Dear Friends of Wireless Messaging,

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 weekly newsletter is an aggregator — a service that aggregates news from other news sources. On topics like:

• Emergency Radio Communications
• Wireless Text Messaging
• Critical Messaging
• Telemetry
• Paging
• WiMAX
• Wi-Fi

You can help by sharing any news of interest that you find.

Daviscomms Worldwide has named VCP International as it's exclusive partner in North America. VCP is now your single source for the industry-leading full-line of Daviscomms products. Please see the news release, and their new advertisement following immediately below.

Congratulations to our friends at VCP on obtaining this important product line. VCP has many years of experience in the paging/wireless messaging industry.

My daughter Allison, continues to promote an unlimited nationwide 4G voice, text and data service for only $49. Please see her advertisement following.

There is more interesting information this week on POCSAG-coding issues. There are two LETTERS TO THE EDITOR from gentlemen who are really experts on the fine points of POCSAG encoding. Vic Jensen was the manager of Motorola's paging terminal product group, and Jay Moskowitz was the senior engineer at Spectrum Communications and then founder/owner of Real Time Strategies (RTS) — both paging terminal manufacturers. It was my pleasure to work with both of them “in previous lifetimes.”

Now on to more news.

Wayne County, Illinois Weather

Wireless Messaging News
Emergency Radio Communications Wireless Messaging Critical Messaging Telemetry Paging WiMAX Wi-Fi	WIRELESS MESSAGING

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.

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.

You can help support the Wireless Messaging News by clicking on the PayPal Donate button above.

Newspapers generally cost 75¢ a copy and they hardly ever mention paging. If you receive some benefit from this publication maybe you would like to help support it financially? A donation of $25.00 would represent approximately 50¢ a copy for one year. If you are willing and able, please click on the PayPal Donate button above.

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IMPORTANT LINKS:

The Dean Mercer Memorial Fund:

www.DeanMercerMemorial.com

Total funds raised to help the Dean Mercer family — as of today's date: $8,655. (Unfortunately this is the same as last two weeks.)

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VCP International, Inc.

For Immediate Release : The United States paging industry has become better and more productive with the recent announcement by Daviscomms Worldwide naming VCP International it's exclusive partner in North America, and discontinuing all previous relationships. VCP is now your single source for the industry leading full line of Daviscomms products in North America.

Whether it's your traditional Bravo 802 or the newest BR808 with significant upgrades in firmware and capabilities in a paging product, VCP, with its full service capabilities, large inventory levels and rapid turnaround times will have your team and users communicating more often and with greater ease. "This decision is a great alignment with Daviscomms Worldwide and VCP's strategy to serve the market in North America with the best service and products to truly help customers maximize their business results.  We are very excited for this direction and look forward to continuing to grow our customer relationships," says VCP International, Inc. Vice President John Childress.

This decision is effective immediately. To learn more how VCP may be able to help, please reach out directly to VCP and John Childress at johnc@vcpint.com or 800-442-7001, ext 406.

About DAVISCOMMS (S) PTE LTD : DAVISCOMMS (S) PTE LTD is established in Jan 2000 and is in the business of providing Contract Design and Manufacturing services for a wide range of high quality consumer and industrial wireless telecommunication products such as PAGERS and PAGING SYSTEMS, TELEMETRY MODULES, HANDPHONES, 2.4GHz/GSM/GPS based TRACKING DEVICES and other MOBILE HANDHELD DEVICES as well as Printed Circuit Board Assemblies. Our Design Center is located in Singapore with a team of Engineers serving our global customers needs for qualified and experienced product design expertise to bring their great product ideas and concepts to life. Our wholly owned subsidiary, Daviscomms (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd, based in Penang, Malaysia, an MS ISO 9001:2008 certified factory, has a 4000 square meter state-of-the-art Manufacturing facility utilizing world class manufacturing systems and process to cater to the varied needs of our customers' products.

About VCP International, Inc. : As a master distributor for more than sixty years and delivering communications solutions since 1988, VCP International Inc., headquartered in Texas and centrally located to serve coast-to-coast, has more than 190,000 items serving customers in all fifty states, Canada and Mexico. With industry leading technology, same day shipping and staff with knowledge and expertise, VCP listens and develops solutions with you to improve your communications, reduce your operating costs and provide you speed in delivery. For additional information and inquiries, please contact John Childress at 800-442-7001, ext 406 and e-mail at johnc@vcpint.com .

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T-Mobile, With iPhone, Is Preparing to 'Disrupt' the Industry

By Michelle Maisto
Posted 2012-12-10
eWEEK

T-Mobile, whose end had seemed nigh, has made a rather convincing argument that it has all the pieces in place to soon disrupt the mobile industry.

