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Welcome Back To The Wireless |
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This Week's Wireless News 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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There is not a lot of news about Paging these days but when anything significant comes out, you will probably see it here. I also cover text messaging to other devices and various articles about related technology.
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Service Monitors and Frequency Standards for Sale
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Spok Reports Second Quarter 2022 ResultsSignificant improvement in net income and adjusted EBITDA Company progressing ahead of schedule on strategic business plan Second quarter software bookings up 51%, year-to-date software bookings up 23% July 27, 2022 04:05 PM Eastern Daylight Time ALEXANDRIA, Va.—(BUSINESS WIRE)—Spok Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: SPOK), a global leader in healthcare communications, today announced results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2022. In addition, the Company’s Board of Directors declared a regular quarterly dividend of $0.3125 per share, payable on September 9, 2022, to stockholders of record on August 17, 2022.
"We are excited about the progress we have made during the second quarter on our strategic business plan, which is tracking well ahead of schedule," said Vincent D. Kelly, president and chief executive officer of Spok Holdings, Inc. "With our renewed focus on the Care Connect Suite of solutions, we have been able to significantly increase bookings as we continue to work towards creating a more consistent revenue base. Our sales team has been extremely successful on selling our Care Connect Suite of solutions. Our customers have been delighted with our new plans to invest into the platforms they know and love. The pressures from the pandemic have somewhat subsided allowing for more face-to-face meetings. Our pipeline is strong and continues to grow. Our wireless service line is performing on plan. We have right sized our operating expenses consistent with our focus and guidance. We are very encouraged about our prospects for the second half of 2022 and beyond, and our focus remains on creating value for our stockholders by maximizing revenue and cash flow generation.” [Financial tables available at the source.] About Spok Spok, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Spok Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: SPOK), headquartered in Alexandria, 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 Spok Care Connect® platforms to enhance workflows for clinicians and support administrative compliance. Our customers send over 100 million messages each month through their Spok® solutions. When seconds count and patients' lives are at stake, Spok enables smarter, faster clinical communication. For more information, visit spok.com or follow @spoktweets on Twitter. Spok is a trademark of Spok Holdings, Inc. Spok Care Connect and Spok Mobile are trademarks of Spok, Inc. |
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| Leavitt Communications |
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Finally, some good news in the fight to end robocallsThe FCC has been cracking down on robocalls for a while, but now it’s cracking down on the phone providers the robocallers use.By Sara Morrison Jul 22, 2022, 4:30pm EDT
Robocalls suck. They cost us money and time, and are so pervasive that the vast majority of Americans don’t even answer their phones if they don’t know who’s calling. Everyone knows they’re a problem, but no one seems to be able to do anything about it. That might be changing. The Federal Communications Commission announced on Thursday that it was ordering phone companies to block call traffic that the agency believes is part of a massive car warranty robocall operation responsible for 8 billion illegal robocalls since 2018. Or, as FCC chair Jessica Rosenworcel put it: “Billions of auto warranty robocalls from a single calling campaign. Billions!” The FCC has been trying for years to stop or at least mitigate illegal robocalls, only to see the number of them increase along with consumers’ irritation. But it appears that those efforts are finally bearing fruit. Not only is the agency trying to take down the robocall campaigns, it’s also finding and going after the businesses that facilitate them. “We are not going to tolerate robocall scammers or those that help make their scams possible. Consumers are out of patience and I’m right there with them,” Rosenworcel added in a statement about last Thursday’s order. The order targets eight companies whose systems were the source of those calls, according to the FCC. In other words, scammers were buying access to our phones through these service providers. So not only is the robocall campaign being pursued by the FCC, but the phone companies used to make all of those calls are also being punished — and other providers are being put on notice not to accept traffic from robocallers, either. This should, conceivably, mean fewer robocalls in general. This is all part of a larger crackdown. In order to trick victims and evade authorities, illegal robocall networks typically buy up huge blocks of legitimate phone numbers from voice providers who are happy to look the other way as long as they’re getting paid and there aren’t any consequences. But earlier this month, the FCC and Ohio’s attorney general said they had identified and were taking action against several individuals they alleged were behind a robocall operation that was responsible for some of those notorious auto warranty calls. The FCC also sent cease-and-desist letters to eight voice providers that it believed the robocalls were being placed through. The agency was able to determine who those providers were through some of the industry-wide measures put in place over the last several years. “I would say this is a significant development in that it shows that the FCC is expecting the industry to work together in stopping unwanted robocalls,” said Jim Tyrrell, senior director of product marketing at TNS, which offers robocall identification and mitigation services. “The FCC takes this threat very seriously and wants to ensure these actors are blocked,” The FCC has issued cease-and-desist letters like this before, Tyrrell said, but the companies they were sent to all responded to the letters and no further action had to be taken. The eight providers — Call Pipe, Fugle Telecom, Geist Telecom, Global Lynks, Mobi Telecom, SipKonnect, South Dakota Telecom, and Virtual Telecom — were given a chance to respond to the letters. But in this case, none of the providers responded, which allowed the FCC to order all phone companies to block calls coming from them. Needless to say, a phone company whose calls aren’t accepted by any other providers isn’t much of a phone company anymore. “This is the first such order,” Will Wiquist, spokesperson for the FCC, told Recode. “We think this is an impactful effort that is possible thanks to improved traceback ability due to widespread STIR/SHAKEN implementation, productive partnerships with other investigators like the Ohio attorney general’s office, and a strong push from Chairwoman Rosenworcel to take aggressive steps using all our tools to really protect consumers.” Providers that don’t take reasonable measures to stop calls from those eight companies risk getting in trouble themselves. “The implicit threat is that if the FCC finds a provider is allowing this traffic to continue, the commission will take action against it,” Tyrrell said. This might be the kind of threat the industry needs to put real effort into stopping the plague of calls to consumers. Last year, the FCC began mandating providers to implement STIR/SHAKEN, a framework to make it possible to trace calls back to their providers. It wasn’t an instant solution, since smaller providers were given extra time to implement it. That extra time has elapsed by this point, however, and the ability to trace calls back is what the FCC says helped investigators track the robocalls down to those eight providers. The FCC has also been steadily issuing and proposing record fines against other robocalling operations. The number of robocalls appears to be on the decline, which is good news. The number of robotexts, however, has gone up. A lot. Which suggests that scammers may simply be moving on to a new way to annoy and scam us. On the other hand, the robocall menace may still be too big to stop anytime soon. Two of the people accused of being behind this latest operation, Roy Cox Jr. and Aaron Michael Jones, have gotten in trouble for robocalls before and, as a result, were permanently banned from telemarketing by the Federal Trade Commission (both the FCC and the FTC can go after robocalls). If the agency’s latest allegations are true, those bans didn’t do much to discourage them, and it may not be difficult for them to start their operations back up again if they can find more providers. “The problem is, with so many smaller VoIP providers, the bad actor just moves their traffic from one provider to another,” Tyrrell said. “It’s like a whack-a-mole game.” |
| Source: | VOX.com | Allan Angus: There might be a legal spin on paging if the spammers target voice or text messages to paging customers. |
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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Apple puts greater restrictions on iMessage editing and unsending following backlashiOS 16 beta 4 shortens unsend times to two minutes and limits edits after concerns were raised about the potential for abuse.
