son, John W. Kluge II; a daughter, Samantha Kluge, from his second marriage, to Yolanda Galardo Zucco; a stepson, Joseph Brad Kluge, whom he adopted; and a grandson. His first wife was Theodora Thomson Townsend.

A convert to Roman Catholicism when he married his third wife, Mr. Kluge said he often went to church. He had planned to be buried in a crypt in a chapel he built on the grounds of Albemarle, but later changed his mind after the house was awarded to his third wife in the divorce.

Mr. Kluge acknowledged that he had been ruled by his ambitions and traced them to the struggles of his boyhood. He recalled a conversation he had with friends in college about their aspirations. “One fellow said he wanted to be a lawyer, another a doctor,” he said. “I said one thing — that the only reason I wanted money was that I was always afraid of being a charity case and of being a ward someplace. That’s what really drove me all my life.”

Robert Thoelen
27 Willard Dr., Enfield, CT, 06082
United States

Ms. Jenna Richardson
American Messaging
1720 Lakepointe Drive
Lewisville, TX 75057
United States

29 August 2010

Dear Ms. Richardson,

I found your contact information on the American Messaging website, where you are listed as the business development director. I would like to share an article I wrote partially about American Messaging and the pager I have. I was thinking you might be able to use some ideas from it to market pagers to consumers, as I don't see much focus on that on the website. I understand most people use cell phones now (I do), but I also think that as a backup, a two-way pager such as the unit that I have sold by American Messaging can help fulfill that need.

The article I wrote on the internet is at:

http://www.technotheologian.us/2010/08/backup-communications-strategies-for-the-family/

Here is the text:

In the article "Why You Need a 'Zombie Apocalypse' Phone" on CNN's website, the author presents a case for having a separate communications device in an emergency. While I think that the basic concept is a good idea, I think a separate cell phone is probably not the best thing. In a disaster situation, where cell phones have been historically overloaded, another cell phone may not work. I would that that at the very least, if you go this route, you would want to make sure the spare cell phone is on a separate network (for instance, if your primary phone is GSM, maybe get a COMA or iDEN phone).

If voice isn't needed as a backup, there are alternatives, which I've been blogging about in separate posts for a few years now. Pagers are an old technology, but they are still around and work well. Right now, I have a pager with American Messaging that uses SkyTel's 2-way network. I can send and receive pages with my pager, and it has an e-mail address. So if a disaster happens, and phones don't work, I can still email people messages with it. I also am using old Blackberry technology with Velocita Wireless, which has been selling old Blackberries at very low prices, and service for $8/month. Velocita uses Mobitex technology, American Messaging/SkyTel uses ReFLEX technology.

The advantage to using these often-forgotten networks is that they are still viable, and are built for exchanging data in a very efficient manner. These networks have been shown in a disaster to stay working while other networks get overloaded. The success rate of these networks is that while they are "1G" and very slow (ReFLEX is max 6400 baud, Mobitex is 12.5 KHz narrowband channels), they have been designed for low-speed data messaging between machines. Currently these companies are trying to sell their services to smart grid applications and other machine to machine applications. I hope they can get good business customers, as that will help fund the network to keep it running. I suspect that when the customer base shrinks in an area, they just start shutting towers off.

The advantages of the ReFLEX coverage are a wider coverage pattern (at least where I live) than Mobitex. I used to have a lot of problems with two way pagers not being able to send, but SkyTel has cleared that issue up where I live, and there are many places I can now send pages as well. Coverage is decent at my house. The advantages to the Mobitex network is you get an email address that can handle up to 4-8K emails. The SkyTel pager is only programmed for 500 characters maximum, making it great for short messages, but not routine emailing. The Mobitex Blackberry can be used as a backup email account. Mobitex has very spotty coverage where I live. I would consider it "street-level" coverage, meaning that it doesn't work in many buildings around my address, but this is to be expected, as I'm in a fringe area. Usually if I take the Blackberry outside, I can get a signal. Major cities have good Mobitex coverage, so it is worth considering if you are in a metro area.

I did not receive any compensation for this review. I have been a happy customer of Velocita and American Messaging, and just wish to share my experiences on the blog.

———

I hope some of this helps your marketing efforts.

Sincerely,

Robert Thoelen III

Court Partially Invalidates Certain Auction Bid Credit Rules; Declines To Overturn AWS, 700 MHz Auctions

In a 53-page ruling that found “serious” deficiencies in the FCC’s rulemaking (yet was met with sighs of relief from the Commission), the 3^rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia partially vacated certain portions of the Designated Entity (DE) rules that were adopted in 2006. The ruling also denied a request by Council Tree Communications to rescind the results of the Advanced Wireless Services (AWS) Auction No. 66 and 700 MHz Auction No. 73, since this would involve unwinding trans-actions worth more than $30 billion and potentially disrupt service to untold numbers of customers.

