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Welcome Back To The Wireless
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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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Service Monitors and Frequency Standards for Sale
(Images are typical units, not actual photos of items offered for sale here.)
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Passive Audio Amps For Smart Phones
Buy An Amp todayOh come on they are cool.These are acoustic amplifiers for smartphones. They don't need electric power to operate and there are no moving parts. They work like a megaphone (speaking-trumpet, bullhorn, or loudhailer). Everyone that I have shown one to has said something like “Wow, I want one of those!” So I have built a few of them. Of course there are more “Hi-Fi” ways to listen to audio on your smartphone but who would want to plug an elegant smartphone into some cheap, plastic gadget? Or even use Wi-Fi or Bluetooth, which are a pain in the neck to set up, even on a smartphone. These have been made with hardwood bases and some of them are exotic hardwoods with interesting grain patterns. The horns are polished brass — made from mostly old horns that had rubber bulbs on the ends and were used in “times gone by” by taxis and even clowns in circuses. These horns have been re-purposed, reshaped, soldered, and polished. They horns are now on display and for sale at:
The two large horns — the trombone and the gramophone — are difficult to pack and ship to they are for local pickup only. The remainder can be sent to you. I have the cowboy horn and the rest are in stock at the Colorado coffee shop. Please call for pricing and availability or stop in for a demo and a great cup of espresso. P.S. Allan, Virginia and I worked together at WebLink Wireless in Dallas. |
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| Leavitt Communications |
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PF-21 Pager FollowReceive and display paging messages directly on mobile phones. Just plug in the phone via USB Type C. Using frequency synthesized technology. Covers the frequency bands from 138 MHz to 933 MHz. Covers all the public and own paging channels in the world. Easy-to-use APP can be used for programming paging frequency and Capcodes. Very high sensitivity. Type C POCSAG Paging Receiver The new PF-21 is a cost-effective high-performance full-band pager receiver with frequency range of 138 MHz to 933 MHz, which can meet the requirements of all paging receivers in the US and European markets.
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| Source: | Wireless Devices Inc. Taiwan |
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Saudi doctors are among 5m people still using pagersThe use of 'pagers' officially ended in Saudi Arabia 15 years ago Published: July 26, 2020 19:42
Abu Dhabi:Many Saudi doctors are among five million people who are still using pagers (also known as beepers), wireless telecommunications devices that receive and display alphanumeric or voice messages, Saudi media reported. One-way pagers can only receive messages, while response pagers and two-way pagers can also acknowledge, reply to, and originate messages using an internal transmitter. The use of “pagers” officially ended in Saudi Arabia 15 years ago after the Saudi Telecom Company (STC) introduced the mobile phone in 2005, which gradually displaced and eliminated them. However some doctors and hospitals in the Kingdom are still using pagers because modern pager systems’ coverage overlap, combined with use of satellite communications, can make paging systems more reliable than terrestrial-based cellular networks in some cases, including during natural and man-made disasters. This resilience has led public safety agencies to adopt pagers over cellular and other commercial services for critical messaging. More than 800,000 Saudis used the “pager” until 2000, while the number of its users reached almost nill in 2020, with the exception of a number of doctors. Pagers operate as part of a paging system which includes one or more fixed transmitters (or in the case of response pagers and two-way pagers, one or more base stations), as well as a number of pagers carried by mobile users. These systems can range from a restaurant system with a single low-power transmitter, to a nationwide system with thousands of high-power base stations. The pagers, which were developed in the 1950s and 1960s, and became widely used by the 1980s, are still used by about five million people according to US statistics in 2019, but the pager annually loses more users around the world, who switch to mobile phones, while by 1994 the number of “pager” users reached more than 61 million around the world. In the 21st century, the widespread availability of cellphones and smartphones has greatly diminished the pager industry. Nevertheless, pagers continue to be used by some emergency services and public safety personnel. According to a study conducted by the Journal of Hospital Medicine in 2019, it has been shown that 80 per cent of doctors still use their pager largely while everyone owns smartphones. The UK National Health Service is thought to use over 10 per cent of remaining pagers in 2017 (130,000),with an annual cost of £6.6 million. Matt Hancock, Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, announced in February 2019 that the 130,000 pagers still in use were to be phased out. NHSX announced plans in May 2020 to replace pagers and bleepers with “more modern communication tools”, accelerated the pressure placed on the service by the COVID-19 pandemic in England. In Japan, more than ten million pagers were active in 1996. On October 1, 2019, Japan’s last paging service provider shut down radio signals and terminated its service. |
| Source: | Gulf News |
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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The Wireless Messaging News
The Board of Advisor members are people with whom I have developed a special rapport, and have met personally. They are not obligated to support the newsletter in any way, except with advice, and maybe an occasional letter to the editor.