One of our favorite features of iOS 16 is the ability to edit and unsend iMessages. Just long-press a message and you can choose to edit or undo send (we show you how to edit and unsend messages here). But advocates have raised concerns that the system could be abused by bad actors–texting abuse is common among those in abusive relationships, and the ability to change or hide evidence is concerning. While Apple has not addressed these concerns publicly, some changes to the system in iOS 16 developer beta 4 seem targeted specifically at them. You used to have 15 minutes to edit or unsend a message, and edited messages would only show an “edited” tag to the recipient. The new rules are as follows:
With these changes, the ability of an abusive partner or scammer to use the system for harm is greatly diminished. A two-minute window to delete an iMessage is still plenty of time to catch those “oops I sent this to the wrong person” or “I really shouldn’t respond and just let it go” moments, but greatly reduces the ability to message someone and know that they’ll see it before you vanish all trace of it. Logging (and limiting) edits keeps an evidence chain for those who might need it in the future. Of course, this feature still only applies to iMessages (blue bubbles). Regular SMS text (green bubbles) cannot be edited or deleted.
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| Source: | Macworld |
| 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 |
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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| Telephone: 631-786-9359 | |
wirelessplannerron@gmail.com  |
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We finally know what 'Wi-Fi' stands for — and it's not what you thinkBy Cesar Cadenas published July 27, 2022 You'll never guess
Let me ask you a question: what does the name “Wi-Fi” mean? Considering how omnipresent Wi-Fi connections are, this should be an easy question to answer; especially if you work in the tech industry. If your answer is “wireless fidelity”, that is actually incorrect despite what you were lead to believe, so keep guessing. Could it be “wireless fiber”? “Wishful firedrake”? Give up? It’s actually a trick question: the name doesn’t mean anything. An old 2005 interview (opens in new tab) with one of the founding members of the Wi-Fi Alliance has been making the rounds again and recounts the origin story of Wi-Fi. According to founding member Phil Belanger, the name was picked from a group of ten names that were created by consultancy firm Interbrand. The original name for Wi-Fi was “IEEE 802.11b Direct Sequence” and the Alliance knew that name couldn’t be used. They needed something catchier if the standard was going to be widely adopted, so "Wi-Fi" was picked. Mistakes were madeIf you sincerely thought Wi-Fi stood for “wireless fidelity”, blame the Wi-Fi Alliance for that one. Belanger recounts that some of his colleagues felt the need to explain what “Wi-Fi” meant as they apparently couldn’t wrap their minds around the fact the name was just some marketing mumbo-jumbo meant to entice people. This led to the Alliance creating the tagline “The Standard for Wireless Fidelity''. Belanger admits “this was a mistake and only served to confuse people... ” He called it “a clumsy attempt to come up with two words that matched Wi and Fi.” This mistake was exacerbated when the Alliance printed hats and shirts with the tagline. The tagline was so successful you even had people in the US military calling it “wireless fidelity” (opens in new tab). And if you stop to think about it, that name doesn’t make any sense, either. Fidelity, in a technical sense, refers to how well a device can reproduce a signal. High-fidelity (hi-fi) TVs, for example, can reproduce images that could be mistaken for the real thing. But Wi-Fi doesn’t do that; it’s just a way to connect devices to one another. You’re not reproducing anything. But why let facts get in the way of a popular misconception? In the nearly two decades since, people have embraced the inaccurate meaning and, if you ask them, would likely argue strenuously that Wi-Fi means “wireless fidelity”. Belanger, though, asks people to do their part and “forget the tagline” and its false meaning. Wi-Fi accessoriesPerhaps it's better to focus less on the meaning of the term, than on what the technology means for us. Wi-Fi is an integral part of society and it’s hard to imagine life without it. How many times have we asked a friend what's the Wi-Fi password when you go to their house for the first time? And many of us get frustrated when the Wi-Fi suddenly goes out. If you frequently experience connection drops, we recommend getting Wi-Fi extenders. Also known as boosters, these devices push the signal beyond its normal reach. You should also look into getting a high-quality router to better deal with multiple devices that demand a large portion of bandwidth. As for the future, multiple companies are hard at work establishing the Wi-Fi 7 standard. Qualcomm even claims its Wi-Fi 7 compatible chip will be able to achieve speeds of 5.8Gbps and sub-2 millisecond latency. And Mediatek promises its Wi-Fi 7 platform will achieve speeds that are 100 times faster than the current UK broadband standard.
