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Welcome Back To The Wireless |
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This Week's Wireless Headlines:
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NO POLITICS HERE This doesn't mean that nothing is ever published here that mentions a US political party—it just means that the editorial policy of this newsletter is to remain neutral on all political issues. We don't take sides.
A new issue of the Wireless Messaging Newsletter is posted on the web each week. A notification goes out by e-mail to subscribers on most Fridays around noon central US time. The notification message has a link to the actual newsletter on the web. That way it doesn’t fill up your incoming e-mail account. There is no charge for subscription and there are no membership restrictions. Readers are a very select group of wireless industry professionals, and include the senior managers of many of the world’s major Paging and Wireless Messaging companies. There is an even mix of operations managers, marketing people, and engineers — so I try to include items of interest to all three groups. It’s all about staying up-to-date with business trends and technology. I regularly get readers’ comments, so this newsletter has become a community forum for the Paging, and Wireless Messaging communities. You are welcome to contribute your ideas and opinions. Unless otherwise requested, all correspondence addressed to me is subject to publication in the newsletter and on my web site. I am very careful to protect the anonymity of those who request it. I spend the whole week searching the INTERNET for news that I think may be of interest to you — so you won’t have to. This newsletter is an aggregator — a service that aggregates news from other news sources. You can help our community by sharing any interesting news that you find.
Editorial Opinion pieces present only the opinions of the author. They do not necessarily reflect the views of any of advertisers or supporters. This newsletter is independent of any trade association. I don't intend to hurt anyone's feelings, but I do freely express my own opinions. |
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Congratulations ArgentinaThis was Argentina's celebration of their third World Cup win—on Sunday.
Fans gathered at the Obelisk in Buenos Aires' Plaza de la Republica.
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Advertiser Index
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Service Monitors and Frequency Standards for Sale
(Images are typical units, not actual photos of items offered for sale here.)
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| Leavitt Communications |
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Robocall company may receive the largest FCC fine ever'The largest robocall operation' ever faces a $300 million penalty.
The FCC has proposed a $299,997,000 fine against "the largest robocall firm" it has ever investigated, the regulator announced. It would be the FCC's largest fine ever, and targets a firm that made over 5 billion calls in three months, enough "to have called each person in the United States 15 times," it wrote. The operation is run by Roy Cox, Jr. and Michael Aaron Jones via their Sumco Panama company, along with other domestic and foreign entities. In July of this year, the FCC issued its first ever "K4 Notice" and "N2 Order" directing all US telephone providers to stop carrying traffic related to the car warranty scam calls. "This resulted in a massive, 99 percent drop in the volume of such calls since June, according to [spam blocking app] RoboKiller," the FCC wrote. The FCC proposed its largest-ever fine because it found the robocallers met the criteria for "egregious violations." Consumers described the calls as "incessant" and "harassment," and the robocallers used dirty practices like calling health care workers from spoofed hospital numbers. The firm also violated multiple FCC rules, like failing to identify the caller at the start of a message. In the calls, a message would open with something like "we've been trying to reach you concerning your car's extended warranty," and prompt you to speak to a scam "warranty specialist." Robokiller advises users to avoid the calls in the first place if possible, not follow prompts, and above all, never provide personal information like banking details. |
| Source: | engadget |
Paging Transmitters 150/900 MHz The RFI High Performance Paging Transmitter is designed for use in campus, city, state and country-wide paging systems. Designed for use where reliable simulcast systems where RF signal overlap coverage is critical.
Built-in custom interface for Prism-IPX ipBSC Base Controller for remote control, management and alarm reporting.
Prism-IPX Systems LLC. 11175 Cicero Dr., Alpharetta, GA 30022
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The Wireless Messaging News
The Board of Advisor members are people with whom I have developed a special rapport, and have met personally. They are not obligated to support the newsletter in any way, except with advice, and maybe an occasional letter to the editor.