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Spok Reports 2020 Second Quarter Operating Results; Continued Strong Wireless Trends and Operating Expense Improvements Contribute to Strong Second Quarter Net Income and EBITDABoard Declares Regular Quarterly DividendJuly 29, 2020 04:10 PM Eastern Daylight Time SPRINGFIELD, Va.—(BUSINESS WIRE)—Spok Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: SPOK), a global leader in healthcare communications, today announced operating results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2020. In addition, the Company’s Board of Directors declared a regular quarterly dividend of $0.125 per share, payable on September 10, 2020, to stockholders of record on August 17, 2020. Key Second Quarter Operating Highlights:
2020 Second Quarter and Year-To-Date Results:Consolidated revenue for the second quarter of 2020 under Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (“GAAP”) was $35.7 million compared to $39.5 million in the second quarter of 2019. For the first six months of 2020, consolidated revenue totaled $73.0 million, compared to $81.3 million in the first six months of 2019. [Financial tables follow at the source.] Management Commentary:“We are in the throes of a 100-year pandemic that has negatively impacted the finances of our healthcare customer base. As such, software product sales were slow in the second quarter, as this was the first full quarter impacted by the pandemic. The majority of our healthcare customer base continued to struggle with the challenges presented by COVID-19,” said Vincent D. Kelly, president and chief executive officer. "However, on a positive note, while hospitals are focusing their efforts on the current crisis, surveys are showing that by the end of the second quarter hospitals were back to more than a third of their pre-COVID-19 elective volumes and by the end of the year hospitals expect to be back to more than three-quarters of those volumes, with full recovery sometime in 2021," continued Kelly. "While we did not lose a lot of deals, many were pushed back due to the pandemic, including our first significant Spok Go® deal, which was booked in July. The same was true with the installation of our backlog from prior bookings. As hospitals begin to open back up, we expect to see these trends improve. In the meantime, Spok continues to demonstrate a stable revenue base, as nearly 86 percent of our revenues in the second quarter were recurring in nature, coming from either our legacy wireless business or software maintenance contracts. This, combined with disciplined expense control, has allowed us to post profitable results. And, we did this while continue to invest in and develop our cloud native platform, Spok Go. Spok provides a critical function, which we believe will become even more important in this environment. Spok's clinical communications platform provides hospitals with a system of action, not just of record, delivering reliable communications and clinical information, including clinical test results, to care teams when and where it matters most to improve patient outcomes.” In the second quarter of 2020, Spok returned $2.4 million in capital to stockholders, in the form of its regular quarterly dividend. “During the quarter, we took immediate steps to position our operations to a positive free cash flow basis through a combination of furlough and other cost savings initiatives. As a result, we were able to generate increased levels of net income and EBITDA. We are focused on running positive EBITDA and Spok remains committed to paying our regular quarterly dividend. We believe we will be able to achieve this while continuing to support our Spok Care Connect® platform and in the near term, investing in the evolution of our cloud-native and integrated communication platform, Spok Go. Business Outlook:Michael W. Wallace, chief operating officer and chief financial officer, said: “Expense management and strong financial discipline have always been critical in balancing the short and long-term components of our business and that was especially so in the second quarter, given the impacts of COVID-19. In the second quarter, GAAP operating expenses were down nearly 22% from prior year levels, with improvements in all expense categories driven by furloughs, the CARES Act credits, and including a $3.6 million benefit versus 2019 due to capitalization of software costs required in 2020. Spok’s balance sheet remains strong, with a cash, cash equivalents and short-term investment balance of $70.9 million at June 30, 2020.” Commenting on the Company’s previously provided financial guidance for 2020, Wallace noted: “Spok has been focused on continuing to understand the impact of the pandemic on our business, particularly given the impact of COVID-19 on the roll-out of our Spok Go software business. Because of the fluid nature of the situation, we, like many of our peer public companies, believe that it is most prudent to continue to suspend our practice of providing annual guidance for revenues and expenses at this time. We look forward to returning to our normal guidance format after the crisis is over.” [Financial tables follow at the source.] |
| Source: | Business Wire |
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| PRISM IPX Systems |
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| Easy Solutions |
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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What Thunderbolt 4 Means and How It Could Change ComputingDavid Nield
Technology standards don’t stay still for very long, whether it’s USB, DisplayPort, or Wi-Fi, they’re constantly gaining new abilities and a new number tacked to the end of their names. The latest protocol to edge its way to the consumer masses is Thunderbolt 4. Its arrival is likely to have a big impact on the laptop and desktop computer market, and here’s everything you need to know about it. If you’re completely new to Thunderbolt, a quick-ish recap: It’s a hardware interface formally launched on a device in 2011 by Intel and Apple, a standard for connecting two devices together, and one which incorporates other standards like PCI Express (PCIe), DisplayPort, and (with the arrival of Thunderbolt 3) USB-C for the actual end connector. As we’ve explained before, USB-C is a physical connector type, not a standard for shifting 1s and 0s (in fact it supports several of these standards, including USB and DisplayPort). These connectors are often developed in tandem with USB technology (such as USB 3.0), which is where confusion can quickly set in—and even more so when Thunderbolt 3 decides to make use of USB-C connections as well.
Actually, it’s a bit more complicated than that, because not all USB-C ports are Thunderbolt 3 ports, though all Thunderbolt 3 ports support USB-C (we know, we know). While any USB-C device will work with a Thunderbolt 3 port, not every Thunderbolt 3 device will work with a USB-C port that lacks the Thunderbolt 3 extras. When it comes to the connector at least, Thunderbolt 3 is like USB-C enhanced. Top-end laptops like the MacBook Pro and the Dell XPS 13 use USB-C enhanced with Thunderbolt 3, so that they can support both Thunderbolt and USB peripherals—the XPS 13 actually has two standard USB-C ports and two USB-C-with-Thunderbolt-3 ports, which shows you just how complicated this can get for the average consumer. You could plug any USB or Thunderbolt drive or display into one of the Thunderbolt 3 ports on your Dell XPS 13, and it would work; however, only drives and displays using USB would be guaranteed to work with the standard USB-C port without Thunderbolt 3, though some Thunderbolt devices would work, with certain limitations (slower speeds, for example). Hopefully that’s now crystal clear...
This is all a rather long preamble but it’s important to cover it to properly understand Thunderbolt 4. Confusion and multiple standards aren’t really benefiting anyone at the moment, and so Thunderbolt 4 brings Thunderbolt and USB (both the connector type and the transfer protocol) closer than ever before. Long-winded explainers like the one we’ve just gone through should soon be consigned to history, hopefully. USB 4 is borrowing a lot of standards from Thunderbolt 3, which means Thunderbolt 4 can borrow them back again and bring the two technologies even closer together. In fact, one of main improvements in Thunderbolt 4 is the adoption of USB 4 standards—the maximum bandwidth remains the same as it is in Thunderbird 3, 40Gbps. Some of the minimum requirements are changing though, requirements that must be in place to earn the Thunderbolt 4 badge. That 40Gbps figure is now a minimum requirement rather than a potential maximum, so laptops can’t have different Thunderbolt ports with different speeds, and all Thunderbolt 4 ports must be able to power two 4K displays simultaneously (previously optional with Thunderbolt 3).
The theoretical limit for PCIe data transfer in particular is 32Gbps, while Thunderbolt 4 will also be able to maintain its maximum performance in cables up to two meters (six-and-a-half feet) in length. Thunderbolt 3, performance levels can change depending on the length of the cabling used. A Thunderbolt 4 laptop must have at least one port capable of charging the device at 100W capacity, while Intel’s VT-d virtualization technology (which protects against direct memory attacks by isolating certain sections of the memory) must now be built in as a requirement; in the Thunderbolt 3 spec, it’s an option. Another Thunderbolt 4 requirement will be that laptops must be able to be charged by a Thunderbolt dock, and wake up from sleep when connected to one. The USB-C connector is being retained of course, and Thunderbolt 4 products will work when plugged into Thunderbolt 3 ports, even if the performance isn’t quite what it would be with a fully Thunderbolt 4-compliant chain of ports, cables, and devices. In addition, Thunderbolt 4 docks will be capable of a few extra tricks in terms of how many different devices they can connect to in the same configuration.