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| Source: | Tech Radar |
Brad Dye, Ron Mercer, Allan Angus, Vic Jackson, and Ira Wiesenfeld are friends and colleagues who work both together and independently, on wireline and wireless communications projects. Click here Note: We do not like Patent Trolls, i.e. “a person or company who enforces patent rights against accused infringers in an attempt to collect licensing fees, but does not manufacture products or supply services based upon the patents in question.” We have helped some prominent law firms defend their clients against this annoyance, and would be happy to do some more of this same kind of work. Some people use the title “consultant” when they don't have a real job. We actually do consulting work, and help others based on our many years of experience. “If you would know the road ahead, ask someone who has traveled it.” — Chinese Proverb |
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 |
Backblaze Reveals Life Expectancy for HDDs in Its Servers, Going Back to 2013 By Francisco Pires Do higher capacities actually provide longer lifetimes?
Cloud storage company Backblaze is at it again, providing consumers with interesting, practical data on what they can expect from their hard disk drive (HDD) investments. In this case, the company looked at life expectancy data for all the major-brand HDDs within its servers, including products from companies like HGST, Seagate, Toshiba and WDC (Western Digital). This, statistically at least, answers that all-important question of "how long will this hard drive last me?" The results? As we've been showing you over years of reviews and Best Pick articles, there's more to a product than its sticker price and brand-name might suggest. Mileage across HDD brands varies wildy — sometimes even among models and across capacities. Backblaze was generous enough to provide data on various 4 TB, 8 TB, 12 TB and 14 TB hard drives. Backblaze took its analysis as far back as April 2013, and analyzed all hard drives they've commissioned into work in a high enough number that allowed them to apply the Kaplan-Meier life expectancy curve. This curve, which has its roots in biological science, takes into account the number of subjects that have survived a treatment among all those that received it. There's no issue in applying it to other fields — as it often is. In the case of Backblaze's analysis, the "treatment" is the moment these hard drives start running. Unsurprisingly, some of them did die before the deadline for the gathered data, March 31st 2022. Backblaze's analysis for 4 TB hard drives focused on two models: The HGST HMS5C4040BLE640 (sold as HGST MegaScale ) and the Seagate ST4000DM000 (sold simply as a desktop HDD, which were operational from 2013 through 2015. As a note, HGST was absorbed by Western Digital Corporation (WDC) back in 2012, but hard drives with their stickers are still available for purchase. Looking at Backblaze's graph, one would think that buying a 4 TB Seagate HDD would be bad idea; that drop is scary, even if does mean that 81% of the Seagate drives survived. You can also look at these life expectancy rates from another angle: 81% of the drives surviving means that 19 out of every 100 Seagate drives failed. As to HGST, 97 out of 100 survived. Compared to HGST's much more respectable 97% survival rate, Darwin's survival of the fittest term comes to mind. But as you know, there are many more things that go into a purchase decision other than "How long will this part last me?" Things like "How does it perform?", "How easy is it to buy" and more importantly, "How much does it cost?" are unavoidable questions for consumers looking for the best bang for their buck. In this case, the HGST drives cost between 1.2 and 1.5 times more than the equivalent-capacity Seagate. The Seagate drives were also easier for Backblaze to purchase. We also have to take into account product positioning: HGST's drive belongs in the Enterprise segment, where reliability is paramount. The same isn't true for the "Desktop HDD" Seagate drives. These elements help explain both the difference in cost and the higher reliability of one drive over the other, and highlight the difficulties in choosing the right piece of hardware for any one of us. Backblaze, of course, has other metrics they have to consider. While the average consumer would simply swap the failed drive and be done with it, Backblaze's scale means they replaced around 4,200 more failed Seagate drives than the HGST counterpart — 700 more drives a year, or around two more drives per day. At an estimated 30-40 minutes per day, that's a lot in technician-hours.
At 8 TB, Backblaze compared two Seagate drives: the consumer-geared ST8000DM002, and the enterprise-focused, Seagate Exos-branded ST8000NM0055. What's most interesting between these models is that they defy your expectations: The consumer drive showcases a better life expectancy than the enterprise model! At odds with the general product segmentation — and sometimes mission-critical usage of Enterprise drives — this means that the two-year warranty on the first drive is slapped on a model that's actually more reliable than the five-year-protected Exos drive. In general, Backblaze's data shows that 95% of the consumer-geared "Desktop HDD" survived, compared to 93.6% of the Exos models.
For the more data-driven users that either take large numbers of photographs (like me), work with content production, or generally just want to have more available space for their media or household backups, 12 TB drives is where the business gets serious. In this category, Backblaze again compared drives from Seagate — the Exos X14 (ST12000NM0008) and the Exos X16 (ST12000NM001G) against one HGST drive, the HGST HUH721212ALN604, (which may also be found with a Western Digital sticker, by the way). As a rule of thumb, the higher the drive capacity, the more recently it was manufactured. With that in mind, evolving technology in the HDD space means that these have much better life expectancy rates than the lower-capacity ones. All three models showed a 98% life expectancy, and all of them carry the same five-year warranty. With the survival scores being what they are, that's one less factor to consider when choosing the best model for you. You can now give more weight to pricing and/or performance.
