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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. I regularly get readers’ comments, so this newsletter has become a community forum for the Paging, and Wireless Messaging communities. You are welcome to contribute your ideas and opinions. Unless otherwise requested, all correspondence addressed to me is subject to publication in the newsletter and on my web site. I am very careful to protect the anonymity of those who request it. I spend the whole week searching the INTERNET for news that I think may be of interest to you — so you won’t have to. This newsletter is an aggregator — a service that aggregates news from other news sources. You can help our community by sharing any interesting news that you find.
Editorial Opinion pieces present only the opinions of the author. They do not necessarily reflect the views of any of advertisers or supporters. This newsletter is independent of any trade association. I don't intend to hurt anyone's feelings, but I do freely express my own opinions.
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December 14, 2020 VIA ELECTRONIC FILING
Dear Ms. Dortch:
1 Sixth Report and Order and Seventh Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, WP Docket No. 07-100, FCC 20-137 (rel. Oct. 2, 2020). |
| Source: | LMCC |
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Local News Fairfield Memorial Hospital gives first COVID-19 shotsby: Ryan Witry Posted: Dec 16, 2020 / 07:24 PM CST / Updated: Dec 16, 2020 / 07:24 PM CST FAIRFIELD, Ill. (WEHT) — Dozens of employees at Fairfield Memorial Hospital became the first in the One of the vaccinated workers, chief surgeon Dr. Patrick Molt says the state of COVID-19 in Wayne County is one of the reasons Fairfield became one of the first rural communities in Illinois to receive the vaccine.
Dr. Chris Ballard, who leads the hospital’s COVID-19 response team, and nurse practitioner Ross Herdes were also vaccinated Wednesday and both say they’re grateful to be vaccinated.
A nurse monitored the vaccinated workers to check for any possible side effects from the vaccine. The hospital plans to vaccinate more than 100 employees over the next several days. |
| Source: | Tri-State Homepage |
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Paging Transmitters 150/900 MHz The RFI High Performance Paging Transmitter is designed for use in campus, city, state and country-wide paging systems. Designed for use where reliable simulcast systems where RF signal overlap coverage is critical.
Built-in custom interface for Prism-IPX ipBSC Base Controller for remote control, management and alarm reporting.
Prism-IPX Systems LLC.
11175 Cicero Dr., Alpharetta, GA 30022
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Bidding rounds reveal clues in C-band auction: Kelloggby Don Kellogg | Dec 16, 2020 3:47pm
A week into the C-band auction, bidding is off to a strong start, reaching more than $10.5 billion. With 5G deployments in full-swing, the 280 MHz of mid-band licenses being offered sit directly in the “goldilocks zone” that straddles attractive propagation characteristics and reasonably sized 20 MHz licenses large enough for a meaningful difference in capacity and speed for 5G, especially if a winner gets more than one license in a block. Due to twists in the spectrum clearing of the incumbent satellite providers, the 100 MHz that makes up A block for the auction is scheduled to be cleared as early as 2021 while B and C block licenses may not be available until 2023. As such, A block licenses for 46 of the top 50 markets can be bid on separately and will likely come at a premium compared to B and C block licenses in the same market. The other markets are being bid on together. While we will not know who bid on which markets until the auction is over, for each round the FCC reports the demand for licenses versus those available via the public reporting system. For each round, in every market where demand exceeds supply, the price increases by 10% for the next round. Ten percent may not sound like much initially, but exponential growth soon catches up and markets with intense bidding quickly get expensive. For example, after 10 rounds where demand exceeds supply the price more than doubles, after 20 rounds it increases by six-fold and after 50 rounds the price has increased to 100x the original cost. Price escalation invariably forces decisions on even the most well-heeled bidders, but we have not yet reached that point with the C-Band auction. So far the volume of markets with bids over supply has INCREASED, not decreased, resulting in over $10.5B gross proceeds across the 411 markets offered through round 20.
What is interesting about the C-band auction so far is that the bidding volume for smaller markets that typically happens later in the auction has heated up early. During the first 10 rounds, demand for roughly 2/3rds of markets exceeded supply and therefore increased in price by 10% every round. Starting in round 12 bidding volume increased. This increased volume catapulted markets with price increases from 68% of all markets to 81% of all markets and continued to build to over 90% of all markets by round 17.
