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Messaging News

Who Are The Main Players In Video Conferencing?

• Skype (Microsoft)
• Messenger Rooms (Facebook)
• FaceTime (Apple)
• Zoom (Zoom)
• Meet (Google — Alphabet is Google's parent company)

Google makes Meet, its Zoom and Skype competitor, free for everyone

By Jordan Valinsky, CNN Business
Updated 8:59 AM ET, Wed April 29, 2020

New York (CNN) — Free-to-use Zoom and Skype are getting some competition: Meet, which is Google's premium video conferencing tool, is now free for everyone.

Google (GOOGL) said Wednesday that the "secure and reliable" software will become available over the next few weeks to anyone with an e-mail address, even if it's not a Gmail account. Meet was previously only available to users of its G Suite productivity tools, commonly used by larger companies and schools.

The work-from-home revolution brought on by the novel coronavirus sparked a teleconferencing phenomenon over the past few months. Zoom (ZM), which has been plagued with security issues, announced last week it hosts 300 million meeting participants a day. Facebook (FB) is adding its own entrant with a video conference tool for its Messenger app called Messenger Rooms.

Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai said in its earnings call Tuesday that Meet recently "surpassed a significant milestone" and is adding 3 million new users every day. Usage has increased 30-fold since January and Meet now has more than 100 million daily meeting participants, according to Pichai.

Google emphasized Meet's security features, writing in a blog post that it's "designed, built and operated to be secure at scale."

Some key features include admitting or denying users into conferences and not allowing anonymous users — both problems that Zoom has attempted to stamp out with software updates. Zoom CEO Eric Yuan admitted that his company has "fallen short" on privacy and security.

Google is limiting the time for a meeting to 60 minutes, but that limit won't be enforced until September. One hundred people can be on a Meet call, the same number allowed in a Zoom call, but Zoom limits meetings to 40 minutes on its free tier. Facebook's upcoming video conferencing tool can host up to 50 people without a time limit. Microsoft's (MSFT) Skype can also host up 50 people on conference call for up to 4 hours.

Like Skype and Zoom, Meet will retain some premium features for G Suite customers, including dial-in phone numbers, larger meetings, and meeting recording.

[source]

Emergency Radio Communications Wireless Messaging Critical Messaging Two-way Radio Technology Telemetry Science Paging Wi-Fi

Wireless Messaging

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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Advertiser Index

Service Monitors and Frequency Standards for Sale

Motorola Service Monitor

IFR Service Monitor

Efratom Rubidium Standard

(Images are typical units, not actual photos of items offered for sale here.)

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.

Please call for pricing and availability or stop in for a demo and a great cup of espresso.

P.S. Allan and Virginia and I worked together at WebLink Wireless in Dallas.

Specialists in sales and service of equipment from these leading manufacturers, as well as other two-way radio and paging products:

		Motorola SOLUTIONS
	WE ARE STILL STOCKING AND SELLING THE UNICATION ELEGANT PAGERS Contact us for price and availability please

What is the market of a critical messaging provider as e*Message Deutschland / e*Message, leading special mobile radio operator with countrywide coverage in central Europe. Far away leading — at least if not count the public safety colleagues from Bundesanstalt für den Digitalfunk der Behörden und Organisationen mit Sicherheitsaufgaben — BDBOS (Ger) and Antares (Fra). Starting in 2000 taking over special infrastructure from Deutsche Telekom and Orange Business Mobilité the e*Message WIS Group could use the fundament [foundation] of high reputation users from Energy, Public Safety, from Logistics and Industry and enlarge the services by #multichannel and #2wayS services. Today: yes, the two countrywide networks are unique market entry barrier for anybody else. Able to offer PHYSICALLY at least 2nd way of transmission. W/o single point of #cellular failure. And in addition using the uniqueness of the services: Same time point-to-multipoint (for #warning) or lowest thinkable power consumption (for #embedded solutions).

Investor Relations — Press Release

Spok Reports First-Quarter 2020 Operating Results; Wireless Trends Continue to Improve and Year-Over-Year Improvements in Software Revenue Bookings

Board Declares Regular Quarterly Dividend SPRINGFIELD, Va.—(BUSINESS WIRE)—Apr. 29, 2020— Spok Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: SPOK), a global leader in healthcare communications, today announced operating results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2020. In addition, the Company’s Board of Directors declared a regular quarterly dividend of $0.125 per share, payable on June 24, 2020, to stockholders of record on May 25, 2020.

Key First-Quarter Operating Highlights:

Software bookings in the first quarter totaled $15.6 million, up from software bookings of $14.7 million in the prior year quarter. First quarter 2020 bookings included $5.9 million of operations bookings and $9.7 million of maintenance renewals, compared to $6.0 million and $8.7 million, respectively in the first quarter of 2019. First quarter 2020 software revenue of $15.9 million, compared to software revenue of $19.2 million in the prior year quarter. Included in first quarter software revenue was $6.2 million of operations revenue and $9.7 million in maintenance revenue, compared to $9.0 million in operations revenue and $10.2 million in maintenance revenue in the first quarter of 2019. The revenue renewal rate for software maintenance in the first quarter of 2020 continued to exceed 99 percent. The quarterly rate of paging unit erosion was 1.3 percent in the first quarter of 2020, compared to 1.8 percent in the prior quarter and 1.0 percent in the year-earlier period. Net paging unit losses were 12,000 in the first quarter of 2020, compared to 17,000 in the prior quarter and 10,000 in the first quarter of 2019. Paging units in service at March 31, 2020, totaled 926,000, compared to 982,000 at March 31, 2019. The quarterly rate of wireless revenue erosion was 1.1 percent in the first quarter of 2020, compared to 0.9 percent erosion in the prior quarter and 2.1 percent in the year-earlier quarter. Total paging ARPU (average revenue per unit) was $7.31 in the first quarter of 2020, compared to $7.32 in the year-earlier quarter and $7.33 in the prior quarter. Operating expenses in the first quarter of 2020 totaled $41.4 million, compared to $40.6 million in the prior year quarter. Adjusted operating expenses totaled $40.9 million in the first quarter of 2020, compared to $38.3 million in the year-earlier quarter. Capital expenses were $1.1 million in the first quarter of 2020, compared to $1.3 million in the year-earlier quarter. The number of full-time equivalent employees at March 31, 2020, totaled 620, compared to 591 in the prior year quarter. Capital returned to stockholders in the first quarter of 2020 totaled $2.6 million, in the form of the regular quarterly dividend. The Company’s cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments balance at March 31, 2020, was $72.2 million, compared to $77.3 million at December 31, 2019.

2020 First-Quarter Results:

Consolidated revenue for the first quarter of 2020 under Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (“GAAP”) was $37.3 million compared to $41.8 million in the first quarter of 2019.

[Financial tables available at the source.]

Management Commentary:

“We were negatively impacted in the first quarter, as the majority of our customer base struggled with the challenges presented by COVID-19,” said Vincent D. Kelly, president and chief executive officer. “We had over 100 meetings scheduled for our annual industry conference, HIMSS, as we were all set to roll out our new cloud native platform, Spok Go®. These meetings included both prospective customers for our Spok Go platform and strategic partners. It has been challenging to get the meetings rescheduled as the world has changed quickly. The pandemic has created an atmosphere of fear and uncertainty and our thoughts and prayers go out to those that have been both directly and indirectly affected by this tragedy. While the situation is fluid and no one is able to predict the duration and severity of this pandemic with a high degree of certainty, let me assure you that, as a company, in the near-term we are positioned to deal with the situation. We have taken the necessary steps to provide for the safety of our customers and employees in order to ensure the continuity of our operations and product development efforts. Spok has a stable revenue base, as approximately 83 percent of our revenues in the first quarter were recurring in nature, coming from either our legacy wireless business or software maintenance contracts. We provide a critical function, which we believe will become even more necessary in this environment, delivering reliable communications and clinical information to care teams when and where it matters most to improve patient outcomes.”

