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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.
| About Us |
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 Policy |
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
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New ‘EvilQuest’ Mac ransomware found in pirated apps encrypts users filesFilipe Espósito — Jun. 30th 2020 6:43 pm PT
Mac users are now exposed to a new “EvilQuest” ransomware that encrypts files and causes multiple issues with the operating system. Malwarebytes has analyzed the ransomware today, which is being distributed through macOS pirate apps. The malicious code was first found in a pirate copy of the Little Snitch app available on a Russian forum with torrent links. The downloaded app comes with a PKG installer file, unlike its original version. By examining this PKG file, Malwarebytes discovered that the app comes with a “postinstall script,” which is typically used to clean up the installation after the process is completed. In this case, however, the script implements malware in macOS. The script file is copied to a folder related to the Little Snitch app under the name CrashReporter, so the user won’t notice it running in the Activity Monitor since macOS has an internal app with a similar name. The set location is: /Library/LittleSnitchd/CrashReporter. Malwarebytes notes that it takes some time before the ransomware starts working after it’s installed, so the user won’t associate it with the latest app installed. Once the malicious code is activated, it modifies the system and user files with unknown encryption. Part of the encryption causes the Finder not to work properly and the system crashes constantly. Even the system’s Keychain gets corrupted, so it’s impossible to access passwords and certificates saved on the Mac. A message on the screen says the user must pay $50 to recover its files, otherwise everything will be deleted after three days.
There’s still no way to get rid of malware after it has encrypted the files without formatting the entire disk, so users should keep an updated backup of everything.
Although the ransomware is only included with pirated apps for now, Apple must fix this security flaw as quickly as possible since this malicious code can be included in more apps distributed outside the App Store. You can read more technical details about EvilQuest on Malwarebytes’ website. |
| Source: | 9TO5Mac |
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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INNOVATION SPACEX: WHY ELON MUSK IS SAYING ‘YOUR GPS JUST GOT SLIGHTLY BETTER’The space-faring firm has completed its latest launch, and it means big things for the phone in your pocket.
SpaceX, the space exploration company headed up by Elon Musk, has just given satellite navigation a boost. On Tuesday, the company launched a Falcon 9 rocket for its first United States Space Force mission. The rocket took off at 4:10 p.m. Eastern time from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Staton in Florida. On board was a Global Positioning System satellite, more commonly known as GPS. The mission sent up the third satellite for the new GPS III project, a major upgrade to the constellation used by people around the world to find their way. "Your GPS just got slightly better," Musk wrote on Twitter moments after the GPS III satellite was deployed. The Falcon 9 used to send up the satellite, the first flight for this specific booster, landed on the droneship Just Read the Instructions after launch. The launch is a big moment for GPS, which has become almost ubiquitous with the rise of the smartphone over the past decade. No longer just for military personnel to identify their location, GPS now supports a wealth of imaginative applications. Find your way to Starbucks in seconds, locate Pokémon in your local park, even set alerts to remind you of things before you leave the office. GPS has become the invisible backbone of an unbelievably long list of services. GPS III, Lockheed Martin explains, will make GPS three times more accurate. Gene McCall, former chair of the Air Force Scientific Advisory Board, wrote in National Defense Magazine in April that this suggests accuracy would increase from 28 inches to a very precise nine inches. Of course, that's going to be pretty tough to notice in practice. Perhaps that's why Musk used the phrase "slightly better." But GPS III also offers other benefits that improve the aging constellation – benefits like stronger protections against military jamming, longer-lasting satellites, and better interoperability with other countries' constellations.
GPS: WHAT IS IT? – The technology, Encyclopedia Britannica explains, uses signals from satellites in the sky to understand a user's location. A receiver measures how long it took for a given satellite's signal to reach Earth, a figure somewhere around a tenth of a second. It multiplies the time by the speed of a radio wave, 186,000 miles per second, to work out the distance. The second-generation satellites orbit somewhere around 20,000 kilometers above the Earth's surface. The receiver takes readings from three other satellites, and uses these imaginary lines to work out the receiver's longitude, latitude and altitude based on its position relative to the four satellites. That's the very basic idea. The receiver does more calculations to account for other issues that could distort those readings. And when we talk about a "receiver," we normally think of a smartphone – but a modern smartphone uses data from other sources like cell phone towers and Wifi hotspots, bringing it all together to make readings faster and more accurate. And while "GPS" is used in casual language to refer to any sort of navigation like this, the United States' GPS constellation that first started in 1978 is just one player in this global field. GLONASS, or GLObal NAvigation Satellite System, was first launched by the Soviet Union in 1982. Beidou was first launched by China in 2000. Galileo, from the European Space Agency, got its first experimental satellite in 2005. The iPhone 8 and later support GPS, GLONASS and Galileo.