As for the 14 TB models, Backblaze managed to compare life expectancy for all three major HDD brands operating today: Toshiba (MG07ACA14TA, enterprise); WDC (WUH721414ALE6L4, marketed as the UltraStar DC HC 530 (opens in new tab)); and Seagate's Exos X16 again (ST14000NM001G) (opens in new tab). All of them showcased excellent reliability, with an over 99% life expectancy across brands. Seagate once again was trailing the other manufacturers, but the margin here is so slim that it's mostly negligible. Compare 1% failure rates for Seagate's 14 TB HDD with the 19% failures of the 4 TB model mentioned in this article, and you'll see how far the company — and HDD tech in general — has come. But that third place may be at risk of change, as the acceleration of failure rates in the Toshiba drives (the red line) does suggest increased failures than would be expected starting from around the 20-month mark. That's something to keep in mind, and also something Backblaze is likely to cover in future blog posts. All in all, Backblaze's data provides an interesting, data-supported insight into the world of HDDs from its position as a cloud provider. Consumers too have interesting insights they can glean from these numbers: It seems that Western Digital disks are generally more reliable than Seagate's, although again, pricing is king when failure rates are as low as they are for models starting from the 12 TB mark. That consumers can still find HSGT-branded hard drives in the market for the lowest capacity options showcases the fact that higher-capacity HDDs are far more likely to have a more recent manufacturing date, taking advantage of improvements to manufacturing technologies. That all by itself might be a good reason to pay a bit more and opt for higher capacity HDDs—especially if you're just buying a drive or two to store data you don't want to lose. But don't forget to back that data up, preferably in multiple places, with one off-site to safeguard against natural disasters.
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| Source: | Tom's Hardware |
| Leavitt Communications |
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Biden administration announces $400 million investment in high-speed Internet for rural communities
(CNN) — The Biden administration on Thursday announced it would be directing more than $400 million in loans and grants to support high-speed Internet projects for rural communities — funding which is expected to reach about 31,000 families and businesses across 11 states. "Rural communities are the backbone of our nation and have a broad impact on our economy, but for too long, rural communities have been left out or left behind and under-recognized for their contributions. We're changing that, and it starts with making sure that rural communities are connected to affordable, reliable high-speed Internet," White House Bipartisan Infrastructure Law Coordinator Mitch Landrieu said on a call with reporters. "Thanks to the hard work of the President, (Agriculture Secretary Tom) Vilsack and the team at USDA Rural Development, our administration is providing more than $400 million in loans and grants to fund high-speed Internet infrastructure for rural communities this week." Many rural areas across the country lack access to high-speed, affordable Internet largely because installing the infrastructure isn't worth the investment for Internet service providers to take on. The new projects' funding, which will come through the USDA ReConnect loan and grant program, is aimed at the construction, improvement and acquisition of facilities and equipment to support rural broadband access. Additional announcements for program funding are expected over the course of the summer. Vilsack said that the $401 million in funding that is being announced today will support 20 projects in 11 states — Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, New Mexico, Nevada, North Dakota and Texas. "This is a tremendous opportunity for us over the course of the next several months to roll out over a billion dollars of investment in connecting people to a better and more modern future," he added, highlighting how connectivity will give support farmers, expand access to telemedicine in remote areas and expand access to distance learning opportunities. Nevada Democratic Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto said on the call that a portion of the funding will go to projects in her state, including "$21.7 million that will go to improve broadband access in rural Lovelock, Nevada." The project, she said, will connect some 4,000 people, 130 businesses, 22 farms and seven public schools across rural Nevada to high-speed Internet Earlier this month, the White House announced that 1 million American households have signed up for broadband Internet credits through the Affordable Connectivity Program since the introduction of GetInternet.gov in May. Through the program, eligible participants can receive a $30 monthly credit toward the cost of their Internet service plan, or a $75 monthly credit for households living on Tribal lands. The administration estimates that a staggering 40% of American households are eligible for the credit. Thursday's announcement marks the latest effort by the administration to highlight infrastructure projects spurred since the start of President Joe Biden's time in office. Unlike the rural Internet projects announced on Thursday, the Affordable Connectivity Program is funded through a provision of the massive bipartisan infrastructure bill passed last year. It will take some time for many of the infrastructure projects funded by the bipartisan bill — new roads and bridges, for example — to come to full fruition due to planning and approval processes and getting shovels in the ground. But the Affordable Connectivity Program is a rare effort yielding nearly immediate and tangible benefits, a critical win the administration can tout ahead of the midterm elections this November. Additional funding through the bipartisan infrastructure law for rural Internet projects is expected to roll out next year. CNN's Betsy Klein and Katie Lobosco contributed to this report. |
| Source: | CNN |
| Inside Towers Newsletter |
Senate Passes Bipartisan Chip Funding BillBy Leslie Stimson, Inside Towers Washington Bureau Chief