Digging a bit deeper, the jump in markets with more demand than supply that began in round 11 was driven by an increase in interest in smaller population markets while prices for larger markets were still not settled. Through round 10 only about half of lower population tier markets ranked 100-400 had more bids than supply, but by round 15 over 86% of markets ranked 100-400 by population had more bids than supply.
But what about those A sub block licenses that could help the winner race to deploying mid-band 5G? There are only five licenses available per market, but bidding for many of the top markets through 20 rounds still shows bids in the double digits in excess of supply. In fact, demand for A block markets is still so strong that in the first 20 rounds, every A block license in the 46 markets increased in price every round. That adds up to a 612% increase over 20 rounds and over $3.5B of the total gross proceeds of $10.5B across the entire auction. Bidders seem to be slowly adjusting to the expectation that they may not win the entire A block. In round 18 demand for the top 39 markets dropped by two to three units across all markets, possibly an indication of one bidder dropping out. While demand has fallen across the top markets, none of the A block markets have reached bidding equilibrium where supply equals demand and price increases cease. At current pace the licenses in A sub block markets would be collectively worth over $5 billion in just five more rounds and over $10 billion by round 32. Within the A block, which markets are most popular among bidders? As always, the top 10 markets have among the highest demand, but the market with the most demand in excess of supply so far is Salt Lake City, the 27th largest market in the auction, with four bidders for every available licenses (five licenses available, 15 in excess of supply). A cluster of markets follow Salt Lake City for second most activity: Chicago, Dallas, Miami, Houston, Orlando, Las Vegas, Kansas City, Austin and Milwaukee all have 12 bids over supply (total bids of 17 each). So what can we learn from the first week of the C-Band auction? At $10.5 billion through round 20, the level of interest in mid-band 5G spectrum is very robust. Verizon and AT&T’s well understood need for mid-band 5G spectrum is surely playing a role in the amount of activity we are seeing, but bidding volumes indicates that there are also other players, like Dish Network and Comcast/Charter, willing to throw their hat in the ring. Regardless of who wins, it’s likely we’ll see consumers enjoying the benefits of C-band 5G sooner rather than later. Don Kellogg is vice president and analyst at Recon Analytics. Don has over 15 years of experience consulting with carriers, OEMs and MSOs in the wireless space. Prior to Recon Analytics, Don was a Principal at Neustar. Prior to Neustar, Don was the Director of Research at Nielsen’s Telecom practice. "Industry Voices" are opinion columns written by outside contributors—often industry experts or analysts—who are invited to the conversation by FierceWireless staff. They do not represent the opinions of FierceWireless. |
| Source: | Fierce Wireless |
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| PRISM IPX Systems |
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| Easy Solutions |
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Providing Expert Support and Service Contracts for all Glenayre Paging Systems. The GL3000 is the most prolific paging system in the world and Easy Solutions gladly welcomes you to join us in providing reliable support to the paging industry for many more decades in the future. Easy Solutions provides cost effective computer and wireless solutions at affordable prices. We can help in most any situation with your communications systems. We have many years of experience and a vast network of resources to support the industry, your system and an ever changing completive landscape.
Please see our web site for exciting solutions designed specifically for the Wireless Industry. We also maintain a diagnostic lab and provide important repair and replacement parts services for Motorola and Glenayre equipment. Call or
Easy Solutions |
GLENAYRE INFRASTRUCTUREI would like to recommend Easy Solutions for Support of all Glenayre Paging Equipment. This Texas company is owned and operated by Vaughan Bowden. I have known Vaughan for over 35 years. Without going into a long list of his experience and qualifications, let me just say that he was the V.P. of Engineering at PageNet which was—at that time—the largest paging company in the world. So Vaughan knows Paging. 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.
Click on the image above for more info about advertising here. |
INTERNET Protocol Terminal
The IPT accepts INTERNET or serial messaging using various protocols and can easily convert them to different protocols, or send them out as paging messages. An ideal platform for hospitals, on-site paging applications, or converting legacy systems to modern protocols.