In the first quarter of 2020, Spok returned $2.6 million in capital to stockholders, in the form of its regular quarterly dividend. “We were proud to be able to execute against our capital allocation strategy in the first quarter, which included paying dividends to our stockholders and investing in our product platform and infrastructure,” continued Kelly. “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. We are also taking immediate steps to put our operations on a positive free cash flow basis through a combination of furlough and other cost savings initiatives. We are evaluating our investment in development as hospitals represent one of the most impacted sectors of the economy from COVID-19. As part of our evaluation, we are focused on the investment in our cloud-native platform to ensure that shareholders realize the benefit of our investment. We will discuss this more in our outlook and in the coming quarters as we gain greater insight into the impact of COVID-19 on hospitals, including their budgets and perhaps even more importantly, their ability to interact with our sales and professional services teams.”

Business Outlook:

Michael W. Wallace, chief operating officer and chief financial officer, said: “Expense management and strong financial discipline have allowed us to continue to invest in our business. In the first quarter, operating expenses were in-line with the prior quarter, with improvements in several expense categories. Spok’s balance sheet remains strong, with a cash, cash equivalents and short-term investment balance of $72.2 million at March 31, 2020.”

Commenting on the Company’s previously provided financial guidance for 2020, Wallace noted: “Spok has been focused on understanding 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 uncertainty surrounding the duration and severity of this crisis and the extremely fluid nature of the situation, we, like many of our peer public companies, believe that it is most prudent 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.

Unsolicited Offer from B. Riley:

On March 17, 2020, the Company announced that it had been made aware of a public announcement from B. Riley Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ: RILY) of an unsolicited offer to acquire all of the outstanding shares of Spok’s common stock for $12 per share in cash. “I’d like to take this opportunity to remind stockholders that after careful evaluation the Board of Directors believes that the indication of interest from B. Riley severely undervalues Spok’s business,” said Kelly. “Given our strong cash reserves, our lucrative legacy wireless business, our valuable software business with a highly profitable maintenance base and revenue renewal rates in excess of 99 percent, our Spok Go software platform that is poised for growth and has been developed by Spok with significant customer interest prior to COVID-19 and the value of our deferred tax assets, the Board of Directors does not believe that the unsolicited, conditional and incomplete proposal from B. Riley provides adequate value for our stockholders.

“Further, we believe this is not the time to start a sale process for Spok for the following reasons:

1. M&A activity is severely depressed due to disruptions to the debt and equity markets, strict restrictions on travel and the inability to conduct meaningful due diligence on any proposed transaction, and the significant distractions affecting private equity and potential strategic counter parties due to COVID-19;
2. We are currently unable to predict or quantify the impact of COVID-19 on our business, particularly the impact of COVID-19 on the roll-out of our Spok Go software business;
3. Our customers are large and mid-size hospitals and systems which are focused on patient care during this challenging time, which will affect our near-term financial results;
4. Our Board of Directors continues to believe that, over the long term, our customers will further appreciate the value that our businesses bring to caregivers getting the right message to the right person on the right device at the right time;
5. We are focused on ensuring that our shareholders realize the appropriate value for the investment in Spok Go, despite its rollout being affected by the COVID-19 pandemic;
6. We want to provide feedback today on what we are seeing as our board considers the long-term interests of all our shareholders:
   1. Recurring Revenues: We have two very valuable recurring revenue streams in our wireless business and software maintenance contracts, each with significant margins that together represented approximately 83% of revenues in our first quarter;
   2. Wireless: Our wireless customer base over the next ten years is expected to generate approximately $597 million in revenue based on existing trends in Units In Service, ARPU and Churn, and we expect this business has a useful life of thirty years;
   3. Software: We have a valuable software business that has approximately $72 million of annual revenue, including a high margin maintenance revenue stream of approximately $40 million of annual revenue with a 99% renewal rate; and D. Cash: We expect a modest investment in the continued refinement of Spok Go for the remainder of 2020 and the continued payment of quarterly dividends, while maintaining a strong cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments balance throughout the year.
7. To date we have spent approximately $55 million developing Spok Go over the last 4.5 years. That is under $3 per share. We have distributed $84.8 million to our shareholders in dividends and share buybacks over the same timeframe. That is over $4 per share. We intend to run the business in a cash flow positive mode for the balance of 2020, as we enact cost savings measures to mitigate the impact of COVID-19 on our businesses. We will watch the market closely as the year progresses for signs it is opening back up for the sale and installation of our software solutions. If we don’t see significant progress in the market opportunity and the ability to continue to generate positive cash flow in the future while still investing in our platform, we can aggressively right size our operations to a cash flow maximization model and revert to paying a consistent regular dividend and year end special dividends with excess cash.

“Finally, on this matter, we believe the indication of interest by B. Riley substantially undervalues our business given (1) our cash and short-term investments on the balance sheet of approximately $3.50 per share at year end after continuing to pay our regular quarterly dividend of $0.125 per share for each quarter of fiscal 2020; (2) our valuable wireless business that remains a critical tool for hospitals and emergency response and that we conservatively expect will generate significant cash flow over a projected useful life of thirty years with a discounted present value, based on prevailing discount rates for the business, of approximately $6.50 per share; (3) a valuable and highly profitable software maintenance business with a $40 million annual recurring revenue stream; and (4) the growth potential of our Spok Go software platform that displayed significant customer interest prior to COVID-19. We will continue to evaluate ways to deliver value to our shareholders from our software business and our investment in Spok Go and as we indicated ‘intend to carefully evaluate good faith proposals from financially capable parties that fairly value Spok and the potential for stockholder value represented by the Company’s long-term investment in its enterprise, cloud-native Spok Go platform.’”

New Directors:

During the first quarter the Company also announced that the Board of Directors appointed Dr. Bobbie Byrne and Christine Cournoyer to join the Board of Directors. Also, Samme Thompson, a director of Spok since 2004, will be stepping down from the Board of Directors at Spok’s annual meeting later this year and will not stand for re-election. “We are excited to have Bobbie and Chris join our Board and look forward to the depth of experience that these software and healthcare IT industry veterans bring. I also want to take this opportunity to say that it has been an honor and privilege to have worked with and learned from Samme over the years. I am grateful to have worked alongside him to realize our mission to become a global leader in healthcare communications,” continued Kelly. 2020

First-Quarter Call and Replay:

Spok plans to host a conference call for investors to discuss its 2020 first-quarter results at 10:00 a.m. ET on Thursday, April 30, 2020. Dial-in numbers for the call are 1-323-794-2551 or 866-575-6539. The pass code for the call is 5307999. A replay of the call will be available from 1:00 p.m. ET on April 30, 2020 until 1:00 p.m. ET on Thursday, May 14, 2020. To listen to the replay, please register at HTTP://TINYURL.COM/SPOK2020Q1EARNINGSREPLAY. Please enter the registration information, and you will be given access to the replay.

About Spok

Spok, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Spok Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: SPOK), headquartered in Springfield, Virginia, is proud to be a global leader in healthcare communications. We deliver clinical information to care teams when and where it matters most to improve patient outcomes. Top hospitals rely on the Spok Care Connect® and Spok Go® platforms to enhance workflows for clinicians, support administrative compliance, and provide a better experience for patients. Our customers send over 100 million messages each month through their Spok® solutions. Spok is making care collaboration easier. For more information, VISIT SPOK.COM or follow @SPOKTWEETS on Twitter.

Spok is a trademark of Spok Holdings, Inc. Spok Care Connect and Spok Go are trademarks of Spok, Inc.