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| PRISM IPX Systems |
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Thousands of Users Worldwide Depend on Prism IPXOur Customers Trust Us To Make Sure That Their Messages Get Delivered
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| Easy Solutions |
Providing Expert Support and Service Contracts for all Glenayre Paging Systems.The GL3000 is the most prolific paging system in the world and Easy Solutions gladly welcomes you to join us in providing reliable support to the paging industry for many more decades in the future. Easy Solutions provides cost effective computer and wireless solutions at affordable prices. We can help in most any situation with your communications systems. We have many years of experience and a vast network of resources to support the industry, your system and an ever changing completive landscape.
Experts in Paging Infrastructure
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 |
| Readers of the Newsletter who are Ham Radio Operators |
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| Source: | Amateur Radio callsigns of readers. Please click here to add yours. |
GLENAYRE INFRASTRUCTUREService ContractsI would like to recommend Easy Solutions for Support of all Glenayre Paging Equipment. This Texas company is owned and operated by Vaughan Bowden. I have known Vaughan for over 35 years. Without going into a long list of his experience and qualifications, let me just say that he was the V.P. of Engineering at PageNet which was—at that time—the largest paging company in the world. So Vaughan knows Paging. GTES is no longer offering support contracts. GTES was the original group from Vancouver that was setup to offer support to customers that wanted to continue with the legacy Glenayre support. Many U.S. customers chose not to use this service because of the price and the original requirement to upgrade to version 8.0 software (which required expensive hardware upgrades, etc.). Most contracts ended as of February 2018. If you are at all concerned about future support of Glenayre products, especially the “king of the hill” the GL3000 paging control terminal, I encourage you to talk to Vaughan about a service contract and please tell him about my recommendation. Click on the image above for more info about advertising here. |
INTERNET Protocol Terminal The IPT accepts INTERNET or serial messaging using various protocols and can easily convert them to different protocols, or send them out as paging messages. An ideal platform for hospitals, on-site paging applications, or converting legacy systems to modern protocols.
Additional/Optional Features
Prism-IPX Systems LLC. 11175 Cicero Dr., Alpharetta, GA 30022 |
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Paging Data Receiver PDR-4 The PDR-4 is a multi-function paging data receiver that decodes paging messages and outputs them via the serial port, USB or Ethernet connectors. Designed for use with Prism-IPX ECHO software Message Logging Software to receive messages and log the information for proof of transmission over the air, and if the data was error free.
Prism-IPX Systems LLC. 11175 Cicero Dr., Alpharetta, GA 30022 |
Wireless Network Planners
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R.H. (Ron) Mercer |
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wirelessplannerron@gmail.com  |
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Corporate Corruption & Consumer OppressionCyberTalk TV exposes the real story behind the Elon Musk Twitter Files which is consumer oppression by collusion between Tyrannical Governments and Big Tech. The real story behind the Twitter File release by Elon Musk is the fact that major corporations that include Apple, Meta/Facebook, Twitter, and other oppressive tech companies are selling out their paying customers and/or end users to tyrannical governments, including the United States. Never before in the history of consumerism have we seen major corporations sell access to their customers to tyrannical governments bent on eliminating human rights while interfering with elections, including the 2020 U.S. presidential election. Apple recently disabled the airdrop feature on Apple iPhones owned by Apple paying customers in China who then were protesting the covid lockdowns imposed by the Chinese Communist Party. Consequently, the Apple Chinese customers were systematically arrested, beaten, and imprisoned, some may have been executed. Likewise in Myanmar where Meta is being sued for $150 Billion Dollars for Facebook’s role in the Myanmar genocide of which the mainstream media is not reporting on, including the reports on Apple’s collusion with the Chinese Communist Party and the detail of the Twitter Files released by Elon Musk. Produced by Tech Journalist Rex M. Lee |