T-Mobile is getting ready to disrupt the mobile industry.

At parent-company Deutsche Telekom's Capital Markets Day in Germany Dec. 6, executives laid out their plans for turning around the ailing carrier and becoming a major market force.

During the third quarter, the nation's fourth-largest carrier saw service revenues fall by 8.7 percent, as nearly half a million postpaid clients took their business elsewhere—likely to a competitor with an iPhone. During a Nov. 8 earnings call, executives had put a hopeful spin on things, saying that their recently signed deal to merge with MetroPCS would soon pay off. And there was also the upcoming Long-Term Evolution (LTE) network—a benefit of the $4 billion and portion of AT&T spectrum that T-Mobile received after spending a rather progress-free 2011 waiting to see whether the federal government would approve AT&T's attempt to buy it. (It didn't.)

At the Capital Markets Day, highlighting how various recent deals fit together into a greater whole, they made a more convincing argument for a newly emboldened T-Mobile.

Most notably, CEO John Legere, new to the role as of September, announced that in 2013, T-Mobile would finally sell Apple products. He didn't specify which ones, however, or say that it would offer the very latest iPhone model. The device he pulled from—and quickly returned to—his pocket seemed to be the iPhone 4S, not the iPhone 5.

"A certain number of customers wouldn't come to the store if we didn't have the iPhone," said Legere, explaining that the carrier's problem, or part of it, was quite clear. "It had just a definite churn impact, and we worked very, very hard on a deal that makes sense for us."

Still, this time without an iPhone hasn't been without its upside. "The good news," said Legere, "is we've become an incredible sales machine of the other very competitive devices."

During its iPhone-free time, T-Mobile also accomplished a good deal of what Legere referred to as "table setting." It worked out the deals with MetroPCS and Apple, it got ahead of its timeline for rolling out LTE, it purchased towers from Crown Castle and it arranged a spectrum swap with Verizon Wireless. The result, said Legere, is that an employee base, which in mid-2011 was "dejected," is now "jumping out of their chairs" with excitement.

"We've got a very excited, invigorated team, which is hugely, hugely important," he said.

CTO Neville Ray, before discussing the "three key pillars" of T-Mobile's network modernization strategy—the introduction of High Speed Packet Access (HSPA) in the 1900 PCS spectrum band, the upgrading of cell sites with "state-of-the-art" radio electronics, and its ahead-of-schedule LTE launch—pointed out that T-Mobile's current network quality shouldn't be overlooked.

In an independent study performed earlier this year, Ray said, "across one-third of the markets that were tested we outperformed Verizon. And you can see some of those markets there, big markets such as New York and Chicago, where we outperformed with 42 HSPA+ the LTE version that Verizon has launched with."

As for that ahead-of-schedule LTE rollout, while the carrier had earlier stated it would begin rolling out LTE in mid-2013, "We're now in a position where we can talk about half of that 200 million [people we'd cover] for the end of the year will be available for our customers by midyear," said Ray.

In areas where the network has already been "modernized," he added, T-Mobile is seeing about 30 percent more data traffic and 10 percent more voice traffic coming onto the network. Plus, dropped-rate calls, already less than 1 percent, will be reduced by a third.

Concluding his remarks, Ray discussed the MetroPCS deal—which includes a user base that upgrades their phones at a particularly quick rate—saying that the aspect that has him most excited is the chunk of AWS band spectrum that the combined networks will create.

T-Mobile will move from a 2x10 spectrum position in LTE to, in 2014 and 2015, a 2x20 spectrum position, he explained, "which will be very, very difficult for almost all of our competitors to match in the U.S. marketplace."

"It will be highly performing, we can double speeds," Ray continued. "This network is going to pack a significant punch at a critical time in the U.S. marketplace—one that I think will be the envy of our competitors."

But it was Legere who delivered arguably the juiciest news—a plan for selling the iPhone, and other devices, that will both lower subscribers' up-front costs and enable T-Mobile to benefit from the iPhone within a year. (Sprint, by contrast, won't benefit from the iPhones it sold in 2011 until 2015.)

"Customers are really still pissed off at very unpredictable billing, very unclear pricing, restrictive and confusing upgrades and unfair treatment of loyal customers in this whole way that we sell them a phone and bury the costs into a long-term contract and tie them in," said Legere. "We think there is huge room for a challenger to change some of that in a way that the larger players will not be able to, or will choose not to, respond to."