Safe Harbor Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act:

Statements contained herein or in prior press releases which are not historical fact, such as statements regarding Spok’s future operating and financial performance and statements relating to the unsolicited takeover bid from B. Riley Financial, Inc., are forward-looking statements for purposes of the safe harbor provisions under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that may cause Spok’s actual results to be materially different from the future results expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expectations include, but are not limited to, declining demand for paging products and services, continued demand for our software products and services, our ability to develop additional software solutions for our customers and manage our development as a global organization, the ability to manage operating expenses, particularly third party consulting services and research and development costs, future capital needs, competitive pricing pressures, competition from traditional paging services, other wireless communications services and other software providers, many of which are substantially larger and have much greater financial and human capital resources, changes in customer purchasing priorities or capital expenditures, government regulation of our products and services and the healthcare and health insurance industries, reliance upon third-party providers for certain equipment and services, unauthorized breaches or failures in cybersecurity measures adopted by us and/or included in our products and services, the effects of changes in accounting policies or practices, adverse economic, political or market conditions in the U.S. and international markets and other factors such as natural disasters, pandemics and outbreaks of contagious diseases and other adverse public health developments, such as coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), the outcome of the unsolicited takeover bid from B. Riley Financial, Inc., as well as other risks described from time to time in our periodic reports and other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Although Spok believes the expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, it can give no assurance that its expectations will be attained. Spok disclaims any intent or obligation to update any forward-looking statements.

[Financial tables available at the source.]

Al Galgano
952-567-0295
AL.GALGANO@SPOK.COM

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.

• Commercial Paging systems.
• Healthcare Paging systems.
• Public Safety Emergency Services Paging systems.
• Demand Response Energy Grid Management.

Built-in custom interface for Prism-IPX ipBSC Base Controller for remote control, management and alarm reporting.

• Use as a stand-alone unit or in wide area network.
• Mix with other transmitter brands in an existing paging network.
• Adjustable from 20-250 watts.
• 110/240 VAC or 48VDC.
• Absolute Delay Correction.
• Remote Diagnostics.
• Configurable alarm thresholds.
• Integrated Isolator.
• Superb Reliability.
• Improved amplifier efficiency.
• Most reliable high-powered paging transmitter available.

Prism-IPX Systems LLC.

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

• LIVE response possible to any program with Media 1 Live app from Android or Apple stores, summed up immediately for producer on web site media1live.com
• Propose LIVE broadcast on Internet with live response to reach youth with low cost quality education, seeking persons interested.
• Contact: ewtexas@att.net

The Wireless Messaging News
Board of Advisors

The Board of Advisor members are people with whom I have developed a special rapport, and have met personally. They are not obligated to support the newsletter in any way, except with advice, and maybe an occasional letter to the editor.

Can You Help The Newsletter?

You can help support The Wireless Messaging News by clicking on the PayPal Donate button above. It is not necessary to be a member of PayPal to use this service.

Newspapers generally cost 75¢ $1.50 a copy and they hardly ever mention paging or wireless messaging, unless in a negative way. If you receive some benefit from this publication maybe you would like to help support it financially?

A donation of $50.00 would certainly help cover a one-year period. If you are wiling and able, please click on the PayPal Donate button above.

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

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

Prism-IPX Systems LLC.

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

FCC proposal would help fight one-ring call scams

It could allow carriers to automatically block the illegal calls.

Christine Fisher, April 28, 2020

Chip Somodevilla via Getty Images

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) wants to better protect consumers in the US from one-ring scam calls, which ring a phone just once and then charge large fees per minute when consumers call back. Today, the FCC shared a “notice of proposed rulemaking,” which requests comments on proposed solutions, like allowing voice service providers to block calls that are “highly likely” associated with one-ring scams.

The proposed rules could fulfill one part of the recently passed TRACED Act, which toughens punishments for illegal robocalls and accelerates efforts to block spam calls. Other solutions might include working with federal, state and foreign law enforcement and government agencies to combat one-ring scams, improving consumer education, working with call-blocking services and deciding what obligations international gateway providers should meet.

“One-ring scams are annoying and pernicious, waking up many Americans with confusing calls in the middle of the night and tricking them out of their money if they call back,” FCC Chairman Ajit Pai said in a statement. “With this effort, this agency shows it’s serious about aggressively combating this scam.”

Earlier this month, the FCC and FTC sent letters to three gateway providers that were facilitating COVID-19-related robocall scams. The FCC warned that if the providers did not cut off those robocalls, phone companies would begin blocking all traffic from those gateway providers’ networks. According to the FCC, the providers stopped carrying those scams within 24 hours. Now, the FCC wants feedback on whether a similar approach might be used for one-ring scam calls.

In the meantime, the FCC advises consumers not to answer or return calls from numbers they don’t recognize and to check whether unfamiliar numbers have international area codes. It even suggests asking your phone company to block outgoing international calls if you don’t typically place those.

Paging Data Receiver PDR-4

The PDR-4 is a multi-function paging data receiver that decodes paging messages and outputs them via the serial port, USB or Ethernet connectors.

Designed for use with Prism-IPX ECHO software Message Logging Software to receive messages and log the information for proof of transmission over the air, and if the data was error free.

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

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

Prism-IPX Systems LLC.

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

Wireless Network Planners
Wireless Specialists

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

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

Communication Interface Technologies Files 8 Push Notification Patent Cases

by KIRSTEN ERRICK
April 28, 2020

Communication Interface Technologies filed multiple patent infringement suits against a variety of companies, Capital One Financial Corporation, Cinemark Holdings, Inc., Yum! Brands, Inc., FedEx Corporation, Texas Instruments, American Messaging Services, PepsiCo, and Rent-A-Center. The suits were filed in the Texas Eastern District Court. Communication Interface Technologies is represented by Devlin Law Firm LLC.

The patents-in-suit are U.S. Patent Nos. 6,574,239 (the ’239 patent), 8,266,296 (the ’296 patent), and 8,291,010 (the ’010 patent). The patents “provide many advantages over the prior art, and in particular improved the operations of communications between remote units such as wireless computing and communications devices and remote servers.”

Capital One allegedly infringed the ’239 patent, through the “making, using, selling, offering to sell, importing and/or providing and causing to be used products, specifically one or more mobile device applications.” The infringing products “perform a method in which wireless push notification messages are sent over TLS sessions, and the remote server and the client-side application establish a separate TLS connection for traditional client-server communications.” Specifically, claim 7 calls for “use in controlling a virtual session on a server, a method comprising: establishing a virtual session with a remote unit, the virtual session being instantiated to support at least one application layer program.” Capital One’s Accused Products allegedly utilize this patented information. As a result of this exemplary similarity, Communication Interface Technologies claims that Capital One infringes on this patent.

Cinemark Holdings allegedly infringed on the ’296 patent through the use of push notifications on the Cinemark Theatres App. The accused app “perform[s] a method in which wireless push notification messages are sent over TLS sessions, and the remote server and the client-side application establish a separate TLS connection for traditional client-server communications.” Cinemark’s infringing products use “[w]ireless push notification messages . . . sent over Transport Layer Security (TLS) sessions.” The remote server “establishes a TLS session with a Cinemark Theatres App . . . running on a user’s smartphone or tablet.” This remote server initiates a push notification message to be sent to Cinemark’s app on a user’s device. As a result of this information, the plaintiff claims that Cinemark uses the technology in the ’296 patent.

Communication Interface Technologies also alleged Yum! Brands infringed the ’010 patent through the KFC All-Stars App, Yum Mobile Forms App, and the KFC Suppertime Stories App. Yum!’s infringing apps have a “[w]ireless push notification messages . . . sent over Transport Layer Security (TLS) sessions. Also, the remote server and the client-side application establish a separate TLS connection for traditional client-server communications.” As a result of the similarities of the patented technology and Yum!’s alleged use of this information, Communication Interface Technology claims it infringes on its patent.

The other defendants allegedly infringe on these patents in similar ways as the above examples. Communication Interface Technologies has sought an adjudication of infringement of the patents-in-suit, an award for damages, an award for costs and fees, and other relief as determined by the court.