A three-judge panel of the Court agreed with Council Tree and its co-petitioners that the FCC had acted in an arbitrary and capricious manner by adopting the “50% impermissible material relationship rule” without giving the public adequate notice and opportunity to comment. This rule was adopted on a rush basis in the lead-up to the AWS-1 auction. The Court likewise held that the Commission had failed to provide the necessary notice and opportunity to comment before extending the bid credit ”unjust enrichment” repayment period from five years to ten. The Court upheld (though just barely) the 25% “attributable material relationship” rule, which the petitioners had challenged as likely to chill small businesses’ access to capital.

Impermissible Material Relationship Rule
Just ahead of the AWS auction, the FCC adopted two “material relationship” rules, which were supposed to close the loophole that had allowed certain large carriers to gain access (via spectrum leases) to licenses won with small business bid credits in prior auctions. The 25% attributable material relationship rule provides that, if a DE leases or resells (including at wholesale) more than 25% of its spectrum capacity to any single lessee or purchaser, it must add that lessee’s or purchaser’s revenues to its own to determine its continued eligibility for bid credits. Thus, if an auction winner leases to another small business, there is a good chance that it will not lose its bid credits. In contrast, the 50% impermissible material relationship rule makes license applicants or holders completely ineligible for bid credits if they lease or resell (including at wholesale) more than 50% of their spectrum capacity, even if the spectrum is leased to one or more small businesses. Moreover, the impermissible material relationship rule robs the auction winner of its bid credits even if it leases its spectrum to multiple entities, e.g., leasing only 10% of spectrum capacity to five different small businesses. The Court found this aspect very troubling.

Unjust Enrichment Rule
The “unjust enrichment” rule provides that, if a designated entity wins bid credits at auction, but then loses its designated entity status by, e.g., merging with a large company or entering into an attributable spectrum lease, it must repay its bid credits to the government, with inter-est. The original unjust enrichment rule provided that a designated entity must maintain its bid credit eligibility for five years; and over the course of the five years, the re-payment obligation was reduced, so that a loss of bid credit eligibility in the fifth year would only require a re-payment of 25% of the bid credit amount. However, ahead of the AWS auction, the FCC decided to extend the unjust enrichment period to 10 years, over the objection that this would make it more difficult for small businesses to attract investors and lenders; and the FCC decided that, while the repayment obligation would scale down in years 6 through 10, the licensee would have to pay back the entire bid credit amount if it had not yet met its build out obligations at the time it lost its bid credit eligibility.
Under the Administrative Procedure Act (APA), federal agencies must publish either the terms or substance of the proposed rule or a description of the subjects and issues involved. The substance of an agency’s final rule must not stray too far from the description contained in the initial notice, or the public will have been deprived of a meaningful opportunity to comment on the proposed rule. Council Tree, an investor in DEs, had urged the FCC to place restrictions on grants of DE status to applicants having certain “material relationships” with large in-region incumbent wireless providers. However, the rules ultimately adopted by the Commission prohibited DEs from entering into spectrum lease and/or wholesale arrangements with any company, even another DE or the licensee’s subsidiaries and affiliates (i.e., situations that do not raise the same competitive concerns as large in-region incumbents).

The 3^rd Circuit’s decision to vacate the 50% impermissible relationship rule will mean (for the time being) that DEs will have greater freedom to lease or wholesale their spectrum, subject to revenue attribution should they lease or wholesale more than 25% of their spectrum to a single entity. Vacating the 10-year unjust enrichment rule will mean that DEs’ repayment obligations will once again be governed by the previous 5-year schedule. The FCC will need to issue a Notice of Proposed Rule Making and seek public comment if it wants to reinstate its material relationship and unjust enrichment rules vacated by the Court. If the vacated rules are re-adopted by the Commission, it may try to apply such rules retroactively (i.e., to prior auctions, and to transactions and arrangements that have been implemented in the meantime). It is possible to retroactively apply newly adopted rules. However, the FCC must balance the need for retroactive application against the mischief that would be caused by retroactive application. Entities that won licenses in spectrum auctions since 2006 would benefit significantly if the impermissible material relationship and 10-year unjust enrichment rules are NOT applied retroactively, if they are readopted.

Our firm’s clients — and especially companies that are DEs and that won AWS and/or 700 MHz licenses in re-cent FCC auctions — will want to file comments to ensure that any new rules are clearly written and that DEs have the maximum flexibility to enter into spectrum leasing and/or wholesale arrangements without jeopardizing their DE status. They will also want to oppose any effort by the FCC to impose the new rules retroactively, to Auctions 66 or 73 (or other completed auctions).