While the Thunderbolt 3 vs Thunderbolt 4 comparison doesn’t look all that exciting, wrapping in more seamless compatibility with USB and upping the minimum requirements justify the new number bump—it should finally take some of the confusion and guesswork out of using Thunderbolt. Thunderbolt 4 compatibility will arrive on laptops with the introduction of the Tiger Lake processors from Intel, which are expected to hit the market in the very near future. If manufacturers want to, they should be able to incorporate Thunderbolt 4 into their devices before the end of the year. In other words, watch this space. And where does this leave Macs and the move to Apple Silicon? As you’ll have noticed, the iPad Pro USB-C ports use USB rather than Thunderbolt, though Thunderbolt 3 is standard on the MacBook Pros and MacBook Air. Even as Apple moves away from Intel processors, it said in a statement given to The Verge and others that it remains committed to “the future of Thunderbolt”—which we’re hoping means Thunderbolt 4 as well as Thunderbolt 3. |
| Source: | GIZMODO |
Paging Data Receiver PDR-4 The PDR-4 is a multi-function paging data receiver that decodes paging messages and outputs them via the serial port, USB or Ethernet connectors. Designed for use with Prism-IPX ECHO software Message Logging Software to receive messages and log the information for proof of transmission over the air, and if the data was error free.
Prism-IPX Systems LLC. 11175 Cicero Dr., Alpharetta, GA 30022 |
Wireless Network Planners
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Congress grilled the CEOs of Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Google. Here are the big takeaways By Brian Fung, CNN Business
(CNN Business)The most powerful figures in tech were hit with tough questions and documents that raised concerns about their competitive tactics during a high-profile antitrust hearing on Wednesday. Of the tech titans, which included the CEOs of Amazon (AMZN), Apple (AAPL), Facebook (FB) and Google (GOOGL), some fared better than others in the first hours of the hearing. Jeff Bezos, Amazon's CEO, acknowledged, albeit earnestly and transparently, that Amazon may have improperly used third-party seller data to inform its own product decisions — a key concern over the company's approach to competition. Apple CEO Tim Cook, on the other hand, got off pretty lightly. Despite some early questions about whether Apple favors certain developers on its App Store, there were relatively few questions about Apple's App Store guidelines for developers, which have been a main complaint among critics. For over a year, top lawmakers in Congress have been investigating the four tech giants to determine whether the companies have abused their power and dominance in the online marketplace. Wednesday's event marked the culmination of that process and is the biggest hearing of its kind since Microsoft's Bill Gates went to Washington in 1998. Here are big takeaways from the event: Jeff Bezos has a mixed first appearance in CongressOf the four CEOs at the hearing, Bezos' testimony was arguably the most highly anticipated as the world's richest person had never appeared before Congress. After avoiding any questioning for the first two hours of the hearing, Bezos fielded multiple sharp questions on Amazon's approach to pricing, acquisitions and how it uses data from third-party sellers. Bezos acknowledged that there is a policy that prohibits the use of third-party seller data to support Amazon's own private-label business. But, he admitted, "I can't guarantee you that policy has never been violated." At various times in the hearing, Bezos either said he couldn't answer the question or couldn't recall the incident he was being questioned about. Facebook's billion-dollar acquisition of Instagram comes under scrutinyFacebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg was confronted about internal company emails he sent in 2012 about buying Instagram. The emails were acquired by the House Judiciary Committee as part of its antitrust investigation. In one email, Zuckerberg said Instagram could be "very disruptive" to Facebook. An email from Facebook's chief financial officer referenced neutralizing a potential competitor, which Zuckerberg replied was part of the motivation. Rep. Jerry Nadler said the emails showed Facebook viewed Instagram as a threat and, rather than compete with it, his company bought it. In response, Zuckerberg did not deny he viewed Instagram as a threat, but pointed out that the deal was approved by the Federal Trade Commission at the time. Under fire, tech CEOs appeal to American patriotismAll the tech executives sought to drive home the point that their companies are by America, for America. Bezos referenced the "trust" Americans have in Amazon. "We need American workers to get products to American customers," he said in his prepared remarks. "Apple is a uniquely American company whose success is only possible in this country," Cook said in his remarks, touting the number of US jobs it has helped create. And the US battle with China for tech supremacy informed part of Zuckerberg's argument. "If you look at where the top technology companies come from, a decade ago the vast majority were American," the Facebook CEO said. "Today, almost half are Chinese." The partisan divide over tech returnsWhile Democrats largely went after the tech CEOs for their use of data and behavior toward competitors, Republicans during the hearing consistently alleged a pattern of anti-conservative bias by the tech companies, despite little more than anecdotal evidence. GOP lawmakers' strategy seems clear: to encourage the media to cover claims of ideological bias as equivalent in gravity and stature to antitrust issues. But researchers have consistently failed to turn up evidence of systemic bias on the part of the platforms' technology. At one point, Rep. Gregory Steube, a Florida Republican, confronted Google CEO Sundar Pichai, portraying as an example of bias what may have been a simple technical problem. Steube said his congressional campaign emails to supporters, including his parents, have often been blocked or sent to Gmail's spam folder. "There's nothing in the algorithm that has anything to do with political ideology," Pichai said. "We do get complaints across the aisle." Few fireworksWhile there were some fireworks between Democrats and Republicans, the overall drama of the hearing was restrained due to the highly technical nature of some of the questions. Many consumers will not have the context to understand why some of the exchanges, which were the product of a lengthy investigation into the nuts and bolts of their businesses, mattered. But that doesn't necessarily mean the hearing was a failure. The ultimate impact of it will depend on what steps Congress takes or recommends to address the antitrust concerns that led to the hearing in the first place. Donie O'Sullivan, Kaya Yurieff and Rishi Iyengar contributed to this report. |