Brad Dye, Ron Mercer, Allan Angus, Vic Jackson, and Ira Wiesenfeld are friends and colleagues who work both together and independently, on wireline and wireless communications projects.

Click here for a summary of their qualifications and experience. Each one has unique abilities. We would be happy to help you with a project, and maybe save you some time and money.

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

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

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

Remote AB Switches

ABX-1 switches are often used at remote transmitter sites to convert from old, outdated and unsupported controllers to the new modern Prism-IPX ipBSC base station controllers. Remotely switch to new controllers with GUI commands.

ABX-1

ABX-3 switches are widely used for enabling or disabling remote equipment and switching I/O connections between redundant messaging systems.

ABX-3

Common Features:

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

Prism-IPX Systems LLC.

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

Pai Extends Keep Americans Connected Pledge Through June

The FCC lengthened its nationwide connectivity pledge until June 30. The initial pledge was due to expire May 12. Since launching the initiative last month, more than 700 broadband and telephone providers committed for 60 days to (1) not terminate service to any residential or small business customers because of their inability to pay their bills due to the coronavirus; (2) waive any late fees; and (3) open their WiFi hotspots to any American who needs them.

FCC Chairman Ajit Pai is now asking providers to extend these offerings until the end of June. Earlier this week, the Chairman held calls with providers representing the majority of broadband and telephone subscribers in the United States as well as trade associations to relay this request.

Pai said hundreds of providers, large and small, have stepped up to the plate to keep Americans connected. “Given our nation’s current situation, I’m urging these companies to extend these important offerings—uninterrupted service, waiving of late fees, and continued availability of WiFi hotspots—until June 30. Companies representing the vast majority of broadband and telephone subscriptions have already agreed to this extension.” He thanked them and encouraged others to do so.

The FCC understands that some carriers, particularly those in small markets and rural areas, may not be able to continue the pledge because of financial challenges. They should contact KACpledge@fcc.gov by May 12, if they want to opt out of the extension.

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

REMINDER: BDS Election Notification Letters Due May 1, Revised Tariffs by July 1

A-CAM II recipients that elected to move their business data service (BDS) offerings to incentive regulation must notify the FCC of their election of incentive regulation by May 1, 2020, and file revised tariffs reflecting their election of incentive regulation for their BDS offerings to be effective July 1, 2020.

As we reported in a previous edition of the BloostonLaw Telecom Update, A-CAM II recipients were permitted to move their BDS offerings to incentive regulation. As part of the process, NECA pool carriers that made such an election were required to notify NECA of their intent to remove their BDS offerings from the NECA traffic sensitive tariff and pool by March 1, 2020. Carriers desiring assistance with this follow-up notification to the FCC may contact the firm for more information.

BloostonLaw Contacts: Ben Dickens and Sal Taillefer.

Headlines

FCC Issues Tentative Agenda for May Open Meeting

On April 22, the FCC issued a Public Notice announcing the tentative agenda for the May Open Meeting, currently scheduled for May 13. At the meeting, the FCC is tentatively scheduled to consider the following items:

• Transitioning the 900 MHz Band to Enable Broadband Deployment: a Report and Order that would realign the 900 MHz band to create a new six megahertz broadband segment, while reserving the remaining four megahertz of the band for narrowband operations. (WT Docket No. 17-200)
• Facilitating Deployment of Satellite Earth Stations in Motion: a Second Report and Order and Report and Order addressing rules to facilitate the deployment of geostationary-satellite orbit and non-geostationary-orbit fixed-satellite service earth stations that operate while in motion. (IB Docket Nos. 17-95, 18-315)
• Revising Broadcaster Rules on Public Notice of Filing Applications: a Report and Order that would modernize and simplify the written and on-air public notices broadcasters must provide upon the filing of certain applications. (MB Docket Nos. 17-264, 17-105, 05-6)
• Modernizing Regulatory Fee Rules to Level the Playing Field, Initiating FY20 Process: a Report and Order and Notice of Proposed Rulemaking. The Report and Order would level the playing field between domestic and foreign licensed space stations by assessing a regulatory fee on non-U.S. licensed space stations with United States market access. The Notice of Proposed Rulemaking initiates the Commission’s annual regulatory fee proceeding. (MD Docket Nos. 20-105, 19-105).

The links in the summary descriptions above are for public drafts of the items scheduled to be considered at the Meeting. They contain one-page summaries prepared by the FCC. The final item considered at the meeting may differ from these drafts.

BloostonLaw Contacts: Ben Dickens, Gerry Duffy, and John Prendergast.

FCC Advises EAS Participants to Secure Their EAS Equipment from Online Attacks

In an advisory sent last week, the FCC’s Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau highlighted the need for EAS Participants to perform regular system maintenance and to employ best practices to secure their EAS equipment from potential disabling or exploitive attacks.

It is advisable, for example, for EAS Participants to ensure that default passwords have been changed, equipment is updated with current security patches, and EAS equipment is secured behind properly configured firewalls and other defensive measures. A comprehensive list of cybersecurity best practices for the various sectors of the EAS ecosystem, including EAS participants, is referenced in the Communications Security, Reliability and Interoperability Council (CSRIC), Working Group 3 Initial Report available [HERE]. [Dead links]

Additional best practices guidelines developed by CSRIC are available [HERE]. Our clients may recall how two years ago, a false EAS alert about an incoming ICBM sowed terror in Hawaii. Yet today, security experts still believe scores of devices across the U.S. remain un-patched and vulnerable to cyber-attack.

The EAS system has been shown to be vulnerable to tampering before. In February, 2013, for example, unknown hackers compromised EAS systems at television stations in the U.S. and broadcast a bogus emergency alert claiming that the “dead were rising from their graves” and attacking people. Published reports say that at least four television stations were the victims of the hoax: WBKP and WNMU in Marquette, Michigan; KNME/KNDM in Albuquerque, New Mexico; and KRTV in Great Falls, Montana.

If there are any questions regarding the security of EAS equipment, the FCC encourages EAS Participants to contact their EAS equipment manufacturers.

BloostonLaw Contact: Cary Mitchell.

FCC Seeks Comment on New Fields in NORS, 911 Reliability Certification System

On April 27, the FCC issued a Public Notice seeking comment on the implementation of new data fields for covered 911 service providers that it will add to the Network Outage Reporting System (NORS) and 911 Reliability Certification System. Comment deadlines have not yet been established.

With regard to NORS, the FCC makes two proposed revisions. First, the FCC proposes adding fields to NORS submission forms for covered 911 service providers to type in appropriate 911 special facility names. As these filers type in a 911 special facility name, a list of matching names will be displayed for filers to select the appropriate response. To reduce burdens on covered 911 service providers and ensure consistency in the information that is reported, the Bureau will offer filers a list of 911 special facility names generated from the list of PSAPs that the Commission receives from covered 911 service providers’ submissions to the 911 Reliability Certification System. Second, the FCC proposes to require NORS filers indicating on NORS final report submission forms that they are covered 911 service providers to identify, in a new data field that will be added to NORS final report submission forms, whether alternative measures to circuit diversity were in place for affected 911 special facilities.

With regard to the 911 Reliability Certification System, the FCC also makes two proposed revisions. First, the FCC proposes to add drop-down fields to 911 reliability certifications that will require covered 911 service providers to indicate whether they provide the following services: (1) 911, E911 or NG911 call routing through a selective router or its functional equivalent; (2) automatic location information or automatic number information database lookup capability or its functional equivalent; and (3) direct service to a PSAP by one or more central offices it operates, including administrative lines to a PSAP, statewide default answering point, or appropriate local emergency authority. Second, the FCC proposes to revise 911 reliability certifications to include a data field that enables covered 911 service providers to highlight network upgrades completed within the past year that have resulted in improvements to 911 reliability and/or performance. To implement this change, a new text field will be added to the 911 Reliability Certification System for filers to provide a summary of major network upgrades and improvements they completed within the past year. This data field would be optional and therefore would not impose burdens on covered 911 service providers who choose not to use the field.

