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We Asked Apple Employees About Jony Ive’s Departure. Here’s Their Surprising Take

By Don Reisinger
July 4, 2019

Most Apple employees aren't concerned about the departure of Apple design chief Jony Ive, who played a pivotal role in creating the iPhone and iPad. And even without him, they say, Apple will remain a leader in tech design.

In a survey Fortune conducted with Blind, an anonymous social network for discussing workplace issues, 52% of Apple employees said that Ive's resignation, announced last week, will have no impact on the company's future. Another 22% said Ive's departure would actually be a positive while only 26% worried that it may hurt Apple.

The findings undermine the idea that Ive's departure, at least in the opinion of Apple employees, is a major loss for the company. Although he was a key lieutenant, first under Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, and then current CEO Tim Cook, the general sense among Apple rank and file is that Apple will be just fine without him.

Since the announcement, however, both Bloomberg and The Wall Street Journal reported that sources inside Apple had said Ive had become disengaged with Apple and from Cook in recent years over concerns that Cook favored profitability over design. The reports also said that Ive had reduced his duties over the past few years and would only show up at Apple's headquarters a couple days a week.

Earlier this week, Cook blasted those reports, saying that they were "absurd" and "just don't match with reality."

The Fortune-Blind findings shed light on what Apple employees really think behind the scenes. Those findings are based on responses through Blind from just over 100 Apple employees, on Monday and Tuesday.

Blind, a social network that is used by employees to share office gossip and salaries, confirmed the respondents as Apple employees based on their corporate Apple email addresses. The respondents identified themselves as working across Apple, including in engineering, operations, research and development, and design team—the team that Ive led.

In addition to weighing in on Ive's departure, 73% of Apple employees who responded said that Ive was important to Apple's past success. Only 8% of employees said he wasn't important.

Even so, Apple's employees were confident that Apple, absent Ive, would continue to be strong in product design. More than three-quarters predicted that Apple would be a product design leader. Tech workers from other companies echoed the positive opinions within Apple. In a broader survey of more than 2,000 tech employees on Blind, 48% said Ive's departure won't affect Apple. Another 14% said that his leaving could be good while another 38% said it could hurt the company. Overall, 70% of tech industry employees predicted that Apple would remain a product design leader. In any case, Ive won't go far after leaving Apple. He plans to create a design firm that already has a contract to work with Apple on its products.

[Source: Fortune]

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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.

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.

We are having a cold spell in Southern, Illinois

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.

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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.

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Passive Audio Amps For Smart Phones

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Wireless Carriers Want Phased-In 3-Meter Z-Axis Accuracy, No Floor-Level Data

By Sandra Wendelken, Editor
Friday, June 28, 2019

Wireless carriers voiced concerns with providing floor-level data for 9-1-1 calls from indoor multistory locations and urged the FCC to adopt a phased approach for 3-meter Z-axis location accuracy requirements.

The concerns were part of reply comments filed in response to the FCC’s proposed March rules that side with public safety and would require a vertical (Z-axis) location accuracy metric of ±3 meters relative to the handset for 80 percent of indoor wireless 9-1-1 calls. The new rules will help first responders more accurately locate people who make wireless 9-1-1 calls from multistory buildings.

AT&T argued against requiring floor-level data and agreed with Google that the FCC use a timetable for increasingly demanding Z-axis call coverage and/or geographic coverage requirements. “Given the variances in building structural characteristics and terrain, AT&T continues to believe that imposition of a floor level data requirement is infeasible at this time,” AT&T said.

In its earlier comments, AT&T supported establishing a 3-meter Z-axis location metric. However in its reply comments, the carrier said: “Proven solutions that meet this metric are not currently available, and thus the commission should consider a phased-in approach for implementation, which will allow market innovation to continue while also providing first responders with actionable information in the near term. . . Device-based solutions show promise in advancing the evolution to dispatchable location. AT&T anticipates leveraging these technologies, but additional development is needed.”

T-Mobile USA’s reply comments said a phased-in approach based on PSAP readiness would allow carriers to focus their Z-axis development efforts in those areas where PSAPs are able to accept and use Z-axis information. T-Mobile USA’s reply comments also agreed with Verizon’s comments on geographic areas. “Verizon suggests that the commission should focus its compliance benchmarks on those areas with the most critical need for Z-axis information with 9-1-1 calls — specifically, urban and dense urban morphologies,” T-Mobile said in its reply comments. “T-Mobile encourages the commission to explore this proposal . . .”

CTIA said in reply comments that “the commission should recognize that there was broad support for setting a ± 3-meter Z-axis metric as an important target, but the record demonstrates that validating whether this metric is achievable in the near-term requires further testing.” The group also said the FCC should require providers to deliver Z-axis vertical location data as an altitude level and not as floor level information at this time.

“Finally, contrary to the arguments made by the Boulder Emergency Telephone Service Authority (BRETSA), the Texas 9-1-1 Alliance, the Texas Commission on State Emergency Communications, the Municipal Emergency Communication Districts Association, and others, a more targeted metric than 3 meters is not feasible at this time,” CTIA said.

Alternatively, public-safety groups that included the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP), National Association of State EMS Officials (NASEMSO) and the National Sheriffs’ Association (NSA) urged the FCC to adopt the 3-meter vertical metric and narrow the metric in five years.