| Source: | vimeo |
Brad Dye, Ron Mercer, Allan Angus, and Ira Wiesenfeld are friends and colleagues who work both together and independently, on wireline and wireless communications projects. Click here Note: We do not like Patent Trolls, i.e. “a person or company who enforces patent rights against accused infringers in an attempt to collect licensing fees, but does not manufacture products or supply services based upon the patents in question.” We have helped some prominent law firms defend their clients against this annoyance, and would be happy to do some more of this same kind of work. Some people use the title “consultant” when they don't have a real job. We actually do consulting work, and help others based on our many years of experience. “If you would know the road ahead, ask someone who has traveled it.” — Chinese Proverb
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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 |
December 22, 2022
Rep. Lesko Introduces Bill to Replace Symbol Rate Limit with Bandwidth Limit Congresswoman Debbie Lesko (AZ-08) introduced a bill in the U.S. House of Representatives (H.R. 9664) on December 21, 2022, to require that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) replace the current HF digital symbol rate limit with a 2.8 kHz bandwidth limit. After being petitioned by ARRL The National Association for Amateur Radio® in 2013 (RM-11708) for the same relief, in 2016 the Commission issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (WT Docket No. 16-239) in which it agreed that the HF symbol rate limit was outmoded, served no purpose, and hampered experimentation. But the Commission questioned whether any bandwidth limit was needed in its place. Most amateurs, including the ARRL, objected to there being no signal bandwidth limit in the crowded HF bands given the possibility that unreasonably wide bandwidth digital protocols could be developed, and since 2016 there has been no further FCC action. In conjunction with introducing the legislation, Congresswoman Lesko stated that "With advances in our modern technology, increased amounts of data can be put on the spectrum, so there is less of a need for a regulatory limit on symbol rates. I am pleased to introduce this important piece of legislation to update the FCC's rules to support the critical role amateur radio operators play and better reflect the capabilities of our modern radio technology." ARRL President Rick Roderick, K5UR, hailed introduction of the bill. Roderick stated that "the FCC's delay in removing this outdated restriction has been incomprehensible, given that the biggest effect of the delay is to require totally inefficient spectrum use on the already-crowded amateur HF bands. I hope that the Commission will act to remove this harmful limitation without waiting for the bill to be passed." ARRL Legislative Committee Chairman John Robert Stratton, N5AUS, added that "the symbol rate limit hampers experimentation and development of more efficient HF data protocols by U.S. amateurs. For all practical purposes the field has been ceded to amateurs outside the U.S., where there is no comparable limit. Removing the restriction not only will allow U.S. amateurs to use the most efficient data protocol suitable for their purpose, but it also will promote and incentivize U.S. amateurs to experiment with and develop even more efficient protocols." About ARRL ARRL is the National Association for Amateur Radio®. Founded in 1914 as The American Radio Relay League, ARRL is a noncommercial membership organization of radio amateurs. ARRL numbers within its ranks the vast majority of active radio amateurs (or "hams") in the U.S., and has a proud history of achievement as the standard-bearer in promoting and protecting amateur radio. For more information about ARRL and amateur radio, visit www.arrl.org. Copyright © 2022 American Radio Relay League, Incorporated. Use and distribution of this publication, or any portion thereof, is permitted for non-commercial or educational purposes, with attribution. All other purposes require written permission.