T-Mobile is moving to 100 percent Value Plans—which is what 80 percent of its customers have already been choosing. The plans include the ability to pay, say, $99 upfront for an iPhone and then make payments of $15 or $20 on the device for 20 months or so. By that arrangement, T-Mobile is saved from swallowing the device subsidies that have heavily burdened its peers.

Customers, while on a two-year contract, can also trade in the phone whenever they want.

"We will give you residual value, let you trade in the phone, stay on the contract services that you have," said Legere. "There's a lot of capability in it for us. We are able to refurbish those devices."

He called the Value Plans "step one" in the many steps T-Mobile is taking to "disrupt the industry."

"Trust me," he continued, "the way we will roll this out in the unshackling, and the lack of being attached and the ability to constantly upgrade devices and to see exactly what you're being charged is going to be a big deal for customers and a big deal for the brand and a tough one for [our rivals] to respond to."

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U.S. Rejects Telecommunications Treaty

By ERIC PFANNER
Published: December 13, 2012

DUBAI — Talks on a proposed treaty governing international telecommunications collapsed in acrimony on Thursday when the United States rejected the agreement on the eve of its scheduled signing, citing an inability to resolve an impasse over the Internet.

Kamran Jebreili/Associated Press
Participants at the Dubai conference listened on Dec. 3 to Hamdoun Touré of the International Telecommunication Union.

"It is with a heavy heart that I have to announce that the United States must communicate that it is unable to sign the agreement in its current form," Terry Kramer, head of the American delegation, announced moments after a final draft appeared to have been approved by a majority of nations.

The United States announcement was seconded by Canada and several European countries after nearly two weeks of talks that had often pitted Western governments against Russia, China and developing countries. The East-West and North-South divisions harked back to the cold war, even though that conflict did not stop previous agreements to connect telephone calls across the Iron Curtain.

While the proposed agreement was not set to take effect until 2015 and was not legally binding, Mr. Kramer insisted that the United States and its supporters had headed off a significant threat to the "open Internet."

The messy end to the proceedings highlighted intractable differences of opinion over the ever-growing importance of digital communications networks as tools for personal communications, global commerce, political proselytization and even unconventional warfare.

"The word 'Internet' was repeated throughout this conference and I believe this is simply a recognition of the current reality — the two worlds of telecommunications and Internet are inextricably linked," said Hamadoun Touré, secretary general of the International Telecommunication Union.

The United States has consistently maintained that the Internet should not have been mentioned in the proposed treaty, which dealt with technical matters like connecting international telephone calls, because doing so could lead to curbs on free speech and replace the existing, bottom-up form of Internet oversight with a government-led model.

"We cannot support a treaty that is not supportive of the multi-stakeholder model of Internet governance," Mr. Kramer said. His announcement came moments after the telecommunication union, the United Nations agency that convened the talks here, announced that a final version of the text had been formulated.

A bloc of countries led by Russia that included China and the host nation, the United Arab Emirates, argued throughout the negotiations that the Internet was within the scope of the talks because Internet traffic traveled through telecommunications networks.

The goal of the talks, which were led by Mohamed Nasser al-Ghanim, director general of the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of the United Arab Emirates, was to revise a document that was last updated in 1988, when the Internet was in its early stages of development.

Agreement was never going to be easy. Like most U.N. agencies, the International Telecommunication Union tries to operate by consensus, resorting to majority vote only when this fails.

The United States delegation was apparently angered by developments early Wednesday, when Russia and its allies succeeded in winning, by a mere show of hands, approval of a resolution that mentioned the Internet. The informal vote followed an attempt by Mr. Ghanim to gauge, as he put it, "the temperature of the room."

The United States and its supporters interpreted the wording of the resolution as supporting a shift in the governance of the Internet to bring it under the regulatory framework of the telecommunication union.

The Internet is currently overseen by a loose grouping of organizations, mostly in the private sector, rather than by governments. But at least one, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, operates under a contract from the United States government.

Resolutions are not officially part of the treaty wording, and Russia and its allies previously tried to include a similar clause in the actual treaty. But under a compromise, it agreed this week to withdraw that proposal and settle for the lesser measure. Even that, however, was insufficient to address the concerns of the United States and its supporters.

Before rejecting the proposed treaty, the United States secured several critical victories in the negotiations. Proposals to require Internet companies to pay telecommunications companies for the traffic on their networks, sought by some African and Asian nations and by European phone companies, were removed.

But other wording to which the United States objected, dealing with network security and spam, remained. The United States argued that these provisions could be used by governments as a pretext for a clampdown on free speech.