“. . . the commission has no choice but to immediately adopt a 3-meter metric for vertical location accuracy and require wireless carriers to implement this requirement, or a dispatchable location solution, in the largest 25 cellular market areas (CMAs) by April 2021 and in the top 50 CMAs by April 2023,” the International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF) said in its comments.

NextNav and Polaris Wireless, two providers of location accuracy technology that participated in testing with CTIA, agreed a 3-meter Z-axis metric should be adopted right away.

In its reply comments, BRETSA, a 9-1-1 authority in Colorado, said the FCC should adopt a vertical location accuracy standard of 2 meters in urbanized markets and 3 meters in the rest of the country, which vertical location providers have demonstrated is achievable.

The Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials (APCO) International did not file reply comments. However, in its May comments, APCO called on the FCC to refrain from adopting a Z-axis metric and mandate instead that wireless providers deploy dispatchable location solutions only. APCO said that if the FCC retains the Z-axis approach, any metric adopted should include floor-level information.

For its part, Precision Broadband agreed with APCO that the proposed Z-axis metric of 3 meters must include a floor number. The company said the definition of dispatchable location should be changed from the current National Emergency Address Database (NEAD) to encompass other location databases.

Charley Simon, founder of Precision Broadband, said the company has demonstrated connecting its technology through interfaces with a rural Internet service provider (ISP). When a mobile phone is connected to a broadband network with the Precision Broadband technology at the time a 9-1-1 call is made, the PSAP system would receive a dispatchable location — civic address, floor and unit — just like with a landline telephone, as well as a Z-axis barometric pressure provided altitude from another source such as Polaris Wireless, and an assisted-global navigation satellite system (GNSS) location point from a wireless carrier’s network. The 9-1-1 telecommunicator would have access to all readings, and either the PSAP technology or the PSAP telecommunicator would determine the best starting point for location.

The National Emergency Number Association (NENA) walked back some points of its original comments, saying its concerns about the NEAD should not be interpreted as a call for abandoning the program. In addition, NENA said it didn’t mean to suggest that a first responder should not be dispatched to a dispatchable location if that is best for operational needs. The association stood by its assertion that mobile providers deliver a location object (LO), formatted to be compatible with prevailing standards, to public-safety answering points (PSAPs).

Comments on the NEAD from NCTA, the Internet and Television Association, said resources may be better spent on alternative solutions that better boost location accuracy for 9-1-1 callers than the NEAD. NCTA said its members have challenges in working with CTIA to engage in testing of the database.

NCTA members have significant concerns about the NEAD’s effectiveness generally compared with more recent promising technologies, the cable industry’s ability to populate the NEAD with meaningful data, and the potential unintended negative effects on NCTA members’ customers, the group said in its reply comments.

All the reply comments are available here.

Paging Transmitters 150/900 MHz

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Back To Paging

Still The Most Reliable Protocol For Wireless Messaging!

If you are reading this, your potential customers are reading it as well. Please click here to find out about our advertising options.

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GTES is no longer offering support contracts. GTES was the original group from Vancouver that was setup to offer support to customers that wanted to continue with the legacy Glenayre support. Many U.S. customers chose not to use this service because of the price and the original requirement to upgrade to version 8.0 software (which required expensive hardware upgrades, etc.). Most contracts ended as of February 2018.

If you are at all concerned about future support of Glenayre products, especially the “king of the hill” the GL3000 paging control terminal, I encourage you to talk to Vaughan about a service contract and please tell him about my recommendation.

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Board of Advisors

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.

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P.E.I. Green leader questions why 13 fire departments without non-cellular communications system

By Stu Neatby (stu.neatby@theguardian.pe.ca)
Published: July 4, 2019

Green Opposition Leader Peter Bevan-Baker works in his office in this Guardian file photo. — Stu Neatby

CHARLOTTETOWN, P.E.I. — Green Leader Peter Bevan-Baker is questioning why 13 fire districts have been left without a functioning communications system beyond cellphone networks.

On July 1, telecommunications company Bell discontinued a pager service on Prince Edward Island. The service has been in use by 13 fire departments.

During question period on Wednesday, Bevan-Baker asked Justice and Public Safety Minister Bloyce Thompson about the province’s plans for reliable communications equipment between emergency response personnel. "Why has this vital part of the emergency protective system been allowed to lapse without a suitable replacement?" Bevan-Baker asked.

In response, Thompson said fire departments across P.E.I. were notified by Bell the system would be phased out last November. He said 23 fire departments have found other communications systems but 13 have not.

The 13 remaining volunteer fire departments do not have a communications system beyond cellphone networks. “I met with the fire marshal this morning, and he assured me that all firefighters are able to get called to fires today. He assured me that all fires would be taken care of," Thompson said.

In an interview, Thompson said the Bell pager system was discontinued because it was out-of-date and no longer supported by the network. He also said the 23 departments that have updated their communications system have been using a combination of localized radio, other communications systems and cell network apps. The 13 remaining are relying solely on cell networks, often using IamResponding, an emergency response app. "They all have cellphones, of course, and most fire departments are using the IamResponding app and they seem to like that app quite well," Thompson said.