BloostonLaw Contacts: John Prendergast, Mary Sisak, and Sal Taillefer.

FCC Seeks Comment on One-Ring Phone Scam Prevention

April 28, the FCC issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking seeking comment on proposals to implement the proposals for implementing the TRACED Act’s requirements to further protect consumers from the so-called “one-ring scam.” Comment deadlines have not yet been established.

One-ring scam calls occur when a call placed to a consumer’s phone rings just once, using international toll-generating numbers that charge large fees per minute when consumers call back. In this NPRM, the FCC seeks comment on proposals to protect consumers from the one-ring scam, including: allowing voice service providers to block calls highly likely to be associated with a one-ring scam; working with federal, state, and foreign law enforcement and government agencies to combat one-ring scams; building on existing consumer education and outreach efforts; enhancing FCC work with entities that provide call-blocking services; and seeking consensus on what obligations international gateway providers should have in the efforts to stop these calls.

As we reported in a previous edition of the BloostonLaw Telecom Update, the FCC and Federal Trade Commission recently sent letters to three gateway providers suspected of facilitating COVID-19-related scam robocalls, warning them that if they did not stop such traffic, the Commission would authorize other U.S. voice service providers to block all calls entering the U.S. via these gateway providers. The NPRM seeks comment on whether such a model could be extended to combat one-ring scam calls.

BloostonLaw Contacts: Ben Dickens and Sal Taillefer.

Richard Rubino Elected to LMCC Board of Directors

At the recent annual meeting of the Land Mobile Communications Council (“LMCC”), an organization made up of all FCC-designated land mobile frequency coordinators, the members elected BloostonLaw’s Richard Rubino to its Board of Directors for the coming year. The LMCC represents the wireless communications interests of the public safety, critical infrastructure, business, industrial, transportation, private user and commercial service provider communities, as well as manufacturers of land mobile communications equipment.

BloostonLaw Contact: John Prendergast.

Law and Regulation

Comments on Competitive Bidding Procedures for Auction 107 (3.7-3.98 GHz Band) Due May 1

On April 27, the FCC published in the Federal Register its Public Notice seeking comment on procedures for the auction of flexible-use overlay licenses in the 3.7-3.98 GHz band (the 3.7 GHz Service), designated as Auction 107. Comments are due May 1, 2020, and reply comments are due May 15, 2020. The Commission expects the bidding for licenses in Auction 107 to commence on December 8, 2020.

As we reported in a previous edition of the BloostonLaw Telecom Update, Auction 107 will offer 5,684 new flexible-use overlay licenses for spectrum in the 3.7-3.98 GHz band throughout the contiguous United States subject to clearing requirements. Specifically, the Commission will offer up to 280 megahertz of spectrum licensed on an unpaired basis in three blocks divided into 20-megahertz sub-blocks by partial economic area (PEA) in the contiguous states and the District of Columbia (PEAs 1-41, 43-211, 213-263, 265-297, 299-359, and 361-411). The Commission will not issue flexible-use overlay licenses for Honolulu, Anchorage, Kodiak, Fairbanks, Juneau, Puerto Rico, Guam-Northern Mariana Islands, U.S. Virgin Islands, American Samoa, and the Gulf of Mexico (PEAs numbers 42, 212, 264, 298, 360, 412-416).

The A Block will cover 100 megahertz from 3.7-3.8 GHz in five 20-megahertz sub-blocks: 3700-3720 MHz (A1), 3720-3740 MHz (A2), 3740-3760 MHz (A3), 3760-3780 MHz (A4), and 3780-3800 MHz (A5). The B Block will cover 100 megahertz from 3.8-3.9 GHz in five 20-megahertz sub-blocks: 3800-3820 MHz (B1), 3820-3840 MHz (B2), 3840-3860 MHz (B3), 3860-3880 MHz (B4), and 3880-3900 MHz (B5). The C Block will cover 80 megahertz from 3.9-3.98 GHz, and four 20-megahertz sub-blocks will be licensed for flexible use: 3900-3920 MHz (C1), 3920-3940 MHz (C2), 3940-3960 MHz (C3), and 3960-3980 MHz (C4). The 20 megahertz at 3980-4000 MHz will be a guard band and not available for auction.

All 3.7 GHz Service licenses will be issued for 15-year, renewable license terms. A licensee in the 3.7-3.98 GHz band may provide any services permitted under terrestrial fixed or mobile allocations, as set forth in the non-Federal Government column of the Table of Frequency Allocations in section 2.106 of the Commission's rules, as modified.

BloostonLaw Contacts: John Prendergast and Cary Mitchell.

LPTV Order Effective May 26

On April 26, the FCC published in the Federal Register its Report and Order adopting certain proposals to modernized its Commission’s carriage election notice rules with respect to certain television broadcast stations and open video system (OVS) operators to enhance administrative efficiency. These revisions are effective May 26, 2020.

First, under the revised requirements, low power television stations (LPTVs) that qualify for mandatory carriage (qualified LPTVs) must send notices to affected multichannel video programming distributors (MVPDs) by e-mail when changing their carriage election status in the same manner as full power television broadcast stations. However, unlike the requirement for full power television broadcast stations, qualified LPTVs and noncommercial educational (NCE) television translator stations that qualify for must carry (qualified NCE translators) will not be required to make their carriage election statements available for public inspection.

Second, carriage-related questions sent by MVPDs via the contact information provided by qualified LPTV and qualified NCE translator stations in the Commission’s Licensing and Management System (LMS) database must be “addressed as soon as is reasonably possible.” Finally, OVS operators must post contact information for questions regarding carriage election to the Cable Operations and Licensing System (COALS) database, accept e-mail election change notices, and timely respond to carriage-related questions

BloostonLaw Contacts: Gerry Duffy and Sal Taillefer.

FCC Enters $1 Million Settlement Agreement Over Rural Health Care Program Rule Violations

On April 23, the FCC issued a Consent Decree to resolve its investigation into whether DRS Global Enterprise Solutions, Inc. (DRS Global) violated the Commission’s Rural Health Care (RHC) Program’s rules governing the determination of rural rates. To settle this matter, DRS Global agrees to a settlement value of $1,000,000, and will implement enhanced compliance measures.

Under the RHC’s rules, healthcare providers can obtain rates for supported services that are no higher than the “urban rate,” defined as “a rate no higher than the highest tariffed or publicly-available rate charged to a commercial customer for a functionally similar service in any city with a population of 50,000 or more in that state . . . .” The carrier providing the eligible service(s) must provide services at the urban rate, and is entitled to support payments from the Fund to account for the difference between the urban rate and the rural rate (the rate).

In 2018, the Bureau initiated an investigation into DRS Global’s business practices in connection with its participation in the RHC Program. DRS Global used its own method, “a detailed economic analysis,” to develop its rural rates. To determine the rural rates included in its bid, DRS Global estimated the amount of monthly recurring revenue it would need to receive over the lifetime of the Wide Area Network Contract in order to recover its costs, plus overhead and what it considered an acceptable rate of return. DRS Global then determined the price per circuit it would need to charge in order to achieve its revenue target based on the anticipated service requirements of each of the health care providers, and also considered the rates of its primary competitor. These steps notwithstanding, DRS Global did not develop its rates in conformance with the methodology set forth in the Commission’s Rules. Although DRS Global initially failed to accurately disclose its method for calculating its rural rates to USAC and the Commission, DRS Global ultimately cooperated with the Bureau during this Investigation, and the Bureau found no evidence of bad faith on the part of DRS Global.

BloostonLaw Contacts: John Prendergast and Richard Rubino.