UPDATE The Senate passed a bipartisan bill Wednesday that would provide $52 billion in subsidies to domestic semiconductor manufacturers and invest billions in science and technology innovation. The measure is a bid to strengthen the United States’ competitiveness and self-reliance in what is seen as a keystone industry for economic and national security. In a 64-33 vote, the Senate passed the $280 billion “CHIPS and Science Act,” a slimmed-down final iteration of a bill that was years in the making, notes The Washington Post. About $52 billion would go to microchip manufacturers to incentivize construction of domestic semiconductor fabrication plants — or “fabs” — to make the chips, which are used in a variety of products, including cell phones, cars, medical equipment and military weapons. A shortage of semiconductor chips during the coronavirus pandemic has caused price hikes and supply-chain disruptions in several industries. The bill also includes about $100 billion in authorizations over five years for programs such as expanding the National Science Foundation’s work and establishing regional technology hubs to support start-ups in areas of the country that haven’t traditionally drawn big funding for tech. The bill next moves to the House, where Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) has said it has support for passage. Key members of Congress have said they could have the bill on President Biden’s desk by the end of the week, reports The Washington Post. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo has been spearheading the White House’s efforts to lobby for the bill, Inside Towers reported. She noted the United States used to make 40 percent of the world’s chips but now makes about 12 percent — and “essentially none of the leading-edge chips,” which come almost entirely from Taiwan. The United States has invested “nearly nothing” in semiconductor manufacturing, she said, while China has invested $150 billion to build its domestic capacity. Raimondo also said it was critical for the United States to be able to compete with countries around the world that have been providing subsidies to semiconductor companies to build factories. “The chips’ funding will be the deciding factor on where those companies choose to expand,” Raimondo said. “We want them, we need them, to expand here in the United States.” On Wednesday, Sen. Roger Wicker (R-MS), a key GOP negotiator on the legislation, argued there was no more important competition than the one for “technological supremacy” between the United States and China, notes The Post. “The outcome will shape the global balance of power for decades and will impact the security and prosperity of all Americans,” Wicker said. “Regrettably, at this moment, we are not in the driver’s seat on a range of important technologies. China is. China and other nations are increasingly dominant in tech innovation, posing a massive threat to not only our economy but to our national security.” USTelecom SVP Government Affairs Brandon Heiner called the action “a good first step toward addressing the supply chain shortages that concern America’s broadband providers. As we undertake a historic effort to build the networks of the future, we will continue to work with policymakers to ensure we have access to the equipment needed to connect all Americans.” |
| Source: | Inside Towers newsletter | Courtesy of the editor of Inside Towers, Jim Fryer. Inside Towers is a daily newsletter by subscription. |
| BloostonLaw Newsletter |
REMINDER: FCC Form 481 Due This Friday, July 29On July 11, the FCC issued a Public Notice announcing that the Office of Management and Budget granted Paperwork Reduction Act approval for the annual data collection, FCC Form 481. Accordingly, filers may now certify and submit this year’s FCC Form 481 using USAC’s One Portal system. Certified filings are due no later than July 29. BloostonLaw Contact: Sal Taillefer. HeadlinesFCC Announces Tentative Agenda for August Open MeetingOn July 15, the FCC issued a Public Notice announcing the tentative agenda for its upcoming Open Meeting, currently scheduled for August 5. At the meeting, the FCC will tentatively consider:
Each summary above contains a link to the draft text of each item expected to be considered at this Open Meeting. However, it is possible that changes will be made before the Meeting. One-page cover sheets prepared by the FCC are included in the public drafts to help provide an additional summary. BloostonLaw Contacts: Ben Dickens, Gerry Duffy, and John Prendergast. Comments on Certificate of Authority and Interconnection Declaratory Ruling Due Aug. 19On July 20, the FCC issued a Public Notice seeking comment on a petition for declaratory ruling filed by Midcontinent Communications (Midcontinent). Comments are due on August 19, and reply comments are due September 9. In its Petition, Midcontinent requests that the FCC issue a declaratory ruling affirming that a telecommunications carrier authorized to provide any telecommunications service in a state may seek interconnection with any other telecommunications carrier under section 251(a) of the Communications Act for the purpose of providing wholesale interconnection services for the exchange of local traffic, without the need to obtain additional authority from a state regulator, including a certificate of authority to provide local exchange service. The Petition was reportedly prompted by the South Dakota Public Utilities Commission’s recent ruling that Midcontinent is not entitled to interconnection with a rural incumbent telephone company to provide wholesale interconnection services until Midcontinent obtains a certificate of authority to provide local exchange service in the exchange. Carriers interested in participating in the proceeding may contact the firm for more information. BloostonLaw Contacts: Ben Dickens and Sal Taillefer. Chairwoman Rosenworcel Enquires About Wireless Carriers’ Data Privacy PracticesOn July 19, FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel sent letters to the top 15 mobile providers requesting information about their data retention and data privacy policies and general practices. In the letters, Chairwoman Rosenworcel asks about their policies around geolocation data, such as how long geolocation data is retained and why, as well as what the current safeguards. Additionally, the letters enquire about processes for sharing subscriber geolocation data with law enforcement and other third parties’ data sharing agreements. Finally, the letters ask whether and how consumers are notified when their geolocation information is shared with third parties. The mobile providers have until August 3, 2022, to reply and provide a response. As we reported in a previous edition of the BloostonLaw Telecom Update, in February of 2020 the FCC held the big-four wireless carriers responsible for more than $200 million in fines for selling access to their customers’ location information without taking reasonable measures to protect against unauthorized access to that information. According to a Press Release, the Chairwoman’s letters are a continuation of that oversight action and an attempt to ensure that these carriers are no longer monetizing their consumers' real-time location in this way. Any carrier that makes consumer data available to third-party entities for any reason may contact the firm for more information on privacy requirements applicable to such information. BloostonLaw Contacts: Ben Dickens, Cary Mitchell, and Sal Taillefer. FCC Orders Blocking of Scam Robocalls from Cox/Jones/Sumco OperationOn July 29, the FCC issued an Order requiring all US-based voice service providers to stop carrying traffic from a known robocall scamming operation marketing auto warranties. Under the Order, voice service providers must immediately “take all necessary steps” to avoid carrying this robocall traffic (described below), or provide a report outlining how they’re mitigating the traffic. Should any voice service provider fail to comply with these obligations and fail to take all necessary steps to avoid carrying suspected illegal robocall traffic made by/on behalf of these individuals and entities, that voice service provider may be deemed to have knowingly and willfully engaged in transmitting unlawful robocalls. As we reported in a previous edition of the BloostonLaw Telecom Update, the FCC had originally ordered only certain carriers to cease and desist carrying possibly illegal traffic, and ordered all networks to be “on the lookout” for this traffic. Specifically, this applies to traffic originated by Roy Cox, Jr., Aaron Michael Jones, and their Sumco Panama companies and international associates. According to the FCC, these entities have generated upwards of eight billion robocalls marketing auto warranties. The FCC’s Public Notice from earlier this month, which can be found here, lists associates in California and Texas as well as overseas in Hungary and Panama. Under the FCC’s Rules, providers are required to ‘[t]ake steps to effectively mitigate illegal traffic,’ including investigating and taking steps—up to and including blocking, if necessary—to prevent the source of the illegal traffic from continuing to originate such traffic.” “Now that U.S. voice service providers know the individuals and entities associated with this scheme, the Enforcement Bureau will closely monitor voice service providers’ compliance with this order and take appropriate enforcement action as necessary,” said Acting Enforcement Bureau Chief Loyaan A. Egal. BloostonLaw Contacts: Ben Dickens, Gerry Duffy, and Sal Taillefer. Law and RegulationReply Comments on Pole Attachment Proceeding Due August 26On July 19, the FCC granted a petition filed by the American Public Power Association, Edison Electric Institute, National Rural Electric Cooperative Association, and Utilities Technology Council (collectively, Utility Trade Associations) seeking an extension of time to file reply comments on the Second Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking in the Accelerating Wireline Broadband Deployment by Removing Barriers to Infrastructure Investment proceeding, WC Docket No. 17-84. Accordingly, reply comments are now due August 26. As we reported in a previous edition of the BloostonLaw Telecom Update, the FCC adopted a Second Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking in March of 2022 seeking comment on pole attachment regulations. Specifically, the Further Notice seeks comment on the following matters:
Carriers with questions about the FCC’s latest revisions to pole attachment rules may contact the firm for more information. BloostonLaw Contacts: Ben Dickens, Gerry Duffy and Sal Taillefer. FCC Approves PAL Spectrum Manager Leasing Via 3.5 GHz SAS AdministratorsOn July 12, the FCC approved Spectrum Access System (SAS) administrators Amdocs, Federated Wireless, Google, Key Bridge, and Sony to support spectrum manager leasing for Priority Access Licenses (PALs) in the 3.5 GHz band. Approving this capability paves the way for SAS administrators to implement “light-touch” leasing of 3.5 GHz PAL spectrum. Attorneys from BloostonLaw are available to assist clients and their prospective lessees in the preparation and filing of light-touch lease eligibility certifications as well as more traditional spectrum lease applications. In order to support “light-touch” spectrum leasing, SAS administrators must “(a) accept and store the information required in a licensee’s notification; (b) verify whether the lessee has made the required certification with the Commission; (c) verify that the lease will not result in the lessee holding more than the 40 megahertz of Priority Access spectrum in a given License Area, and that lessee operation will not extend beyond the licensee’s Service Area or within its PAL Protection Area; (d) inform the licensee as to whether the notification has been received and verified; and (e) provide the Commission with electronic reports of the leasing notifications it received on a daily basis.” PAL lessees seeking to engage in light-touch leasing must pre-certify with the FCC that they meet non-lease-specific eligibility and qualification criteria. PAL licensees may then notify the SAS administrator of leasing arrangements with pre-certified lessees. Prospective lessees may also certify their eligibility via traditional ULS application procedures and filing FCC Form 608. SAS administrators must use the FCC’s Universal Licensing System (ULS) application programming interface (API) to make the required notifications. They may accept leases at any time, but they can only enter leasing information into the ULS API Monday through Friday between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. Eastern. Each SAS administrator was required to submit supplemental filings demonstrating the functionality of its leasing system and ability to interact with FCC systems before being approved. BloostonLaw Contact: Cary Mitchell FCC Strictly Enforces Auction Down Payment Obligations, COVID Exposures NotwithstandingThe Auctions Division last week denied an Auction 105 (CBRS PAL) late payment waiver request filed by a rural service provider that failed to submit a timely post-auction down payment due to reported coronavirus exposures of its CFO and one other “principal executive.” The FCC’s Rules are extremely rigid when it comes to auction down payments, resulting in automatic default. Clients are urged to make all auction payments ahead of applicable deadlines, and to have backup plans to account for unforeseen circumstances. Hilliary Acquisition Corp 2016, LLC (Hilliary) participated in Auction 105 and was the winning bidder for 42 PAL licenses across 21 counties in Oklahoma and Texas with net bids totaling $805,965. After application of its upfront payment, Hilliary needed to submit $58,493 to the FCC by September 17, 2020, to meet its 20% down payment obligation. Hilliary failed to make any payment by that deadline, thereby defaulting on its winning bids. The Auction 105 Closing Public Notice announced that final payments would be due October 1, 2020, and it gave winning bidders the option to pay their final balance ten business days after the final deadline, provided they pay an additional 5% late fee. The late final payment deadline was October 16, 2020. Hilliary ended up sending the FCC a payment in the amount of $738,428.25 (representing the full balance due, plus a 5% late fee) on October 8, 2020. Thus, the company’s down payment was three weeks late, but its final payment was submitted within the late payment window and included the requisite 5% late fee. Despite these apparent good faith efforts to pay, and a waiver request on file (though submitted a month after its late payment), the FCC followed strict down payment precedent and ruled against Hilliary, dismissing the company’s long-form application, and subjecting it to default payment obligations. Down payments that are even just one day late (e.g., due