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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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HELP SUPPORT THE NEWSLETTER
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
(Images are typical units, not actual photos of items offered for sale here.)
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From the CMA Conference in ParisHere an interesting contribution from Steve Nouri: “During WWII, fighter planes would come back from battle with bullet holes. The Allies found the areas that were most commonly hit by enemy fire. They sought to strengthen the most commonly damaged parts of the planes to reduce the number that were shot down. A mathematician, A. Wald, pointed out that perhaps there was another way to look at the data. Perhaps the reason certain areas of the planes weren't covered in bullet holes was that planes that were shot in those areas did not return. This insight led to the armor being reinforced on the parts of the plane where there were no bullet holes. The story behind the #data is arguably more important than the data itself. Or more precisely, the reason behind why we are missing certain pieces of data may be more meaningful than the data we have.”
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Paging Transmitters 150/900 MHz The RFI High Performance Paging Transmitter is designed for use in campus, city, state and country-wide paging systems. Designed for use where reliable simulcast systems where RF signal overlap coverage is critical.
Built-in custom interface for Prism-IPX ipBSC Base Controller for remote control, management and alarm reporting.
Prism-IPX Systems LLC. 11175 Cicero Dr., Alpharetta, GA 30022
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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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Requiem for a TelescopeUntil its collapse last year, the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico spent six decades tuned to the radio stations of the heavens. There is no plan to rebuild it, and astronomers are in mourning.
When the giant Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico collapsed in December 2020, it punched a hole in astronomy. For half a century Arecibo was the mightiest telescope on the planet. One thousand feet wide, it listened to radio signals from the stars — as well as from pulsars, planets, asteroids and more — for any hints of intelligent life, potentially Earth-killing objects and insights into the mysteries of gravity and space-time. The demise of Arecibo also punched a hole in the pride and the economy of Puerto Rico, which has repeatedly been hit by hurricanes, earthquakes and widespread electrical outages. Since 1963, when the telescope was founded, generations of schoolchildren in the territory have trooped through the hills to a sci-fi setting: a gigantic, concave antenna, set like a mixing bowl in a mountain valley, with 900 tons of radio receivers suspended above it. There, young students could rub elbows with renowned scientists at work and be inspired by science, particularly astronomy. Many grew up to be astronomers themselves. Those trips will continue, sort of. Last week the National Science Foundation, which owns the Arecibo Observatory, said it would spend $5 million to establish a world-class educational center at the site. The Arecibo Center for STEM Education and Research would include the Ángel Ramos Science and Visitor Center, as well as an exhibition space, a laboratory, an office space, dormitories, an auditorium and a cafeteria. The only thing missing will be the telescope. The plan “does not include rebuilding the 305-meter telescope or operational support for current scientific infrastructure, such as the 12-meter radio telescope or Lidar facility,” the National Science Foundation said last week in a statement soliciting proposals from researchers hoping to conduct projects at the site. Dan Werthimer, an astronomer at the University of California, Berkeley, who had used the telescope throughout his career to search for radio signals from extraterrestrial civilizations, lamented the decision to not rebuild. “Arecibo was my favorite telescope in the universe,” he said. “This is a sad time for the people of Puerto Rico,” Mr. Werthimer added. “The Arecibo telescope was their pride and joy.”
The sense of loss rippled through the astronomical community. “It was then a great surprise last Thursday when the N.S.F. announced that it planned to turn the facility into a mainly STEM education side and curtail almost all of the science,” Joanna Rankin, a radio astronomer from the University of Vermont and part of a group of some 400 astronomers known as the Arecibo Science Advocacy Partnership, wrote in an email. “Many of us who have used the instrument and know its many virtues have been quite disconcerted by this unexpected turn of events.” A headline in The Register, a daily online journal covering technology, complained that the National Science Foundation planned to replace the telescope with a school. The Arecibo Observatory, officially named the National Astronomy and Ionosphere Center, was originally built as an interplanetary radar as well as a radio telescope to study, among other things, the properties of objects such as warheads tumbling through the atmosphere. Over the years it stood as a symbol of human curiosity and cosmic optimism. It appeared in the film “Contact,” which features Jodie Foster as an astronomer who discovers a communication signal from outer space, and in “Goldeneye,” as the lair of a James Bond supervillain. The telescope helped radio astronomers win a Nobel Prize in Physics for their observations of a pair of pulsars emitting gravitational waves, the ripples in space-time that had been predicted by Einstein. It also joined a new planetary defense initiative by NASA, tracking and bouncing radar off potential killer asteroids.