BloostonLaw contacts: Hal Mordkofsky, John Prendergast and Cary Mitchell

FCC Provides Instructions, Seeks Comment On High Cost Support Reclamation

In an Order and Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM), the FCC noted that Verizon Wireless and Sprint Nextel, in separate transactions in 2008, each committed to surrender their high-cost universal service support over five years, but those commitments have yet to be implemented. The FCC said that Corr Wireless Communications has asked that any support reclaimed from Verizon Wireless and Sprint Nextel be redistributed to other competitive eligible telecommunications carriers (ETCs).

In this order the FCC (a) provides instructions for implementing the commitments of Verizon Wireless and Sprint Nextel; (b) holds that the surrendered support need not be redistributed to other competitive ETCs in all cases; and (c) directs that the surrendered support be reserved as a potential down payment on proposed broadband universal service reforms as recommended by the National Broadband Plan, including to index the E-rate fund-ing cap to inflation to enhance broadband opportunities for children, teachers, schools, and libraries; support a Mobility Fund to provide wireless broadband service in areas that lack coverage; improve utilization of the Rural Health Care program to advance telemedicine in rural areas across the country, including Tribal lands; and, in the long term, directly support broadband Internet ser vic-es for all Americans.

The FCC posits that, in addition to accelerating universal access to broadband, this approach to implementing Verizon Wireless’ and Sprint Nextel’s commitments also reduces payments that support potentially duplicative legacy voice services and stabilizes consumer contributions to the universal service fund.

In the NPRM that accompanies this order, the FCC seeks comment on permanently amending its rules to facilitate efficient use of reclaimed excess high-cost sup-port. In addition, the FCC seeks comment on a proposal to modify its rules to reclaim legacy support surrendered by a competitive ETC when it relinquishes ETC status in a particular state.

Comments on this WC Docket No. 05-337 NPRM will be due 21 days after publication of the item in the Federal Register, and replies will be due 14 days thereafter.

BloostonLaw contacts: Ben Dickens, Gerry Duffy, and Mary Sisak.

Clients Should Monitor State ETC Designation, ETC Status Transfer Petitions RE: Verizon-Alltel Transactions

It recently has come to our attention that Verizon, AT&T, and third parties involved in acquiring wireless licenses, formerly held by Alltel, are in the process of seeking State eligible telecommunications carrier (ETC) designation, and, in AT&T’s case, federal ETC designation relating to tribal areas.

Our clients are urged to monitor any such State proceedings, involving wireless ETC support, and in particular Alltel’s former ETC support, that have significantly contributed to the growth of the federal high cost fund. The FCC has previously noted that Alltel was the single largest recipient of federal high cost fund proceeds.

We will be glad to help our clients and their local counsel analyze the impact of any State ETC designation petitions associated with these referenced transactions.

BloostonLaw contacts: Ben Dickens, Gerry Duffy, and Mary Sisak.

FCC Launches New Open Internet Public Notice

The FCC has released a Public Notice to inquire further into two “underdeveloped issues” in the Open Internet proceeding it launched in 2009. The first is the relation-ship between open Internet protections and services that are provided over the same last-mile facilities as broad-band Internet access service (commonly called “managed” or “specialized” services). The second is the application of open Internet rules to mobile wireless Internet access services, which have unique characteristics related to technology, associated application and device markets, and consumer usage. The 2009 Notice of Pro-posed Rulemaking (NPRM) raised both of these issues but addressed them in less detail than many other issues (including the FCC’s Internet Policy Statement), and the Commission believes its analysis would benefit from further development of these issues in the record. There-fore, it is raising them in a further inquiry in this Public Notice.

Specialized Services

In the NPRM, the Commission recognized that broad-band providers may provide other services over the same last-mile facilities used to provide broadband Inter-net access service. The FCC said these services may drive additional private investment in networks and pro-vide consumers new and valued services. However, there appear to be three general areas of concern about how to maintain the investment-promoting benefits of specialized services while protecting the Internet’s open-ness:

(1) Bypassing Open Internet Protections: The FCC said open Internet protections may be weakened if broadband providers offer specialized services that are substantially similar to, but do not technically meet the definition of, broadband Internet access service, and if consumer protections do not apply to such services. A similar concern may arise if specialized services are integrated into broadband Internet access service; for example, if a broadband provider offers broadband Internet access service bundled with a “specialized service” that provides prioritized access to a particular website.