Additional/Optional Features
Prism-IPX Systems LLC.
11175 Cicero Dr., Alpharetta, GA 30022 |
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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.
Prism-IPX Systems LLC.
11175 Cicero Dr., Alpharetta, GA 30022 |
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Bloomberg 5G Auction Soars Past $23 Billion With Verizon Leading WayScott Moritz and Todd Shields Fri, December 18, 2020, 10:16 AM CST
(Bloomberg) — Offers for 5G airwaves have already surpassed $23 billion in a massive U.S. auction that could feature heavy bidding by Verizon Communications Inc., which needs more spectrum to compete in the dawning era of ultrafast mobile connections. Analysts expect Verizon to put up $20 billion in a field of 57 bidders that includes fellow mobile heavyweights AT&T Inc. and T-Mobile US Inc., and cable companies Comcast Corp. and Charter Communications Inc. Collectively they could push bidding to a record $47 billion, according to 11 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. Bidding started Dec. 8 and is expected to continue into the new year. Wireless carriers see the auction as crucial to seizing global leadership in new 5G technology. As more countries are opening up use of midband frequencies, companies are buying airwaves that they hope will drive a years-long surge of profits when deployed for next-generation mobile devices, autonomous vehicles, health-care devices and manufacturing facilities. Here are the bidders and their motivations. Verizon Verizon has the most wireless subscribers but trails its biggest peers in airwaves capacity. To help address this, the company has built a $21 billion war chest and has even more that it can tap for the auction. Analysts predict Verizon will outspend AT&T, the next highest bidder, by more than 2-1. But to avoid showing their hand, executives have tried to downplay how eager they are to get ahold of the frequencies being sold. We’re happy with the assets we have, but we certainly look at C-band as something that has a significant opportunity around it as well,” Verizon Chief Financial Officer Matt Ellis said on an investor webcast in August. Companies participating in Federal Communications Commission auctions typically don’t discuss tactics or goals for fear of violating rules aimed at preventing collusion among bidders. The auction is a critical juncture for a company that built its brand on reliable wireless service and network quality. Stakes are becoming higher as 5G comes online, providing connections for devices in homes, vehicles, schools and factories. “Verizon desperately needs midband spectrum in order to be competitive in 5G longer-term,” said Kevin Roe, an analyst with Roe Equity Research. AT&T AT&T can neither afford to fall behind in the 5G race, nor to spend as much as Verizon to lead the aerial land grab. AT&T has $10 billion in cash on hand and possibly a further $16 billion coming with the potential sale of its DirecTV satellite-TV business and the agreed sale of Crunchyroll, its animated-video service. But on the cost side, the company has a $184 billion debt pile to pay down, a $15 billion annual dividend, a $20 billion capital-spending budget and a WarnerMedia production schedule to keep up. Chief Executive Officer John Stankey has made 5G expansion one of his top three priorities since taking over the job in July. AT&T has been the most aggressive of the group with free 5G iPhone promotions and boasts of having the fastest 5G network. AT&T will spend about $9 billion in the auction, according to analyst estimates. T-Mobile Of all the bidders, T-Mobile has the least need for midband spectrum. With its Sprint takeover earlier this year, T-Mobile acquired the largest swath of 2.5-gigahertz spectrum in the U.S. Adding to that position would seem unnecessary, but T-Mobile could be interested in bolstering its coverage in major cities in an effort to defend its airwaves advantage. T-Mobile will also be running interference. Without strong counterbids, Verizon could walk away with a majority of the airwaves for a relatively low price. Analysts predict T-Mobile will bid $6 billion in the auction. Dish Dish Network Corp. Chairman Charlie Ergen rarely sits on the sidelines of any airwaves deal, whether it’s an auction or a when a satellite operator lands in bankruptcy court. Now that Dish is building its own 5G network, with a projected initial cost of $10 billion, there might be less cash available for the midband auction. But earlier this week, Dish announced plans to raise about $2 billion through a sale of convertible notes. Dish will spend about $3 billion in the auction, according to the Bloomberg survey. Cable Comcast and Charter have formed a joint venture called C&C Wireless Holding Co. to bid in the C-band auction. Both companies offer cable subscribers a mobile-phone service that runs on Verizon’s network. The JV may be interested in acquiring airwaves outside its cable footprint “as deployment of its own cellular infrastructure makes sense from an economic perspective,” Cowen analyst Colby Synesael wrote in a note earlier this month. The cable duo is expected