This September, data from Arecibo helped the agency’s DART mission demonstrate that an asteroid could be deflected when the DART spacecraft clobbered a small asteroid right on target 7 million miles out in space. And in October a group of Arecibo astronomers, led by Anne Virkki of the University of Helsinki, published what they described as a “treasure trove” of data on 191 asteroids examined by the Arecibo radar from 2017 to 2019. The observations revealed vital information on the sizes and other properties of several potentially hazardous asteroids, as well as useful details about the composition of the objects. But time, diminishing budgets and insufficient maintenance took their toll. In November 2020, a cable holding the 900-ton platform of radio receivers in the air over the dish snapped, leaving the instruments dangling perilously. The National Science Foundation began making plans to take the telescope down, but nature beat them to it. On the morning of Dec. 1, 2020, the remaining cables snapped and the platform came crashing down, demolishing the dish and everything around it. Astronomers were heartbroken. But science is nothing if not resilient. Before the final collapse occurred, scientists rallied together to figure out how to rebuild or replace the beloved telescope. Their efforts culminated in a paper describing what its 70-odd authors called the Next Generation Arecibo Telescope, or N.G.A.T. The paper was submitted to the National Academy of Sciences as part of a survey of astronomical priorities for the next decade.
China has recently built an even bigger radio telescope, the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Telescope, or FAST, but giant dishes have mostly gone out of fashion in radio astronomy, in favor of arrays of much smaller dishes that can collect the same amount of radio energy but in a more versatile manner. The N.G.A.T. team envisioned 1,112 antennas, each 30 feet wide, on a giant movable platform, or collection of platforms, that could tilt or swivel to point in many more directions in the sky than the original Arecibo antenna, which was fixed to the ground and limited in how far from the celestial zenith it could point. The N.G.A.T. proposal came with a list of subjects that could potentially be studied if the telescope were rebuilt: pulsars circling the super-massive black hole at the heart of the Milky Way; molecules in the early universe; space debris and space weather; dark energy and dark matter; and much more. “These capabilities will vastly increase the user base of the facility and enable cutting-edge science for decades to come,” the authors, led by Anish Roshi, a senior scientist at the Arecibo Observatory, wrote in their proposal. Radio astronomers concede that, in the best of all possible worlds, the best site for a telescope like the one proposed by the N.G.A.T. team would be high and dry, in a desert, rather than in the stormy and humid mountains of Puerto Rico. But the moral debt to Puerto Rico reigns supreme. The proposal came with a price tag of $454 million, a hefty load for the NSF, which is also fielding requests to invest billions in gravitational wave detectors, a pair of giant optical ground-based telescopes and other ambitious projects that would help American researchers keep pace with the rest of the world. In remarks to The Associated Press, an official with the National Science Foundation said the government already had other instruments that could fulfill some of the duties of the old telescope. In an e-mail, Dr. Roshi, the lead author of the N.G.A.T. proposal, said that astronomers loved the idea of a center for science, technology, engineering and math at Arecibo, but he questioned whether it made sense to establish one there without an accompanying research facility. Dr. Roshi said that students learn more when they have an opportunity to participate in active research and that in the solicitation for proposals issued by the foundation “that part is almost completely missing” He added that whether there was any hope of rebuilding the telescope and reviving the research program, at Arecibo or in some more suitable climate, would depend on who won the contract to run the new educational center. “In my opinion, the observatory and the larger scientific community should use this opportunity to strengthen the effort to rebuild the telescope and avoid destroying the observatory and other research activities currently underway at Arecibo,” Dr. Roshi said. But this moment could also be the end of an era. The announcement of the telescope’s demise came only a month after the death of the astronomer Frank Drake, who used Arecibo to look for extraterrestrial signals and commandeered it in 1974 to beam a historic radio message out to the stars. Cosmic optimism and boldness rely on cash and cables. And no good idea, whether it’s a robot on Mars or a telescope in space, can survive without maintenance. Dennis Overbye joined The Times in 1998, and has been a reporter since 2001. He has written two books: “Lonely Hearts of the Cosmos: The Story of the Scientific Search for the Secret of the Universe” and “Einstein in Love: A Scientific Romance.” @overbye A version of this article appears in print on Nov. 1, 2022, Section D, Page 8 of the New York edition with the headline: Requiem for a Telescope, Once the Mightiest on Earth. |