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| Source: | ARRL |
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| Inside Towers Newsletter |
FCC Votes to Require Carriers to Use Location-Based Routing of 911 Calls
By Leslie Stimson, Inside Towers Washington Bureau Chief As many as 23 million wireless 911 calls may be mis-routed each year, according to the FCC. Yesterday, Commissioners proposed rules to better target wireless 911 calls and texts to eliminate that problem. Historically, wireless 911 calls have been routed to 911 call centers based on the location of the cell tower that handles the call. But if a 911 call is made near a county or a city border—the nearest cell tower may be in a neighboring jurisdiction. That means the call needs to be re-routed, costing critical emergency response time, and wasting resources. In 2018, the agency issued a Notice of Inquiry that sought comment on the feasibility of routing 911 calls based on the location of the caller as opposed to the location of the cell tower that handles that call. Earlier this year, the Commission issued a Public Notice to update the record in this proceeding. The FCC cited several advancements in location-based routing technology and some implementation of location-based routing on wireless networks. The Commissioners adopted a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to require wireless providers and certain text providers to deploy technology that supports location-based routing on their Internet Protocol (IP)-based networks (i.e., 4G, LTE, 5G, and future generations of IP networks. Other requirements are here. “AT&T completed the rollout of the technology on its network and currently uses location-based routing to deliver 911 calls and texts to nearly all call centers nationwide,” Rachel Wehr, an attorney advisor in the Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau, said during the meeting. T-Mobile told the agency it’s offering location-based routing to more than 700 call centers. Verizon plans to start work in the first quarter of 2023 to enable location-based routing. “Jurisdictions where carriers have implemented location-based routing experience fewer mis-routes and faster dispatched times. It is estimated this would reduce it from 23 million to [more than] 3 million misrouted calls a year,” Wehr said. FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr described a tour of a 911 call center in Fayetteville, AR last year in which the director said that facility receives about 40,000 calls a year. She told the FCC that roughly 30 percent of those calls are mis-routed “due to calls hitting cell towers that border the Fayetteville jurisdiction with others,” he said. Commissioner Geoffrey Starks visited a 911 call center in his hometown of Kansas City, KS last month. “They told me about crushing call volumes, staff shortages, complex technology migrations, and cybersecurity challenges. They also told me about the time they spend transferring callers in and out of their jurisdiction,” he said. FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel said the agency needs to make sure that the more than 6,000 Public Safety Answering Points “are not stuck with old systems designed for the era of analog calling. We need everyone to take full advantage of the digital age with emergency communication systems that support voice, text, data, as well as feature more redundancy to prevent outages.” Rosenworcel reiterated her call for Congress to approve using some of the agency’s proceeds from spectrum auctions to upgrade 911 call centers to Next-Gen technology. The FCC’s spectrum authority is in the fiscal year 2023 appropriations framework being debated this week in Congress, Inside Towers reported. “With our authority still the subject of legislative discussion, this opportunity is out there. I want us to seize it because today is part of a broader and bolder effort to improve 911 for everyone, everywhere,” Rosenworcel said. |
| Source: | Inside Towers newsletter | Courtesy of the editor of Inside Towers, Jim Fryer. Inside Towers is a daily newsletter by subscription. |
| BloostonLaw Newsletter |
HeadlinesNNTC Files Ex Parte Comments on Enhanced A-CAM, Pending Waiver PetitionsOn December 13, Nucla-Naturita Telephone Company (NNTC), with the assistance of BloostonLaw, filed ex parte comments on the Commission’s Notice of Proposed Rulemaking seeking comment on the so-called Enhanced A-CAM program. Specifically, NNTC supported the Commission’s proposal to add “a new rule to allow high-cost support recipients to report locations that were deployed to during a given year, even after the reporting period has ended.” However, NNTC opposed the implementation of a penalty for such filings, as carriers must be free to meet their obligation to keep High Cost Universal Broadband (HUBB) data accurate and up-to-date. NNTC also provided a detailed analysis of the potential impact of the penalty proposed in the NPRM, and argued that it did not “strike[] the appropriate balance of allowing untimely report locations to count towards