to bid $5 billion. Airwaves The airwaves being auctioned are in the 3.7-gigahertz frequency range, known as the C-band, and are now used by satellite providers such as Intelsat SA and SES SA. The satellite companies will give up frequencies and operate in a smaller swath. In return, they will receive a portion of the auction proceeds. The remainder goes to the U.S. Treasury. The C-band sale is the largest midband offering in the FCC’s history. The richest FCC auction to date raised $41 billion in 2015. “By freeing up this wide swath of critical midband spectrum, the FCC is paving the way for Americans to receive fast 5G wireless services,” FCC Chairman Ajit Pai said as the auction began. One potential problem with a portion of the C-band is interference concerns from aviation groups. Radar altimeters — electronic devices that calculate an aircraft’s height above the ground — may suffer interference from the new 5G uses that begin after the auctioned airwaves are deployed, aviation groups say. The FCC and industry have said interference isn’t likely because there is plenty of buffer between the envisioned 5G uses and the airwaves assigned to the altimeters. (Updates with auction tally in first paragraph.) |
| Source: | Yahoo! Finance |
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
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 WHAT IS 5G? 5G is the ext generation of wireless networks and promises a mobile experience that's 10x to 100x faster than today's 4G networks. We say the word promise because we're in the early days of 5G. When more smartphones and networks support 5G tech, it will have far-reaching consequences for consumers, from the cars we drive (or that drive us) to the food we eat to the safety of our roads to the ways we shop to the entertainment we share with family and friends. And that doesn't include things we haven't yet imagined because we've never had the capability to unlock those new scenarios. Today, 5G may seem confusing even as it's widely hyped. We're here to help you sort fact from fiction, weed through the acronyms and jargon, and figure out when and how 5G can change the way you live. And we'll keep you from getting caught up in hyperbole — and empty promises. [ source ] |
Remote AB Switches ABX-1 switches are often used at remote transmitter sites to convert from old, outdated and unsupported controllers to the new modern Prism-IPX ipBSC base station controllers. Remotely switch to new controllers with GUI commands. ABX-1
ABX-3 switches are widely used for enabling or disabling remote equipment and switching I/O connections between redundant messaging systems. ABX-3
Common Features:
Prism-IPX Systems LLC.
11175 Cicero Dr., Alpharetta, GA 30022 |
| Leavitt Communications |
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| Inside Towers Newsletter |
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Labor Dept, NATE & FCC Partner to Improve Tower Worker Safety
The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has signed a national strategic partnership with NATE: The Communications Infrastructure Contractors Association and the FCC to improve worker safety in the communications tower erection industry. The goal of the three-year partnership is to eliminate worker injuries and fatalities while performing wireless and telecommunications, tower erection and maintenance operations. The partnership will address some of the industry’s frequently encountered hazards, including falls from height, electric, falling objects, tower collapses, and inclement weather. “Tower technicians do the hard, often gritty work to build, maintain and upgrade broadband networks throughout the country. The pandemic has further demonstrated everything our wireless workforce does to keep Americans connected, and it is imperative that we do everything we can to keep them safe,” stated FCC Chairman Ajit Pai. “As the United States ramps up its 5G rollout, this national partnership agreement will only become more important. The FCC looks forward to working with OSHA and NATE to ensure the safe buildout of wireless infrastructure.” “The demand for wireless communications and broadcast services has increased the need for construction, service and maintenance of towers throughout the country,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Labor Loren Sweatt. “The partners will work together to focus resources on eliminating hazards and improving the safety and health of tower workers.” “The timing of this national partnership agreement is critical as the association’s member companies and their technician workforce are on the front lines deploying the next generation technologies and broadband infrastructure that are simultaneously enabling a 5G future and helping close the digital divide,” said NATE Chairman Jimmy Miller. “The association looks forward to partnering with U.S. DOL OSHA and the FCC in order to elevate and enhance the industry’s safety culture and keep our workers healthy.” OSHA’s Strategic Partnership Program works with employers, employees, professional and trade associations, labor organizations and other interested stakeholders to establish specific goals, strategies and performance measures to improve worker safety and health. Under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, employers are responsible for providing safe and healthful workplaces for their employees. OSHA’s role is to help ensure these conditions for America’s working men and women by setting and enforcing standards, and providing training, education and assistance. |