GPS III: WHY ELSE IS IT BETTER? – GPS received its first satellite in 1978. A further nine launched over the coming decade, but this early constellation was more experimental. Encyclopedia Britannica explains that 24 second-generation satellites launched from 1989 to 1994. The United States Air Force is planning 10 third-generation GPS satellites. SpaceX launched the first in December 2018, and Lockheed Martin launched the second in August 2019 Beyond triple the accuracy, the new constellation is set to offer better protection for military applications with eight times stronger signals. These strong signals should make it harder to jam. Each satellite will also last for 15 years, around double the length of time as other GPS craft in the sky. It should also offer compatibility with other satellite systems, making it easier to interoperate with other systems. GPS may be the invisible backbone of today's applications, but that backbone just got a little bit stronger. |
| Source: | INVERSE |
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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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June 30, 2020, 09:00 am EDT Thousands Of Radio Operators Band Together To Practice For The Worst
For twenty-four hours over the weekend of June 27 and 28, 2020, thousands of amateur radio operators across the United States and Canada set up temporary emergency communications centers where everything had to be done without external services. This meant they had to erect their own temporary antennas, provide their own emergency power and operate their equipment in temporary locations. Their goal was to prove that they can communicate with each other in times of an emergency when there’s no infrastructure available. These amateur radio operators, also known as hams, devote seemingly endless hours preparing their radio equipment, computers, cables and antennas required to conduct radio communications in today’s demanding environment. What’s more, these radio operators volunteered their time, provided their own equipment and transported it to a remote site without electrical power, frequently without shelter and with only the supplies they could carry. And this time, they were doing it in the middle of a pandemic where they met crowd size requirements and social distancing laws. FEMA Involvement
US government concept acronym FEMA “They do this for the same reason we always exercise,” said former FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate. “It’s better to have it break in practice than break for real.” In this case, the radio operators were having to work around Covid-19 requirements, but Fugate thinks that’s a good thing. “One purpose is to practice making contacts under really difficult conditions,” he explained. “Finding clear channels is hard. These are some of the problems you find in an emergency.” While the conditions the radio operators were working in only simulate a real emergency, they can be unpleasant. Fugate pointed out that ham radio operators are essential to communications such as hurricanes in the south or wildfires in the west. “It’s a good practice to make sure I can get my station set up, and that I can make contacts on a lone radio with a long wire,” Fugate said. He pointed out in a recent op-ed in The Hill newspaper that when there’s an emergency, amateur radio may be your only choice. “A lot of this is doing stuff in emergency conditions,” he said. “You’re going to work with whatever you’ve got.”
Fugate pointed out that in a real emergency, your normal channels of communication may not be there when you need them. “When all else fails there’s amateur radio,” he said. “We saw what Hurricane Michael did to cellular networks in the Florida panhandle. One county didn’t have any contact with the state emergency operations center until a ham got there.” “That’s the environment that ham radio excels in,” Fugate said. Field DayThe weekend event, known as Field Day, is sponsored by the American Radio Relay League, a national organization that supports amateur radio and helps watch over its interests, especially in Washington. “Field Day started in 1953 as an annual event for the amateur radio community as an exercise for their communications emergency capability,” said Bob Inderbitzen, a spokesperson for the ARRL. He noted that it’s called “Field Day,” because it’s a time when amateur radio operators take their equipment out into a field, or perhaps a public park or picnic shelter, and test their ability to assemble and operate an emergency communications center. The exercises include contacting as many hams as possible in the U.S. and Canada, passing simulated emergency message traffic, communicating with emergency services and explaining the effort to local officials and first responders. Inderbitzen said that the exercise also gives the radio amateurs a way to learn to work as teams under emergency conditions. “Ham radio operators know how in use their radios in a moment of crisis,” he said. Fugate said that while he was FEMA Administrator, he decided to try to contact every state EOC without the use of the telephone network, reasoning that in a true emergency, the phone network would likely be unavailable. “The only solution was ham radio,” he said. |
| Source: | Forbes |
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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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Emergency responders finding SMS is a whole lot more than text messagesBY PAUL GILLIN With lockdowns beginning to ease, government agencies are taking a hard look at their emergency management and alert systems and finding that there’s a lot more more power in Short Message Service than meets the eye. Text messaging may appear to be one of the least glamorous functions of a cell phone, but it’s potentially the most powerful, according to Michael Hallowes, managing director of Zefonar Advisory Group and the former National Director of Australia’s Emergency Alert Program. In a presentation at “Coronavirus: The Road to Recovery,” a virtual symposium presented by Everbridge Inc. late last month, Hallowes told how SMS can be used not just to deliver personalized, location-based message to cell phone subscribers but also to enforce public safety rules, visualize public gatherings and enable two-way communication with affected citizens. “Location-based SMS