FCC Settles Investigation of Unauthorized Transfers of Control for $70,000

On April 28, the FCC entered into a Consent Decree with Marriott Vacations Worldwide Corporation (Marriott Vacations) for the purpose of terminating the FCC’s investigation into whether the Marriott Vacations violated the FCC’s rules pertaining to unauthorized transfers of control and assignments of licenses in the wireless radio service in connection with Marriott Vacations’ acquisition of ILG, Inc. and other entities in a series of five substantial and two pro forma transactions. To resolve this matter, Marriott Vacations agreed to implement a compliance plan and pay a $70,000 civil penalty. Our clients considering any acquisitions, mergers or even internal reorganizations should make sure they advise us well ahead of the desired closing date, and factor in the FCC approval process so they can avoid fines.

On February 13, 2019, Marriott Vacations voluntarily disclosed to the Wireless Bureau that a review of its Commission-licensed facilities revealed that it had participated in corporate acquisitions, asset transfers, and other transactions involving transfers of control of private radio licenses from ILG without obtaining prior Commission consent. Thereafter, Marriott Vacations filed curative applications seeking a waiver of the FCC’s rules to accept and grant, nunc pro tunc, relating back to the effective date of each of the transfers, applications for transfers of control of 69 non-common carrier licenses and authorizations held or controlled by various entities to ILG and Marriott Vacations. These filings were completed on April 11, 2019, and the applications are pending. As admitted in the application filings, ILG did not timely file applications seeking prior Commission consent before completion of the 2018 acquisition of ILG by Marriott Vacations.

Industry

FCC Issues Show Cause Orders Against Four Chinese Telecom Companies

On April 24, the FCC issued Orders to Show Cause against four companies that are ultimately subject to the ownership and control of the Chinese government: China Telecom Americas, China Unicom Americas, Pacific Networks, and ComNet. The Orders direct the companies to explain why the Commission should not start the process of revoking their domestic and international section authorizations enabling them to operate in the United States.

The Orders to Show Cause give the companies the opportunity to demonstrate that they are not subject to the influence and control of the Chinese government, that they continue to be qualified to hold domestic and international section 214 authorizations and International Signaling Point Codes, and that public convenience and necessity is served by their retention of the authorizations and assignments. Moreover, the Order to Show Cause for China Telecom Americas directs that company to provide a detailed response to allegations raised in the Executive Branch Recommendation to Revoke their international section 214 authorization. The entities have 30 days to respond.

“Foreign entities providing telecommunications services—or seeking to provide services—in the United States must not pose a risk to our national security,” said Chairman Pai. “The Show Cause Orders reflect our deep concern—one shared by the U.S. Departments of Commerce, Defense, Homeland Security, Justice, and State and the U.S. Trade Representative—about these companies’ vulnerability to the exploitation, influence, and control of the Chinese Communist Party, given that they are subsidiaries of Chinese state-owned entities. We simply cannot take a risk and hope for the best when it comes to the security of our networks.”

Deadlines

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

BloostonLaw Contacts: Ben Dickens, Gerry Duffy, and Sal Taillefer.

JUNE 1: FCC FORM 395, EMPLOYMENT REPORT. Common carriers, including wireless carriers, with 16 or more full-time employees must file their annual Common Carrier Employment Reports (FCC Form 395) by May 31. However, because the 31st is a Sunday this year, the filing will be due on June 1. This report tracks carrier compliance with rules requiring recruitment of minority employees. Further, the FCC requires all common carriers to report any employment discrimination complaints they received during the past year. That information is also due on June 1. The FCC encourages carriers to complete the discrimination report requirement by filling out Section V of Form 395, rather than submitting a separate report.

BloostonLaw Contact: Richard Rubino.

JULY 1: FCC FORM 481 (CARRIER ANNUAL REPORTING DATA COLLECTION FORM). All eligible telecommunications carriers (ETCs) must report the information required by Section 54.313, which includes outage, unfulfilled service request, and complaint data, broken out separately for voice and broadband services, information on the ETC’s holding company, operating companies, ETC affiliates and any branding in response to section 54.313(a)(8); its CAF-ICC certification, if applicable; its financial information, if a privately held rate-of-return carrier; and its satellite backhaul certification, if applicable. Form 481 must not only be filed with USAC, but also with the FCC and the relevant state commission and tribal authority, as appropriate. Although USAC treats the filing as confidential, filers must seek confidential treatment separately with the FCC and the relevant state commission and tribal authority if confidential treatment is desired.

BloostonLaw Contacts: Ben Dickens, Gerry Duffy, and Sal Taillefer.

JULY 1: MOBILITY FUND PHASE I ANNUAL REPORT. Winning bidders in Auction 901 that are authorized to receive Mobility Fund Phase I support are required to submit to the FCC an annual report each year on July 1 for the five years following authorization. Each annual report must be submitted to the Office of the Secretary, clearly referencing WT Docket No. 10-208; the Universal Service Administrator; and the relevant state commissions, relevant authority in a U.S. Territory, or Tribal governments, as appropriate. The information and certifications required to be included in the annual report are described in Section 54.1009 of the FCC’s rules.

BloostonLaw Contacts: John Prendergast 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: CIC holders shall provide a usage report to the NANPA per the industry CIC guidelines . . . The NAS shall be capable of accepting CIC usage reports per guideline requirements on January 31 for the period ending December 31 and no later than July 31 for the period ending June 30. These reports may also be mailed and accepted by the NANPA in paper form. Finally, according to the NANPA website, if no local exchange carrier reports access or usage for a given CIC, NANPA is obliged to reclaim it. The semi-annual utilization and access reporting mechanism is described at length in the guidelines.

BloostonLaw Contacts: Ben Dickens and Gerry Duffy.

Calendar At-a-Glance

April
Apr. 29 – E-Rate application filing window closes.
Apr. 30 – Comments on NORS/DIRS report sharing are due.
Apr. 30 – Waiver of Children’s Television Pre-emption Rescheduling Requirements ends.
Apr. 30 – Comments are due on petition for waiver of CAF Phase II Prohibition for RDOF.

May
May 1 – FCC Form 499-Q (Quarterly Telecommunications Reporting Worksheet) is due.
May 1 – BDS election letter due.
May 1 – Comments are due on competitive bidding procedures for Auction 107.
May 4 – Comments are due on Unlicensed White Space Devices NPRM.
May 4 – Comments are due on Cable Operator Recordkeeping Rules.
May 7 – Reply comments are due on petition for waiver of CAF Phase II Prohibition for RDOF.
May 15 – Reply comments are due on competitive bidding procedures for Auction 107.
May 15 – Comments are due on Radiofrequency Electromagnetic Exposure NPRM.
May 15 – TRS waivers expire. May 16 – Lifeline rule waivers expire.
May 18 – Reply comments are due on Cable Operator Recordkeeping Rules.
May 18 – Comments are due on CATV Rule changes. May 21 – Upfront payments for Auction 105 due.
May 20 – Reply comments on Restoring Internet Freedom/Lifeline Reform record are due.
May 22 – Huawei/ZTE Data Collection Responses are due.
May 29 – Lifeline De-Enrollment/Reverification Requirement waiver ends.

June
Jun. 1 – FCC Form 395 (Annual Employment Report) is due.
Jun. 1 – Reply comments are due on CATV Rule changes.
Jun. 1 – Reply comments on NORS/DIRS report sharing are due.
Jun. 2 – Reply comments are due on Unlicensed White Space Devices NPRM.
Jun. 15 – Reply comments are due on Radiofrequency Electromagnetic Exposure NPRM.
Jun. 16 – 15-Day Access Tariff Filings are due.
Jun. 23 – Petitions to Suspend or Reject 15-Day Access Tariff Filings are due.
Jun. 24 – 7-Day Access Tariff Filings are due.
Jun. 26 – Petitions to Suspend or Reject 7-Day Access Tariff Filings are due.
Jun. 26 – Replies to Petitions to Suspend or Reject 15-Day Access Tariff Filings are due.
Jun. 25 – Bidding begins in Auction 105.
Jun. 29 – Replies to Petitions to Suspend or Reject 7-Day Access Tariff Filings are due.
Jun. 30 – Mobile Competitive ETC waiver ends.