Another thorny issue was whether the treaty should include a reference to human rights in its preamble. Several European countries, supported by the United States, Tunisia, Kenya and others, managed to insert such language into the proposal, arguing that "nondiscriminatory access" to telecommunications was an important free-speech issue. But China, Saudi Arabia and other countries consistently opposed this.

Late Thursday, a new dispute flared over a proposal by African nations to add a guarantee that nations, not just individuals, should have access to "international telecommunications services." This was adopted in a majority vote, over the objections of the United States and many European nations.

The United States position on many issues has been supported by intense lobbying from Internet companies like Google and groups that campaign against restrictions on the Web, like the Internet Society. Fears about what might happen at the conference were fueled by the fact that it took place in the United Arab Emirates, whose government was alarmed by the role of the Internet in helping to bring about the Arab Spring.

The telecommunication union has consistently maintained that it has no interest in overseeing the Internet. The Russian delegation, too, insisted that it had no intention of usurping key Internet governance functions.

"The Americans are the fathers and mothers of the Internet, and we have to appreciate that," said Andrey V. Krutskikh, a Russian Foreign Ministry official. "But words like 'Internet' and 'security' should not be treated like curse words. They have been treated like curse words by some delegations at this conference."

In an interview, Mr. Krutskikh expressed frustration that the United States had not budged after Russia made a concession by accepting a mere resolution, rather than actual treaty wording, on the issue of Internet "public policy issues." The Russian proposal drew broad support from non-Western delegations. The proposal was aimed at reflecting the "reality" that the Internet is a telecommunications service, Mr. Krutskikh said — not, as the United States argued, a form of content that should not be regulated in what is largely a technical document.

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Specialty Answering Service is one of the most trusted call center service-providers in the industry. We have combined an amazing business answering service with a passion for technology and customer service to develop an essential solution for any company looking to stay ahead in our “on demand” world. Your customers want information and answers now. Are you ready to help them? We are!

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• Serialized Tracking through PSSI’s proprietary Work-In-Process (WIP) and shop floor management system PSS.Net. This system allows PSSI to track each product received by employee, work center, lot, model, work order, serial number and location, tracking parts allocated, service, repair and refurbishment actions through each stage of the reverse logistics process. Access to order status and repair reports can be transmitted electronically in formats like FTP, EDI, API, XML or CSV.
• Expertise, PSSI’s executive team has 125+ years of industry experience.

ARINC Announces System Acceptance of Digital Radio Paging Network

December 13, 2012

Annapolis — ARINC Incorporated announced today that it has successfully completed system acceptance of the new Public Safety VHF Radio Paging Network in Chester County PA. The $2.6M contract was awarded in November 2011. Thousands of Fire and Emergency Medical services personnel rely on the paging system to alert them of emergencies.

ARINC and Chester County representatives performed a full coverage test of the system by performing test pages at over 1200 locations around the county. Testing revealed that the new system covers 99.6% of the County, exceeding the requirement of 95% coverage.

Ed Atkins, Chester County Director of Emergency Services, said the accomplishments of the County team and ARINC were outstanding. "Chester County public safety and emergency management personnel worked hard with ARINC to fully integrate and test the system while minimizing the impact to our ongoing operations."

Marvin Ingram, ARINC Senior Director, Public Safety Communications, said "The upgraded paging network will provide enhanced services for first responders with improved coverage while meeting mandatory narrow banding requirements."

ARINC coordinated its work on the paging system with the County's engineering and regulatory consultant and project manager, ACD Telecom, a leading national consultant on public safety radio communications systems.

ARINC Incorporated, a portfolio company of The Carlyle Group , provides communications, engineering and integration solutions for commercial, defense and government customers worldwide. Headquartered in Annapolis, Maryland with regional headquarters in London and Singapore, ARINC is ISO 9001:2008 and AS9100:2009 Rev C certified.

Paul Lubsen of SONIK Messaging Systems reported previously that this paging system was designed, manufactured and installed by SONIK , as subcontractor to ARINC.

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SEE WEB FOR COMPLETE LIST:

www.preferredwireless.com/equipment

Rick McMichael
Preferred Wireless, Inc.
10658 St. Charles Rock Rd.
St. Louis, MO 63074
888-429-4171 or 314-429-3000
rickm@preferredwireless.com

U.S. agency gives BlackBerry 10 a chance after iPhone coup

Summary: One U.S. federal agency is giving RIM one more chance by testing BlackBerry 10 in the new year, after it recently announced it would ditch the BlackBerry platform in favor of rolling out iPhones.

By Zack Whittaker for Between the Lines ZDNet December 13, 2012 — 14:34 GMT (06:34 PST)

A U.S. federal agency has reneged on its plans to ditch the BlackBerry in favor of iPhones — at least, to a degree — after it announced that it would give Research in Motion's next-generation BlackBerry 10 platform a chance.

