Page 1 2 3 Page 1 2 3 | FRIDAY - JUNE 16, 2006 - ISSUE NO. 216 |
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| Wireless Messaging Newsletter | ||
| WIRELESS  MESSAGING | |
| EUROPEAN MOBILE MESSAGING ASSOCIATION |
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| EUROPEAN MOBILE MESSAGING ASSOCIATION |
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| WIRELESS MESSAGING NEWS |
NEWS RELEASE Largent Warns of Increased Cost to Wireless Consumers Due to State Regulation WASHINGTON, D.C. - CTIA – The Wireless Association® President and CEO Steve Largent appeared before the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee today to reiterate the wireless industry's concern about increasing efforts by states to enact costly regulations. The committee was holding its third hearing on the Communications, Consumer's Choice, and Broadband Deployment Act of 2006 (SB 2686), sponsored by Chairman Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) and co-sponsored by Committee Co-Chairman Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii). During his testimony, Largent asked members of the committee to improve the bill by adding language that would re-establish a strong and consistent national regulatory framework for wireless service. "Over the course of the last year, I have closely followed the debate and rationale as to why Congress needs to update our national communications laws which have led us to this point today," said Largent. "The purpose is simple – create a national deregulatory framework, induce competition, spur innovation and lower customer prices. Ironically, while Congress is working to increase competition and innovation in other telecom sectors vis-à-vis a national framework, state legislatures and PUCs throughout this country are working hard to impose disparate and conflicting state-by-state regulations on the industry I represent." Largent urged Senators to again embrace the pro-competition, pro-consumer mindset that thirteen years ago led to the establishment of an enormously successful federal framework for wireless service. In his written testimony, Largent referred to the many benefits wireless consumers have collected since the 1993 Act of Congress and questioned what additional state regulation would accomplish. "Opponents to the continued national, light-touch regulation Congress put in place in 1993 claim they are trying to protect wireless consumers. Here is the pivotal question you need to be asking – protect wireless consumers from what? Lower prices? More providers to choose from? More choices among rate plans? Innovative new devices with features like camera phones that are sleekly designed?" said Largent. Largent also pointed out that wireless consumer complaints to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) had plummeted by 37% over the past year and now stand at just 22 complaints per one million wireless consumers. The publication of the FCC's complaint data is bolstered by two recent consumer studies, one out of the University of Michigan and the other from J.D. Power and Associates, that found overall wireless customer satisfaction to have increased significantly. # # # CTIA is the international association for the wireless telecommunications industry, |
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Panel blasts FEMA over new, higher fraud estimate
By Ben Evans, CongressDaily
June 15, 2006
The Federal Emergency Management Agency faced renewed bipartisan criticism at a House hearing Wednesday, in response to an updated government report estimating that the agency misspent more than $1 billion in victim assistance after hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
Despite assurances from a FEMA official that the agency is improving its systems, Republicans and Democrats blasted the agency's leaders for not having better protections in place before the storms, particularly since similar misspending was found after previous disasters. They appeared set on moving legislation imposing stronger internal controls at the embattled agency.
"The situation has gotten worse," said Homeland Security Investigations Subcommittee Chairman Michael McCaul, R-Texas, referring to a just-released Government Accountability Office report that found far more extensive fraud than previous inquiries, including examples of prison inmates repeatedly bilking the system to get checks and of aid recipients using their money to buy a Caribbean vacation and a $200 bottle of champagne at a Hooters restaurant.
With tight budgets, McCaul said, "we can't afford as a nation to have $1 billion in fraud."
Lawmakers also expressed frustration that FEMA Director David Paulison declined to testify at the hearing, instead sending an acting deputy director, Donna Daniels, to face difficult questioning.
"I personally think you've been put under the bus by being brought here," Homeland Security ranking member Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., told Daniels, saying that Paulison and Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff "are absolutely the ones who should be held accountable for this."
Exacerbating their frustration was that Daniels said she was prepared to provide testimony regarding only an earlier, more limited GAO report released in February.
She said FEMA had not had time to respond to the new findings, which it received last week. McCaul said the agency knew the report was coming and had plenty of time to address it. Other lawmakers said the lack of response followed a pattern at FEMA.
"It [always] seems like you're a day late and a dollar short," said Rep. Ginny Brown-Waite, R-Fla. "I think the lack of responsiveness should be of concern to every member here."
Rep. Christopher Shays, R-Conn., accused the agency of trying to downplay the findings. "I am less comfortable than when I came ... I still see pushback from FEMA," he said.
In their report, GAO investigators said FEMA had little if any controls for preventing dishonest citizens from cheating the system. As a result, individuals from across the country won claims for rental assistance, hotel vouchers, debit cards and aid checks by providing false names, Social Security numbers or addresses, often repeating their fraud again and again.
Gregory Kutz, a GAO investigator, expressed surprise that the agency did not appear to be conducting simple checks such as address verifications, which could have prevented cases where con artists submitted claims using post office boxes, vacant lots and cemeteries as their home addresses.