(2) Supplanting the Open Internet: The FCC said broadband providers may constrict or fail to continue expanding the network capacity allocated to broadband Internet access service in order to provide more capacity for specialized services. If this occurs, and particularly if one or more specialized services serve as substitutes for the delivery of content, applications, and services over broadband Internet access service, the open Internet may wither as an open platform for competition, innovation, and free expression.

Anti-competitive Conduct: The FCC said broadband providers may have the ability and incentive to engage in anti-competitive conduct with respect to specialized ser-vices, particularly if they are vertically integrated providers of content, applications, or services; or if they enter into business arrangements with third-party content, application, or service providers concerning specialized service offerings. Such discriminatory conduct could harm competition among, and private investment in, con-tent, application, and service providers.

The FCC said these concerns, particularly the second and third, may be exacerbated by worries that due to limited choice among broadband Internet access service providers, consumers may not be able to effectively exercise their preferences for broadband Internet access service (or content, applications, or services available through broadband Internet access service) over specialized services.

The FCC said there appear to be at least six general policy approaches to addressing these concerns while promoting private investment and encouraging the development and deployment of new services that benefit consumers. These approaches could be employed alone or in combination:

(A) Definitional Clarity: Define broadband Internet access service clearly and perhaps broadly, and apply open Internet rules to all forms of broadband Internet access service. Specialized services would be those services with a different scope or purpose than broad-band Internet access service (i.e., which do not meet the definition of broadband Internet access service), and would not be subject to the rules applicable to broadband Internet access service. But such services could be ad-dressed through one or more of the below policy approaches, or, alternatively, the Commission could ad-dress the policy implications of such services if and when such services are further developed in the market.

(B) Truth in Advertising: Prohibit broadband providers from marketing specialized services as broadband Internet access service or as a substitute for such ser-vice, and require providers to offer broadband Internet access service as a stand-alone service, separate from specialized services, in addition to any bundled offerings.

(C) Disclosure: Require providers to disclose information sufficient to enable consumers, third parties, and the Commission to evaluate and report on specialized services, including their effects on the capacity of and the markets for broadband Internet access service and Inter-net-based content, applications, and services. The Commission or Congress could then take action if necessary.

(D) Non-exclusivity in Specialized Services: Require that any commercial arrangements with a vertically-integrated affiliate or a third party for the offering of specialized services be offered on the same terms to other third parties.

(E) Limit Specialized Service Offerings: Allow broad-band providers to offer only a limited set of new specialized services, with functionality that cannot be provided via broadband Internet access service, such as a tele-medicine application that requires enhanced quality of service.

(F) Guaranteed Capacity for Broadband Internet Access Service: Require broadband providers to continue providing or expanding network capacity allocated to broadband Internet access service, regardless of any specialized services they choose to offer. Relatedly, prohibit specialized services from inhibiting the performance of broadband Internet access services at any given time, including during periods of peak usage.

The FCC seeks comment on each of these concerns and suggested policy responses, as well as any other concerns or policies regarding specialized services that the Commission should consider. Which policies will best protect the open Internet and maintain incentives for private investment and deployment of innovative services that benefit consumers? In addition, the FCC seeks comment on whether specialized services provided over mobile wireless platforms raise unique issues.

Application of Open Internet Principles to MOBILE Wireless platforms

The NPRM seeks comment on “how, to what extent, and when” openness principles should apply to mobile wire-less platforms, with a particular emphasis on furthering innovation, private investment, competition, and freedom of expression. In light of developments since the issuance of the NPRM, the FCC believes it is now appropriate to update the record on certain questions related to the application of openness principles to wireless. Mo-bile broadband providers such as AT&T Mobility and Leap Wireless (Cricket) have recently introduced pricing plans that charge different prices based on the amount of data a customer uses. The FCC says the emergence of these new business models may reduce mobile broad-band providers’ incentives to employ more restrictive network management practices that could run afoul of open Internet principles. Additionally, the FCC said that Verizon and Google issued a proposal for open Internet legislation that would exclude wireless, except for pro-posed transparency requirements.

Transparency
The FCC seeks comment on what disclosure requirements are appropriate to ensure that consumers and content, application, service, and device providers can make informed choices regarding use of mobile broad-band networks. What information should be disclosed about device and application requirements and certification processes? Are there any existing models that could provide guidance for shaping such rules?

Devices
The FCC seeks further comment on the ability of new technologies and business models to facilitate non-harmful attachment of third-party devices to mobile wire-less networks. Can adherence to industry standards for mobile wireless networks ensure non-harmful technical interoperability between mobile broadband devices and networks? Will deployment of next-generation technologies (e.g., LTE) further facilitate interoperability? To the extent that compliance with technical standards needs to be validated through laboratory testing, could such test-ing be conducted through independent authorized test centers? Were the Commission to require mobile providers to allow any non-harmful device to connect to their network, subject to reasonable network management, how would mobile broadband provider conduct have to change, if at all, in light of existing device certification programs?