But Bevan-Baker suggested cell networks may not be adequately reliable for volunteer fire personnel. "We all know how very easy it is to accidentally disable your cellphone or leave it unattended or some other incident," Bevan-Baker said during question period.

Thompson said the responsibility for upgrading communications equipment falls on municipalities and local fire departments.

He said municipalities can apply for provincial assistance to upgrade these systems through the Growth Initiative Fund. He said costs for upgrades may vary, but he noted that the community of Wellington recently obtained $25,000 in provincial funding to upgrade their system.

"We gave them plenty of notice and the fire marshal was in contact with them regularly,” Thompson said.

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Who We Are

Prism-IPX is a leader in providing reliable communications systems using modern designs to meet today’s demands for critical message alerting and delivery. Prism-IPX designs versatile and robust Critical Message Management systems using paging and other wireless technologies for high performance and dependable communications.

What We Make

Prism-IPX Systems products include full-featured radio paging systems with VoIP input, IP based transmitter control systems and paging message encryption. Other options include e-mail messaging, remote switch controllers, Off-The-Air paging message decoders and logging systems.

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Technology Intelligence

Cambridge scientists create chip that can make technology 1,000 times faster

Cambridge scientists have create a chip capable of speeding up technology needed to underpin smart cities

By Natasha Bernal
4 JULY 2019 • 2:23 PM

Advances in drug discovery, DNA research and the future management of smart cities could be fast-tracked thanks to a new chip that can make technology up to 1,000 times faster.

Cambridge start-up Blueshift Memory has created a prototype for a memory chip that it says addresses what it terms as the "data tailback" challenge.

This is the gap between the performance of rapidly developing central processing units (CPU) and slower progress in computer memory chips.

The disparity creates a "tailback" when high-performance computers perform large-scale operations, like database searches with millions of possible outcomes.

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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

• Database of up to 5000 subscribers.
• 4 serial ports on board.
• Up to 8 phone lines (DID or POTS).
• Can be configured for auto-fail-over to hot swap standby.
• 1RU rack mount unit appliance—no moving parts.
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• Only purchase the protocols/options you need.
• Add Paging Encryption for HIPAA compliance on site.

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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.

• Option—decode capcode list or all messages.
• Large capcode capacity.
• Serial, USB and Ethernet output.
• POCSAG or FLEX page decoding, special SA protocols.
• Receivers for paging bands in VHF, UHF, 900 MHz.
• Message activated Alarm Output.
• 8 programmable relay outputs.
• Send notifications of a system problem.

• Synthesized Receiver Tuning.
• Selectivity better than 60 dB.
• Frequencies 148-174, 450-470, 929-932 MHz.
• Image Rejection better than 55 dB.
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• Channel Spacing 12.5 or 25 kHz.
• Power 5VDC.
• Receiving Sensitivity 5µV at 1200 bps.

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Wireless Network Planners
Wireless Specialists

R.H. (Ron) Mercer Consultant 217 First Street East Northport, NY 11731
Telephone: 631-786-9359
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wirelessplannerron@gmail.com

It was a really bad month for the Internet

By Zack Whittaker
July 5, 2019

If these past few weeks felt like the sky was falling, you weren’t alone.

In the past month there were several major Internet outages affecting millions of users across the world. Sites buckled, services broke, images wouldn’t load, direct messages ground to a halt, and calendar and email unavailable for hours at a time.

It’s not believed any single event tied the outages together, more so just terrible luck for all involved.

It started on June 2 — a quiet Sunday — where most weren’t working. A massive Google Cloud outage took out service for most on the U.S. east coast. Many third-party sites like Discord, Snap, and Vimeo, as well as several of Google’s own services, like Gmail and Nest, were affected.

A routine but faulty configuration change was to blame. The issue was meant to be isolated to a few systems but a bug caused the issue to cascade throughout Google’s servers, causing gridlock across its entire cloud for more than three hours.

On June 24, Cloudflare dropped 15% of its global traffic during an hours-long outage because of a network route leak. The networking giant quickly blamed Verizon (Tech Crunch’s parent company) for the fustercluck. Because of inherent flaws in the border gateway protocol — which manages how Internet traffic is routed the Internet — Verizon effectively routed an “entire freeway down a neighborhood street,” said Cloudflare in its post-mortem blog post. “This should never have happened because Verizon should never have forwarded those routes to the rest of the Internet”

Amazon, Linode, and other major companies reliant on Cloudflare’s infrastructure also ground to a halt.

A week later on July 2, Cloudflare was hit by a second outage — this time caused by an internal code push that went badly. In a blog post, Cloudflare’s chief technology officer John Graham-Cumming blamed the half-hour outage on a rogue bit of “regex” code in its web firewall, designed to prevent its customer sites from getting hit by JavaScript-based attacks. But the regex code was bad and caused its processors to spike across its machines worldwide, effectively crippling the entire service — and any site reliant on it. The code rollback was swift, however, and the Internet quickly returned to normal.

Google, not wanting to out-do Cloudflare, was hit by another outage on July 2 thanks to physical damage to a fiber cable in its U.S. east coast region. The disruption lasted for about six hours, though Google says most of the disruption was mitigated by routing traffic through its other data-centers.