| Source: | CNN Business |
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 next 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 |
Senator Inhofe Puts FCC Commissioner Nomination on HoldSenate Armed Services Committee chairman Jim Inhofe (R-OK) placed a hold on the re-nomination of Michael O’Rielly as an FCC Commissioner. Inhofe wants O’Rielly to say he will vote to overturn the Ligado Order. The outcome could threaten O’Rielly’s position at the Commission. L-Band, the frequency range between 1 to 2 GHz, is vital to GPS and other international navigation systems because it can easily penetrate clouds, fog, rain and vegetation. Ligado owns a license to operate the spectrum near GPS, which it says it will use to build a 5G network. Opponents — including the Department of Defense and security agencies — argue that Ligado’s plan would create harmful interference with GPS, hurting both war fighters and commercial ventures in the U.S. “Over the past few months, I have sent letters, held hearings and called countless officials to highlight what we all know to be true: the FCC’s Ligado Order is flawed and will lead to significant harm to our military and the thousands of individuals and businesses that rely on GPS,” said Inhofe yesterday. On May 22, the federal government formally requested the FCC reconsider its position. “I am holding Commissioner O’Rielly’s nomination until he publicly states that he will vote to overturn the current Ligado Order. I understand that O’Rielly has stated that he would give ‘due consideration to a stay’ ‘based on new data or evidence’ – but that isn’t enough,” Inhofe emphasized. “This isn’t just about our military, but all users of GPS are united in opposition. All of America can’t be wrong, and he understands that. I need his commitment in plain English to vote to overturn the order, not just consider it, before I will allow his nomination to proceed.” It’s unclear how much pressure that hold would apply to the FCC’s handling of the Ligado item. FCC Chairman Ajit Pai controls the agenda, not O’Rielly. O’Rielly is one of three GOP appointees to the FCC. It’s unusual for a Republican senator to place a hold on a member of his own party, but the Ligado situation has created an unusual alliance that cuts across party, chamber and committee jurisdiction, according to C4ISRNET. Should the hold last through the end of the year, O’Rielly would have to step down from the commission. |
| Source: | Inside Towers newsletter | Courtesy of the editor of Inside Towers Jim Fryer. Inside Towers is a daily newsletter by subscription. |
| BloostonLaw Newsletter |
Reminder: Number Disconnection and Aging Records Required; ATIS Publishes Reporting GuideAs we reported in a previous edition of the BloostonLaw Telecom Update, beginning July 27, 2020, voice service providers must maintain records of the most recent date each number was permanently disconnected and must age telephone numbers for at least 45 days after disconnection and before reassignment. Small business voice service providers have an additional six months, i.e., until January 27, 2021, to comply with the record maintenance rule. These requirements are applicable to all carriers that obtain numbering resources from the NANPA, a Pooling Administrator, or another carrier The FCC will announce the compliance date for the new rule requiring voice service providers to send information to the Reassigned Numbers Database once the database is established. On July 22, ATIS published its completed guidelines for the submission of reports, which can be found here. BloostonLaw Contacts: Ben Dickens, Gerry Duffy, and John Prendergast. HeadlinesSen. Inhofe to Hold O’Rielly Renomination Until He Votes to Overturn Ligado OrderOn July 28, U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.) announced that he has placed a hold on the nomination of Mike O’Rielly to be FCC Commissioner until O’Rielly publically commits to vote to overturn the current Ligado Order. “Over the past few months, I have sent letters, held hearings and called countless officials to highlight what we all know to be true: the FCC’s Ligado Order is flawed and will lead to significant harm to our military and the thousands of individuals and businesses that rely on GPS. The Trump administration understands this and has urged the FCC to reconsider the Ligado Order,” said Sen. Inhofe. “I am holding Commissioner O’Rielly’s nomination until he publically states that he will vote to overturn the current Ligado Order. I understand that O’Rielly has stated that he would give ‘due consideration to a stay’ ‘based on new data or evidence’ — but that isn’t enough. This isn’t just about our military, but all users of GPS are united in opposition. All of America can’t be wrong, and he understands that. I need his commitment in plain English to vote to overturn the order, not just consider it, before I will allow his nomination to proceed.” As we reported in a previous edition of the BloostonLaw Telecom Update, on April 19, 2020 the FCC granted satellite service provider Ligado’s application to deploy a low-power terrestrial nationwide network in the LBand, that will primarily support 5G and Internet of Things services. The Ligado proposal had festered for years in a cloud of controversy; and the FCC’s approval decision comes amid objections from 13 different government agencies, including DOD, Homeland Security, DOJ, FAA and NASA among others. All are concerned about interference to important military and safely-related communications that rely on GPS signals. Sen. Inhofe has been active in opposing the Ligado application leading up to and even after its grant; On April 15, Inhofe, joined by Senate Armed Services Committee Ranking Member Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.) and House Armed Services Committee Ranking Member Rep. Mac Thornberry (R-Texas) sent a letter to the President asking him to intervene. On May 6, Inhofe chaired a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing, where Department of Defense officials laid out the data and analysis behind their objections to the proposal. In advance of the hearing, a broad coalition of industry stakeholders sent a letter to Inhofe and Reed expressing opposition to the FCC Order as well. On May 15, Inhofe led 31 bipartisan senators in a letter, urging the FCC to reconsider the Ligado Order. BloostonLaw Contacts: Ben Dickens, Gerry Duffy, and John Prendergast. FCC Seeks Comment on Petition for Reconsideration of Earth