As noted above, some mobile providers have introduced usage-based data pricing. To what extent do these business models mitigate concerns about congestion of scarce network capacity by third-party devices?

Applications
The FCC seeks comment on how best to maximize consumer choice, innovation, and freedom of expression in the mobile application space, while ensuring continued private investment and competition in mobile wireless broadband services. To what extent should mobile wire-less providers be permitted to prevent or restrict the distribution or use of types of applications that may intensively use network capacity, or that cause other network management challenges? Is the use of reasonable net-work management sufficient, by itself or in combination with usage-based pricing, to address such concerns? Should mobile wireless providers have less discretion with respect to applications that compete with services the provider offers? How should the ability of developers to load software applications onto devices for development or prototyping purposes be protected?

The FCC also seeks comment on the extent to which certain application distribution models—such as a mobile broadband Internet access service provider acting as both a network operator and an app store provider/curator—may affect consumer choice. If providers were to be prohibited from denying or restricting access to applications in their capacity as network providers, should they nevertheless have discretion regarding what apps are included in app stores that they operate? Are there safe-harbor criteria that, if met by a provider, would ameliorate potential concerns? For example, if a provider’s customer had a choice of several app store providers that offered applications that could be downloaded onto the customer’s mobile device, would that adequately mitigate concerns about potentially anti-competitive or anti-consumer effects of a provider excluding applications from its own app store?

Finally, the FCC seeks comment on how differences between web-based and native applications should inform our analysis. Should a mobile provider have more discretion to restrict consumers’ downloading and/or use of native applications than they should with respect to web-based applications?

Comments in this GN Docket No. 09-191 and WC Docket No. 07-52 proceeding will be due 30 days after publication of the item in the Federal Register, and replies will be due 25 days thereafter.

BloostonLaw contacts: Hal Mordkofsky, Ben Dickens, Gerry Duffy, and John Prendergast.

FCC Launches Wireless HAC Proceeding To Ensure Access To New Technology

In today’s Federal Register, the FCC published comment dates for its Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (FNPRM) seeking comment on revisions to its wireless hearing aid compatibility rules. The Commission is initiating this proceeding to ensure that consumers with hear-ing loss are able to access wireless communications ser-vices through a wide selection of devices without experiencing disabling interference or other technical obstacles.

In this FNPRM, the Commission seeks comment on potential changes to its hearing aid compatibility (HAC) rules in three respects. First, the Commission proposes to extend the scope of the rules beyond the current category of Commercial Mobile Radio Service (CMRS) to include handsets used to provide wireless voice communications over any type of network among members of the public or a substantial portion of the public. The Commission seeks comment on this proposal, on whether considerations of technological feasibility or marketability prevent application of its HAC requirements to any class of these handsets, and on what transition period is appropriate for applying the requirements to newly covered handsets. Second, the Commission seeks further comment on whether to extend its in-store testing requirement beyond retail stores owned or operated by service providers to some or all other retail outlets. Third, the Commission seeks comment on whether to extend to all circumstances the ability to meet HAC standards for radio frequency (RF) interference reduction for GSM operations in the 1900 MHz band through software that enables the user to reduce maximum power output by up to 2.5 decibels (dB). Comments in this WT Docket No. 07-250 proceeding are due October 25, and replies are due November 22.

The FNPRM was released in conjunction with the FCC’s HAC Policy Statement and Second Report and Order (effective October 8). In these documents, the Commission affirms that its HAC rules must provide people who use hearing aids and cochlear implants with continuing access to the most advanced and innovative technologies as science and markets develop, while maximizing the conditions for innovation and investment.

The Commission also clarifies that its HAC rules cover customer equipment that contains a built-in speaker and is designed to be typically held to the ear, adopts a streamlined procedure for amending its rules to incorporate an anticipated revision of the HAC technical standard that will make it generically applicable across frequency bands and interface modes, and extends its dis-closure requirements to provide consumers with information about multi-band and multi-mode phones that operate in part over bands or modes for which technical standards have not been established.

In order to ensure that people with hearing loss will have access to new and popular models, while continuing to protect the ability of small companies to compete and to foster innovation by new entrants, the Commission modified the de minimis exception in its existing rule so that companies that are not small entities will be required to offer at least one hearing aid-compatible model after a two-year initial period. In recognition of specific challenges that this rule change will impose for handsets operating over the legacy GSM air interface in the 1900 MHz band, the Commission permits companies that will no longer qualify for the de minimis exception to meet hearing aid compatibility requirements by installing soft-ware that enables customers to reduce the power output by a limited amount for such operations. The Commission also amends its rules requiring manufacturers to deploy hearing aid-compatible handsets so that they ap-ply to handsets sold through all distribution channels, and not only through service providers.