deployment but also ensuring timely filing and efficient administration of the program.” In addition to its feedback on the Enhanced A-CAM program, NNTC supported granting the three pending petitions seeking waiver of the current rules. NNTC argued that each petition showed good cause, and the particular facts — in which these carriers are prohibited from meeting their ongoing obligation to keep location data up to date and corrected – make strict compliance inconsistent with the public interest. BloostonLaw Contacts: Sal Taillefer Commissioner Simington Pushes for Expanded Security Obligations for Wireless Device ManufacturersIn an address to the Practicing Law Institute today (December 15), FCC Commissioner Nathan Simington called for the FCC to modify its equipment authorization regime to require device manufacturers to explicitly commit to supporting their wireless devices with security updates for a defined period. He also said that the widespread industry practice of abandoning support of wireless devices while they are still in active use by millions of Americans represents a national security risk. “Hundreds of millions of devices in active use in this country—more every day, and in more applications—are susceptible to known security vulnerabilities, exposing us to theft of private data and to attacks on the integrity of our public and private networks,” said Simington. Without calling out any companies by name, Simington alleged that manufacturers and sellers across the industry had acquiesced to careless practices, “practices that create the conditions for criminals and other adversaries to hack into our devices, steal our private data, and attack our networks.” He recognized that the vast majority of manufacturers are led by good engineers and thoughtful business leaders, but they are “caught in a race to the bottom on price,” and that engineering for ongoing security throughout the expected lifetime of a device hasn’t been an essential priority. Simington argued that the burden of releasing software updates — which require a relatively small amount of labor inside a company’s engineering department — is vastly outweighed by the benefit to society in a dangerous vulnerability being closed on thousands or millions of devices in active use. In discussing the FCC’s regulatory authority to protect device security, Simington suggested that Title 3 of the Communications Act gives the Commission expansive authority to regulate RF emitting devices to make sure they don’t cause harmful interference, and that they operate at particular power levels. He explained that vulnerable devices could be hijacked and turned into a signal jammer or used for Wi-Fi deauthentication attacks, and that vulnerabilities not directly related to wireless transmission could be leveraged to attack other components of a device. He also recognized that device security is a complex issue, and that there are countervailing interests as well, calling for the wireless equipment industry to help the FCC raise the bar for security practices while also making sure that industry is not bogged down with perpetual legal obligations to long-abandoned product lines. “Any vulnerability in a phone operating system, in a smart thermostat firmware, in a 5G base station, is a threat to the security of our wireless networks from harmful interference,” he said. “This makes it very much the FCC’s concern.” BloostonLaw Contacts: John Prendergast and Cary Mitchell. Robocall Certifications by Gateway Providers are Due January 11On December 12, the FCC issued a Public Notice announcing that gateway providers have until January 11, 2023 to submit certifications, including robocall mitigation plans, to the Robocall Mitigation Database (Database). Based on this deadline, intermediate providers and voice service providers will be prohibited from accepting traffic from gateway providers not listed in the Database beginning April 11, 2023. As we reported in a previous edition of the BloostonLaw Telecom Update, Gateway providers must file robocall mitigation plans meeting the following requirements as part of a certification submitted to the Database stating whether they have fully, partially, or not implemented STIR/SHAKEN on the IP portions of their networks. Specifically, mitigation plans must include:
The Commission has defined “gateway provider” to mean “a U.S.-based intermediate provider that receives a call directly from a foreign originating provider or foreign intermediate provider at its U.S.-based facilities before transmitting the call downstream to another U.S.