The Obama administration is committing $100 million to spectrum sharing and pushing cooperation between federal agencies and industry, almost a year after the President’s Council of Advisers on Science and Technology (PCAST) recommended the White House shift its focus from exclusive-use spectrum to sharing (CD July 23 p1). Until now, the White House had been generally supportive of sharing, but hadn’t released a presidential memorandum in reaction to the PCAST report. The White House also issued a paper making the argument that the administration is making progress on broadband deployment (http://1.usa.gov/11NlwJI).
President Barack Obama urged the FCC Thursday to make high-speed Internet available to enough schools and libraries to connect 99 percent of American students. Obama wants the commission to meet that goal within five years, which will require modernization of its existing E-rate program, the White House said. “We are living in a digital age, and to help our students get ahead, we must make sure they have access to cutting-edge technology,” Obama said, calling this a “challenge” that businesses, schools and governments can rally around.
Under the proposal, the schools and libraries would be connected through broadband of at least 100 Mbps, with a target of 1 Gbps. Obama said the FCC should “modernize and leverage the existing E-Rate program, and leverage the expertise of [NTIA] to deliver this connectivity to states, districts, and schools,” according to a fact sheet put out by the White House (http://1.usa.gov/10TwH3Q).
HERSHEY, Pa. -- The “bad guys” are winning the war against U.S. cyber defenses, telecom lawyers were told Friday at the FCBA retreat. If lawmakers don’t step up their game, some experts said they fear the results could be as disastrous as aiming a ballistic missile at America. Some panelists said the February executive order (CD Feb 14 p1) to strengthen defenses was intended to spur cybersecurity legislation.
In what might be a first for a major national conference, next week’s CTIA show in Las Vegas will not be attended by any key FCC staff beyond the three commissioners and their aides. With the sequester putting more pressure on federal spending, top FCC officials who usually go won’t this year. FCBA isn’t as lucky. None of the FCC staff will be attending its annual seminar this weekend in Hershey, Pa., because of timing issues and budget cutbacks, we are told.
As it facilitates the transition to IP networks, the FCC should take steps to preserve competition in the business market, Granite Telecommunications told an aide to Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel Wednesday (http://bit.ly/10IPK1I). If ILECs remove copper without being required to give CLECs access to its replacement, “the type of competition provided by Granite would not be possible,” the CLEC said in a Friday filing recounting the meeting. Wireless and other forms of communications are “not an adequate substitute” for businesses, Granite said. Granite also expressed concern about AT&T’s proposed wire center trials, which “may interfere with the services Granite currently provides its customers in those locations.” Granite suggested that the FCC’s Technology Transitions Policy Task Force focus on preserving competition in the business market. Granite has expressed concern that the trials would impact its existing business contracts (CD April 18 p3).
The FCC Technology Transitions Policy Task Force released its much anticipated public notice on Internet Protocol transition trials Friday, but stopped short of approving AT&T’s proposal for wire center trials. Instead, if trials as proposed by AT&T come at all, they would only follow completion of a comment cycle set up by the task force Friday. Commissioner Ajit Pai called the notice a “missed opportunity.”
The FCC launched a rulemaking seeking comment on a Qualcomm proposal for a terrestrial-based air-ground mobile broadband service in the 14.0-14.5 GHz band, on a secondary basis, for use by passengers on aircraft. The service uses time-division duplex technology and is expected to mean faster broadband connections on commercial flights. The proposal has faced continuing opposition from the Satellite Industry Association since the spectrum is set aside as a satellite uplink band. Commissioners approved the NPRM on a 4-0 vote Thursday, but said they want hard evidence that the new service won’t pose interference problems for satellite operators.
The FCC launched a rulemaking seeking comment on a Qualcomm proposal for a terrestrial-based air-ground mobile broadband service in the 14.0-14.5 GHz band, on a secondary basis, for use by passengers on aircraft. The service uses time-division duplex technology and is expected to mean faster broadband connections on commercial flights. The proposal has faced continuing opposition from the Satellite Industry Association since the spectrum is set aside as a satellite uplink band (CD April 30 p4). Commissioners approved the NPRM on a 4-0 vote Thursday, but said they want hard evidence that the new service won’t pose interference problems for satellite operators.
The FCC launched a rulemaking seeking comment on a Qualcomm proposal for a terrestrial-based air-ground mobile broadband service in the 14.0-14.5 GHz band, on a secondary basis, for use by passengers on aircraft. The service uses time-division duplex technology and is expected to mean faster broadband connections on commercial flights. The proposal has faced continuing opposition from the Satellite Industry Association since the spectrum is set aside as a satellite uplink band. Commissioners approved the NPRM on a 4-0 vote Thursday, but said they want hard evidence that the new service won’t pose interference problems for satellite operators.