BloostonLaw contacts: Hal Mordkofsky, John Prendergast, and Cary Mitchell.

FCC Proposes HAC Fines Against 3 Tier III Carriers

The FCC recently issued separate $15,000 Notices of Apparent Liability for Forfeiture (NALs) against three GSM-based Tier III CMRS carriers for failing to offer consumers the required minimum number or percentage of digital wireless handsets that meet or exceed the RF interference standards for hearing aid compatibility. We remind clients of the current HAC handset deployment requirements, and emphasize the need for service providers to maintain accurate monthly records of their HAC handset offerings.

The next round of HAC reports for CMRS service providers (including carriers and resellers) will be due Monday, January 17, 2011, and with end-of-year holidays around the corner, we strongly recommend that carriers confirm now that they have at all times been offering the required number (or percentage) of hearing aid compatible hand-sets, and that their record keeping systems are in place. The FCC’s HAC rules increased the required number of compliant handsets starting last year, and will continue to require the addition of compliant handsets through next year. BloostonLaw contacts:

Hal Mordkofsky, John Prendergast, Cary Mitchell, and Bob Jackson.

COMMENT DATES SET FOR PROCEEDING TO RE-MOVE BARRIERS TO USE OF SPECTRUM FOR WIRELESS BACKHAUL: The FCC has set comments dates for its proceeding to remove regulatory barriers to the use of spectrum for wireless backhaul and other point-to-point and point-to-multipoint communications. This proceeding is designed to surface ways to increase efficient use of spectrum for backhaul, especially by up-dating regulatory classifications that may not have kept pace with the evolution of converged digital technologies. Providing for the more flexible use of microwave frequencies for backhaul may help promote access to backhaul solutions that are critical to the deployment of wireless broadband and other services. The proposed rule changes may be particularly beneficial to rural areas, where wireline alternatives may not exist. The proposed rules should increase opportunities for all users of point-to-point and point-to-multipoint services, while protecting established license holders who are already using these bands. As an initial matter, the FCC believes 750 megahertz in the 13 gigahertz range and below can be made flexibly usable for broadband backhaul. Comments in this WT Docket Nos. 10-153, 09-106, and 07-121 proceeding are due October 25, and replies are due November 22. BloostonLaw contacts: Hal Mordkofsky, John Prendergast, and Cary Mitchell.

FCC EXTENDS CERTAIN TRS WAIVERS: The FCC has extended for an additional year current waivers of certain Telecommunications Relay Services (TRS) mandatory minimum standards for Video Relay Service (VRS) and Internet Protocol Relay (IP Relay). The waived TRS mandatory minimum standards are: One-line voice carry over (VCO); VCO-to-teletypewriter (TTY); VCO-to-VCO; one-line hearing carry over (HCO); HCO-to-TTY; HCO-to-HCO; call release; speech-to-speech (STS); pay-per-call (900) calls; types of calls; and equal access to interexchange carriers requirements. The Commission also extends for one year a requirement for default Internet-based TRS providers that are unable to meet such standards for newly-registered Internet-based TRS users who port their customer premises equipment (CPE) from a former default provider. The Commission extends the waivers for one year because the record demonstrates that it is technologically infeasible for VRS and IP Relay providers to offer these services at this time. All of these waivers are conditioned on the filing of a report, due April 16, 2011, addressing whether it is necessary for the waivers to remain in effect. The waivers of certain TRS mandatory minimum standards for VRS and IP Relay will expire on July 1, 2011, or until the Commission addresses pending petitions regarding CPE portability, which ever comes first. (CG Docket No. 03-123; DA 10-1235.) BloostonLaw contacts: Ben Dickens, Gerry Duffy, and Mary Sisak.