BlackBerry 10 developer device. Credit: CNET

The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency recently said it would pull the plug on its contract with the beleaguered BlackBerry maker in favor of Apple's iPhone, due to its back-end management features and IT policy restrictions.

Outlining the plans in its so-called "solicitation" document, ICE said it was looking favorably at iPhones for its 17,600 employees, amounting to a deal with around $2.1 million to the humble American taxpayer.

But now, the U.S. immigration agency will early next year trial the new range of BlackBerry 10 handsets after they go on sale on January 30 , along with the next-generation back-end secure messaging service, BlackBerry Enterprise Server 10 (BES 10), a spokesperson for RIM told the Reuters news agency .

It comes at a delicate time when RIM is preparing its enterprise customers for the next wave of BlackBerry smartphones amid financial troubles, after the firm failed to keep up with competition across the board.

"The iPhone services will allow these individuals to leverage reliable, mobile technology on a secure and manageable platform in furtherance of the agency's mission," the solicitation document read. A few weeks later, Barclays sent an industry-wide 'Bat-Signal' by buying around 8,500 iPads for its banking services .

Many other U.S. government agencies are reneging on their long-trusted BlackBerry programs to jump ship to Apple. The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) also said it would drop their contract with RIM in order to seek alternatives.

The NTSB's own solicitation document twisted in the already dug-in knife by claiming "performance issues with the Blackberry devices." The NTSB added that the agency "requires effective, reliable and stable communication capabilities to carry-out its primary investigative mission and to ensure employee safety in remote locations."

In November, the U.S. government awarded BlackBerry 10 crucial government certification to run the next-generation operating system and platform in a government setting. FIPS 140-2 certification is required for government use. While Apple's mobile platform received similar grading in the eyes of the U.K. government , the U.S. has yet to certify any mobile device outside the BlackBerry range.

RIM shares are at the highest they have been since May 1, more than seven months ago. Shares have been climbing on recent news that the BlackBerry 10 platform is looking better than first expected, following strong developer responses .

NASDAQ:RIMM over the last six months to date. Source: Google Finance

Having said that, looking at the wider picture over the past five years, it's clear to see that while RIM recovers from a massive slump in share price, the firm has certainly had its hay day — at least, for now.

NASDAQ:RIMM over the last five years to date. Source: Google Finance

It should be said that, while at this stage it looks 'possible' rather than 'likely' that RIM could recover to pre-U.S. recession share levels in the coming year, RIM will have all but run out of options if BlackBerry 10 fails to take off.

(via Reuters )

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Private User Update

NARROWBANDING APPLICATIONS ON FILE WITH
FREQUENCY COORDINATOR BUT NOT YET FILED
WILL NOT BE IN VIOLATION OF DEADLINE

Due to an anticipated heavy backlog of applications for narrowbanding just before the January 1, 2013 deadline, the Land Mobile Communications Council (LMCC) sent a letter to the FCC on November 9, 2012 asking the FCC to recognize that applications that have been filed with certified frequency advisory committees on or before December 31, 2012, but not yet electronically filed with the Commission, as having presumptively narrowbanding compliant equipment in place by the January 13, 2013 deadline.

The FCC has now advised the LMCC that the approach laid out in the LMCC's November 9 letter is acceptable to the FCC. Licensees that have completed narrowbanding, or will complete narrowbanding, by the January 1, 2013 deadline, but have not yet had their applications coordinated and will not have their applications coordinated and submitted to the Commission by the deadline will not be regarded as being in violation of the deadline.

This appears to address mostly those applicants that are filing through frequency advisory committees to modify their licenses by doing modifications, such as adding digital modulation. Applicants that are doing a straight narrowbanding application, i.e., simply changing from wideband to narrowband without changing emission type, may file their applications directly with the FCC without frequency coordination or paying an FCC filing fee and could file their applications prior to the January 1, 2013 deadline. However, some applicants may elect to have a frequency coordinator file their narrowbanding application because they do not know how to do so themselves.

WIRELESS NETWORK PLANNERS LLC
WIRELESS SPECIALISTS

www.wirelessplanners.com
rmercer@wirelessplanners.com

R.H. (Ron) Mercer Consultant 217 First Street South East Northport, NY 11731
Cellphone: 631-786-9359

Selected portions of the BloostonLaw Telecom Update, a newsletter from the Law Offices of Blooston, Mordkofsky, Dickens, Duffy & Prendergast, LLP are reproduced in this section with the firm's permission.

