House Telecom Subcommittee Chmn. Upton (R-Mich.) outlined plans Wed. for a bill that would create a “major” block grant program for Enhanced 911 funding for public safety agencies, but would condition the money on states’ not “raiding” 911 funds. At a hearing, he said the “comprehensive” bill also would create a national E911 program office in an existing agency such as the Dept. of Homeland Security (DHS) or NTIA. Upton expressed optimism after the hearing that a bill could move before the Aug. recess: “It’s ambitious. We don’t have a lot of weeks left. But it is important to everybody.”

The Colo. PUC plans a series of workshops over the summer to discuss possible changes in the state’s telecom rules. The agency said the workshops, involving industry and consumer representatives along with PUC staffers, weren’t intended to negotiate changes in current rules or develop consensus on rules. Instead, the purpose is to identify rules that may need revision to be consistent with today’s telecom market realities. The first workshop on July 17 will look at general provisions and operating authority. Sessions on July 24 and 25 will look at customer issues affecting all utilities. An Aug. 7 session will address regulatory methodologies and cost issues. The final session Sept. 4 will address numbering, 911, Lifeline service, telecom services for handicapped customers and telemarketing.

The House Telecom Subcommittee will examine wireless E- 911 implementation in a hearing June 4. A witness list wasn’t released, but the hearing will focus on “progress and remaining hurdles” for wireless E-911 implementation. The hearing will be June 4, 10 a.m., Rm. 2123, Rayburn Bldg.

The FCC’s Enforcement Bureau ruled that Cingular Wireless had met a year-end 2002 deadline for providing Enhanced 911 Phase 2 service for at least 2,000 cell sites on its TDMA, analog and TDMA/analog networks. In Dec., Cingular asked the Commission to clarify the date, informing the agency that it had deployed Phase 2-compliant technology at 2,400 cell sites but, as a result of public safety answering point (PSAP) readiness problems, some PSAPs wouldn’t be able to receive the location information. As a result of factors such as a lack of upgraded customer-premises equipment at some PSAPs, Cingular said it was unable to conduct end-to-end testing at those public safety sites. It had asked the agency to clarify that it wouldn’t be in violation of an E911 consent decree because it could provide information to the automatic location information database and had completed all steps toward E911 rollout that weren’t dependent on PSAP readiness for more than 2,000 cell sites before the year-end 2002 deadline. The bureau turned down that clarification request but still concluded that Cingular had satisfied the Dec. 31, 2002, deadline. “We think it is clear that the requirement of the consent decree that Cingular ‘provide Phase 2 service’ means that the carrier must fully integrate its Phase 2 location system with the PSAP and begin delivering Phase 2 location information to the PSAP, which is capable of, and actually is, receiving Phase 2 data,” the order said. The bureau said that under a previous order responding to a request for clarification by the city of Richardson, Tex., the FCC had outlined a certification process. That process specified a wireless carrier that had completed all steps toward E911 implementation that weren’t dependent on PSAP readiness could have its E911 obligation temporarily tolled if the PSAP wasn’t ready to receive the E911 data at the end of a 6-month implementation period. The bureau ruled that Cingular had met the certification requirements through a filing that certified that PSAPs associated with 784 of 2,467 cell sites weren’t yet ready to receive and use Phase 2 information as of Dec. 31.