to a last-minute family emergency or medical problem) are not excused. “The fact that Hilliary’s key personnel were either afflicted by illness or exposed to it is not novel nor is it necessarily unique or unexpected six months after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic,” wrote the Division Chief. “We conclude that Hilliary’s failure to meet its first post-auction obligation does not constitute a special circumstance that warrants a deviation from our general rule.” The FCC’s Order went on to note that more than 200 winning bidders met the down payment deadline, despite the ongoing pandemic, and that the FCC has never granted a request for waiver of a down payment deadline. We urge our clients who are auction winning bidders to coordinate with their banks well in advance of the payment deadlines to ensure that their wire transfers could be timely initiated and completed. BloostonLaw Contacts: John Prendergast and Cary Mitchell FCC Proposes $20,000 Fine for Failing to Report Pro Forma Ownership ChangesOn July 20, the FCC issued a Notice of Apparent Liability finding that Etelix.com USA, LLC (Etelix) apparently violated section 214 of the Communications Act by operating without an authorization, failing to report several pro forma changes in its ownership structure, and failing to update its pending application to reflect these ownership changes. As a result, the FCC proposed a fine of $20,000. According to the NAL, another company filed with the FCC to transfer its customer base to Etelix but, because Etelix’s ownership consisted of foreign nationals at the time, the application was referred to the relevant Executive Branch agencies for review for national security, law enforcement, and public safety issues. Etelix received Special Temporary Authority (STA) to provide service to the transferred customers while the investigation was pending. When the STA expired, however, Etelix did not file for another. In addition, the ongoing investigation that resulted in the need for the STA in the first place revealed that Etelix had ownership changes about which it had not notified the FCC. Failing to correctly report changes in ownership is a common pitfall among telecommunications carriers. BloostonLaw attorneys are available to assist in trantransactions and ensure the proper filings are made. BloostonLaw Contacts: Ben Dickens and John Prendergast. IndustryFCC Announces First Reimbursement Program GrantsOn July 18, the FCC issued a Public Notice announcing the approval of applications for reimbursement submitted in the Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Reimbursement Program (Reimbursement Program). A list of approved applications can be found here. As we reported in previous editions of the BloostonLaw Telecom Update, the Reimbursement Program is designed to reimburse providers of advanced communications services with ten million or fewer customers for reasonable costs incurred in the removal, replacement, and disposal of covered communications equipment or services from their networks that pose a national security risk. The Reimbursement Program is funded by a $1.9 billion congressional appropriation. Because demand for program support exceeds available funding, the Secure Networks Act requires that the FCC implement a prioritization scheme that requires funding to be allocated first to approved applicants that have 2,000,000 or fewer customers (Priority 1). After review of the submitted applications, the FCC has determined that Priority 1 applicants have submitted approximately $4,640,284,672 in cost estimates that are reasonable and supported. Because available funding is substantially less than that amount, the FCC rules require that allocations to Priority 1 applicants be prorated on an equal basis. The pro-rata factor applied to those allocations is approximately 39%. Additional funding made available through denied requests was then distributed to each allocation on a proportional basis, resulting in an adjusted pro-rata factor of approximately 39.5%. Reimbursement Program participants are required to file status updates with the FCC on the work they have done to permanently remove, replace, and dispose of the Huawei and ZTE communications equipment and services in their networks at least once every 90 days, beginning on the date the FCC approves the recipient’s application for reimbursement and until the recipient files its final certification. Reimbursement Program applicants that are eligible telecommunications carriers (ETCs) and seek universal service funding must also certify that they do not use covered communications equipment or services prior to receiving a universal service funding commitment or support. BloostonLaw attorneys are available to assist in meeting certification and filing requirements for the Reimbursement Program. Providers with questions may contact the firm for more information. BloostonLaw Contacts: Ben Dickens and Sal Taillefer DeadlinesJULY 29: 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 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. BloostonLaw Contacts: Ben Dickens, Gerry Duffy, and Sal Taillefer. JULY 31: FCC FORM 507, LINE COUNT DATA (A-CAM AND ALASKA PLAN RECPIENTS). Sections 54.313(f)(5) and 54.903(a)(1) of the FCC’s rules requires all rate-of-return telecommunications carriers to provide line count information on FCC Form 507 to USAC, the universal service Administrator. Carriers receiving Connect America Fund Broadband Loop Support (CAF BLS) must submit this information annually on March 31st of each year, and may update the data on a quarterly basis. Carriers that receive Alternative Connect America Model (A-CAM) I, A-CAM II, or Alaska Plan support are required to file by July 1st of each year. For 2020, the FCC has extended the A-CAM filing deadline until July 31. BloostonLaw Contacts: Gerry Duffy and Sal Taillefer. JULY 31: CARRIER IDENTIFICATION CODE (CIC) REPORTS. Carrier Identification Code (CIC) Reports must be filed by the last business day of July. 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: Sal Taillefer. AUGUST 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 recent 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 (Form 499-A) that was due April 1. BloostonLaw Contacts: Ben Dickens and Gerry Duffy. AUGUST 1: FCC FORM 502, NUMBER UTILIZATION AND FORECAST REPORT: Any wireless or wireline carrier (including paging companies) that have received number blocks—including 100, 1,000, or 10,000 number blocks—from the North American Numbering Plan Administrator (NANPA), a Pooling Administrator, or from another carrier, must file Form 502 by August 1. Carriers porting numbers for the purpose of transferring an established customer’s service to another service provider must also report, but the carrier receiving numbers through porting does not. Resold services should also be treated like ported numbers, meaning the carrier transferring the resold service to another carrier is required to report those numbers but the carrier receiving such numbers should not report them. Reporting carriers file utilization and