PROPOSED TOWER BAN COULD BE TROUBLE FOR CARRIERS: AGL Magazine is reporting that the Town of Hempstead, New York plans to ban additional cell towers within 1,500 feet of homes or schools. This action is op-posed by carriers such as T-Mobile and NextG Next-works, which have installed a number of towers in the affected areas. At the center of the controversy is a T-Mobile plan to erect a tower at the North Merrick Library, according to AGL. The structure would be disguised as a 50-foot flagpole and would help to eliminate coverage gaps in the North Merrick area. The library would receive $18,000 annually to lease the land. The initial announcement was made before nearly 40 people at the library during a meeting of the North Merrick Civic Association. But then the word spread, AGL reported, and the citizens rallied against the placement of the tower. A T-Mobile representative has defended the library cell tower with an engineering report stating the proposed installation will contribute less than .052 percent of the maxi-mum permissible level of RF exposure to the people in the library, and less than .166 percent within the surrounding community. But the jury is still out. If Hempstead is successful in putting its ban into place, it could make it difficult for wireless carriers to compete, especially smaller carriers that cannot always afford to be first to market. While Section 332 of the Communications Act bans state and local actions that would have the effect of precluding wireless service to a given community, this has been interpreted by certain courts as protect-ing only the first service provider in a community. Once the first service to the community is established, these courts have held that the Act does not guarantee access for subsequent providers. This trend may signal the need to amend Section 332 so as to foster competition; and it may in the meantime require smaller wireless carriers to think hard about adapting their buildout plan so that they are first to market in key coverage areas, to eliminate the risk that they fall victim to a similar tower ban. BloostonLaw contacts: Hal Mordkofsky, John Prendergast, Cary Mitchell and Richard Rubino.

This newsletter is not intended to provide legal advice. Those interested in more information should contact the firm.

SECURITY

September 10, 2010 5:27 AM

"Here You Have" Virus Demonstrates Need to Improve Malware Security

By Tony Bradley, PC World

A worm known affectionately as "Here You Have" based on the subject line of the infected e-mail used to propagate it has quickly spread into a global malware attack. The efficacy of the simple, and poorly worded e-mail luring users to click on a malicious link demonstrates why we need a whole new approach to malware defense.

If the subject line sounds déjà vu, it's because it is if you've been around long enough. The Anna Kournikova virus that spread around the world in 2001 used the exact same subject line. Here we are nearly a decade later and essentially the same attack that worked in 2001 is once again compromising tens of thousands of machines around the globe.

A McAfee spokesperson contacted me and explained the threat in a nutshell "The threat arrives via e-mail and contains a link that appears to direct to a PDF file, but instead goes to a malicious program," adding "Clicking on the link and activating the malware results in the worm attempting to disable security software and send itself to all the contacts in the user's address book. As a result, e-mail infrastructures of organizations could cripple under the e-mail load."

A Symantec spokesperson offered this sage advice to guard against the threat "Computer users should remember best practices and keep virus definitions up-to-date, and avoid clicking on links and/or attachments in email messages. Network administrators are encouraged to configure mail servers to block or remove email that contains file attachments that are commonly used to spread viruses, such as .VBS, .BAT, .EXE, .PIF, and .SCR files. The file used in this case is an .SCR file."

This is 2010--going on 2011! Shouldn't users just know by now that poorly worded e-mail messages imploring you to click on cryptic links or file attachments are always bad news even if the message claims to be from their own mother? Shouldn't all IT and security admins have already configured network and e-mail gateways to filter and block executable file attachments?

Those are rhetorical questions, and the answer to both is "yes". So, since security best practices that have been the standard preached for nearly a decade are still insufficient to protect networks against such a rudimentary attack, perhaps it's time for a new malware defense strategy.

One possible alternative is to switch from a reactionary, defensive security posture based on letting attackers make the first strike and then scrambling to develop and deploy the malware signatures necessary to detect and defend against it. Instead, organizations can use tools like AppLocker which is part of Windows 7, or third-party utilities like McAfee Application Control to flip the model around and use a proactive, offensive strategy that defines what is allowed to run rather than trying to block what isn't.

To be fair, this is not the only alternative. It is safe to say, though, when an attack that is essentially a decade old can still be successful, and when the recommended response from security professionals is to ensure standard security practices that have existed for a decade are followed, apparently that security model is flawed and needs to evolve somehow.

Intelligent Solutions for Paging & Wireless Data

WiPath manufactures a wide range of highly unique and innovative hardware and software solutions in paging and mobile data for:

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Telesystem founder recognized by Ernst & Young's Entrepreneur Of The Year program

Québec's Charles Sirois receives lifetime achievement award

MONTREAL, Sept. 9 /CNW Telbec/ — Today, Charles Sirois was named the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year® 2010 Québec Lifetime Achievement Award recipient in recognition of his commitment to the Canadian communications industry and his substantial entrepreneurial achievements. Charles is Entrepreneur Of The Year's ninth lifetime achievement award recipient from Québec.

"Since launching his career as a young businessman and taking over the family-owned paging company, Charles has started more than 20 companies from scratch," said François Dufresne, Partner and Director of Entrepreneur Of The Year for the Québec region. "Through his many successes and lessons learned, Charles has shown no aversion to risk, and an immense determination to respond to each challenge that faces him with greater innovation."