provides governments with a nondiscriminatory technology that is accessible to and reaches the vast majority of the population, citizens at home and abroad, and international businesses alike,” he said. Improving the robustness of emergency alert systems is particularly relevant in Europe, where European Union countries are required to deploy a public warning system using telephone networks within the next two years under article 110 of the European Electronic Communications Code. The U.K. is also looking to replace its public alert system. SMS is distinct from cell broadcast, which has been in use for many years. Cell broadcast is the fastest way to deliver the same message to a large population and is useful in fast-moving scenarios such as tornadoes and active shooter scenarios. When your phone emits a shrill whistle to tell you of an oncoming storm or missing person, that’s cell broadcast at work. It’s an information shotgun. SMS is a rifle. It “has far greater flexibility and utility than cell broadcast because it displays on screen to the operator all the data needed to visualize what is actually happening on the ground,” Hallowes said. SMS data includes device registration, device location, device identifiers, delivery receipts and two-way response capabilities. And SMS is ubiquitous. “In most countries, 95% of us have access to a cell phone and every one of those devices is compatible with SMS,” Hallowes said. More than textSMS’s advanced features permit a much wider variety of response scenarios that are available with cell broadcast, particularly when multiple features are combined. For example, emergency management agencies can pinpoint not only the precise location of each person in an area but also what country they come from. That enables messages to be sent selectively in the user’s native language. The capability can even be used to alert visitors from other regions to changes in conditions in their home countries. “Because the government used SMS, they know exactly how many handsets were in the country and the totals for those that received the message successfully or not,” Hallowes said. “Authorities can monitor the threat to their traveling citizens in any at-risk country and send them a country-specific warning.” Two-way messaging can be used to poll people in a region about their situation or to gather intelligence about the situation in their local area. An application that has particular relevance to the COVID-19 crisis is crowd monitoring. Geolocation data can identify areas in which social distancing guidelines aren’t being appropriately observed. “Then the operator can either send a warning advising people to disperse or notify the police to intervene,” Hallowes said. But what about privacy, particularly in countries that have recently enacted strict new regulations? That shouldn’t be an issue, Hallowes contended. For one thing, most privacy regulations exempt public emergency scenarios. Responsible government agencies also have no interest in abusing the data they gather. “If you have a cell phone, then you’ve been opted in automatically” to SMS, he said. “You have nothing to fear from how authorities will use the technology and data.” Those who worry about privacy have the option of switching off SMS services and relying solely on cell broadcast. But few will probably opt to do so, given the multifaceted benefits of SMS alerts. “In fact, since the introduction of emergency alert, no lives have been lost in Australia due to a failure to warn,” Hallowes said. A survey conducted two years after the system went into effect found that 82% of respondents said safety was more important to privacy. SMS standards are universally supported by telecommunications providers, making it much simpler for governments to set up federated networks today than it was in the past. Hallowes recalled that it took the Australian government 14 months to build a nationwide SMS alert system in 2012. In contrast, Norway recently completed an out-of-the-box installation in just nine days. “End-to-end implementation should take less than 30 days,” he said. “So no excuses. Let’s get it done.” |
| Source: | siliconANGLE |
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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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Lessons From the Rise and Fall of Blackberry: Jeff KaganJeff Kagan Follow | Saturday, 20 June 2020 00:05 (EST)
What brought Blackberry down? This smartphone was a phenomenon that grew in popularity and market share for years. Crackberry was a term used to describe this device because it was so addictive for users. Then the Apple iPhone and Google Android entered the scene and Blackberry growth crashed. It could have survived but did not. Let’s take a closer look and learn important lessons on the rise and fall of Blackberry. Blackberry became one of those companies that captured the imagination of the marketplace and soared. The problem ultimately was its corporate personality. The senior executives got so full of themselves and didn’t see how the world was changing and that the competitive threat was aimed at them. Blackberry executives attitude brought them downThey thought their customers would always stay with them. They were wrong. Their arrogance and attitude spelled their own disaster. As long as you take great care of your customers and continue to innovate with important improvements, you can continue to succeed. If you are slow to innovate, however, and if you show arrogance to your customers and the marketplace, you will fail — especially when you have powerful competitors. Blackberry started out as a pager. The paging business was robust with many competitors. Then the company emerged from the pack, doing something other pagers couldn’t. The product became a two-way pager and started to own the space. Next, management introduced the wireless smartphone version and they thought they had struck gold. And they did, for a while. Blackberry executives thought they were invisibleThis rapid success changed the leadership style and attitude of Blackberry and their executives. They thought their future growth was secure. They had little competition in their early years. Basically Palm, Motorola and Nokia were their only well-known competitors. So they had a lock on the smartphone market for a while and grew complacent. That was their downfall. They never cared about the