Station Siting Methodology GuidanceThe FCC has released a Public Notice seeking comment on a Petition for Reconsideration filed by the Satellite Industry Association (“SIA) in response to the FCC’s Public Notice which provided guidance on methodologies to implement Rule Section 25.136 – which specifies conditions under which Fixed Satellite Service (FSS) earth stations can operate in certain bands that are shared with the Upper microwave Flexible Use Service (UMFUS). Comments are due August 21, 2020 and Reply Comments are Due September 8, 2020. Rule Section 25.136 specifies the conditions under which FSS earth stations can coexist with UMFUS operations in the 27.5-28.35 GHz and 37.5-40.0 GHz bands. Following the adoption of this rule, the FCC issued a public notice seeking comment on earth station interference zone and protection zone calculation methodologies and best practices for siting earth stations. Following the comment period, the FCC issued a further public notice to provide potential applicants with a better understanding of the FCC's expectations regarding earth station applications subject to section 25.136 and to provide applicants flexibility in how they comply with the rule. SIA now requests that the International Bureau reconsider several portions of the Public Notice, specifically that the FCC: (1) eliminate limitations on earth station co-location that conflict with its rules; (2) revert to the definition of a “Highway” adopted by the FCC; (3) allow applicants more flexibility in providing antenna pattern demonstrations; (4) permit the use of clear sky EIRP levels; and (5) remove the requirement to aggregate population values for all licensed points of communications. BloostonLaw Contacts: Richard Rubino. Law and RegulationFCC Details Urban Rate Survey for 2021On July 23, the FCC issued a Public Notice initiating the urban rate survey for 2021. Specifically, the FCC will be collecting the rates offered by a random sample of providers of fixed services identified using December 2019 FCC Form 477 data. Separate samples for fixed voice and fixed broadband services with up to 500 urban Census tracts in each. The information collected in this survey will be used to develop voice and broadband reasonable comparability benchmarks that will be in place in 2021. Because some providers serve many urban Census tracts, these providers may receive surveys for multiple Census tracts. Notifications that a provider is required to complete a survey were sent via email to each selected provider’s FCC Form 477 contact person and certifying official on Thursday, July 23. The survey consists of an online reporting form which will be accessible only to the selected providers. The email notification provides detailed information on how to access and complete the survey online report form and how to obtain technical assistance. Completed surveys will be due on Friday, August 28, 2020. BloostonLaw Contacts: Ben Dickens, John Prendergast, and Sal Taillefer. Sen. Gardner Introduces Broadband LegislationOn July 23, Senator Cory Gardner (R-CO) introduced legislation to immediately fund broadband deployment in unserved and rural areas. According to a press release, the Developing Economic Prosperity and Linking Our Youth through (DEPLOY) Broadband Act will appropriate $6.5 billion to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) for broadband buildout in unserved areas. It also permanently establishes a minimum 10 percent rural dividend for future spectrum auctions and ensures that funding cannot be combined with any other funds at the FCC. “This health crisis has laid bare the digital divide that exists in many of our rural communities. It’s estimated that more than 65,000 students in Colorado live in homes without any INTERNET access, roughly eight percent of Colorado’s entire student population,” said Senator Gardner. “That’s not acceptable with so many relying on broadband to receive an education, telecommute, and access healthcare. This legislation will dedicate immediate funding to build out rural broadband in unserved and rural areas throughout Colorado and the country and ensure there is a permanent allocation for rural broadband into the future.” BloostonLaw Contacts: Ben Dickens, Gerry Duffy, and John Prendergast. Industry FCC IndustryFCC Designates Robocall Traceback ManagerOn July 27, the FCC officially designated USTelecom – the Broadband Association’s Industry Traceback Group as the official consortium for coordinating industry-led efforts to trace back the origin of suspected unlawful robocalls. The Industry Traceback Group has actually already been working with the FCC to develop an effective traceback process that significantly assists the Commission’s enforcement efforts. According to a Press Release, the Industry Traceback Group played a role in the FCC’s efforts in April and May to prevent certain gateway providers from bringing unlawful robocalls into the United States, and its efforts in June against Texas-based health insurance telemarketers for apparently making approximately 1 billion illegally spoofed robocalls. Existing members of the Industry Traceback Group that support the coalition’s expanding traceback work include: Alliance Group Services, ANI Networks, AT&T, Bandwidth, Bell Canada, Brightlink, Business Telecommunications Services, CenturyLink, Charter Communications, Cincinnati Bell, Comcast, Consolidated Communications, Cox Communications, Frontier, Google, HD Tandem, IDT Telecom, Impact Telecom, Inteliquent, O1 Communications, Peerless Network, Silver Star Communications, Sprint, T-Mobile, Verizon, West Telecom, Windstream, and Ymax. DeadlinesJULY 31: FCC FORM 507, LINE COUNT DATA (A-CAM AND ALASKA PLAN RECPIENTS). Sections 54.313(f)(5) and 54.903(a)(1) of the FCC’s rules requires all rate-of-return telecommunications carriers to provide line count information on FCC Form 507 to USAC, the universal service Administrator. Carriers receiving Connect America Fund Broadband Loop Support (CAF BLS) must submit this information annually on March 31st of each year, and may update the data on a quarterly basis. Carriers that receive Alternative Connect America Model (A-CAM) I, A-CAM II, or Alaska Plan support are required to file by July 1st of each year. For 2020, the FCC has extended the A-CAM filing deadline until July 31. BloostonLaw Contacts: Gerry Duffy and Sal Taillefer. 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:
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 year is due to be filed August 29 at the Library of Congress’ Copyright Office by cable TV service providers. BloostonLaw contact: Gerry Duffy. SEPTEMBER 1: FCC FORM 477, LOCAL COMPETITION AND BROADBAND REPORTING FORM. Three types of entities must file this form.