BloostonLaw Remains Available to Help You During the COVID-19 Pandemic

During the National Emergency concerning the COVAD-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

We anticipate that our staff will continue telecommuting for the next several weeks, consistent with state and local government social distancing guidelines.

We hope that everyone is able to stay safe and healthy.

BloostonLaw Contacts: John Prendergast and Richard Rubino

Richard Rubino Elected to LMCC Board of Directors

At the recent annual meeting of the Land Mobile Communications Council (“LMCC”), an organization made up of all FCC-designated land mobile frequency coordinators, the members elected BloostonLaw’s Richard Rubino to its Board of Directors for the coming year. The LMCC represents the wireless communications interests of the public safety, critical infrastructure, business, industrial, transportation, private user and commercial service provider communities, as well as manufacturers of land mobile communications equipment.

BloostonLaw Contact: John Prendergast

FCC Provides COVID-19 Relief – Extends Certain Construction Deadlines

The FCC has issued a blanket extension of certain wireless construction deadlines, in response to a petition for waiver filed by the Enterprise Wireless Alliance (EWA). EWA requested the waiver for certain Private Land Mobile site-based and mobile-only wireless system licenses, in order to provide them with additional time to satisfy their construction requirements in light of the disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic emergency. In particular, the FCC is providing an additional 60 days to various site-based and mobile only licensees authorized under Parts 22, 80, 87, 90 and 101 of the Commission’s Rules with construction deadlines from March 15, 2020 through (and including) May 15, 2020.

In particular, EWA requested that the FCC waive the provisions of Rule Sections 1.946(c) and (d), which govern a licensee’s failure to meet the construction requirements and/or the build out notification requirements, with the respect to land mobile site-based and mobile only licenses with construction deadlines between March 15, 2020 and August 31, 2020. The petition explains that much of the country has been under mandatory stay-at-home and social distancing orders — which have made routine business activities difficult, due to significant supply chain disruptions that have affected the availability of wireless telecommunications equipment and the unavailability of employees to prepare the equipment, deliver the equipment, and place it into operation. EWA noted in its petition that not only are employees’ movements restricted during the pandemic, but also those employees who are available must prioritize critical communications services, particularly those used by public safety entities and medical providers.

In granting the petition in part, the FCC agreed with EWA’s assessment that the COVID-19 pandemic emergency is adversely affecting the ability of many site-based and mobile-only licensees to meet their construction deadlines. And unlike prior construction waivers involving a natural disaster that has impacted “discrete” portions of the United States, the COVID-19 pandemic emergency has involved the entire country, with the vast majority of states issuing “stay-at-home” orders to non-essential businesses and social distancing guidelines for workers — which are essential to ensure the public health and safety.

In a recent meeting following the release of this Order, the FCC stated that it will reevaluate the situation on or about May 1st in order to determine if a further extension is warranted.

BloostonLaw Contacts: John Prendergast and Richard Rubino

900 MHz Band Reconfiguration on FCC Meeting Agenda for May 13

The FCC has announced that it will consider a Report and Order that would realign the 900 MHz band to create a new six megahertz-wide broadband segment to support growing technological needs for industrial use, while reserving the remaining four megahertz for narrowband operations. Under the proposed Report and Order, the FCC would:

• Realign the 900 MHz band to make available six megahertz of spectrum for broadband operations, while reserving the band’s remaining four megahertz for continued narrowband operations.
• Establish a transition mechanism, based primarily on negotiations between prospective broadband licensees and narrowband incumbents, that would enable these prospective broadband licensees to relocate, acquire or protect existing incumbents in the new broadband segment.
• Permit a 900 MHz broadband licensee to require the mandatory relocation of a small number of incumbents — except those with complex systems — from the new broadband segment to the narrowband segment by providing comparable facilities.
• Require a broadband applicant to make an “anti-windfall” payment whenever it relinquishes less than six megahertz of spectrum in exchange for six megahertz of broadband spectrum.
• Address license application requirements, transition procedures and operating and technical rules applicable to the new 900 MHz broadband license.
• Lift the freeze on 900 MHz applications to facilitate the relocation of narrowband operations within the 900 MHz narrowband segment of the band.

Finally, the FCC also indicated that it will decline to make the 800 MHz guard band available for relocation of 900 MHz narrowband channels.

BloostonLaw Contacts: John Prendergast and Richard Rubino

FCC Implements Special Procedures for Public Safety STAs and Waiver Requests Due to COVID-19

In order to ensure that needs of the public safety community can be met, the FCC’s Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau (“PSHSB”) has implemented special procedures for requesting rule waivers and/or special temporary authority (“STA”) in response to the declaration of the March 13, 2020 national emergency due to COVID-19 pandemic.

Those clients with a need for a rule waiver and or STA arising out of the COVID-19 pandemic emergency should contact our office for assistance in navigating the FCC’s processes.

BloostonLaw Contacts: John Prendergast and Richard Rubino

FCC Proposes $25,000 Fines for U-NII Rule Violations

The FCC has issued two separate Notices of Apparent Liability against Buzzer Net LLC (Buzzer Net) and WiFi Services Caribbean, Inc. (WiFi Services), both providers of wireless Internet service in Puerto Rico. According to the NALs, each Company was apparently operating an Unlicensed National Information Infrastructure (U-NII) device in an unauthorized manner that caused harmful interference to a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) terminal Doppler weather radar station in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

In Buzzer Net’s case, the company was warned against operating a U-NII device that caused harmful interference to the FAA terminal Doppler weather radar system in San Juan, Puerto Rico as early as 2017. In 2018, the FCC issued a written warning to Buzzer Net, advising the company that operating an unlicensed radio transmitter violated section 301 of the Act and operating U-NII devices outside the parameters of its equipment certification violated part 15 of the Commission’s rules. On May 30, 2019, the FAA reported to the FCC that its terminal Doppler weather radar station serving the San Juan International Airport was receiving interference, and the FCC traced that interference back to Buzzer Net.

In the WiFi Services case, the FCC issued written warnings to the company in 2018 regarding its unauthorized operation of U-NII devices causing interference to the San Juan terminal doppler weather radar station. On April 3, 2019, the FAA reported that its terminal Doppler weather radar station serving the San Juan International Airport was again receiving interference, and the FCC traced the interference back to WiFi Services. FCC agents traveled to WiFi Services’s radar site and corporate offices on numerous occasions, and ultimately determined that configuration issues were the cause of the interference.

It appears that in both cases, Buzzer Net and WiFi Services were apparently operating their two Ubiquiti Devices on 5.630 GHz without having Dynamic Frequency Selection enabled, and without a license. As a result, the FCC found that both of these companies’ conduct resulted in two separate apparent violations of the FCC’s Rules (Rule Sections 15.1 and 15.407(h)(2)), yielding an aggregate base forfeiture of $20,000. Based on the prior warnings, the FCC concluded that both companies’ apparent violations were egregious and warranted an upward adjustment of $5,000.

BloostonLaw Contacts: John Prendergast and Richard Rubino

FCC Adopts 6GHz Band Rules for Unlicensed Devices

The FCC has adopted rules that make 1,200 MHz of spectrum in the 6 GHz band (5.925-7.125 GHz) available for unlicensed devices. Unlicensed devices would share this spectrum with incumbent licensed services under rules that are crafted to protect those licensed services and to enable both unlicensed and licensed operations to thrive throughout the band.