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| Source: | The New York Times | Thanks to Barry Kanne |
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 |
November 2, 2022 4:34 PM CDT U.S. FCC commissioner visits Taiwan to discuss cybersecurity, telecomsBy Sarah Wu, Yimou Lee and David Shepardson
TAIPEI/WASHINGTON, Nov 2 (Reuters) - U.S. Federal Communications Commissioner Brendan Carr is in Taipei this week for meetings on 5G, cybersecurity and telecoms to show U.S. support for Taiwan. Carr is the latest senior official from the United States to visit the island and the first FCC commissioner to visit. "Everything that we can do as Americans to show support and that we are allied with Taiwan — whether it's big things or in the case of me a very small thing — everything matters to China's calculus," Carr told Reuters in a telephone interview. Carr is holding bilateral discussions at the invitation of Taiwan’s National Communications Commission for a series of meetings with government agencies. He is also meeting with the tech and telecom sectors and holding meetings in Hsinchu — home to Taiwan’s semiconductor industry which he said is an "indispensable part" of the U.S. supply chain. Taiwan's foreign ministry declined to comment. Carr is a strong critic of China and one of two Republicans on the FCC, which currently has four commissioners and is chaired by a Democratic commissioner tapped by President Joe Biden. Carr confirmed to Reuters his earlier comments to Axios that he thinks the U.S. government should ban Chinese-owned short video app TikTok because of national security concerns and that he feels the government will be unable to ensure the data security of U.S. users of TikTok. China, which claims the island as its own despite strong objections by Taiwan's government, has in the past reacted angrily to such official exchanges between Taipei and Washington. China has stepped up military activities near democratically governed Taiwan since August when it conducted blockade drills around the island following a visit to Taipei by U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. The Biden administration has sought to keep tensions between Washington and Beijing, inflamed by the visits, from boiling over into a conflict, reiterating that such trips are routine. The United States has no formal diplomatic relations with Taiwan but is bound by law to provide the island with the means to defend itself. China has never ruled out using force to bring Taiwan under its control. Taiwan's government says the People's Republic of China has never ruled the island and so its sovereignty claims are void. Reporting by Sarah Wu and Yimou Lee in Taipei and David Shepardson in Washington; Editing by Nick Zieminski and Matthew Lewis |
| Source: | reuters |
| Leavitt Communications |
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| Inside Towers Newsletter |
Radio Tower Rescue in West VirginiaA worker stranded in the air for six hours while working on a radio tower near WVRC-TV administrative offices in Mount Clare, WV was safely rescued, confirmed Harrison County officials. As WV MetroNews reports, a boom lift suffered a hydraulic malfunction leaving the unnamed man 140 feet up above the ground. Efforts to override the system were unsuccessful, leaving first responders searching for ingenious ways to assist the individual. First responders, including fire department crews from Nutter Fort and Stonewood, eventually recruited a drone to fly a rope and harness up to the worker. Using the equipment ferried up by the drone, the man was able to lower himself back to the earth. Medical crews were on hand to pronounce the man in good health and able to return to his home. |
| Source: | Inside Towers newsletter | Courtesy of the editor of Inside Towers, Jim Fryer. Inside Towers is a daily newsletter by subscription. |
| BloostonLaw Newsletter |