| Source: | Inside Towers newsletter | Courtesy of the editor of Inside Towers Jim Fryer. Inside Towers is a daily newsletter by subscription. |
| BloostonLaw Newsletter |
REMINDER: Form 855 HAC Compliance Certification will be due January 15, 2021, for all CMRS service providers that had operations during any portion of 2020. Holiday EditionFCC Adopts Supply Chain Order, Establishes Reimbursement Program for Small CarriersOn December 10, the FCC unanimously voted to adopt its Report and Order to implement the Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Act of 2019. As we reported in previous editions of the BloostonLaw Telecom Update, the Act prohibits the use of certain federal funds to obtain communications equipment or services from a company that poses a national security risk to U.S. communications networks, and establishes the Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Reimbursement Program to supply small communications providers with funds to offset the cost of removing prohibited equipment or services from their networks and replacing it with more secure communications equipment or services. Specifically, the Report and Order requires the Commission to publish a list of communications equipment and services determined to be a risk to national security. Once Congress appropriates funding, eligible telecommunications carriers that receive universal service funding to provide service in remote areas of the country must remove such equipment or services from their networks and properly dispose of it. The obligation to remove and replace covered equipment and services on the list applies to recipients of reimbursement funds from the Reimbursement Program (discussed below) and ETCs receiving universal service support. Compliance with the removal obligation coincides with the implementation of the Reimbursement Program. The Report and Order also establishes and adopts rules for the Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Reimbursement Program, which will provide funds to smaller providers of advanced communications services for the removal and replacement of communications equipment and services on the list published by the Commission, conditioned on the appropriation of funds by Congress Commission staff have estimated the program will require at least $1.6 billion to reimburse eligible providers. To be eligible for funding, a carrier must be a facilities-based provider, whether fixed or mobile, with a broadband connection to end users with at least 200 kbps in one direction, and with less than 2 million customers overall. Costs eligible for reimbursement are those costs “reasonably incurred for the timely removal, replacement, and disposal of covered equipment and services obtained prior to the statutory cutoff dates.” The Commission interpreted “costs reasonably incurred” as requiring the reimbursement of “costs that are reasonable to provide facilities comparable to those . . . reasonably replaced.” Reimbursement Program participants are permitted to obtain reimbursement for reasonable costs incurred for replacing older mobile wireless networks with fourth generation Long Term Evolution (4G LTE) equipment or service that are 5G ready. The FCC will establish an initial 30-day filing window for the submission of cost estimates and to establish subsequent filing windows as necessary should support remain, or additional support become available to fund additional requests. The FCC will publish to a list of suggested replacements for covered equipment and services and for applicants to submit “initial reimbursement cost estimate[s] at the time of application.” A Catalog of Eligible Expenses and Estimated Costs will “identify reimbursable costs with as much specificity as possible, provide guidance to entities seeking reimbursement, streamline the reimbursement process, and increase accountability.” Listing in the catalog, however, is not a guarantee of reimbursement for any individual expense, and all claimed expenses are subject to review by the Commission staff. The Report and Order further requires all providers of advanced communications services to report whether their networks include any covered communications equipment or services acquired after August 14, 2018, and mandates strict reporting requirements. BloostonLaw Contacts: Ben Dickens, Gerry Duffy, John Prendergast, and Sal Taillefer. FCC Waives Rules for CBOL Rate ReportingOn December 16, the FCC once again waived sections 54.901 and 54.903 of the its rules to allow rate-of-return carriers to include their actual rates for consumer broadband-only lines for the first three months of 2019 on their FCC Form 509, rather than imputing revenues based on the maximum rate that would have been assessable