customer. They never cared about innovation. They had a slow upgrade cycle. They would only upgrade the technology and the handset occasionally. At the time, customers didn’t demand more so they were still OK. Today, users are used to an annual upgrade cycle from smartphones powered by iPhone iOS and Android. Also, Blackberry was a business device. I remember speaking with the company when it was trying to expand into the consumer marketplace. While many consumers did use the device, it remained basically a business device. Early on, it was a solid device that did more than users expected. It had great battery life and was very secure. These were its advantages. And that was enough for the company to maintain its market share, for a while. The wireless industry changed, leaving Blackberry behindThe app marketplace changed and grew, however, focusing on iPhone and Android and leaving Blackberry behind. While the Blackberry app store had a few hundred apps, the iPhone and Android app stores have grown to millions of apps. Users fell in love with their iPhone and Android and wanted to use it for business. At that time the business marketplace was slow to embrace these new devices. The big threat was security. While Blackberry was very secure, iPhone and Android were not. Fast forward to today, and every user, business or consumer uses an iPhone or Android device. Blackberry market share is zero. Blackberry growth rose and fell over one decadeThe Blackberry decade was 2006 – 2016. They sold four million smartphones in the early days. That grew to more than eleven million in 2011. That was its heyday. Then just as quickly, units sold fell back to less than four million again. By this point, the smartphone market had exploded and so many more users were online. So, four million at the end of that decade was actually a much smaller slice of the marketplace than it was at the beginning. Smartphone growth came from Apple and Google, not Blackberry. This was the beginning of the end for this iconic brand. I met with management several times and shared my opinion of what they were up against and how they needed to change. They had an arrogance problem. They thought I was crazy. They never doubted their solid marketplace position. They didn’t need anyone’s help. Then they collapsed completely and quickly over just a few short years. Blackberry didn’t see the end coming until they collapsedThey didn’t see it coming. By the time they did, it was too late. In 2016, the writing was on the wall and Blackberry stopped making their own phones. In 2016 the company licensed the brand and handset business to partners, with TCL, a Chinese electronics and technology company, acquiring near global rights. Blackberry stayed in the security software business with hopes it could stay alive. Earlier this year, TCL announced it will be no longer selling Blackberry after August 31, 2020. Blackberry does have a couple of manufacturing partners in South Asia and Indonesia, but TCL had the rights for all of the other regions. I told management early on that they needed to move away from their Blackberry OS to the Android OS. Android was a big success already and Blackberry was dying on the vine. This was their only hope for success. They ignored my advice year after year. By the time Blackberry went Android, it was too lateAfter trying several new smartphones which fell on deaf ears, they eventually introduced an Android device. By that that time, however, it was simply too late. Their growth curve had risen for five years until 2011, then it started to fall. At the end of a ten-year stretch, they were back to where they started. Except by this time, the thrill had died and there was nothing left upon which to build. The growth curve rises, crests and falls. You want to keep pumping it while it is growing. Once it crests and falls, it is very difficult to re-ignite the next growth wave. The most recent Blackberry Key2 was introduced in 2018. Nothing since. This was the way Blackberry always did business. They were always a day late and a dollar short. Today, there is no sizzle behind the Blackberry brand. When it had no real competition in a new marketplace where users had no expectations yet, that was fine. But today consumers and business customers expect and even demand continual updates to both the handsets and the OS. Something Blackberry was just never able or willing to do. The Blackberry name is still around, but it is a much smaller and less powerful competitor in the wireless space. Today, it is more like a gnat buzzing around your face. It’s there but has no real impact. This is the sad story of an industry leader that helped create the smartphone industry. Its place in history will be there forever. This is also a lesson, however, on how executives and companies have to create, nurture and grow their relationship with their customers, whether they be individuals, companies, governments or the media. Today, companies need to innovate regularly with real, meaningful, relevant steps forward. That means continuing to create and expand value. Simply redesigning the keyboard with no added benefit only creates anger from your customer base. No matter how successful you become, you are only as good as your last quarter. Any company’s standing in the world can be pulled out from under it virtually overnight, even if there appears to be no real competitor in a space. Every entrant needs to stay alert, stay on the growth side of the growth wave, and always WOW their customers. This is where Blackberry went wrong. Jeff Kagan is an Equities.com columnist. Kagan is an Industry Analyst, Thought Leader and Influencer focused on Wireless, Telecom, Pay TV, Cloud, AI, IoT, Tele Health, Healthcare, Automotive and Self-Driving cars. Email him at jeff@jeffKAGAN.com. His web site is www.jeffKAGAN.com. Follow him on Twitter @jeffkagan and LinkedIn www.linkedin.com/in/jeff-kagan/ |
| Source: | equities |
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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 |
U.S. In-Building Wireless Market OutlookBy John Celentano, Inside Towers Business Editor There are nearly 5.6 million commercial buildings in the U.S., according to the DoE Energy Information Administration’s Commercial Buildings Energy Consumption Survey. From a wireless perspective, an oft-cited statistic is that some 80 percent of all mobile calls originate or terminate inside buildings.