-based provider.” Carriers with questions about this requirement may contact the firm for more information. BloostonLaw Contacts: Mary Sisak and Gerry Duffy Next Secure and Trusted Networks Reimbursement Program Report Due January 11On December 12, the FCC issued a Public Notice reminding recipients in the Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Reimbursement Program of their obligation to file status updates every 90 days, beginning on October 13, 2022. Accordingly, all recipients must file the next status update by January 11, 2023. Status updates are submitted through the FCC’s SCRP Online Portal. Requests for confidential treatment must be submitted separately. As we reported in a previous edition of the BloostonLaw Telecom Update, the report must inform the FCC about the work recipient has done to permanently remove, replace, and dispose of the covered communications equipment or services (i.e., all communications equipment or services produced or provided by Huawei Technologies Company or ZTE Corporation and obtained on or before June 30, 2020). BloostonLaw Contacts: Ben Dickens and Sal Taillefer. FCC Sunsets Form 477 Data Collection, But Form 477 Still Due for NowOn December 9, the FCC issued an Order establishing the sunset of its Form 477 data collection program. The program will formally end upon publication of the Order in the Federal Register. According to the Order, the FCC will collect broadband and voice subscription data using the FCC Form 477, but filers will submit their data through the Broadband Data Collection (BDC) system. As we reported in a previous edition of the BloostonLaw Telecom Update, back in February the FCC announced the filing dates for the initial BDC availability data collection: data as of June 30, 2022, were due no later than September 1, 2022. At that time, the notice of the initial filing date for the BDC did not alter the obligation of service providers to submit the semiannual Form 477 filing; and until the Commission announces a sunset date for the Form 477 broadband deployment collection, all service providers are required to continue to submit Form 477 data. In the Order, the FCC officially sunset the collection of broadband deployment data through Form 477 effective upon publication of this Order in the Federal Register. BloostonLaw will monitor the Federal Register and publish an article when the Order becomes effective. BloostonLaw Contacts: Ben Dickens and Sal Taillefer. Law and RegulationFCC Proposes Fines for Failure to File Disconnection Information in Reassigned Number DatabaseOn December 12, the FCC proposed fines against 12 phone companies that apparently failed to submit timely phone number disconnection information to the Reassigned Number Database. Proposed fines ranged from $33,000 to $93,000. Under FCC rules, every provider that obtains North American Numbering Plan U.S. geographic numbers must submit disconnection information for the database to the Reassigned Numbers Database administrator by the 15th of each month. This database is a resource for lawful callers to avoid making unwanted and potentially illegal calls directed toward consumers whose numbers have been reassigned. The parties will be given an opportunity to respond to the alleged violations, and the Commission will consider the parties’ submissions of evidence and legal arguments before actually imposing any fines. BloostonLaw Contacts: Ben Dickens, Gerry Duffy and Sal Taillefer. FCC Proposes 32.6% USF Contribution Factor for Q1 2023On December 9, the FCC issued a Public Notice announcing that the proposed universal service contribution factor for the first quarter of 2023 will be 32.6 percent. The Commission calculates the quarterly contribution factor based on the ratio of total projected quarterly costs of the universal service support mechanisms to contributors’ total projected collected end-user interstate and international telecommunications revenues, net of projected contributions. The Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC) submitted the following projections of demand and administrative expenses for the first quarter of 2023: ($ millions)
To determine the quarterly contribution base, the FCC decreases the first quarter of 2023 estimate of projected collected interstate and international end-user telecommunications revenues by the projected revenue requirement to account for circularity and decrease the result by one percent to account for uncollectible contributions. To arrive at the final proposed contribution base, USAC reduces each provider’s contribution obligation by a circularity discount approximating the provider’s contributions in the upcoming quarter. BloostonLaw Contacts: Ben Dickens, Gerry Duffy and Sal Taillefer. Amended Cable and Satellite Designated Market Area Rules Effective January 6On December 6, the FCC published in the Federal Register its amended designated market area (DMA) for satellite and cable carriage regulations. Accordingly, these amended rules will become effective on January 6. Under the Commission's current rules, television broadcasters, cable operators, and satellite carriers determine DMA for carriage election and other purposes by reference to the Nielsen Station Index Directory (Annual Station Index) in combination with the United States Television Household Estimates (Household Estimates), or a successor publication. Nielsen Media Research division will no longer publish the Annual Station Index and has replaced it with a monthly Local TV Station Information Report (Local TV Report), which is now the only publication