Wireless Carriers' Accord Dovetails With FCC Intent To Provide "Text-to-911"

FCC Considering "Text-to-911" Rules Today;
AWS-4 Order, H-Block NPRM Approved;
Small Cell Use of 3.5 GHz Band Approved .

Last week, the nation's four largest wireless carriers—AT&T, Verizon, Sprint, T-Mobile—agreed to accelerate the availability of text-to-911, with major deployments expected in 2013 and a commitment to nationwide availability by May 15, 2014. Building on text-to-911 deployments and trials that are already underway, this agreement will accelerate progress and ensure that over 90% of the nation's wireless consumers, including consumers with hearing or speech disabilities, will be able to access emergency services by sending a text message to 911, where local 911 call centers (known as a Public Safety Answering Points, or PSAPs) are also prepared to receive the texts.

The FCC said that text-to-911 will provide consumers with enhanced access to emergency communications in situations where a voice call could endanger the caller, or a person with disabilities is unable to make a voice call. The FCC added that text-to-911 will be a complement to, not a substitute for, voice calls to 911 services, and consumers should always make a voice call to 911 during an emergency if they can.

In addition, to help eliminate consumer confusion while text-to-911 capability is being phased-in, the carriers have committed to provide an automatic "bounce back" text message to notify consumers if their attempt to reach 911 via text message was unsuccessful because this service is not yet available in their area. Such a message would instruct the recipient to make a voice call to a 911 center. The four carriers will fully implement this "bounce back" capability across their networks by June 30, 2013.

The Commission said it will take additional action as necessary to ensure the public's ability to reach 911 using text messaging.

At today's open meeting, the FCC is considering steps toward ensuring that text-to-911 is made available as soon as possible by all carriers, and over-the-top providers who offer Internet-based text services.

Specifically, at our deadline, the FCC was voting on an order titled "Facilitating the Development of Text-to-911 and Other Next Generation 911 Applications (PS Docket No. 11-153) and Framework for Next Generation 911 Deployment (PS Docket No. 10-255)." The primary purpose of the order is to adopt rule changes that will allow texting 911 messages. We will provide details in our next issue of the newsletter.

AWS-4 ORDER & H-BLOCK NPRM

Prior to today's meeting, the FCC adopted on circulation a scheduled agenda item freeing up 40 MHz of underutilized satellite spectrum for land-based mobile broadband, including 4G Long Term Evolution (LTE). This Advanced Wireless Services-4 (AWS-4) order is captioned: Service Rules for Advanced Wireless Services in the 2000-2020 MHz and 2180-2200 MHz Bands (WT Docket No. 12-70); Fixed and Mobile Services in the Mobile Satellite Service Bands at 1525-1559 MHz and 1626.5-1660.5 MHz, 1610-1626.5 MHz and 2483.5-2500 MHz, and 2000-2020 MHz and 2180-2200 MHz (ET Docket No. 10-142); and Service Rules for Advanced Wireless Services in the 1915-1920 MHz, 1995-2000 MHz, 2020-2025 MHz and 2175-2180 MHz Bands (WT Docket No. 04-356). It is a Report and Order and Order of Proposed Modification to increase the Nation's supply of spectrum for mobile broadband by adopting service rules for 40 megahertz of spectrum in the 2 GHz band (2000-2020 MHz and 2180-2200 MHz).

The Commission also unanimously approved another scheduled agenda item on circulation—a proposal setting the stage for an auction of the H Block (1915-1920 MHz and 1995-2000 MHz bands) in 2013. Proceeds from this auction will help fund a nationwide Public Safety Network for first responders and reduce the deficit.

This item is a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) that would implement the Congressional directive in the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012 to grant new initial licenses for the 1915-1920 MHz and the 1995-2000 MHz bands through a system of competitive bidding.

Details on these items will be provided next week.

SMALL CELL USE OF 3.5 GHz BAND

At today's meeting, the FCC adopted a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) that would make available 100 megahertz of shared spectrum in the 3.5 GHz Band (3550-3650 MHz) using small cell and database technologies. The Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) broadly reflects the thinking of the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST), which issued a report this summer recommending spectrum sharing and small cell use in the 3.5 GHz Band. The FCC said the proposal lays the groundwork for the widespread deployment of small cell technologies across 100 megahertz of spectrum, and would spur significant innovation in wireless technologies and applications throughout the economy, while protecting incumbent users in the band.