People making calls from inside a building typically connect to nearby outdoor macrocells. Yet building materials are not wireless-friendly. Steel, concrete and energy saving glass windows attenuate or block outside RF transmissions. Elevator shafts and interior walls also obstruct or degrade two-way wireless connections. The solution is an in-building wireless system that transmits the same outdoor cellular carrier signals inside. IBW systems include distributed antenna systems, small cells and bi-directional amplifiers or signal boosters. The type of IBW system selected is determined by many factors – building size and structure, number of devices served, traffic patterns, single or multiple carrier signals and more. The cellular carriers themselves have deployed, or are planning to deploy, DAS equipment at most of the country’s 8,000 large venues that average 885,000 square feet. Attractive sites with high mobile communications traffic concentrations include airports, stadiums, arenas, and convention centers. On the other end of the scale, most of the 5.2 million small buildings averaging 16,000 sf do not need an IBW system, instead relying on outside connections. If better reception is required, affordable signal boosters usually remedy the situation. A second tier of buildings, dubbed the Middleprise, is the prime target for IBW suppliers. The Middleprise is a mix of high-rise office and residential buildings, educational campuses, healthcare facilities (hospitals/medical centers), shopping malls and warehouses comprising 327,000 buildings in the 50,000-500,000-sf range. The cellular carriers have articulated that they cannot afford to install IBW systems in that many buildings. Rather, the onus is on the building owners or property managers to seek their own solutions to improving indoor mobile communications even though they must coordinate with carriers to use their frequencies. The good news is that neutral host operators and systems integrators are assisting building owners in navigating the technical complexity to deploy IBW systems. Who pays and how much? Available funding mechanisms from neutral host leasebacks to vendor financing help lower the total cost of ownership for building owners. There are downward pressures on that cost. Technical advances such as CBRS 3.5 GHz spectrum is available for Middleprise establishments to create their own private LTE networks without being dependent on carrier frequencies. (see, Strategies for Securing CBRS 3.5 GHz Spectrum) New Open RAN concepts can change the economics of campus deployments where multiple buildings can be served from a central core. Equipment costs come down over time through manufacturer cost-reductions and competitive pressures. What is the total addressable market value for the Middleprise? Factoring in the number of buildings, square footages, price per square foot for different IBW systems, equipment price declines and considering that not every building will be equipped, a $50 billion estimate may be in the ballpark. A timeframe over which Middleprise IBW deployments play out remains to be seen, however. A 10-year or longer window is not unrealistic. Low double-digit IBW penetration has already been achieved. Certainly 2020 is an off year. To date, the pandemic has slowed much IBW installation activity because access to many buildings is restricted. The hope is that activity ramps up into 2021 but target sectors like hospitality, healthcare and education may take a different tact post-COVID-19. Public safety communications systems are not included in these figures although the growth trajectory is similar. (see, Programmable RF Systems Advance Public Safety Communications) With sizable market potential, IBW system vendors have opportunities to address building owner issues, needs and wants while educating these customers on the amenity benefits that reliable IBW systems deliver. |
| Source: | Inside Towers newsletter |
Courtesy of the editor of
Inside Towers
Jim Fryer.