Then, Facebook and its entire portfolio of services — including WhatsApp and Instagram — stumbled along for eight hours during July 3 as its shared content delivery network was hit by downtime. Facebook took to Twitter, no less, to confirm the outage. Images and videos across the services wouldn’t load, leaving behind only the creepy machine learning-generated descriptions of each photo.

Instagram was one of the many Facebook-owned services hit by an outage this week, with several taking to Twitter noting the automatic tagging and categorization of images. (Image: Derek Kinsman/Twitter)

At about the same time Twitter too had to face the music, admitting in a tweet that direct messages were broken. Some complained of ‘ghost’ messages that weren’t there. Some weren’t getting notified of new messages at all.

Then came Apple’s turn. On July 4, iCloud was hit by a three-hour nationwide outage, affecting almost every part of its cloud-based service — from the App Store, Apple ID, Apple Pay and Apple TV. In some cases, users couldn’t access their cloud-based e-mail or photos.

According to Internet monitoring firm ThousandEyes, the cause of the outage was yet another border gateway protocol issue — similar to Cloudflare’s scuffle with Verizon.

Apple’s nondescript outage page. It acknowledges issues, but not why or for how long. (Image: Tech Crunch)

It was a rough month for a lot of people. Points to Cloudflare and Google for explaining what happened and why. Less so to Apple, Facebook, and Twitter, all of which barely acknowledged their issues.

What can we learn? For one, Internet providers need to do better with routing filters, and secondly perhaps it’s not a good idea to run new code directly on a production system.

These past few weeks have not looked good for the cloud, shaking confidence in the many reliant on hosting giants — like Amazon, Google and more. Although some quickly — and irresponsibly and eventually wrongly — concluded the outages were because of hackers or threat actors launching distributed denial-of-service attacks, it’s always far safer to assume that an internal mistake is to blame.

But for the very vast majority of consumers and businesses alike, the cloud is still far more resilient — and better equipped to handle user security — than most of those who run their own servers in-house.

The easy lesson is to not put all your eggs in one basket — or your data in single cloud. But as this week showed, sometimes you can be just plain unlucky.

Google’s Cloud outage is resolved, but it reveals the holes in cloud computing’s atmosphere

Five hours after Google publicly announced that it was working to resolve an outage in its Cloud computing network that had taken out a large chunk of Google services as well as Shopify, Snap, Discord and other popular apps, the problem seems to be resolved.

The outage hit everything from the ability to control the temperature in people’s homes and apartments through Google’s Nest to shopping on any service powered by Shopify, to Snapchat and Discord’s social networks.

“The network congestion issue in eastern USA, affecting Google Cloud, G Suite, and YouTube has been resolved for all affected users as of 4:00pm US/Pacific,” the company said in a statement.

“We will conduct an internal investigation of this issue and make appropriate improvements to our systems to help prevent or minimize future recurrence. We will provide a detailed report of this incident once we have completed our internal investigation. This detailed report will contain information regarding SLA credits.”

Even though the networking issue has been resolved, the fact that problems with Google’s cloud services could cause outages for several of the world’s most popular applications underscores how thin cloud coverage can be for modern computing architectures.

Most companies have put their entire backend in the hands of one company and while the benefits outweigh the risks most of the time, it’s worthwhile to at least think about contingency planning.

Modern cloud architectures have slashed the cost of creating new technology businesses, but it also means that companies are typically dependent on one service for their ability to operate.

As the world becomes more networked (especially as Internet-enabled devices become more prevalent in the home), it’s going to be more important for companies to have a back-up plan in place in case these services go down.

In short, it’s fine to have a dependency — like storage or computing in the cloud — just as long as companies have a way to account for their dependents.

Tech Crunch
Tech Crunch

Brad Dye, Ron Mercer, Allan Angus, Vic Jackson, and Ira Wiesenfeld 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. Each one has unique abilities. We would be happy to help you with a project, and maybe save you some time and money.

Note: We do not like Patent Trolls, i.e. “a person or company who enforces patent rights against accused infringers in an attempt to collect licensing fees, but does not manufacture products or supply services based upon the patents in question.” We have helped some prominent law firms defend their clients against this annoyance, and would be happy to do some more of this same kind of work.

Some people use the title “consultant” when they don't have a real job. We actually do consulting work, and help others based on our many years of experience.

“If you would know the road ahead, ask someone who has traveled it.”
— Chinese Proverb

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:

• RJ45 for A, B and Common connectors.
• Manual push button or use Prism IP commands to switch one or more relays.
• Single or Dual Port Control card for IP or Serial connection.
• Form C relay—control local connection.
• Power Loss Indicator.
• Rear Panel Connector for controlling the switch externally.
• Power Source: 5VDC for ABX-1; 12VDC for ABX-3.

Prism-IPX Systems LLC.

11175 Cicero Dr., Alpharetta, GA 30022
Ph: 678-242-5290 e-mail: sales@prism-ipx.com
prism-ipx.com

“I’m No Expert, But . . .”

By Jim Fryer, Managing Editor, Inside Towers

“When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro.”
—Hunter S. Thompson

They’ve been coming out of the woodwork and don’t expect it to stop anytime soon. There’s ‘expert testimony’ to be given, in front of cameras, in front of Congress. There are pillows to be checked for EMF, interviews to be given with CBS, the London Times and Paranormal Insights. It’s a busy time to be a dispenser of opinions about the health effects of cell phone and cell tower radiation regardless of your technical knowledge, medical credentials or respect by esteemed members of your profession.