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 FCC 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-GlanceJuly August September
FCC Seeks Comment on T-Band Reallocation and Licensing NPRMThe FCC has released the text of its controversial Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, in which it seeks comment on reallocating “T-Band” spectrum (470-512 MHz), assigning new licenses by auction for the 6 MHz to 18 MHz of spectrum that is potentially available in each of the eleven urbanized areas, and relocating “public safety eligibles” from the T-Band. Comments will be due 30 days after publication in the Federal Register and reply Comments will be due 60 days after publication in the Federal Register. The T-Band spectrum auction was mandated by the Middle-Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012, which created the First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet). Congress required that the FCC reclaim T-band spectrum licensed to public safety licensees and sell that spectrum at auction in exchange for 700 MHz band spectrum. It is important to note that public safety entities make extensive use of the T-Band in 11 large urban areas (including Boston, Chicago, Dallas/Fort Worth, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New York City/New Jersey, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, San Francisco/Oakland, and Washington, D.C./Maryland/Virginia). Additionally, T-band spectrum has also been licensed to incumbent Industrial/Business users Part 22 licensees. The public safety community has repeatedly made the case that loss of the T-Band spectrum would be a severe blow to their communications capabilities. Numerous federal regulators, including FCC Chairman Ajit Pai, have asked Congress to allow public safety to keep the T-Band. Several bills to repeal the T-Band mandate have been introduced in both houses of Congress, but none have made it out of Committee. Now, because Congress has not repealed the mandate, the FCC is being forced to move forward with the auction process. Specifically, the FCC has proposed rules that would allow for flexible use in the auctioned T-Band, including wireless (fixed or mobile) use. Under the FCC’s proposed band plan, it would auction 6 MHz blocks on a block-by-block basis in the 470-512 MHz band. The FCC has emphasized that it is not proposing any changes to the other, non-public safety allocation in the band at this time. Nonetheless, we emphasize that this proceeding could potentially affect those of our clients who may have gotten non-public safety T-Band channels for land mobile systems that are interleaved with public safety spectrum. The FCC’s proposal, if adopted, would limit available channels to discrete frequency pairings within the 6 MHz Block in a given urbanized area, and would exclude from competitive bidding all frequencies currently authorized to Industrial/Business licensees pursuant to Part 90 of the FCC’s Rules as well as all frequencies currently authorized to licensees for point to multi-point operation pursuant to Part 22 of the FCC’s rules. Further, to facilitate increased flexibility, the FCC is proposing to use its authority pursuant to the T-Band Mandate and section 309(j) of the Act to make available for licensing through competitive bidding in a given urbanized area the full 6 MHz Blocks in the 470-512 MHz band as an overlay authorization. Under this scenario, an overlay license would authorize operations for a geographic area “overlaid” on top of an existing incumbent T-Band licensee (consisting of licensees authorized in the Part 90 Industrial/Business and Public Safety Pool licensees, and Part 22 point to multi-point licensees). If adopted, this approach would require the overlay licensee to protect existing incumbents from interference indefinitely, i.e., until the incumbent rights are relinquished. If an incumbent lets its license lapse, it could lose its rights to the overlay licensee. The FCC has proposed that only “public safety eligibles” using T-Band spectrum are to be mandatorily relocated from the T-Band at this time. As a result, the FCC has asked whether issuing overlay authorizations for the current 6 MHz spectrum block would allow for both the provision of potential new services and the maintenance of the status quo incumbent interference environment for existing operations. Additionally, the FCC is seeking comment in general on the overlay auction approach with public safety eligibles being relocated from the T-Band. The FCC seeks specific comment on whether this approach would lay the foundation for promoting the most efficient and intensive use of the spectrum and the recovery for the public of a portion of the value of the public spectrum resource or whether there are feasible alternative approaches, and if so, the associated costs and benefits. Thus, to be clear, under the FCC’s proposal, a T-Band overlay license auction winner would have a right to operate within the channel block to the extent: (1) a frequency is not assigned to an incumbent (either for shared or exclusive use); (2) the incumbent vacates the frequency, whether as required by the T-Band Mandate, voluntary transition, acquisition, failure to renew, or permanent discontinuance; or (3) the incumbent and overlay licensee reach an agreement permitting such operation. In this regard, the FCC has proposed that for a frequency pair to be considered vacated, the overlay licensee must clear all incumbents, such that there would be no overlap in authorized bandwidth of incumbent and overlay licensee transmissions. The FCC has also proposed to permit broadcast operations and seeks comment on how best to facilitate this and other potential uses. The FCC seeks comment on transition mechanisms and costs for relocating public safety eligibles from the T-Band, including whether to transition these licensees only where auction revenues exceed anticipated transition costs. The FCC also proposes an auction framework and licensing, operating, and technical rules for the reallocated spectrum that would preserve the current environment for incumbents remaining in the T-Band. Finally, The FCC seeks comment on how to best address the non-public safety operations in the T-Band to maximize opportunities for new entrants, including whether and how to transition non-public safety operations. BloostonLaw Contacts: John Prendergast and Richard Rubino. FCC Amends Nationwide Programmatic Agreement for Collocation of Wireless Antennas Beyond Boundaries of Tower Site.The FCC has announced that effective July 10, 2020, the FCC, the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation (ACHP), and the National Conference of State Historic Preservation Officers (NCSHPO) executed a Second Amendment to the Nationwide Programmatic Agreement for the Collocation of Wireless Antennas (Collocation NPA). The amendment is designed to facilitate the collocation of wireless facilities on existing towers by eliminating review under Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act for certain collocations that involve a limited expansion beyond the boundaries of a tower site. Prior to this amendment, the Collocation NPA as amended provided that a collocation on an existing tower would be excluded from Section 106 review unless the colocation involved one of the specified circumstances, which included a substantial increase in the size of the tower. Prior to the amendment, a “substantial increase in the size of the tower” was defined to include, among other factors, any excavation outside the current tower site. In contrast, the 2004 Nationwide Programmatic Agreement regarding new wireless structures Wireless Facilities NPA) excludes from Section 106 review a replacement tower up to 30 feet outside the boundaries of an existing tower site. This created an inconsistency between the Collocation NPA and the Wireless Facilities NPA. In order to resolve this inconsistency, the FCC, ACHP and NCSHPO agreed to amend the Collocation NPA in order to provide that a collocation would be excluded from Section 106 review if it would not “expand the boundaries of the current tower site by more than 30 feet in any direction or involve excavation outside these expanded boundaries,” provided that the collocation complies with other criteria for exclusion specified in the Collocation