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| BloostonLaw Newsletter |
BloostonLaw Remains Available to Help You During the COVID-19 PandemicDuring the National Emergency concerning the COVID-19 pandemic, the Blooston Law Firm has converted to a virtual environment with its attorneys and staff mostly telecommuting, in keeping with the requirements of the DC Government and recommendations of the CDC. All Blooston Law personnel have remote access to their emails and voicemails, and will be fully engaged in helping our clients whether at home or in the office. While state and local governments have started to ease restrictions, we anticipate that significant portions of our staff will continue telecommuting for the foreseeable, in order to meet social distancing guidelines – especially on public transportation. We hope that everyone is able to stay safe and healthy. BloostonLaw Contacts: John Prendergast and Richard Rubino Unauthorized Transactions and Failure to Provide Felony Conviction Disclosures Leads to Substantial PenaltiesThe FCC has recently entered into two consent decrees with Archer Daniels Midland Company (Archer Daniels) as well as ABB Inc. and KEC Acquisition Corporation (collectively, ABB) in connection with unauthorized transfers and assignments and a failure to provide required felony disclosures. As a result, Archer Daniels has agreed to pay a $240,000 civil penalty, while ABB Inc. agreed to a $250,000 penalty. In both cases, the Commission noted that Archer Daniels and ABB Inc. had engaged in unauthorized transactions that were exacerbated by their failures to disclose prior felony convictions on wireless license applications that had been filed with the Commission. The FCC noted that “[e]ven large organizations whose primary lines of business are not subject to the [FCC’s] jurisdiction must file complete and accurate wireless license applications.” The FCC concluded that each company “had failed to meet its statutory and regulatory obligation to disclose prior felony convictions on the wireless license applications that it filed with the Commission.” The FCC noted that the unauthorized transactions, coupled with the failure to make the felony disclosures, were “particularly troubling” since it prevented the FCC from performing its statutory duty to review licensee qualifications prior to the completion of the transfers. These cases are particularly important for two reasons. First, it is critical that all application filings made with the FCC be complete and accurate. As evidenced by these actions, it is clear that the FCC will take a dim view where material information is not provided in an application. In this regard, while felony convictions that are decades old may seem immaterial today due to the passage of time, the FCC requires the disclose of ALL felony convictions, irrespective of whether the conviction is brand new, 5 years old, or decades old. Simply put, regardless of a felony conviction’s age, it must be disclosed on each and every application into perpetuity. For those of our clients who have a felony conviction history, we strongly recommend that all application requests be filtered through the Company’s legal department so that we can coordinate in order to ensure that the appropriate felony disclosure statement is included with the application. The FCC’s staff has informally advised us that amendments to provide felony disclosure exhibits while an application is pending create a perception to the FCC’s staff of carelessness on the part of the applicant. Likewise, we are aware of certain situations where the FCC became aware of reportable felonies or transactions through the Internet, and it is not out of the realm of possibilities that the FCC could spot check applications in this way – especially those belonging to larger corporations in order to ensure compliance. Second, it is important to remember that the all transactions involving an assignment of a license or transfer of control over a licensee require the prior authorization of the FCC. This applies to both major transactions involving unrelated parties and internal corporate transactions where ownership interests or assets are being transferred from one affiliate to another, even though the ultimate ownership remains unchanged. BloostonLaw Contacts: John Prendergast and Richard Rubino FCC Finds RoboCall Blocking Tools Block Billions of CallsThe Federal Communications Commission has issued a report in which it determined that call blocking tools are sufficiently available to consumers to protect American consumers from illegal and unwanted calls. The obliteration of nuisance RoboCalls is a top FCC priority. “Tools are available today to help consumers block robocalls, spoofed calls, scam calls, telemarketers, and other unwanted calls,” said FCC Chairman Ajit Pai. “I am glad to see that this analysis shows that many call blocking tools are available today for free or at little cost to consumers. We will continue to prioritize the protection of consumers from scams and unwanted robocalls.” In addition to this report, Chairman Pai announced that the Commission will consider an Order at its upcoming Open Meeting in July that would give voice service providers a safe harbor from liability for the unintended or inadvertent blocking of calls so long as such action is based upon reasonable analytics indicating that blocked calls would be expected to be unwanted RoboCalls. The proposal would also enable responsible providers to block calls from the bad actor providers that facilitate illegal and unwanted calls. The FCC’s report, entitled “Call Blocking Tools Now Substantially Available to Consumers: Report on Call Blocking,” found that billions of unwanted calls are now being blocked each year, often at no cost to the consumer. The report also discussed other tools, such as call labeling that would allow consumers to decide which calls to answer by including labels (such as “SPAM” or “SPAM LIKELY”) in the CALLER ID window. Doing so provides critical