Upcoming UEI Requirement on FCC Form 498On October 28, USAC issued a notice reminding carriers that beginning in November, USF program recipients who submit a new FCC Form 498 or who want to revise their FCC Form 498 should complete their full entity registration in SAM.gov to obtain a UEI. If you are already registered in SAM.gov, you have a UEI. To find your UEI, log into SAM.gov and select the Entity Management widget in your Workspace or log in and search Entity Information. If you are not registered in SAM.gov, you will need to register for a UEI and allow up to six weeks for the registration to be completed on SAM.gov. BloostonLaw Contacts: Sal Taillefer HeadlinesFCC Announces Tentative Agenda for November Open MeetingOn October 27, the FCC issued a Public Notice announcing the tentative agenda for its upcoming Open Meeting, currently scheduled for November 17. 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. FCC Proposes Rules to Strengthen Security and Operational Readiness of Emergency Alert SystemsDuring the most recent nationwide Emergency Alert System (EAS) test, an appreciable number of EAS Participants were reportedly unable to participate in testing due to equipment failures, despite advanced notice that the test was to take place. Concerns about cybersecurity and that EAS Participants are not addressing equipment failures as quickly as reasonably possible have led the FCC to adopt a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that seeks to bolster the operational readiness and security of the nation’s public alert and warning systems, the Emergency Alert System and Wireless Emergency Alerts. Comments on the EAS NPRM (FCC 22-88) will be due 30 days after Federal Register publication and reply comments due within 60 days. Proposed new rules would require EAS Participants such as broadcasters and cable providers to report incidents of unauthorized access to their Emergency Alert System equipment to the Commission within 72 hours. This would allow the Commission to work with participants and other government agencies to resolve an equipment compromise before it is exploited to send false alerts. EAS Participants and Commercial Mobile Service (CMS) providers that participate in WEA (Participating CMS Providers) to annually certify to having a Cybersecurity Risk Management Plan in place and to employ sufficient security measures to ensure the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of their respective alerting systems. “This effort will help ensure the function of these essential systems in emergencies and that the public can trust the warnings they receive,” wrote FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel. “This is important because the Department of Homeland Security recently determined that some of this alerting infrastructure is susceptible to serious security vulnerabilities. While some patches have been released to fix these flaws, not everyone has installed them. We are committed to fixing that here and now.” The item also seeks to address the issue of false alerts by requiring participating wireless providers to transmit sufficient authentication information to ensure that only valid alerts are displayed on consumer devices. The item also clarifies that while participation in Wireless Emergency Alerting is voluntary for wireless providers, the Wireless Emergency Alert functionality requirements are not optional for wireless providers that voluntarily choose to deliver those alerts. BloostonLaw Contact: Cary Mitchell FCC Announces Auction 108 Applications Accepted for Filing; Challenges Due Nov. 7On October 26, the FCC issued a Public Notice announcing that 52 long-form applications for Auction 108 have been found, upon initial review, to be acceptable for filing. As we reported in a previous edition of the BloostonLaw Telecom Update, Auction 108 offered new flexible-use geographic overlay licenses in the 2.5 GHz band. Petitions to deny the applications must be filed no later than November 7, and oppositions to a petition to deny must be filed no later than November 14. Replies to oppositions must be filed no later than November 21. Parties interested in filing petitions to deny any Auction 108 application may contact the firm for more information. A list of the approved applications can be found here. BloostonLaw Contacts: John Prendergast and Cary Mitchell. Rep. Pallone Requests Information on Deceptive Practices by ISPs in EBB and ACPOn October 26, Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ) wrote to 13 Internet service providers expressing concerns over reports of abusive, misleading, fraudulent, or otherwise predatory behaviors through the Emergency Broadband Benefit (EBB) Program and the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP). Letters were sent to Altice USA, AT&T, Charter, Comcast, Cox Communications, Dish Network, Excess Wireless, Frontier, Lumen/CenturyLink, Maxsip, Q Link, T-Mobile, and Verizon. In his letters, Pallone pointed to reports detailing problems customers have faced, including articles by the Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, and Protocol. Some of these practices include having benefits initiated then transferred to a new provider, or changed to a different plan without their knowledge or consent. Other reports include a delay in the application of the benefit, or a requirement to opt-in to future full-price service, which has resulted in surprise bills that have been sent to collection agencies. There have also been reports of aggressive upselling of more expensive offerings, and other harmful and predatory practices. To assist with the Committee’s oversight of the EBB and ACP programs and ensure their continued success, Pallone requested the following information:
As an example, a copy of the letter Pallone sent to AT&T can be found here. The other letters are substantially identical. BloostonLaw Contacts: Ben Dickens and Sal Taillefer. FAA Warns of Risks to Aviation Safety Unless C-Band Operations are Restricted for All CarriersThe FAA is again threatening 5G-related flight interruptions unless the FCC adopts restrictions on the use of C-Band frequencies near airports. In a letter written to the NTIA and obtained by Reuters, Acting FAA Administrator Billy Nolen said that "aviation safety would be compromised if the U.S. government does not codify certain additional operating limits in the 5G C-Band environment." The letter was copied to FAA Chair Jessica Rosenworcel. Last January, as AT&T and Verizon were preparing to launch 5G service using C-Band spectrum in 46 markets, a coalition of airline CEOs urged the FCC to halt these 5G deployments until it could undertake a more thorough review of 5G and the threat of interference to certain radio altimeters and radars. The wireless carriers agreed to delay C-Band operations near certain airports while the airline industry retrofit their fleets with RF filters to make them less susceptible to interference. Altimeter retrofitting won’t be finished until 2023, and the FAA now wants the FCC to make voluntary mitigation efforts adopted by AT&T and Verizon mandatory for all C-Band operators. Chairwoman Rosenworcel declined to provide further details at a press conference following last week’s Open Meeting but confirmed that the agency received the FAA’s letter and was in discussions with NTIA. Commissioner Brendan Carr had more to say on the issue. “A year ago, a lot of aviation stakeholders pushed hard on this message that, in their words, we were about to see a catastrophic crisis,” he said. “They talked about thousands of flights needing to be delayed, otherwise there was going to be significant harm to these major commercial airliners.” What’s happened over the course of the last year and additional analysis shows that claim by the aviation industry “has not withstood scrutiny,” Carr said. BloostonLaw Contact: Cary Mitchell Law and RegulationComments on Text Blocking Rules Due Nov. 10On October 24, the FCC announced the comment and reply comment deadlines for its Notice of Proposed Rulemaking proposing new rules on caller ID authentication for text messaging and new blocking requirements. Comments are due November 10, and reply comments are due November 25. Specifically, the NPRM proposes and seeks comment on applying existing caller ID authentication standards to text messaging. It also proposes requiring mobile wireless providers to block texts, at the network level, that purport to be from invalid, unallocated, or unused numbers, and numbers on a Do-Not-Originate (DNO) list. Finally, the NPRM also seeks input on other actions the FCC might take to address illegal and unwanted texts, including enhanced consumer education. Providers interested in getting more information on the NPRM may contact the firm for more information. BloostonLaw Contacts: John Prendergast and Cary Mitchell. Stefanik, Gallagher Introduce Bill to Counter Foreign Telecommunications InfluenceOn October 25, Congresswoman Elise Stefanik (R-NY) and Congressman Mike Gallagher (R-WI) introduced the Foreign Adversary Communications Transparency (FACT) Act to address the influence of China and others\ on the United States’ telecommunications infrastructure. According to a press release, this bill would provide critical telecommunications transparency by requiring the FCC to publish a list of companies who hold FCC authorizations, licenses, or other grants of authority with over 10% or more ownership by foreign adversarial governments, including China, Russia, Iran, or North Korea. “I’m working to shine a light on the malign influence of the Chinese Communist Party and our other foreign adversaries,” Stefanik said. “Allowing companies owned by China and our other foreign adversaries to have access to our critical infrastructure is playing with fire, and we must have transparency over the influence they can have over the lives of American citizens.” “Despite the threat posed by Chinese Communist Party-directed telecommunications