The most inflammatory rhetoric against the tower and telecom industry is coming from a handful of dubious challengers who are being dutifully quoted and sanctified by the press at all levels of the profession. And business keeps getting better for them. The recent CBS News story on the preschool in Folsom, CA was picked up yesterday by the Sacramento Bee as the story gathers strength in traditional and social media outlets.

A reporter who asked Inside Towers to keep her name confidential said she tried to reach out to CTIA ten times without a response. In the absence of informed and sober commentary, even media outlets as august as KOVR-TV and “The Bee,” will try to contact those who may take a quirky take on things…like the three shown above, for instance:

Joel Moscowitz

• Education: Degrees in Mathematics (Rutgers University) and Social Psychology (UC Santa Barbara)
• Company: UC Berkeley, Director of the Center for Family and Community Health at the UCB School of Public Health.
• Claim to fame: He said he has reviewed more than 50 studies that found DNA damage from the RF Radiation emitted from cell phones and towers. Has sued the state of California for hiding evidence that cell phones cause cancer.
• Media highlights: Quoted on film in the 6/29/19 KOVR-TV Broadcast. Interviewed by Paranormal Insights.
• Media lowlights: The American Council on Science and Health, called Moskowitz a “Cell Phone, WiFi Truther.” They went on to say he was a disgrace to the University of California-Berkeley, and the type of charlatan that wraps themselves in the prestige of academia to peddle foolishness to anxious parents. “He is a blight upon academia and a nuisance to public health,” the ACSCH said. Inside Towers article: 7/01/19 “Tower Scare Chases California Preschool”

Dafna Tachover

• Company: founder of We Are The Evidence, a group formed to, “expose the suppressed epidemic of sickness, suffering and human rights crisis created by wireless technology.”
• Education: an attorney both in New York and in Israel who received her degree in the UK and has an MBA.
• Technical background: According to her website, “she gained a technical understanding of wireless networks and infrastructures as a communications and computer officer in the Israeli Defense Forces where she was the commander of the computer center for their Operations Center and Headquarters.”
• How she got started: In 2009, she said she started experiencing symptoms from her laptop computer that were “severe and debilitating” causing her to give up her career, divorce her husband and give up her dream of having children.
• Media highlights: Last year, Tachover testified in front of the Michigan State Senate, arguing against Bill 637 that would ease the implementation of 5G technology. The bill was approved by the governor in December of 2018. In 2015, she was featured in a New York Magazine article entitled: “What It’s Like to Be Allergic to Wi-Fi”.
• Media lowlights; Inside Towers “Towers Deemed Dangerous By Consultant Citing NASA Data”

Eric Windheim

• Company: Windheim EMF, an “Electro Magnetic Radiation Specialist”
• Education: with credentials from the International Institute for Building Biology & Ecology, a New Mexico-based “institute” compiling “12 months, four certification seminars, 21 courses of study and 14,000 air miles”
• Claim to fame: touts his effectiveness at lowering EMF in the home. Using his “smart meter,” Windheim said he recently, “lowered a 10 mG magnetic field found on the pillows of the master bed to a very low and safe level of .25 mG. It is a real challenge, a lot of fun and clients feel better as the result!”
• Media lowlights: Inside Towers article “Are School Parents Getting the Wrong Info From EMF’ers” “He’s a tin hat,” Lawrence Behr of LBA said, “part of the EMF Cult crowd.” Behr is the President of LBA Group, a 56-year old engineering consulting firm and is also Director of the National Association of Radio and Telecommunications Engineers. Behr said Windheim’s results were inaccurate due to both using substandard meter-reading equipment and poor extrapolation of his findings. “He didn’t understand the math much less the instrument,” Behr said.

Selected portions [sometimes more — sometimes less — sometimes the whole updates] of the BloostonLaw Telecom Update and/or the BloostonLaw Private Users Update — newsletters from the Law Offices of Blooston, Mordkofsky, Dickens, Duffy & Prendergast, LLP — are reproduced in this section of The Wireless Messaging News with kind permission from the firm. The firm's contact information is included at the end of this section of the newsletter.

Holiday Edition

FCC Reminds EAS Participants of Upcoming Dates and Deadlines

On July 1, the FCC issued a Public Notice reminding all Emergency Alert System (EAS) Participants that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), in coordination with the FCC, will conduct a nationwide test of the EAS on August 7, with a back-up date of August 21. The FCC also reminded all EAS Participants that they must file Form Two in the EAS Test Reporting System (ETRS) at or before 11:59 p.m. EDT on August 7, and ETRS Form Three on or before September 23.

At 2:20 p.m. EDT on August 7, FEMA will conduct a live test of the EAS. All EAS Participants are required to participate in this nationwide test. The EAS message will only be disseminated using a hierarchical, broadcast-based distribution system, otherwise known as the “daisy chain.” The test message will clearly state that the alert is only a test of the EAS.