information so that consumers can differentiate between legitimate and potentially illegal RoboCalls. In this regard, in recent weeks, there has seemingly been an uptick in RoboCalls to residential and wireless numbers — presumably because robocall providers realize that more people are staying at home due to the COVID-19 stay at home orders. The FCC’s report noted that there have been few reported instances of false positive blocking (when a potentially wanted call is blocked), and that the Commission is unaware of any instances in which the call blocking tools have blocked an emergency call, or a call-back from a Public Safety Access Point (PSAP) to a caller who had dialed 911 – the latter of which is particularly important in 911 hang up calls or if first responders need additional information in order to find the complaining party, patient or victim. The FCC has routinely taken aggressive enforcement action against illegal robocallers, including recent actions against six gateway providers that facilitated COVID-19-related scam robocalls. In coordination with the FTC, the companies were sent joint letters warning that failure to terminate the offending traffic within 48 hours could result in other voice service providers blocking all their traffic. As a result of the joint FCC/FTC warning, these companies complied. BloostonLaw Contacts: John Prendergast, Ben Dickens and Gerry Duffy FCC Delays Effective Date of Radiofrequency Exposure Limits OrderOn June 2, the FCC announced that the effective date of its Second Report and Order amending its rules related to methods that may be used for determining and achieving compliance with the FCC's limits on human exposure to radiofrequency (RF) electromagnetic field would be delayed indefinitely, pending approval by the Office of Management and Budget. The Second Report and Order was originally published in the April 1 Federal Register, and would accordingly have been effective on June 1. As we reported in a previous edition of the BloostonLaw Private User Update, in the Second Report and Order the FCC established uniform rules for determining compliance with RF standards. Specifically, it established a uniform set of guidelines, agnostic to the service or technology, using science-based metrics around frequency, distance, and power, to determine how entities assess whether they are in compliance with RF standards. In particular, the FCC sought to streamline its criteria for determining when a licensee is exempt from the RF exposure evaluation criteria, replacing the prior regime of service-based exemptions with a set of formulas for situations in which the risk of excessive RF exposure is minimal. For those licensees who do not qualify for an exemption, the Second Report and Order purports to provide more flexibility for licensees to establish compliance with the RF exposure limits. And it specifies methods that RF equipment operators can use to mitigate the risk of excess exposure, both to members of the public and trained workers (such as training, supervision, and signage). Unfortunately, in the process the FCC eliminated the service-based exemption that let most Part 90 Private Radio licensees avoid a determination of RF compliance altogether. BloostonLaw Contacts: John Prendergast. FCC Denies Waivers of 900 MHz Application FreezeThe FCC has denied the requests of Lower Colorado River Authority (Lower Colorado) and Florida Power & Light Company (FPL) for a waiver of the 900 MHz application freeze. FPL was requesting authority to construct a new 900 MHz network for the Gulf Power service territory that FPL’s parent, NextEra Energy had acquired, while Lower Colorado was requesting authority to add three transmitting sites to its existing 900 MHz system.
FPL: FPL, an electric utility serving nearly 5 million customers in Florida, operates an existing 900 MHz private land mobile system which provides FPL with internal communications related to electric service restoration and maintenance, disaster recovery, and nuclear security and monitoring. At the end of 2018 (and at least three months after the implementation of the 900 MHz freeze), FPL’s parent NextEra completed its purchase of Gulf Power from Southern Company. The FCC noted that Gulf Power did not have an existing 900 MHz system and that Southern Company’s 800 MHz system in the Gulf Power service area was not included in the agreement to purchase Gulf Power, since Southern Company required the system to serve other customers that were not part of the transaction. Lower Colorado: Lower Colorado delivers wholesale electricity to 34 retail Texas utilities, including cities and rural electric cooperatives that serve more than 1 million people in 55 counties. Lower Colorado currently operates a 900 MHz trunked radio system for mission critical communications, and shares capacity on its system with a variety of public safety entities on a cost-shared, non-profit basis. Lower Colorado was seeking authority to construct and operate three additional sites at San Angelo, Amos Creek and Christoval, Texas – all of which are at least 75 miles from its current 900 MHz network.
In September 2018, the FCC implemented a freeze on applications in the 900 MHz band for new or expanded operations, in order to maintain a stable spectrum landscape while it determined how to proceed with the potential reconfiguration of the 900 MHz band to include a 3/3 megahertz broadband segment. As reported last month, the FCC adopted a Report and Order in which it established a 3/3 MHz broadband segment, two narrowband segments of 1.5/1.5 megahertz and .5/.5 megahertz, and a transition mechanism based primarily on negotiations between prospective broadband licensees and existing narrowband incumbent licensees. The FCC also partially lifted the 900 MHz freeze, but only to facilitate the relocation of incumbents as part of a transition plan. Likewise, the FCC clarified that the current freeze, which prohibits contour extensions (or new service areas), was to remain in place.