Charles began his entrepreneurial journey in 1978, and within a few years established himself as a leader in the Canadian paging industry with National Pagette and National Mobile Radio Communications Inc. Today, Charles is the founder, chairman and CEO of Telesystem Ltd., a private equity company that owns, builds and manages innovative businesses around the world.

Charles' impact on the business community spans far beyond his corporate success. He is the founding partner and chairman of Enablis Entrepreneurial Network, a non-profit organization that supports entrepreneurs in developing countries by giving them access, at affordable cost, to a range of professional and financial resources.

Charles is also chairman of the board of the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, and founding partner of Tandem Expansion, a private investment fund focused on growth capital.

The Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year Lifetime Achievement Award honours individuals who have made an enduring impression on the Canadian business community and who continue to nurture and inspire the next generation of Canadian entrepreneurial talents.

Ernst & Young will present this prestigious award to Charles during the Québec Entrepreneur Of The Year Awards banquet at the Bonsecours Market in Montréal on October 27, 2010.

The national program sponsors are Global Television Network, National Post, LaPresse and RDI. The Québec Entrepreneur Of The Year program works in collaboration with Desjardins.

For regional banquet ticket information, please contact Sophie Leclerc at 514-879-8173.

Former Québec recipients of the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of The Year Lifetime Achievement Award include Laurent Beaudoin (2000), Paul Desmarais (2001), Jean Coutu (2002), Stephen Jarislowsky (2003), Rémi Marcoux (2004), André Chagnon (2005), Joseph Kruger (2006) and Pierre Péladeau (2008).

About the awards program
The Entrepreneur Of The Year Awards honour the spirit and contribution of entrepreneurs here and around the world. This year, the Canadian program is proudly celebrating 17 years of honouring Canada's outstanding entrepreneurs from all areas of business. For more information on the program, please visit ey.com/ca/eoy.

About Ernst & Young
Ernst & Young is a global leader in assurance, tax, transaction and advisory services. Worldwide, our 144,000 people are united by our shared values and an unwavering commitment to quality. We make a difference by helping our people, our clients and our wider communities achieve their potential.

For more information, please visit ey.com/ca.

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Wireless Communication Solutions

USB Paging Encoder

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Thanks for reading another issue of the Wireless Messaging News. Please recommend it to a friend or colleague. If you are a vendor, taking out an ad here would not only help the newsletter, but it would also show your commitment to our industry.

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Larry King to Host Robert Spitzer and Stephen Hawking

By: PR Newswire
Sep. 9, 2010 01:06 PM

Leading Authority on Metaphysics to Respond to Hawking's Creation Theory

IRVINE, Calif., Sept. 9 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — It's on! The Larry King stage is set for what may shape up to be one of the most provocative discussions on the need for a Creator in physics. Stephen Hawking's latest controversial work The Grand Design — "no God required" — has drawn vigorous retort from the religious community. One prominent philosopher and metaphysical expert, Robert Spitzer, S.J., Ph.D. made a strong rebuttal to Hawking's claim. On Friday, September 10, King will host both Hawking and Spitzer as they defend their opposing viewpoints.

Robert J. Spitzer, S.J., Ph.D., President of the Magis Center of Reason and Faith, immediate past president of Gonzaga University and author of the recently published New Proofs for the Existence of God: Contributions of Contemporary Physics and Philosophy quickly responded to Hawking with a reply entitled "The Curious Metaphysics of Dr. Stephen Hawking". An expert in metaphysics and the ontology of physics, Spitzer has published extensively on the relationship of these two disciplines and the philosophy of God. Spitzer is currently producing a documentary on God and Modern Physics which is scheduled for completion in November. It features eight esteemed physicists who present an astrophysical response to atheism. An accomplished academic in his own right, Spitzer holds four advanced degrees: Ph.D. Philosophy, CUA, Th.M., Weston School, Cambridge; M.Div. Gregorian University, Rome; M.A., Philosophy St. Louis University,.

Hawking is a theoretical physicist who gained widespread attention from his book A Brief History of Time, along with several subsequent works, including his latest and hotly debated The Grand Design. In the recent book, Hawking argues against the need for a creator or God. Hawking's assertion has sparked widespread dismay and represents a disconnect from his earlier works which were open to the possibility of a creator. In 2005, Hawking published God Created the Integers: The Mathematical Breakthroughs that Changed History. Hawking recently retired from his post as a professor of mathematics at the University of Cambridge, a position he held for 30 years.

Be sure to watch the grand discussion on Grand Design scheduled to air on CNN's Larry King Show, Friday at 9pm EDT. Updates will be announced as they are made available. To learn more, visit magisreasonfaith.org.

SOURCE: Magis Center of Reason and Faith