pursuant to section 69.132. This is the third time the FCC has waived these rules, in part because “imputing revenues based on these maximum rates would have the effect of significantly overstating the revenues for many carriers, causing a significant reduction in universal service support.” Accordingly, carriers are permitted to report their actual consumer broadband-only revenues with respect to the first three months of 2019 on FCC Form 509 due on December 31, 2020, rather than the imputed consumer broadband-only revenues based on the maximum permissible consumer broadband-only rate. BloostonLaw Contacts: Ben Dickens, Gerry Duffy, and Sal Taillefer. COVID-19 Relief Act Provides $10 Billion for BroadbandOn December 14, a $748 billion bicameral, bipartisan COVID-19 relief act was announced, which included approximately $10 billion for broadband deployment and connectivity. Specifically, the Bipartisan COVID-19 Emergency Relief Act would allocate:
The bill’s sponsors include Senators Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA), Joe Manchin (D-WV), Susan Collins (R-ME), Mark Warner (D-VA), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), Angus King (I-ME), Mitt Romney (R-UT), Maggie Hassan (D-NH), Rob Portman (R-OH), and Dick Durbin (D-IL) and U.S. Representatives Gottheimer (D-NJ-5) and Tom Reed (R-NY-23). BloostonLaw Contacts: Ben Dickens, Gerry Duffy, and Sal Taillefer. FCC Extends Rural Healthcare and E-Rate COVID-19 WaiversOn December 14, the FCC issued an Order extending its temporary waivers of the its gift rules applicable to the Rural Health Care (RHC) and E-Rate programs to assist rural health care providers, schools, and libraries affected by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. These waivers, which were originally adopted in September and are set to expire on December 31, 2020, are now extended to June 30, 2021, which coincides with the end of funding year 2020. BloostonLaw Contacts: Mary Sisak DeadlinesJANUARY 15: Form 855 HAC Compliance Certification. The next Hearing Aid Compatibility regulatory compliance certification, certifying compliance with the FCC’s HAC handset minimums as well as enhanced record retention and website posting requirements for the 2020 calendar year, will be due January 15, 2021, for all CMRS service providers that had operations during any portion of 2020. BloostonLaw Contact: Cary Mitchell. JANUARY 31: FCC FORM 555, ANNUAL TELECOMMUNICATIONS CARRIER CERTIFICATION FORM. All Lifeline Program service providers are required to file the FCC Form 555, except where the National Verifier, state Lifeline administrator, or other entity is responsible. Since January 31 falls on a weekend or holiday this year, Form 555 may be filed by February 1. The FCC Form 555 must be submitted to the Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC) electronically via USAC’s E-File (One Portal). Carriers must also file a copy of their FCC Form 555 in the FCC's Electronic Comment Filing System, Docket 14-171, and with their state regulatory commission. The form reports the results of the annual recertification process and non-usage de-enrollments. Recertification results are reported month-by-month based on the subscribers’ anniversary date. BloostonLaw Contacts: Ben Dickens and John Prendergast. FEBRUARY 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 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 499-A that is due April 1. FEBRUARY 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 February 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 are required to include their FCC Registration Number (FRN). 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, Gerry Duffy, and Mary Sisak. FEBRUARY 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 Contacts: Cary Mitchell. Calendar At-a-GlanceDecember January February
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“Jezebel”Bernadette Seacrest & Kris Dale — Jezebel @Eddie's Attic, Decatur, GA — Wed Jun/5/2019 |
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The Land Mobile Communications Council (“LMCC”) agrees with the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (“AASHTO”) that the Federal Communications Commission (“Commission”) should extend the filing deadlines for the Seventh Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (“FNPRM”) in the above-entitled proceeding.1 On December 7, AASHTO requested a 30-day delay in the Comment deadline, until January 29, 2021.2 The LMCC would welcome even that extension but recommends that the Comment date be extended by approximately 60 days, until February 26, 2021. The current Comment deadline of December 30, 2020 does not provide sufficient time for interested parties to develop thoughtful input on the novel 4.9 GHz State Band Manager concept proposed in the FNPRM or the Commission’s recommendations for maximizing efficiencies in the coordination of 4.9 GHz operations.
Our county, which has a relatively older and subsequently sicker population has suffered the second-highest mortality rate in the state of Illinois, that being one in every four hundred residents in the county have already died of the virus. 