necessary to determine a station's DMA. The Household Estimates publication is no longer in use. Accordingly, the FCC revised the rules to identify the Local TV Report as that successor publication. The FCC also specified the Local TV Report published in the October two years prior to each triennial carriage election as the successor publication to be used to determine a station's DMA, as well as for determining the local market of broadcast television stations more generally. BloostonLaw Contacts: Ben Dickens and Sal Taillefer. FCC Raises Filing Fees in Bi-Annual AdjustmentThe Communications Act of 1934, as amended requires the FCC to adjust its schedule of application filing fees in every even-numbered year in order to reflect increases and/or decreases in the Consumer Price Index (“CPI”) – which, this cycle, reflects an increase of 11.6% in the CPI since the current fee schedule was last adopted in December 2020. As a result, the FCC has adopted a new fee schedule which will raise many, but not all of its various filing fees. The new fee schedule will become effective 30 days after publication in the Federal Register. While the last adjustments to the fee schedule were actually adopted two years ago, those adjustments were significantly delayed until December 15, 2021 for the Wireline Competition Bureau and International Bureau and April 19, 2022 for the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau due to technical issues with the FCC’s fee filing and various application systems. Below is a summary of the revised Schedule of Fees: Wireless Telecommunications Bureau
Again, this new fee schedule will become effective 30 days after publication in the Federal Register – which could be as soon as sometime this week. BloostonLaw Contacts: John Prendergast, Ben Dickens, Sal Taillefer and Richard Rubino IndustryUSAC Updates Broadband MapOn December 12, the Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC) announced that it has released an updated version of the Connect America Fund Broadband Map (CAF Map), available at https://data.usac.org/publicreports/caf-map/. The latest version of the map contains updated information to reflect broadband deployment through September 2022. The CAF Map displays the geographic areas that are eligible for CAF support, as well as the specific fixed locations where carriers have deployed broadband service. The information in this map comes directly from carriers, which submit broadband deployment data annually through USAC’s High Cost Universal Broadband portal. Although they display similar information, the CAF Map is not the same as the new National Broadband Map, the first draft of which the FCC released on November 18, 2022. The National Broadband Map displays where Internet services are available across the United States, as reported by Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to the FCC. The map will be updated continuously to improve its accuracy through a combination of FCC verification efforts, new data from Internet providers, updates to the location data, and—uniquely—information from the public. NTIA Announces Broadband Planning Grants to 10 StatesOn December 12 and 13, the Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) announced the award of planning grants under the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program to ten states. Planning grants may be used for various activities to help a state prepare to distribute BEAD funding, such as:
The specific awards and announcements are as follows: Alabama ($6 million); Montana ($5.6 million); Arizona ($6.1 million); Connecticut ($5.7 million); Maryland ($5.9 million); Minnesota ($5.8 million); New York ($7.2 million); Tennessee ($6 million); Washington ($6 million); and Wisconsin ($5.9 million). DeadlinesJANUARY 31: Form 855 HAC Compliance Certification. The next Hearing Aid Compatibility regulatory compliance certification, certifying compliance with the FCC’s HAC handset minimums as well as enhanced record retention and website posting requirements for the 2022 calendar year, will be due Tuesday, January 31, 2023, for all CMRS service providers (including CMRS resellers) that had operations during any portion of 2022. Companies that sold their wireless licenses during the 2022 calendar year are still obligated to file a partial-year HAC compliance certifications if they provided mobile wireless service and sold wireless handsets at any time during the year. BloostonLaw has prepared a 2023 HAC Regulatory Compliance Template to facilitate our clients’ compliance with the revised HAC rules. Contact Cary Mitchell if you would like to obtain a copy of the HAC Regulatory Compliance Template. BloostonLaw Contact: Cary Mitchell. JANUARY 31: FCC FORM 555, ANNUAL TELECOMMUNICATIONS CARRIER CERTIFICATION FORM. All Lifeline Program service providers are required to file the FCC Form 555, except where the National Verifier, state Lifeline administrator, or other entity is responsible. Since January 31 falls on a weekend or holiday this year, Form 555 may be filed by February 1. The FCC Form 555 must be