According to the Public Notice, this year’s over-the-air EAS test will only be transmitted in English and will not include full message text. The FCC reminded EAS Participants, however, that EAS alerts are required to be accessible to the entire public, including people with disabilities. Specifically, the Public Notice states that the visual message portion of an EAS alert, whether video crawl or block text, must be displayed: (1) at the top of the television screen or where it will not interfere with other visual messages; (2) in a manner (i.e., font size, color, contrast, location, and speed) that is readily readable and understandable, (3) in a manner that does not contain overlapping lines of EAS text or extend beyond the viewable display (except for video crawls that intentionally scroll on and off of the screen); and (4) in full at least once during any EAS message. EAS Participants are also reminded that the audio portion of an EAS message must play in full at least once during any EAS message. Each EAS Participant, whether broadcaster, cable provider or other, needs to ensure that its equipment—whether EAS equipment, character generator, or other—is prepared to deliver the alert in a manner consistent with the FCC’s rules.

The FCC also reminds EAS Participants are reminded to take steps, in coordination with their State Emergency Communication Committees, in preparation for this test. This preparation would include upgrading EAS equipment software and firmware to the most recent version and ensuring that EAS equipment can receive and process the National Periodic Test code, the “six zeroes” national location code, and otherwise operate in compliance with the FCC’s rules. EAS Participants are also reminded to review their State EAS Plans for monitoring assignments and to ensure that EAS equipment is accurately configured to monitor those sources.

BloostonLaw Contacts: Cary Mitchell.

Comment Sought on Petition to Pause Implementation of Lifeline Minimum Service Standards

On July 1, the FCC issued a Public Notice seeking comment on a Joint Petition to pause the implementation of scheduled updates to the Lifeline minimum service standards and support amounts. Comments are due July 31, and reply comments are due August 15.

The Joint Petition was filed by CTIA, National Consumer Law Center, National Hispanic Media Coalition, OCA – Asian Pacific American Advocates, United Church of Christ, and OC, Inc. Specifically, the Joint Petitioners request that the FCC pause both the scheduled update to the minimum service standard for Lifeline-supported mobile broadband service and the scheduled reduction in the support amount for Lifeline-supported mobile voice service, both of which would otherwise take effect on December 1. According to the Joint Petitioners, marketplace change has out-paced the timeline for the Lifeline marketplace study upon which the FCC’s rulings were based, and another study should be conducted.

The Joint Petitioners argue that the changes, if permitted to take effect, would result in “(1) an unanticipated five-fold increase in the minimum required broadband data usage allowance, and (2) the phase-down in support for voice services, which are still relied upon by upwards of 40 percent of current Lifeline subscribers.” Carriers affected by the implementation of the Lifeline minimum service standards should contact the firm for more information.

BloostonLaw Contacts: Ben Dickens, Mary Sisak, and Sal Taillefer.

USTelecom Partially Withdraws Petition for Forbearance

On July 2, the FCC released an Order granting a request by USTelecom—The Broadband Association (USTelecom) for approval to withdraw portions of its petition for forbearance from certain incumbent local exchange carrier requirements. Other portions, however, remain subject to petition.

Specifically, USTelecom filed a request for approval to withdraw “any and all . . . pending requests for forbearance identified in Appendix A of the Petition,” with the exception of “(1) unbundling obligations for DS1 and DS3 transport and analog voice-grade copper loops under Section 251(c)(3) of the Act and the Commission’s rules, and associated Section 251 and Section 252 obligations under the Act and the Commission’s rules; and (2) avoided cost resale obligations under Section 251(c)(4) of the Act and associated Section 251 and Section 252 obligations under the Act and the Commission’s rules.”

The petition for forbearance was originally filed on May 4, 2018, and sought relief from three categories of requirements applicable to incumbent local exchange carriers (LECs) or subsets thereof.

BloostonLaw Contacts: Ben Dickens and Sal Taillefer.

Deadlines

JULY 31: FCC FORM 507, UNIVERSAL SERVICE QUARTERLY LINE COUNT UPDATE. Line count updates are required to recalculate a carrier's per line universal service support, and is filed with the Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC). This information must be submitted on July 31 each year by all rate-of-return incumbent carriers, and on a quarterly basis if a competitive eligible telecommunications carrier (CETC) has initiated service in the rate-of-return incumbent carrier’s service area and reported line count data to USAC in the rate-of-return incumbent carrier’s service area, in order for the incumbent carrier to be eligible to receive Interstate Common Line Support (ICLS). This quarterly filing is due July 31 and covers lines served as of December 31, 2018. Incumbent carriers filing on a quarterly basis must also file on September 30 (for lines served as of March 31, 2019); December 30 (for lines served as of June 30, 2019), and March 31, 2020, for lines served as of September 30, 2019).