The NPRM envisions three tiers of users, each with different levels of rights and protections in the 3.5 GHz Band. The first tier, Incumbent Access, would include authorized federal users and grandfathered fixed satellite service licensees. These incumbents would be afforded protection from all other users in the 3.5 GHz Band. The second tier, Protected Access, would include critical use facilities, such as hospitals, utilities, government facilities, and public safety entities that would be afforded quality-assured access to a portion of the 3.5 GHz Band in certain designated locations. The third tier, General Authorized Access, would include all other users — including the general public — that would have the ability to operate in the 3.5 GHz Band subject to protections for Incumbent Access and Protected Access users. A spectrum access system, incorporating a geo-location enabled dynamic database, would govern access to the 3.5 GHz Band.

FCC CREATES NEW TASK FORCE ON TECHNOLOGY TRANSITIONS POLICY: FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski has announced the formation of a Technology Transitions Policy Task Force, which, according to the Chairman, "will play a critical role in answering the fundamental policy question for communications in the 21st century: In a broadband world, how can we best ensure that our nation's communications policies continue to drive a virtuous cycle of innovation and investment, promote competition, and protect consumers?" Specifically, the Task Force "will coordinate the Commission's efforts on IP interconnection, resiliency of 21st century communications networks, business broadband competition, and consumer protection with a particular focus on voice services." The Task Force also will consider recommendations from the Technological Advisory Committee on the transition of the legacy public switched telephone network to an Internet Protocol network. Sean Lev, the Commission's General Counsel, will serve as Interim Director, and Rebekah Goodheart, Associate Chief of the Wireline Competition Bureau, will serve as Deputy Director of the Task Force. The Task Force also will include the Commission's Chief Economist and Chief Technology Officer, and staff from the Wireline, Wireless, Media, Consumer Affairs, and Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureaus, the Office of General Counsel and the Office of Strategic Planning and Policy Analysis.

COMMENT DEADLINE SET FOR CHANGES TO FORM 499: The deadline for comments on the Wireline Competition Bureau's proposed revisions to the annual and quarterly Telecommunications Reporting Worksheet (FCC Forms 499-A and 499-Q, respectively), originally reported in the November 28 issue of the BloostonLaw Telecom Update, has been set for January 11, 2012. There is no opportunity for reply comment. The proposed revisions include information in connection with mergers, holding companies and affiliates, as well as reporting subscriber line charges and exchange access service revenues, special access, and carrier's carrier revenues. The revisions also reflect the changes adopted in the Universal Service Fund/Intercarrier Compensation (USF/ICC) Order (WC Docket No. 06-122), such as the access recovery charge.

BROADBAND SUMMIT SET FOR FEBRUARY 7: The Federal-State Joint Conference on Advanced Services will hold a summit on February 7, 2013 to identify and discuss best practices learned from broadband adoption programs and academic studies/surveys, and how implementation of these best practices can close the broadband adoption gap among Americans — particularly low-income households, racial and ethnic minorities, seniors, rural residents, residents of Tribal lands and people with disabilities. Additional details regarding the agenda will be available prior to the event at http://www.fcc.gov/events .

T-MOBILE PLANS TO HALT DEVICE SUBSIDIES: T-Mobile USA said it will eliminate all device subsidies from its rate plans in 2013, according to FierceWireless. It reported that during Deutsche Telekom's annual investor conference last week, T-Mobile CEO John Legere said that customers will be able to pay an upfront fee for their devices and then pay the balance of the device in monthly installments. FierceWireless said that T-Mobile's move is a striking change for the industry, because all Tier 1 carriers for many years have subsidized the cost of devices in exchange for customers agreeing to a two-year contract. Currently T-Mobile offers Classic plans that subsidize the device and require a two-year contract and Value plans that let customers pay the full cost of their smartphones or pay it off in monthly installments in exchange for lower monthly plan rates. Legere said that in 2013 T-Mobile will eliminate its Classic rate plans that include device subsidies and instead only offer Value plans to customers. While not alluding to the iPhone specifically, Legere said that customers may be able to purchase the "most iconic device in the world" for $99 and then pay monthly installments of $15 or $20 over the next 20 months. T-Mobile said it will aggressively battle AT&T Mobility in its advertising beginning in the spring when the MetroPCS acquisition is expected to close. AT&T tried and failed last year to purchase T-Mobile for $39 billion. Legere said one element of the advertising could be summarized as, "You love your iPhone, you hate AT&T." He said: "I want you to get used to that tone because that is the way we're going to play," according to FierceWireless.