Cingular Wireless and the Satellite Industry Assn. (SIA) asked the FCC, in separate petitions, to reconsider its decision to allow unlicensed operation of ultra-wideband (UWB) devices under Part 15 of the Commission’s rules. Cingular argued that the decision violated Sec. 301 of the Communications Act, which bars wireless transmissions without a license and “unquestionably requires a license for all low- power transmissions.” As a result, Cingular said, the Commission can’t authorize UWB operations on an unlicensed basis. It told the agency that Congress had identified 4 services in which spectrum use could be permitted without a license and that UWB didn’t fall into any of them. “The Commission’s authority to permit unlicensed UWB operations is therefore nonexistent,” Cingular said: “Once these devices proliferate, there will be no way to cure the interference they cause. This was a problem Sec. 301 was intended to prevent.” Cingular and other wireless companies have contended that the FCC erred in allowing UWB devices to operate under Part 15, in part because there hasn’t been extensive enough testing of the impact on commercial mobile radio service (CMRS) operations and Enhanced 911. Some commenters said the FCC should have conducted tests using actual UWB devices before granting authorization. Cingular said in its May 22 petition that the FCC’s UWB decisions were arbitrary and capricious: “The Commission recognized that any changes to Part 15 must continue to insulate FCC licensees from harmful interference and that, given the importance of this noninterference condition, it ’should be cautious until it has gained further experience with this technology.’ Yet the Commission rejected every conservative measure proposed by the CMRS industry to protect their operations from harmful interference and to ensure that UWB devices do not interfere with E911 calls.” It said the FCC moved forward without “an adequate test record,” even though its Technical Advisory Committee had suggested testing would be critical in any UWB decision. In a separate petition and engineering analysis, SIA said the FCC should revamp its UWB rules because they exposed fixed satellite service (FSS) operations in 4 GHz downlink bands to harmful interference. Rollout of “ubiquitous” UWB devices will interfere with C- band downlinks, creating concern for satellite operators because FSS systems make wide use of that band, SIA said. Those frequencies are used for program distribution to cable headends and radio/TV broadcast stations, broadband communications to Navy vessels, commercial weather data distribution to airlines and position location for truck fleets. “UWB interference could jeopardize the billions of dollars that FSS operators, customers and distributors have invested in FSS systems for commercial and national security purposes and could interrupt vital FSS services,” said SIA, which is seeking reconsideration of an earlier FCC rejection of a previous challenge by the group. SIA said the earlier denial was based on criticisms of the association’s findings “that do not withstand scrutiny,” the petition said. SIA argued that the interference-to-noise ratio adopted by the Commission, unlike that used by SIA, would expose FSS earth station receivers to harmful interference.

Federal grants for Native American telecommunication must be put back on the Bush Administration’s list of priorities, speakers said at an oversight hearing of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee on the status of telecom in Indian Country. Sen. Johnson (D-S.D.) said improving telecom for Indians was “a matter of public safety, not luxury,” and Sen. Inouye (D-Hawaii) said the Administration had proposed eliminating outreach initiatives such as the Technology Opportunities Program (TOP) and the Public Telecommunications Facilities Program (PTFP), both of which helped increase the “hook-up” on Indian reservations, which still have the lowest telephone penetration rates in the nation. TOP has given $17.5 million to Native American tribes for “projects establishing networks that enhance access to education, health and government as well as build capacity for e- commerce, e-training and distance learning,” said Kelly Levy, assoc. administrator for the Office of Policy Analysis & Development in the U.S. Commerce Dept.

A steering council on wireless Enhanced 911 handed a “priority action plan” to Transportation Secy. Norman Mineta Thurs., stressing the need for cost recovery and a single point of contact among stakeholders in each state. Mineta convened the steering council, including public safety, telecom and highway safety officials, last year. “Time is of the essence, not only because the FCC’s 2005 deadline for deployment of wireless E911 Phase 2 is looming, but also because increasing consumer reliance on wireless phones is an increasing problem for public safety when we can’t locate the caller in an emergency,” said National Assn. of State 911 Administrators (NASNA) Pres. Evelyn Bailey, who chaired the council.

Me. Gov. John Baldacci (D) signed 3 telecom bills. The first (HB-570) allows wireless carriers to recover through rates any enhanced 911 implementation costs not covered already by phone bill fees or other funding sources. Eligible costs will be determined by the PUC. He signed another 911-related measure (HB-530) that allows 911 systems to disclose information in E-911 databases to public safety agencies that need the information to deliver emergency services. Baldacci also signed HB-574 that extends the PUC’s regulatory jurisdiction to include switchless resellers. The new law expands the definition of “telephone utility” to include any entity that offers telephone services to the public.

The N.Y. legislature overrode a line-item budget veto by Gov. George Pataki (R) that would have removed from the state budget $100 million for local government to get wireless and wireline enhanced 911 networks built and running. The funds would come from a state bond issue. The money in the budget was only 1/3 of what originally was proposed. Pataki had chopped the 911 item as part of an effort to cut $1.3 billion from the state budget. He said he vetoed the 911 item because borrowing wasn’t a wise way to pay for the program.

Cablevision said its first-quarter net loss shrank to $140 million on revenue of $982 million, from a loss of $249 on $911 million revenue a year ago. The company said it added 185,000 digital video customers and 82,700 high-speed subscribers in the quarter, but lost 11,600 cable customers. It said EBITDA grew 36% to $299 million.