companies, many are still licensed to operate in the United States. Worse, while malign actors like Huawei and ZTE have received public scrutiny, other CCP-directed actors are currently flying below the radar. The Foreign Adversary Communications Transparency Act will strengthen our national security by providing badly-needed transparency and pave the way for further action against listed entities in the near future,” Gallagher said. In a statement on the legislation, FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr said, “I applaud Congresswoman Stefanik’s strong leadership and thoughtful work to counter the malign influence of the Chinese Communist Party and other authoritarian state actors. Her FACT Act would strengthen American’s national security. And I encourage Congress to move quickly in passing this common sense legislation.” BloostonLaw Contacts: Ben Dickens and Sal Taillefer. IndustryUSDA Announces $759 Million in ReConnect Funding AwardsOn October 27, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced that the Department is providing $759 million to bring high-speed Internet access (PDF, 204 KB) to people living and working across 24 states, Puerto Rico, Guam and Palau. The $759 million in loans and grants comes from the third funding round of the ReConnect Program. Highlights from this announcement include:
USDA is making 49 awards in Alaska, Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, California, Colorado, Georgia, Iowa, Idaho, Illinois, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, Texas, Washington, Wyoming, Puerto Rico, Guam and Palau. This list includes awards to the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe, the Pawnee Nation of Oklahoma, and the utility authorities for the Navajo Nation and the Tohono O’odham Nation. Many of the awards will help rural people and businesses on Tribal lands. DeadlinesNOVEMBER 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 and John Prendergast.
Calendar At-a-GlanceNovember 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 |
On behalf of the Blooston Rural Carriers, we have prepared suggested comments on the Unlawful Text Messages NPRM (FCC 22-72). The comments focus on reducing the cost of compliance for smaller service providers. In brief, we recommend that any carrier-side blocking of illegal text remail voluntary, because the threat from “spoofed” SMS/MMS texts is dwarfed by the volume of over-the-top (OTT) and app-based wireless messaging. Also, tactics and technologies used by bad actors are constantly evolving in response to consumer trends. For this reason, voluntary “best practices” (like CTIA’s Messaging Principles and Best Practices) would encourage more stakeholders in the messaging ecosystem to take steps to minimize unwanted messages. Allowing network-based text blocking to remain voluntary will allow small and rural carriers to deploy their limited resources strategically, and to respond quickly to ever-changing threats. It is important that small and rural carriers are heard in this proceeding so that new and potentially expensive text blocking solutions aren’t mandated when they are only likely to be sidestepped quickly by scammers. For this reason, we are limiting the cost of participation in this effort to $125 per company. If you wish to support, please respond by reply e-mail or contact Cary Mitchell at 202-828-5538 with any questions. Comments are due on or before November 10, 2022. Please let us know if you experience any problems opening the attached file. To insure continued receipt of information from our firm via email, please have your IT Team "White List" our e-mail address newsletter@bloostonlaw.com Please note that we have moved into a new suite within our building. Our new suite is now Suite 825. Blooston, Mordkofsky, Dickens, Duffy & Prendergast, LLP |
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| Source: | YouTube |
| THIS WEEK'S MUSIC VIDEO |
Tennessee Ernie Ford Sings 16 TonsWritten by Merle Davis, sung by the incredibly talented Tennessee Ernie Ford in 1956, the song tells the story of coal miners back in the day who, instead of getting a paycheck, were given a voucher for use at the company store. The rent for their company-provided houses also came out of their pay. They were never handed a check to choose how they wanted to spend their hard-earned pay, therefore they couldn’t even afford to die...”they owed their souls to the company store.” Just hearing the song produces sad images of hardship and struggle like few of us have ever known in this country, thanks to the men who went down into the mines under extremely harsh and dangerous conditions in order for this country to have luxuries we all enjoyed then and now. |
| Source: | YouTube |
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