While FPL and Lower Colorado noted that the FCC has previously granted waivers of the 900 MHz application freeze, the FCC noted that the grants involved little or no expansion of the service area. In particular, the FCC granted a waiver of the 900 MHz to Long Island Power Authority (LIPA) “based on the limited scope of the geographic expansion.” Likewise, the FCC granted relief to Flint Hills Resources for the replacement of the Flint Hills system at the same location (and the ensuing cancellation of its existing 900 MHz licenses). Here, FPL and Lower Colorado both sought new service areas that were distant from existing systems – in the case of Lower Colorado to three sites at least 75 miles and in the case of FPL, 24 sites of which the closest would be approximately 160 miles from the existing FPL 900 MHz system. As a result, under the facts presented by both FPL and Lower Colorado, the FCC determined that a grant of the waiver requests would “frustrate” the purpose of the application freeze — which was to protect the 900 MHz spectrum environment in order to facilitate the reconfiguration of the 900 MHz band that was adopted by the FCC last month. BloostonLaw Contacts: John Prendergast and Richard Rubino FCC Warns Filers Against “Casual” Confidentiality RequestsOn June 18, the FCC issued a Public Notice emphasizing to FCC filers that the practice of so-called “casual” confidentiality requests — i.e., blanket or overbroad confidentiality requests that do not address the specific factors set forth in section 0.459(b) of the FCC’s rules. The FCC specifically reminds filers that this practice is not permitted under the FCC’s rules. As an example, the FCC notes, “[a] request occurs when . . . counsel simply requests in the cover letter that the entire response be treated as confidential, or when counsel stamps every page of the response “CONFIDENTIAL” without providing additional information. Pursuant to the Commission’s rules, the Bureau will not consider casual requests for confidentiality.” A confidentiality request may also be overbroad, the FCC continues, “if it merely parrots the criteria described in section 0.459(b) but does not actually provide the substantive explanation required. All such overbroad requests are unacceptable under the Commission’s rules and will be dismissed if not appropriately narrowed in a timely manner.” BloostonLaw attorneys are well-versed in the FCC’s confidentiality requirements and the showing needed to obtain confidential treatment. Clients with questions or requiring assistance with confidential treatment may contact the firm for more information. BloostonLaw Contacts: John Prendergast and Richard Rubino Unauthorized Operation of Pirate Radio Station Leads to Consent DecreeThe FCC entered into a consent decree with Anthony Edwards in which he agreed to (a) pay a civil penalty of $1,500.00 through an installment payment plan, (b) not operate an illegal pirate station for the next 20 years and (c) remove/surrender any radio equipment used to broadcast pirate radio signals. The FCC’s action arises out of an investigation that started in 2017 with complaints alleging unlicensed operation of a broadcast radio station on several frequencies, including 90.7 and 91.5 MHz. The investigation revealed that Mr. Edwards was operating World Hype Radio on the frequency 90.7 MHz without a license. Following the issuance of a Notice of Unlicensed Operation, Mr. Edwards stated that he would no longer operate the radio station on the frequency 90.7 MHz above the power limits allowed under Part 15 of the FCC’s Rules. In March 2019, the FCC found that Mr. Edwards had moved to a new location and was operating on the frequency 91.5 MHz. In response to the FCC, Mr. Edwards stated that he had ceased operations and that he did not have the ability to pay a substantial civil penalty. Because of Mr. Edwards’ financial situation, the FCC agreed to suspend $23,500 of the civil penalty provided that Mr. Edwards does not operate an illegal pirate station during the next 20 years. Unlicensed operations are inherently dangerous because of the potential for harmful interference to licensed operations, including commercial and public safety communications. Additionally, federal government and military/DOD communications can also be adversely impacted and there have been several instances where FAA navigational aids and communications have received harmful interference. The FCC also noted that Pirate Stations pose a further risk to the public because they are not on the FCC’s Emergency Alert System (EAS) and therefore cannot broadcast EAS messages which may be critical in the time of a severe weather or other emergency. BloostonLaw Contacts: John Prendergast and Richard Rubino FCC Seeks Comment on Technical Requirements for Marine Class B Automatic Identification System EquipmentIn 2008, the FCC adopted its Second Report and Order which added a new Rule Section 80.231 that required manufacturers of Class B Automatic Identification Systems (AIS) transmitters in the Marine Radio Service to include a statement with each transmitting device that explained how to enter static information accurately, and a warning that entering inaccurate information is prohibited. The FCC is seeking to extend this collection in order to obtain another three-year clearance from OMB. Comments are due August 17, 2020. Specifically, the FCC’s information collection requires all manufacturers of AIS transmitters to label each transmitting device with the following statement:
Additionally, prior to submitting a certification application (FCC Form 731, OMB Control Number 3060-0057) for a Class B AIS device, the following information must be submitted in duplicate to the Commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard: (1) The name of the manufacturer or grantee and the model number of the AIS device; and (2) copies of the test report and test data obtained from the test facility showing that the device complies with the environmental and operational requirements identified in IEC 62287-1. After reviewing the information described in the certification application, the U.S. Coast Guard will issue a letter stating whether the AIS device satisfies all of the requirements specified in IEC 62287-1. A certification application for an AIS device submitted to the Commission must contain a copy of the U.S. Coast Guard letter stating that the device satisfies all of the requirements specified in IEC-62287-1, a copy of the technical test data and the instruction manual(s). The purpose of these requirements is to aid FCC monitoring of advance marine vessel tracking and navigation information transmitted from Class B AIS devices in order to promote marine safety by ensuring that the information is accurate and reliable. BloostonLaw Contacts: John Prendergast and Richard Rubino
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