SUPERSTORM SANDY EXPOSED FLAW IN PUBLIC SAFETY LTE PLAN: Superstorm Sandy brought down numerous commercial cell sites on the Northeastern seaboard and may have highlighted a glaring flaw in plans for the nationwide public-safety mobile broadband network, according to FierceBroadbandWireless. It reported that in a Sept. 25 presentation, Craig Farrill, First Responder Network Authority board member, advocated for the creation of a diverse nationwide public-safety Long Term Evolution (LTE) network composed of multiple wireless networks, including commercial cellular networks, in order to facilitate widespread coverage quickly. However, those commercial cellular networks are the same ones that failed during Sandy due to a host of issues: downed towers, widespread electrical outages, flooded generators and drained backup batteries. One quarter of all cell sites across 10 states were estimated to have been disabled, at least temporarily, by the storm, according to FierceBroadbandWireless. The New York Times also reported on this issue. Both publications reported that other FirstNet board members who visited New York after the hurricane "clearly saw the difference between the performance of commercial and public safety networks," said Dowd. "They knew the new system cannot be built to commercial standards. It has to be at a higher level of redundancy and survivability." But building a nature-proof network would be costly as well as nearly impossible. "To think that you can build a network that can withstand anything and everything that Mother Nature throws at it is a bit unrealistic," said Bill Smith, president of AT&T Network Operations, according to the New York Times. "It's not impossible, but it would be incredibly expensive." Meanwhile, millions of dollars in federal grant money are sitting unused while local agencies hold off on plans to build out their own LTE networks at the behest of the U.S. Department of Commerce, which grew concerned in May that the networks those jurisdictions were planning might not be compatible with the future nationwide network.

FEBRUARY 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 February 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 are required to include their FCC Registration Number (FRN). 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.

This newsletter is not intended to provide legal advice. Those interested in more information should contact the firm. For additional information, contact Hal Mordkofsky at 202-828-5520 or halmor@bloostonlaw.com

Intelligent Solutions for Paging & Wireless Data

WiPath manufactures a wide range of highly unique and innovative hardware and software solutions in paging and mobile data for:

• Emergency Mass Alert & Messaging
• Emergency Services Communications
• Utilities Job Management
• Telemetry and Remote Switching
• Fire House Automation
• Load Shedding and Electrical Services Control

PDT3000 Paging Data Terminal

• FLEX & POCSAG
• Built-in POCSAG encoder
• Huge capcode capacity
• Parallel, 2 serial ports, 4 relays
• Message & system monitoring

Paging Controlled Moving Message LED Displays

• Variety of sizes
• Indoor/outdoor
• Integrated paging receiver

PDR3000/PSR3000 Paging Data Receivers

• Highly programmable, off-air decoders
• Message Logging & remote control
• Multiple I/O combinations and capabilities
• Network monitoring and alarm reporting

Specialized Paging Solutions

• Emergency Mass Alerting
• Remote telemetry switching & control
• Fire station automation
• PC interfacing and message management
• Paging software and customized solutions
• Message interception, filtering, redirection, printing & logging Cross band repeating, paging coverage infill, store and forward
• Alarm interfaces, satellite linking, IP transmitters, on-site systems

Mobile Data Terminals & Two Way Wireless  Solutions

Contact
Postal Address:	WiPath Communications LLC 4845 Dumbbarton Court Cumming, GA 30040
Street Address:	4845 Dumbbarton Court Cumming, GA 30040
Web site:	www.wipath.com CLICK
E-mail:	info@wipath.com CLICK
Phone:	770-844-6218
Fax:	770-844-6574
WiPath Communications

Wireless Communication Solutions USB Paging Encoder

• Single channel up to eight zones
• Connects to Linux computer via USB
• Programmable timeouts and batch sizes
• Supports 2-tone, 5/6-tone, POCSAG 512/1200/2400, GOLAY
• Supports Tone Only, Voice, Numeric, and Alphanumeric
• PURC or direct connect
• Pictured version mounts in 5.25" drive bay
• Other mounting options available
• Available as a daughter board for our embedded Internet Paging Terminal (IPT)

Paging Data Receiver (PDR)

• Frequency agile—only one receiver to stock
• USB or RS-232 interface
• Two contact closures
• End-user programmable w/o requiring special hardware
• 16 capcodes
• POCSAG
• Eight contact closure version also available
• Product customization available

Other products

• Please see our web site for other products including Internet Messaging Gateways, Unified Messaging Servers, test equipment, and Paging Terminals.

Contact

Hark Technologies 717 Old Trolley Rd Ste 6 #163 Summerville, SC 29485

Tel: 843-821-6888

Fax: 843-821-6894

E-mail: sales@harktech.com CLICK

Web: http://www.harktech.com CLICK

HARK—EXHIBITS AT CONFERENCE

David George and Bill Noyes
of Hark Technologies.

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