submitted to the Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC) electronically via USAC’s E-File (One Portal). Carriers must also file a copy of their FCC Form 555 in the FCC's Electronic Comment Filing System, Docket 14-171, and with their state regulatory commission. The form reports the results of the annual recertification process and non-usage de-enrollments. Recertification results are reported month-by-month based on the subscribers’ anniversary date. BloostonLaw Contacts: Ben Dickens and John Prendergast. FEBRUARY 1: FCC FORM 499-Q, TELECOMMUNICATIONS REPORTING WORKSHEET. All telecommunications common carriers that expect to contribute more than $10,000 to federal Universal Service Fund (USF) support mechanisms must file this quarterly form. The FCC has modified this form in light of its decision to establish interim measures for USF contribution assessments. The form contains revenue information from the prior quarter plus projections for the next quarter. Form 499-Q relates only to USF contributions. It does not relate to the cost recovery mechanisms for the Telecommunications Relay Service (TRS) Fund, the North American Numbering Plan Administration (NANPA), and the shared costs of local number portability (LNP), which are covered in the annual Form 499-A that is due April 1. BloostonLaw contacts: Ben Dickens, Gerry Duffy, and Sal Taillefer. FEBRUARY 1: FCC FORM 502, NUMBER UTILIZATION AND FORECAST REPORT. Any wireless or wireline carrier (including paging companies) that have received number blocks—including 100, 1,000, or 10,000 number blocks—from the North American Numbering Plan Administrator (NANPA), a Pooling Administrator, or from another carrier, must file Form 502 by February 1. Carriers porting numbers for the purpose of transferring an established customer’s service to another service provider must also report, but the carrier receiving numbers through porting does not. Resold services should also be treated like ported numbers, meaning the carrier transferring the resold service to another carrier is required to report those numbers but the carrier receiving such numbers should not report them. Reporting carriers are required to include their FCC Registration Number (FRN). Reporting carriers file utilization and forecast reports semiannually on or before February 1 for the preceding six-month reporting period ending December 31, and on or before August 1 for the preceding six-month reporting period ending June 30. BloostonLaw contacts: Ben Dickens, Gerry Duffy, and Sal Taillefer. FEBRUARY 1: Live 911 Call Data Reports – Non-Nationwide Providers that do not provide coverage in any of the Test Cities must collect and report aggregate data based on the largest county within its footprint to APCO, NENA, and NASNA on the location technologies used for live 911 calls in those areas. Clients should obtain spreadsheets with their company’s compliance data from their E911 service provider (e.g., Intrado / West). BloostonLaw Contacts: Cary Mitchell.
Calendar At-a-GlanceDecember January February Blooston, Mordkofsky, Dickens, Duffy & Prendergast, LLP is a telecommunications law firm representing rural telecommunications companies, wireless carriers, private radio licensees, cable TV companies, equipment manufacturers and industry associations before the FCC and the courts, as well as state and local government agencies. Our clients range from Fortune 500 companies to small and medium-sized enterprises whose vitality and efficiency depend on the effective deployment of communications. |
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| TECHNICIAN'S CORNER |
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| THIS WEEK'S MUSIC VIDEO |
“Joy To The World” |
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 Best regards,  Newsletter Editor 73 DE K9IQY Licensed since 1957 |
Current member or former member of these organizations. | ||||
The National  Rifle Association |
MENSA MEMBER |
A Public Library of  Paging and Wireless Messaging Information |
Wireless  Messaging |
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Critical Messaging  Association |
European Mobile Messaging Association  Former Board Member |
ZP5TQ  Radio Club of Paraguay |
Quarter Century  Wireless Association |
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Back To Paging  Still The Most Reliable Wireless Protocol For Emergencies! |
American Association  of Woodturners |
U.S. Navy  Radioman |
U.S. Navy Radioman  Second Class Petty Officer |
Boy Scouts of America  National Honor Society |
Creator of the  Paging Wheel of Fortune |
National Skeet  Shooting Association |
Institute Electrical and  Electronics Engineers |
American Radio  Relay League |
The Radio Club  of America |
Life is good! |
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CONTACT INFO & LINKS
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Amateur Radio
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VETERAN  United States Navy |
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or restructured rate plans (Large – all price cap LECs