forecast reports semiannually on or before February 1 for the preceding six-month reporting period ending December 31, and on or before August 1 for the preceding six-month reporting period ending June 30. BloostonLaw Contacts: Ben Dickens and Gerry Duffy. AUGUST 1: LIVE 911 CALL DATA REPORTS – Non-Nationwide Providers that do not provide coverage in any of the Test Cities must collect and report aggregate data based on the largest county within its footprint to APCO, NENA, and NASNA on the location technologies used for live 911 calls in those areas. Clients should obtain spreadsheets with their company’s compliance data from their E911 service provider (e.g., Intrado / West). BloostonLaw Contact: Cary Mitchell. AUGUST 29: COPYRIGHT STATEMENT OF ACCOUNTS. The Copyright Statement of Accounts form plus royalty payment for the first half of year is due to be filed August 29 at the Library of Congress’ Copyright Office by cable TV service providers. BloostonLaw Contact: Gerry Duffy. SEPTEMBER 1: FCC FORM 477, LOCAL COMPETITION AND BROADBAND REPORTING FORM. Four types of entities must file this form: (1) Facilities-based Providers of Broadband Connections to End User Locations (must complete and file the applicable portions of this form for each state in which the entity provides one or more such connections to end user locations); (2) Providers of Wired or Fixed Wireless Local Telephone Services (must complete and file the applicable portions of the form for each state in which they provide local exchange service to one or more end user customers (which may include “dial-up” ISPs)); (3) Providers of Interconnected Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) Service (must complete and file the applicable portions of the form for each state in which they provide interconnected VoIP service to one or more subscribers, with the state determined for reporting purposes by the location of the subscriber’s broadband connection or the subscriber’s “Registered Location” as of the data-collection date); and (4) Providers of Mobile Telephony Services (must complete and file the applicable portions of this form for each state in which they serve one or more mobile telephony subscribers). BloostonLaw Contacts: Ben Dickens, Gerry Duffy, and Sal Taillefer. SEPTEMBER 30: FCC FORM 396-C, MVPD EEO PROGRAM REPORTING FORM. Each year on September 30, multi-channel video program distributors (“MVPDs”) must file with the FCC an FCC Form 396-C, Multi-Channel Video Programming Distributor EEO Program Annual Report, for employment units with six or more full-time employees. Users must access the FCC’s electronic filing system via the Internet in order to submit the form; it will not be accepted if filed on paper unless accompanied by an appropriate request for waiver of the electronic filing requirement. Certain MVPDs also will be required to complete portions of the Supplemental Investigation Sheet (“SIS”) located at the end of the Form. These MVPDs are specifically identified in a Public Notice each year by the FCC. BloostonLaw Contacts: Gerry Duffy and Sal Taillefer.
Calendar At-a-GlanceJuly August September 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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| LETTERS TO THE EDITOR |
July 25th was a very special day for the combined Kanne and Leonard families. It was “unveiling day” for Kanne’s Korner at the Clayton State University School of Nursing in Morrow, Georgia. Judi’s most recent alma mater. To celebrate and recognize the creation of the Judith L. Kanne RN, BSN Scholarship for Nursing, the faculty and staff at the School of Nursing decided to create a small memorial wall and quiet spot in their lobby to remind visitors and students alike who Judi was and what she accomplished in her dual careers as Nurse/Journalist. There were speakers CSU faculty and administration and even I had a chance to say a few words about this special person. The keynote speaker was Dr. Lisa Eichelberger, recently retired Dean and Professor Emerita of the College of Health. She recounted the times that Judi would reach out to her in search of resources for health related articles she was creating. In preparation for her talk, she told us she reviewed all the email correspondence she had exchanged with Judi over the years since Judi’s graduation from the RN to BSN program at CSU. She shared a few and remembered how they moved her to action on several occasions. Dr. Elicia Collins, Assistant Professor and Interim Dean of the School of Nursing lead the ceremonies and expressed her thanks to all those who had contributed to this wonderful day and place. The team at CSU created a special “QR code” (below) that will take your phone to several of Judi’s articles that appeared in Georgia Health News, courtesy of Andy Miller, who was not only one of Judi’s publishers, but also a long time and highly valued mentor. Karen, April and Paul were there along with 2 grandchildren (Athieno & Sophie) plus one more (Claire) via FaceTime from France. Joe Leonard, Judi’s Nephew was there representing the Leonard side of the family. So it was a true family celebration combining our families with the greater CSU family. The first scholarship recipients will be announced in August at the next school term begins and we are confident that this scholarship fund will help build fine nurses under the guidance of the CSU faculty. If you would like to join us in supporting the scholarship fund please follow this link: https://www.clayton.edu/give-now. There is drop-down window that lists specific funds where your gift will flow. Judi’s fund is being added to this list. But for now, please select “Other Fund” and type in “Judith Kanne Endowment” in the box below the list to direct your gift to the scholarship in Judi’s name. Thanks to you all for allowing me to share the day and for your support of Judi’s legacy. Barry Kanne and family |
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| Source: | YouTube |
| THIS WEEK'S MUSIC VIDEO |
“King Clave”Planet Drum ft. Mickey Hart | Playing For Change | Song Around The WorldJul 14, 2022 This special Planet Drum Song Around The World, created for the UN General Assembly and partnership, features the legendary Grateful Dead drummer, Mickey Hart along with extraordinary percussionists Zakir Hussain, Sikiru Adepoju, Giovanni Hidalgo and traditional drummers and dancers from around the globe. The two-time Grammy Award-winning group, Planet Drum, is a global percussion ensemble bringing together the world’s greatest rhythm masters into a one-of-a-kind supergroup and “King Clave” is the centerpiece from their upcoming album "In the Groove" that highlights Planet Drum’s inspiring message of unity through music and the global community. Planet Drum's "In the Groove" album can be preordered at https://fanlink.to/king-clave Through the rhythms of this song, hearts are connected, and differences disappear, illuminating how deeply humanity is interconnected and revealing the truth of the adage: WE ARE ONE. FEATURING |
| Source: | YouTube |
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