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

JULY 31: CARRIER IDENTIFICATION CODE (CIC) REPORTS. Carrier Identification Code (CIC) Reports must be filed by the last business day of July (this year, July 31). These reports are required of all carriers who have been assigned a CIC code by NANPA. Failure to file could result in an effort by NANPA to reclaim it, although according to the Guidelines this process is initiated with a letter from NANPA regarding the apparent non-use of the CIC code. The assignee can then respond with an explanation. (Guidelines Section 6.2). The CIC Reporting Requirement is included in the CIC Assignment Guidelines, produced by ATIS. According to section 1.4 of that document: At the direction of the NANPA, the access providers and the entities who are assigned CICs will be requested to provide access and usage information to the NANPA, on a semi-annual basis to ensure effective management of the CIC resource. (Holders of codes may respond to the request at their own election). Access provider and entity reports shall be submitted to NANPA no later than January 31 for the period ending December 31, and no later than July 31 for the period ending June 30. It is also referenced in the NANPA Technical Requirements Document, which states at 7.18.6: CIC holders shall provide a usage report to the NANPA per the industry CIC guidelines … The NAS shall be capable of accepting CIC usage reports per guideline requirements on January 31 for the period ending December 31 and no later than July 31 for the period ending June 30. These reports may also be mailed and accepted by the NANPA in paper form. Finally, according to the NANPA website, if no local exchange carrier reports access or usage for a given CIC, NANPA is obliged to reclaim it. The semi-annual utilization and access reporting mechanism is described at length in the guidelines.

BloostonLaw Contacts: Ben Dickens and Gerry Duffy.

AUGUST 1: FCC FORM 499-Q, TELECOMMUNICATIONS REPORTING WORKSHEET. All telecommunications common carriers that expect to contribute more than $10,000 to federal Universal Service Fund (USF) support mechanisms must file this quarterly form. The FCC has modified this form in light of its recent decision to establish interim measures for USF contribution assessments. The form contains revenue information from the prior quarter plus projections for the next quarter. Form 499-Q relates only to USF contributions. It does not relate to the cost recovery mechanisms for the Telecommunications Relay Service (TRS) Fund, the North American Numbering Plan Administration (NANPA), and the shared costs of local number portability (LNP), which are covered in the annual form (Form 499-A) that was due April 1.

BloostonLaw Contacts: Ben Dickens and Gerry Duffy.

AUGUST 1: FCC FORM 502, NUMBER UTILIZATION AND FORECAST REPORT: Any wireless or wireline carrier (including paging companies) that have received number blocks--including 100, 1,000, or 10,000 number blocks--from the North American Numbering Plan Administrator (NANPA), a Pooling Administrator, or from another carrier, must file Form 502 by August 1. Carriers porting numbers for the purpose of transferring an established customer’s service to another service provider must also report, but the carrier receiving numbers through porting does not. Resold services should also be treated like ported numbers, meaning the carrier transferring the resold service to another carrier is required to report those numbers but the carrier receiving such numbers should not report them. Reporting carriers file utilization and forecast reports semiannually on or before February 1 for the preceding six-month reporting period ending December 31, and on or before August 1 for the preceding six-month reporting period ending June 30. BloostonLaw Contacts: Ben Dickens and Gerry Duffy. AUGUST 1: Live 911 Call Data Reports: Non-Nationwide Providers that do not provide coverage in any of the Test Cities must collect and report aggregate data based on the largest county within its footprint to APCO, NENA, and NASNA on the location technologies used for live 911 calls in those areas. Clients should obtain spreadsheets with their company’s compliance data from their E911 service provider (e.g., Intrado / West).

BloostonLaw Contact: Cary Mitchell.

AUGUST 29: COPYRIGHT STATEMENT OF ACCOUNTS. The Copyright Statement of Accounts form plus royalty payment for the first half of calendar year 2019 is due to be filed August 29 at the Library of Congress’ Copyright Office by cable TV service providers.

BloostonLaw Contact: Gerry Duffy.

SEPTEMBER 3: FCC FORM 477, LOCAL COMPETITION AND BROADBAND REPORTING FORM. Normally due September 1, this year’s filing falls on a federal holiday weekend, pushing the deadline back to the next business day. Four types of entities must file this form:

1. Facilities-based Providers of Broadband Connections to End User Locations: Entities that are facilities-based providers of broadband connections – which are wired “lines” or wireless “channels” that enable the end user to receive information from and/or send information to the Internet at information transfer rates exceeding 200 kbps in at least one direction – must complete and file the applicable portions of this form for each state in which the entity provides one or more such connections to end user locations. For the purposes of Form 477, an entity is a “facilities-based” provider of broadband connections to end user locations if it owns the portion of the physical facility that terminates at the end user location, if it obtains unbundled network elements (UNEs), special access lines, or other leased facilities that terminate at the end user location and provisions/equips them as broadband, or if it provisions/equips a broadband wireless channel to the end user location over licensed or unlicensed spectrum. Such entities include incumbent and competitive local exchange carriers (LECs), cable system operators, fixed wireless service providers (including “wireless ISPs”), terrestrial and satellite mobile wireless service providers, MMDS providers, electric utilities, municipalities, and other entities. (Such entities do not include equipment suppliers unless the equipment supplier uses the equipment to provision a broadband connection that it offers to the public for sale. Such entities also do not include providers of fixed wireless services (e.g., “Wi-Fi” and other wireless ethernet, or wireless local area network, applications) that only enable local distribution and sharing of a premises broadband facility.)
2. Providers of Wired or Fixed Wireless Local Telephone Services: Incumbent and competitive LECs must complete and file the applicable portions of the form for each state in which they provide local exchange service to one or more end user customers (which may include “dial-up” ISPs).
3. Providers of Interconnected Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) Service: Interconnected VoIP service is a service that enables real-time, two-way voice communications; requires a broadband connection from the user’s location; requires Internet-protocol compatible customer premises equipment; and permits users generally to receive calls that originate on the public switched telephone network and to terminate calls to the public switched telephone network. Interconnected VoIP providers must complete and file the applicable portions of the form for each state in which they provide interconnected VoIP service to one or more subscribers, with the state determined for reporting purposes by the location of the subscriber’s broadband connection or the subscriber’s “Registered Location” as of the data-collection date. “Registered Location” is the most recent information obtained by an interconnected VoIP service provider that identifies the physical location of an end user.
4. Providers of Mobile Telephony Services: Facilities-based providers of mobile telephony services must complete and file the applicable portions of this form for each state in which they serve one or more mobile telephony subscribers. A mobile telephony service is a real-time, two-way switched voice service that is interconnected with the public switched network using an in-network switching facility that enables the provider to reuse frequencies and accomplish seamless handoff of subscriber calls. A mobile telephony service provider is considered “facilities-based” if it serves a subscriber using spectrum for which the entity holds a license that it manages, or for which it has obtained the right to use via lease or other arrangement with a Band Manager.