NPA. In announcing this agreement, Commissioner Brendan Carr stated that “This is a vitally important agreement to ensure our infrastructure policies can meet the challenges and opportunities of 5G.” Commissioner Carr continued that “[i]t represents a commonsense approach to encouraging collocations where tower replacements are not necessary. The FCC team and our partners at ACHP and NCSHPO worked closely, and I want to extend my thanks and appreciation for the time and good-faith efforts that enabled us to reach this agreement.” BloostonLaw Contact: John Prendergast FCC Fines HobbyKing USA $2.8 Million for Equipment Marketing Rule ViolationsThe FCC has issued an order fining ABC Fulfillment Services LLC, doing business as HobbyKing USA, LLC (“HobbyKing”) $2,861,128 for marketing drone transmitters that did not comply with the FCC’s certification/licensing rules and for failing to respond to FCC orders in connection with its investigation of HobbyKing’s business practices. The fine arises from 2018 interference complaints against HobbyKing for marketing audio visual transmitters (AV transmitters) for use with drones, without regard to whether or not those AV transmitters were compliant with the Communications Act or the FCC’s Rules. While HobbyKing represented that its transmitters operated in designated amateur radio bands, the FCC’s investigation found that sixty-five models of devices marketed by HobbyKing could also apparently operate outside those bands, including frequency bands reserved for Federal government operations. HobbyKing did not contest that it had marketed devices without the required equipment authorizations or that it had not fully responded to the FCC’s enforcement inquiries. Rather, HobbyKing raised legal challenges to the FCC’s actions. First, HobbyKing asserted that the FCC had not adopted marketing rules that specifically addressed equipment that was designed to operate as “drone accessories” both within and outside of the amateur radio bands. The FCC noted that its Rules explicitly state marketing of a non-compliant intentional or unintentional radiator is prohibited under section 302 of the Communications Act and related rules. The FCC stated that although devices that operate purely in amateur radio service bands are exempt from the authorization requirement, no similar exemption extends to devices that can operate on both amateur and non-amateur frequencies, irrespective of whether the device is described as “versatile” or not. Next, HobbyKing claimed the FCC’s requirement that it respond to the Enforcement Bureau’s Letter of Inquiry (“LOI”) violated HobbyKing’s Fifth Amendment constitutional right against self-incrimination. The Fifth Amendment of the Constitution provides that “[n]o person . . . shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself.” (emphasis added). The FCC noted that corporations and other similar “collective” type entities are not protected by the Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination like individuals. The FCC noted further that even if a principal of HobbyKing had asserted the right against self-incrimination, the FCC noted that the US Supreme Court has previously held that an individual in possession of corporate records cannot assert a Fifth Amendment privilege against producing those records, even if production might tend to incriminate the individual personally. The FCC declined to reduce the fine, due to the egregious, intentional and repeated nature of HobbyKing’s violations over a course of years. BloostonLaw Contacts: John Prendergast and Richard Rubino Comments on Proposal to Expand Use of the 70/80/90 GHz Bands Due August 5On July 6, the FCC published in the Federal Register its Notice of Proposed Rulemaking seeking comment on new uses of the 71-76 GHz, 81-86 GHz, 92-94 GHz, and 94.1-95 GHz bands (collectively, the “70/80/90 GHz bands”). Comments are due on or before August 5, 2020. Reply comments on or before September 4, 2020. Specifically, the Commission seeks comment on potential rule changes for non-Federal users to facilitate the provision of wireless backhaul for 5G, as well as the deployment of broadband services to aircraft and ships, while protecting incumbent operations in the 70/80/90 GHz bands. The Commission seeks to promote expanded use of this co-primary millimeter-wave spectrum and in particular seeks to take advantage of the highly directional signal characteristics of these bands, which may permit the co-existence of multiple types of deployments. Because this is co-primary spectrum for Federal and non-Federal users, the Commission indicates that it will coordinate any proposed rule changes with the affected agencies and the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA). BloostonLaw Contacts: John Prendergast and Cary Mitchell. FCC Announces Expedited Historic Preservation Review Process for Critical InfrastructureThe FCC has announced two processes that have been developed in coordination with the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation (ACHP) to further expedite the historical preservation review process for towers and other infrastructure builds. According to a Press Release, these additional processes will allow wireless licensees to request an expedited review for essential and immediate projects that respond to the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as emergency authorization for infrastructure projects critical for responding to the pandemic. Carriers that have experienced delays due to the effects of COVID-19, including the related unavailability of most State Historic Preservation Officer (SHPO) and Tribal Historic Preservation Officer (THPO) personnel, can avail themselves of these expedited review processes. First, FCC licensees may request expedited ACHP historic preservation review of projects that are essential and immediate and that respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. Second, FCC licensees may request emergency authorization if a project addresses public safety or critical infrastructure initiatives prioritized by government or public safety authorities, brings coverage to meet the needs of unserved and underserved areas due to COVID-19 effects, or relieves network congestion due to COVID-19 effects. Carriers with questions about the expedited review options may contact the firm for more information. BloostonLaw Contacts: John Prendergast and Cary Mitchell. Comment Sought on Petition to Simplify Pro Forma Transfer of Control ProcessThe FCC issued a Public Notice seeking comment on a Petition for Rulemaking and Declaratory Ruling filed jointly by CTIA – The Wireless Association (CTIA) and USTelecom requesting that the Federal Communications Commission initiate a rulemaking proceeding and issue a declaratory ruling to simplify filing requirements for pro forma assignment and transfer of control applications — i.e., transactions where the overall ownership and control does not change, even though the form of ownership changes. Examples of pro forma transactions include assigning a license to a subsidiary of the licensee; creating a holding company between the licensee and its current owners; converting from a corporation to a limited liability company; or reincorporating in a different state with the same ownership structure. Reply comments are due August 10, 2020. According to the Public Notice, CTIA and USTelecom propose that the Commission amend its rules to remove the existing prior approval requirement for all pro forma transactions that currently are subject to prior approval procedures. In other words, the proposal would automatically deem all pro forma transactions to be in the public interest and permit all pro forma transactions to be filed as 30-day post-closing notifications, regardless of license type. In the alternative, the parties request that all pro forma filings that are currently subject to prior approval procedures be approved automatically. CTIA and USTelecom make numerous other suggestions to streamline, expedite, or otherwise clarify the Commission’s pro forma transaction processing procedures, including changes to the Commission’s Universal Licensing System and revisions to related forms. They also request that the Commission issue a declaratory ruling on a number of policies and procedures that they believe will reduce burdens