"That's fraud-prevention 101," Kutz said. "It seems so basic, but for some reason they were not doing it."
The $1 billion in misspending represents about 16 percent of the agency's overall assistance in response to the hurricanes. But Kutz said that figure probably underestimates the scale of the problem, which the report said could be as high as $1.4 billion.
Daniels said FEMA traditionally has held its waste and fraud rate to between 1 percent and 3 percent. But Katrina overwhelmed the agency's systems and procedures, she said, and FEMA leaders made the decision to meet victims' needs as quickly as possible, often using new and untested methods.
"FEMA has gone to great lengths to make sure it is a good steward of taxpayer dollars," she said, while balancing those safeguards with the immediate needs of victims in a crisis.
Source: GOVEXEC.com
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Source: FCC web site
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SATELLITE CONTROL FOR PAGING SYSTEMS $500.00 FLAT RATE TAPS—Texas Association of Paging Services is looking for partners on 152.480 MHz. Our association currently uses Echostar, formerly Spacecom, for distribution of our data and a large percentage of our members use the satellite to key their TXs. We have a CommOneSystems Gateway at the uplink in Chicago with a back-up running 24/7. Our paging coverage area on 152.480 MHz currently encompasses Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Louisiana, and Kansas. The TAPS paging coverage is available to members of our Network on 152.480 MHz for $.005 a transmitter (per capcode per month), broken down by state or regions of states and members receive a credit towards their bill for each transmitter which they provide to our coverage. Members are able to use the satellite for their own use If you are on 152.480 MHz or just need a satellite for keying your own TXs on your frequency we have the solution for you. TAPS will provide the gateways in Chicago, with Internet backbone and bandwidth on our satellite channel for $ 500.00 (for your system) a month. Contact Ted Gaetjen @ 1-800-460-7243 or tedasap@asapchoice.com | |||||||
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Voice and Data Communications for Outdoors/Indoors Use Available to First Responders and Commanders
BETHESDA, Md., June 13 /PRNewswire/ — With the U.S. hurricane season officially underway, Iridium Satellite announces that many of its partners have introduced special emergency communications equipment and service offerings. Iridium is ideal for backup communications to replace land-based, cellular and radio telecom services often inoperable due to winds and flooding. In addition, unlike most other systems, Iridium is interoperable with all other emergency communications systems, including UHF and VHF radios, as well as others.
"Iridium partner packages address the very real and immediate challenge faced by first-responders in disaster situations — the simple tasks of talking to each other, and of tracking their supplies and personnel — in and out of buildings," said Greg Ewert, executive vice president, Iridium Satellite. "Mobile satellite services play an important role, especially within the first 72 hours of a crisis. Our partners are geared up to be able to immediately ship equipment into the hurricane hot zones or other disaster scenes."
The following emergency response and business continuity solutions from Iridium partners are available to first responders and commanders, businesses, governments and citizens:
Blue Sky Network (BSN) offers solutions for responding organizations that allow them to maintain real-time knowledge of responders and assets. BSN is the leading provider of global satellite logistics solutions for two-way linking and managing remote transportation assets. Using its interactive Web portal, "SkyRouter," with detailed mapping, BSN links enterprises to personnel and assets anywhere on Earth over the Iridium satellite network. Its Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)-certified data and voice products enable users to customize features including safety and event reporting. For more information, please visit http://www.blueskynetwork.com/.
Eagle Broadband Inc. is offering new flexibility to the traditional satellite phone with its SatMAX™ indoor/outdoor, Iridium-based, advanced satellite communications system. Historically limited by the requirement of satellite phones for line-of-sight access to orbiting satellites, emergency responders now have the ability to access dependable and uninterrupted communication from any location via the SatMAX system during disaster recovery. Available as both fixed and mobile units, SatMAX creates a satellite communications "hotspot," allowing more flexibility by enabling multiple callers to use Iridium-based satellite phones in both outdoor and indoor settings without losing a signal. For more information on Eagle Broadband's SatMAX products, visit http://www.eaglebroadband.com/.
General Dynamics offers satellite communication services enabled by the Iridium network providing a wide array of emergency response equipment from satellite phones, pagers and solar chargers to more sophisticated units such as the Reachback™ inverse multiplexing device. The General Dynamics Reachback unit features four channels offering increased bandwidth for remote or mobile transmission of data and voice. It also enables users to compress, send and exchange video, text, voice and images via the Iridium system using the General Dynamics SelectFocus™ image/video compression and exploitation suite of software products. For more information, go to http://www.gdc4s.com/satelliteservices.
Global Satellite USA provides marine, land and military electronics for navigation and communication, providing Iridium hardware, accessories and air time for organizations requiring infrastructure to keep their operations running and their employees safe in an emergency. Global Satellite provides Iridium 9505A satellite phones, which are rugged, weather resistant and encryption-capable, and offer data communications and two-way Short Messaging Service (SMS) capability. Through the company's SatDirect service, customers can even assign local numbers to their Iridium phones. The company offers an extensive rental program with same day shipping of satellite phones in the event of an emergency. In addition, the company's PlaneSight video transmission system for aircraft provides cost efficient, live video surveillance capabilities, and can manage everything from video to Global Positioning System (GPS) tracking to text messaging. For more information, please go to http://www.globalsatellite.us/.