BloostonLaw Contacts: Ben Dickens and Gerry Duffy.

SEPTEMBER 30: FCC FORM 396-C, MVPD EEO PROGRAM REPORTING FORM. Each year on September 30, multi-channel video program distributors (“MVPDs”) must file with the Commission an FCC Form 396-C, Multi-Channel Video Programming Distributor EEO Program Annual Report, for employment units with six or more full-time employees. Users must access the FCC’s electronic filing system via the Internet in order to submit the form; it will not be accepted if filed on paper unless accompanied by an appropriate request for waiver of the electronic filing requirement. Certain MVPDs also will be required to complete portions of the Supplemental Investigation Sheet (“SIS”) located at the end of the Form. These MVPDs are specifically identified in a Public Notice each year by the FCC.

BloostonLaw Contacts: Gerry Duffy and Sal Taillefer.

Calendar At-a-Glance

July
Jul. 3 – Reply comments are due on MOBILE NOW Act Implementation NPRM.
Jul. 5 – Intermediate Provider Quality Standard Requirements effective.
Jul. 12 – Loan applications for ReConnect Program are due.
Jul. 15 – Comments are due on USF Cap NPRM.
Jul. 15 – Deadline for Covered Providers to Use Only Registered Intermediate Providers.
Jul. 15 – Auction 103 Short Forms are due.
Jul. 16 – Reply comments are due on E-Rate Petition for Reconsideration.
Jul. 17 – Letters of Acceptance for A-CAM II Revised Offers are due.
Jul. 22 – Comments are due on Leased Commercial Access NPRM.
Jul. 24 – Comments are due on SHAKEN/STIR NPRM.
Jul. 31 – Comments are due on Lifeline Minimum Service Standards Petition.
Jul. 31 – FCC Form 507 (Universal Service Quarterly Line Count Update) is due.
Jul. 31 – Carrier Identification Code (CIC) Report is due.

August
Aug. 1 – FCC Form 502 due (North American Numbering Plan Utilization and Forecast Report).
Aug. 1 – FCC Form 499-Q (Quarterly Telecommunications Reporting Worksheet) is due.
Aug. 1 – Live 911 Call Data Reports from Non-Nationwide Providers are due.
Aug. 5 – Comments are due on VRS Program FNPRM.
Aug. 5 – Reply comments are due on Leased Commercial Access NPRM.
Aug. 12 – Reply comments are due on USF Cap NPRM.
Aug. 15 – Auction 103 Initial Commitment filings are due.
Aug. 15 – Reply comments are due on Lifeline Minimum Service Standards Petition.
Aug. 23 – Reply comments are due on SHAKEN/STIR NPRM.

September
Sep. 3 – FCC Form 477 due (Local Competition and Broadband Report).
Sep. 30 – FCC Form 396-C (MVPD EEO Program Annual Report).
Sep. 9 – Short Form Application Deadline for Auction 103.

Current member or former member of these organizations.

Best regards, Newsletter Editor 73 DE K9IQY Licensed since 1957	Institute Electrical and Electronics Engineers	MENSA MEMBER If you are curious about why I joined Mensa, click here .	A Public Library of Paging and Wireless Messaging Information		Wireless Messaging
	Brad Dye P.O. Box 266 Fairfield, IL 62837 USA	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	The National Rifle Association	American Radio Relay League	The Radio Club of America	Life is good! I am a person in long-term recovery.
CONTACT INFO & LINKS Skype: braddye Twitter: @BradDye1 Telephone: +1-618-599-7869 E–mail: brad@braddye.com Wireless: Consulting page Paging: Home Page Marketing & Engineering Papers K9IQY: Ham Radio Page		Amateur Radio K9IQY ex KN9IQY, KN4BK, KM5NK, WB4JCF, ZP5TQ, WA4VXU, WA9RVL, /TI2, /9Y4, /6Y5, /KP4, HH2FJ Licensed FCC Amateur Radio operator since 1957 Licensed FCC First-Class-Commercial Operator/Engineer since 1964		VETERAN United States Navy

“Farewell Blues”

 Fourth of July — Independence Day

243 YEARS