The Report and Order authorizes two different types of unlicensed operations: standard-power over 850-megahertz of spectrum in the 6 GHz band, and indoor low-power operations over the full 1,200-megahertz available in the band. An automated frequency coordination (“AFC”) system would prevent standard power access points from operating where they could cause interference to incumbent services. For low-power indoor operations, the FCC concluded that there would be no need for AFC-controlled access since low-power devices would be (a) limited to indoor operation; (b) required to use a contention-based protocol; and (c) be subject to low-power operation. By limiting operation to indoor use only, the FCC determined that signal loss as the signal passes through walls would be sufficient to prevent harmful interference to incumbents. Additionally, the rules require a contention based protocol which is similar to the private land mobile protocol for shared channels that ensure that transmitters are not transmitting over the same spectrum simultaneously. Simply put, the unlicensed device is not supposed to transmit the data packet until the frequency is idle. Finally, low-power indoor access points will be limited to lower power levels than standard access points that utilize an automated frequency coordination system to prevent harmful interference to incumbent 6 GHz licensees.

A Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking proposes to permit very low-power devices to operate across the 6 GHz band, to support high data rate applications including high-performance, wearable, augmented-reality and virtual-reality devices. Specifically, the Further Notice will seek comment on making a contiguous 1,200-megahertz block of spectrum available for the development of new and innovative high-speed, short-range devices and on power levels and other technical and operational measures to avoid causing interference to incumbent services. The Further Notice also seeks comment on increasing the power at which low-power indoor access points may operate.

In adopting this item, Chairman Pai stated “The coronavirus pandemic has temporarily changed nearly every aspect of our lives. Most notably, of course, millions of American adults and children are staying at home. Many of those households have multiple connected devices; parents and kids may be using laptops, tablets, and smartphones, all at the same time.” Pai continued that “even before anyone had heard of COVID-19, Wi-Fi already carried more than half of the Internet’s traffic, and offloading mobile data traffic to Wi-Fi was vital to keeping our cellular networks from being overwhelmed. In a very real sense, Wi-Fi is the fabric that binds together all our digital devices.” Pai stated that the order would “take a bold step to increase the supply of unlicensed spectrum: we’re making the entire 6 GHz band—a massive 1,200 megahertz test bed for innovators and innovation—available for unlicensed use. By doing this, we are effectively increasing the amount of mid-band spectrum available for Wi-Fi by almost a factor of five. This will be a huge benefit to consumers and innovators across the nation. Wi-Fi NOW’s Claus Hetting, a champion of Wi-Fi innovation, said it perfectly: “The truth is that this 6 GHz spectrum boost will launch the Wi-Fi industry into a new growth trajectory. It will boost Wi-Fi’s massive indoor dominance. And surely—with the help of emboldened entrepreneurs everywhere—it will bring low-cost Wi-Fi (and unlicensed) connectivity to places where it has never been.”

BloostonLaw Contacts: John Prendergast and Cary Mitchell

FCC Fines Wireless Carrier $130,000 for Exceeding Radiation Limits, Labeling Requirements

On April 2, the FCC released an Order and Consent Decree resolving its investigation into whether BLU Products, Inc. (BLU Products) marketed a mobile phone, model GRAND MAX, that exceeded the Commission’s specific absorption rate (SAR) harmful radiation limit, and failed to comply with the labeling, user manual, and permissive change requirements of the equipment authorization rules. To settle this matter, BLU Products admitted that it violated the Commission’s rules, agreed to implement a compliance plan, and agreed to pay a $130,000 civil penalty.

The FCC’s rules set a SAR limit of 1.6 W/kg, averaged over any 1 gram of tissue, for certain portable devices. The purpose of this rule is to ensure that the public is appropriately protected from the potential adverse effects of radio frequency exposure. FCC rules also require radio frequency devices be properly authorized, identified, labeled and comply with the applicable technical standards prior to marketing in the United States. Testing performed by the FCC on two samples of the GRAND MAX mobile phone purchased through an online retailer found that both phones were non-compliant with the Commission’s SAR Limit. Specifically, the FCC found peak-spatial average specific absorption rate values of 1.73 W/kg and 2.02 W/kg for both phones, which exceed the 1.6 W/kg SAR Limit. The FCC sent a Letter of Inquiry to BLU Products in November, 2018. In responses to the FCC, BLU Products stated that after it became aware that the GRAND MAX mobile phone exceeded the specific absorption rate limit, it began taking measures to implement a solution. According to BLU Products, it had implemented an “over-the-air update that was programmed to correct the issue to 100% of the devices” in March of 2018. BLU Products also stated that it “confirmed, through the Google OTA portal, that 98% of all devices sold were updated to the corrected version.”

BLU Products reported that the remaining 2% of devices sold did not receive the update because the devices were not connected to the Internet, are no longer operational, or had undergone software modifications rendering it unable to download the update. BLU Products ultimately discontinued marketing the GRAND MAX mobile phone in August of 2018.

BloostonLaw Contacts: John Prendergast and Richard Rubino

FCC Proposes $685K Fine for Marketing 32 Non-Compliant Microphones

The FCC has proposed a fine of $685,388 against Sound Around, Inc. (“Sound Around”) for apparently marketing 32 models of wireless microphones last year that did not appear to have been authorized in accordance with the FCC’s Rules. In this regard, the FCC’s Enforcement Bureau had previously cited Sound Around of the FCC’s equipment authorization requirements and directed it to cease marketing non-compliant radio frequency devices. Despite the issuance of the citation, Sound Around continued its alleged illegal practices and the FCC has now proposed a substantial fine.

Section 302(b) of the Communications Act of 1934 provides that “[n]o person shall manufacture, import, sell, offer for sale, or ship devices or home electronic equipment and systems, or use devices, which fail to comply with regulations promulgated pursuant to this section.” Rule Section 2.803(b)(1) states that no person may market a radio frequency device that is subject to certification unless the device has been authorized and is properly identified and labeled. Similarly, pursuant to Rule Section 74.851(f) of the Commission’s rules, certain wireless microphones must be authorized in accordance with the certification procedures before they may be marketed in the United States. Marketing under the FCC’s equipment authorization rules means the “sale or lease, or offering for sale or lease, including advertising for sale or lease, or importation, shipment, or distribution for the purpose of selling or leasing or offering for sale or lease.”

Sound Around is a private company that sells audio and video electronics and accessories for the home, car, professional, and marine audio/video markets through its own websites, pyleusa.com and pyleaudio.com, and the websites of other retailers. These products include wireless microphones. Over the years, the FCC has taken various enforcement actions, including a Citation in 2011 for marketing non-compliant wireless microphones that were apparently capable of operating in restricted frequency bands as well as the 700 MHz frequency band, where they were no longer authorized to operate in the United States; a Letter of Inquiry in 2017 to which Sound Around allegedly responded well after the due date and with inconsistent and sometimes conflicting information. As a result, a further Letter of Inquiry was issued in 2019, which resulted in the discovery that certain models were not authorized by the FCC, others were operating on frequencies that did not match the authorized frequencies, some models were operating in the aviation band, while others were just uncertified.

The Communications Act requires the FCC to issue a citation to warn any entity of a violation when it is not the holder of an FCC authorization and whose violation does not involve conduct for which an authorization would be required before the FCC may then issue a fine. It is only if the entity then subsequently engages “in conduct of the type described in [the] citation,” that it may propose a monetary forfeiture. Here, the base amount of the fine is $7,000 (which when multiplied by the 32 models would total $224,000). However, the FCC determined that significant increases would be warranted based upon (a) Sound Around’s long-running (repeated and continuous) marketing of non-compliant wireless microphones going back to at least 2009 and (b) serious threats to public safety resulting from the marketing of two models that were operating in the Part 87 aviation bands.

This case demonstrates two things: (a) if warned of a violation, such conduct should cease and corrective action be promptly taken and (b) provide responses to the FCC when requested. In that regard, we urge our clients to promptly contact our office if you receive a letter of inquiry, violation notice or citation from the FCC, so that we can guide you through the process.

BloostonLaw Contacts: John Prendergast and Richard Rubino

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