GMPCS Personal Communications offers a guaranteed rental availability program whereby, for a small fee, a responder organization or company can ensure they have satellite phones available for rent as a storm approaches. GMPCS has increased its stock of Iridium phones and has hundreds packaged in pelican cases for emergency shipment (or to be held in reserve for guaranteed rental customers). This guaranteed rental availability program provides emergency organizations, businesses and citizens with an affordable alternative assuring access to vital communications during emergencies. For more information, go to http://www.gmpcs-us.com/.
IDL has created the MXU 2000, a multi-channel satellite communications system that connects PBXs, public switched telephone networks and telephones to the Iridium global satellite system. Available in two- or four-channel models, the MXU is a solid solution for organizations that require emergency communications services, communications with remote locations, or their own private communications network. The MXU is the backbone of the BECoN System (backup emergency communication network), which provides government agencies, public safety organizations and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) with a turnkey, field deployable, emergency communications network that completely bypasses traditional communications methods. Organizations can use the MXU for standard communications with remote locations or to backup voice and data networks. Using the MXU as a hub for a private communications network, organizations can often reduce international long distance costs. For more information, visit http://www.idl-corp.com/.
Infosat provides service to first responders, utilities, governments and resource companies to ensure satellite communications services are available and in place when the need arises. Infosat packages Iridium phones in water- proof cases and assigns toll-free calling numbers to each phone for easy access (especially important for making it easy to reach the Iridium user). One-way Iridium pagers are also available and widely used by police, fire and other emergency organizations, as they can be used indoors and they operate off regular AA batteries. Infosat keeps a large inventory of satellite phones at its offices in Texas and in Canada. For more information, visit http://www.infosat.com/.
Roadpost has created the Iridium GRAB & GO Kit which includes a fully charged Iridium handset, additional spare battery, foldable solar charger and easy-to-understand user guide, all protected inside a lightweight, durable, waterproof carry case that is able to withstand almost any condition. The kit is coupled with Roadpost's Iridium Emergency Plan, featuring a low annual service fee and no monthly charges. Roadpost also offers a number of fixed satellite solutions that can be easily integrated into corporate telephone systems allowing companies to leverage their existing telecommunications infrastructure with the reliability of Iridium's satellite network. Simple to install and easy to use, Roadpost fixed satellite solutions are a vital part of any business that cannot afford to be without an emergency back-up plan. For more information, visit http://www.roadpost.com/.
World Communication Center (WCC) offers a custom-manufactured "Hot Shot Kit" (HSK), based on Iridium's comprehensive global satellite technology, allowing emergency management teams to communicate even in the absence of landlines and cell towers. The portable kit provides all the telephone, e-mail and Internet accessibility needed for a team of up to 32 to communicate between each other and back to base. With all equipment safely contained in a sealed, rugged, waterproof case, WCC's HSK meets the needs of emergency responders for such scenarios as disaster and rescue operations, crisis management, emergency preparedness, business continuity, non-profit and volunteer operations and back-up communications for government, tribal officials and remote businesses and residences — especially those prone to extreme weather. WCC's HSK provides a vital communications connection that implements within seconds and can run for hours without external power. For more information, visit http://www.wcclp.com/.
About Iridium Satellite
Iridium Satellite LLC (http://www.iridium.com/) is the only provider of truly global satellite voice and data solutions with complete coverage of the earth (including oceans, airways and Polar Regions). Iridium delivers essential communications services to and from remote areas where no other form of communication is available. The Iridium constellation consists of 66 LEO, cross-linked satellites and has multiple in-orbit spares. The constellation operates as a fully meshed network and is the largest commercial satellite constellation in the world. The Iridium service is ideally suited for industries such as maritime, aviation, government/military, emergency/humanitarian services, mining, forestry, oil and gas, heavy equipment, transportation and utilities. Iridium provides service to the U.S. DoD. The company also designs, builds and sells its services, products and solutions through a worldwide network of more than 100 partners.
SOURCE: Iridium Satellite LLC
CONTACT: Liz DeCastro of Iridium Satellite LLC, +1-301-571-6257,
liz.decastro@iridium.com; or Jim Rhodes of Rhodes Communications,
+1-757-451-0602, jrhodes@rhodescomm.com, for Iridium Satellite LLC
Web site: http://www.iridium.com/
http://www.blueskynetwork.com/
http://www.eaglebroadband.com/
http://www.gdc4s.com/satelliteservices
http://www.globalsatellite.us/
http://www.gmpcs-us.com/
http://www.idl-corp.com/
http://www.infosat.com/
http://www.roadpost.com/
http://www.wcclp.com/
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