on licensees involved in pro forma assignment and transfer of control applications. For the vast majority of our Part 90 private radio clients, we anticipate that this change will have minimal impact due to the availability of the FCC’s conditional temporary authorization rules for transfers and assignments involving private land mobile licenses authorized under Part 90 of the FCC’s Rules for stations operating below 470 MHz or in the 769-775/799-805 MHz band, 806-824/851-866 MHz band, or the non-commercial one-way paging 929-930 MHz band. For those stations that qualify, parties to a transaction may proceed with the transaction under Conditional Temporary Authority upon the filing of an application with the FCC for consent to the transaction. In this regard, it is important to note that Conditional Temporary Authority does not apply to all license authorizations that are issued under Part 90 of the FCC’s Rules. BloostonLaw Contacts: John Prendergast and Richard Rubino. International Bureau Seeks Comment on Petition for Reconsideration of PN Guidance on Siting Methodologies for Earth StationsThe FCC has released a Public Notice seeking comment on a Petition for Reconsideration filed by the Satellite Industry Association (“SIA”) in response to the FCC’s Public Notice which provided guidance on methodologies to implement Rule Section 25.136 — which specifies conditions under which Fixed Satellite Service (FSS) earth stations can operate in certain bands that are shared with the Upper microwave Flexible Use Service (UMFUS). Comments are due August 21, 2020 and Reply Comments are Due September 8, 2020. Rule Section 25.136 specifies the conditions under which FSS earth stations can coexist with UMFUS operations in the 27.5-28.35 GHz and 37.5-40.0 GHz bands. Following the adoption of this rule, the FCC issued a public notice seeking comment on earth station interference zone and protection zone calculation methodologies and best practices for siting earth stations. Following the comment period, the FCC issued a further public notice to provide potential applicants with a better understanding of the FCC's expectations regarding earth station applications subject to section 25.136 and to provide applicants flexibility in how they comply with the rule. SIA now requests that the International Bureau reconsider several portions of the Public Notice, specifically that the FCC: (1) eliminate limitations on earth station co-location that conflict with its rules; (2) revert to the definition of a “Highway” adopted by the FCC; (3) allow applicants more flexibility in providing antenna pattern demonstrations; (4) permit the use of clear sky EIRP levels; and (5) remove the requirement to aggregate population values for all licensed points of communications. BloostonLaw Contacts: John Prendergast and Richard Rubino Emergence from Bankruptcy Without Prior FCC Authorization Leads to $127K Civil PenaltyCaesars Entertainment Corporation (“Caesars”) operates numerous resorts and casinos in the United States and abroad. On January 15, 2015, Caesars Entertainment Operating Company, Inc. (“CEOC”), a subsidiary of Caesars, implemented a financial restructuring through the filing of voluntary petitions for reorganization under Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code. On October 6, 2017, pursuant to the Plan Confirmation Order issued by the Bankruptcy Court, the debtors closed all transactions approved by the court’s order and were converted from debtors-in-possession by operation of law. The transactions restructured CEOC by separating virtually all of its U.S.-based gaming operating assets and real property assets into two companies comprised of an operating entity and a newly formed, publicly-traded real estate investment trust named VICI Properties Inc. Unfortunately, Caesars and CEOC did not make the appropriate FCC filings for consent to the involuntary assignment of licenses from the respective licensee to the licensee as debtor-in-possession or the FCC filings to obtain prospective consent to emerge from bankruptcy pursuant to the Plan Confirmation Order. As a result, Caesars engaged in a series of forty-two pro forma and five substantial transactions that were related to its bankruptcy reorganization without Commission authorization. The wireless licenses held by Caesars and its subsidiaries were used for private non-common carrier communications purposes at Caesars’ individual properties. On March 7, 2018, Caesars filed the lead wireless license application seeking Commission approval for its prior transfers of control of its licenses in its bankruptcy proceeding, which was subsequently referred to the Enforcement Bureau for investigation. The FCC’s investigation revealed that the unreported transactions included the January 15, 2015 pro forma assignment of licenses from CEOC Inc. to CEOC Inc., Debtor-in-Possession as a result of the petition for bankruptcy as well as the removal of CEOC Inc.’s debtor-in-possession status via pro forma transfer of control of licenses from CEOC Inc. to CEOC, LLC, on October 6, 2017, pursuant to the bankruptcy court’s Plan Confirmation Order. Additionally, the FCC’s investigation revealed that the unreported transactions included substantial transfers of control of wireless licenses that occurred after the bankruptcy-related transactions were completed. Specifically, such transfers occurred when subsidiaries of CEOC conveyed certain of their assets, including real property and related FCC-licensed assets, to subsidiaries of VICI Properties. Section 310(d) of the Communications Act and the FCC’s Rules regarding transfers and assignments of licenses apply to bankruptcy cases as well a normal, routine transactions. In this regard, the FCC’s Rules require that applicants seek and receive Commission consent prior to conducting a transfer of control or making an assignment of any FCC radio license. The FCC treats the filing of a petition for reorganization or liquidation of a licensee under the US Bankruptcy Code as an involuntary assignment or transfer of a wireless license (just like it would following the death of a majority shareholder). Because the filing of a petition for bankruptcy is considered “involuntary”, the required applications must be filed no later than 30 calendar days after the event causing the involuntary assignment or transfer — which in this case would be the filing of the petition. Caesars’ failure to file the required applications led to the FCC imposing a civil penalty of $127,000. Office clients who may decide to enter into bankruptcy should have their bankruptcy counsel contact our office promptly prior to the filing of the petition so that we can help them understand the FCC’s regulatory requirements and processes. We have found in the past that the FCC’s requirements appear to be counter-intuitive from a bankruptcy practitioner’s standpoint. It is important to remember that at least two filings before the FCC will be required in any bankruptcy proceeding: (a) the involuntary assignment of license or transfer of control application triggered by the Petition for Bankruptcy that must be filed within 30 calendar days of the bankruptcy petition and (b) the application for consent to emerge from bankruptcy and/or sell assets to another party. The second application will require a copy of the Bankruptcy Court order approving the reorganization/emergence from bankruptcy and/or the sale of assets. In this regard, any bankruptcy court order authorizing a sale of assets involving FCC radio licenses or emergence from bankruptcy must include language that the bankruptcy court authorization is pre-conditioned upon receipt of authority from the FCC. BloostonLaw Contacts: John Prendergast and Richard Rubino
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Brad: Glad you are staying well. Keep it up. The newsletter is a GEM. Will you please let your readers know I have 6 Sonic PTX150 VHF paging transmitters available. They are 100 watt, POCSAG/FLEX™ capable and covers 138-174 MHz. Power cords are included. They were removed WORKING from a county paging system and are guaranteed by me. $1,425.00 each. Phil
Please contact Phil directly. The newsletter will receive a 10% to 15% commission on any sales made. (On the honor system — no contract.) |
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