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independent news

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WIRELESS NEWS AGGREGATION
(With other items of interest relating to technology.)

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FRIDAY — JANUARY 31, 2014 — ISSUE NO. 591

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Paging and Wireless Messaging Home Page image Newsletter Archive image Carrier Directory image Recommended Products and Services
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Reference Papers Consulting Glossary of Terms Send an e-mail to Brad Dye

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Dear Friends of Wireless Messaging,

Well, the big news this week is that Lenovo — a Chinese technology company — bought Motorola MOBILITY from Google for $2.91 billion. Google did hold on to Motorola's Advanced Technology and Projects group. They purchased Motorola Mobility in 2011 for $12.5 billion after Motorola Inc. was split into Motorola MOBILITY and Motorola SOLUTIONS.

Motorola Solutions uses a blue version motorola blue of the Motorola logo, and Motorola Mobility uses a red version motorola red of the logo.

Motorola Solutions is generally considered to be the direct successor to Motorola, Inc.

Lenovo, the world's largest PC maker, also recently purchased IBM's Research Triangle Park-based x86 server business for $2.3 billion. "The x86 purchase included System x, BladeCenter and Flex System blade servers and switches, as well as x86-based Flex integrated systems, NeXtScale and iDataPlex servers and associated software, blade networking and maintenance operations." [source]

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More on Lenovo

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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Lenovo Group Ltd. is a Chinese multinational technology company with headquarters in Beijing, China, and Morrisville, North Carolina, United States. It designs, develops, manufactures and sells personal computers, tablet computers, smartphones, workstations, servers, electronic storage devices, IT management software and smart televisions. In the second quarter of 2013 Lenovo was the world's largest personal computer vendor by unit sales. It markets the ThinkPad line of notebook computers and the ThinkCentre line of desktops.

Lenovo has operations in more than 60 countries and sells its products in around 160 countries. Lenovo's principal facilities are in Beijing, Morrisville and Singapore, with research centers in those locations, as well as Shanghai, Shenzhen, Xiamen, and Chengdu in China, and Yamato in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. It operates a joint venture with EMC, LenovoEMC, which sells network attached storage solutions. It also has a joint venture with NEC, Lenovo NEC Holdings, which produces personal computers for the Japanese market.

Lenovo was founded in Beijing in 1984 as Legend and was incorporated in Hong Kong in 1988. Lenovo acquired IBM's personal computer business in 2005 and agreed to acquire its Intel-based server business in 2014. Lenovo entered the smartphone market in 2012 and as of 2014 is the largest vendor of smartphones in Mainland China. In January 2014, Lenovo agreed to acquire the mobile phone handset maker Motorola Mobility from Google.

Lenovo is listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the Hang Seng China-Affiliated Corporations Index, often referred to as "Red Chips".

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I worked for Motorola over a 20-year period, and I am very surprised at how the company was split into two parts, and sold off. The Mobility part to Google, and now to Lenovo. I just wonder what Paul or Bob Galvin would say if they were alive today. Bob Galvin had a very strong policy for competing with Asian companies.

Like the country people around here say, “Times . . . they be a changin.”

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More on Motorola's history here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motorola

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Now on to more news and views about Wireless Messaging and Technology.

Wayne County, Illinois Weather

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

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About Us

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.

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Editorial Policy

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.

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Back To Paging

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Still The Most Reliable Protocol For Wireless Messaging!

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Subscriptions

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If you would like to subscribe to the newsletter just fill in the blanks in the form above, and then click on “Subscribe.”

free There is no charge for subscription and there are no membership restrictions. It's all about staying up-to-date with business trends and technology.

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If you are reading this, your potential customers are probably reading it as well. Please click here to find out how.

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CAN YOU HELP THE NEWSLETTER?

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

Voluntary Reader Support

Newspapers generally cost 75¢ $1.50 a copy and they hardly ever mention paging or wireless messaging. If you receive some benefit from this publication maybe you would like to help support it financially? A donation of $50.00 would certainly help cover a one-year paid subscription. If you are wiling and able, please click on the PayPal Donate button above. Any amount will be sincerely appreciated.

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Wireless Messaging News

made on a mac

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2 YEARS EXPERIENCE
IN 2 DAYS!!!

“PUT YOUR HAND ON THE RADIO”

General Communications Technician (GCT) Training

When:
Monday and Tuesday, March 24-25
8:30 am - 4:30 pm
Where:
IWCE Expo - 2014, Las Vegas, NV
South Hall of the Convention Center

Pricing:
Class: $599 thru February 27 th - $699 on or after February 28 th
Certification Fee: $100 (Prepay with ETA 800-288-3824 or at time of testing)

All registrants receive a free pass to IWCE's exhibit hall for Wednesday and Thursday. ETA ® International is offering the certification exam for the class on Wednesday, March 26. The cost for the certification is $100, and is not included in the price of the class. You can also contact ETA to receive PDHs (Professional Development Hours) for this course.

What is GCT?
The General Communications Technician (GCT) certification is a program modeled after the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) guidelines that covers all of the disciplines found in the COMT program. The course covers all of the areas that a radio communications technician or engineer will encounter in the public safety or business / commercial radio field, including:

  • Basic Circuits
  • Radio and Radio Systems
  • Telephony, Testing, Tools
  • Power Systems
  • Antennas and Transmission Lines
  • Environmental Systems
  • Serial Data and IP Networks
  • Fiber Optic Basics
  • Safety
  • Security and Access Systems
  • Satellite Communications Units
  • System Installation and Wiring Fundamentals
  • RF Interference Fundamentals
  • Grounding

Participants are encouraged to email questions before the course to ensure that we address your concerns, and explain the concepts that have been eluding technicians and engineers for years. A form will be sent to you when you provide an email address to IWCE upon registration.

Who Should Attend:
This session will be beneficial to all, whether this is your first day or you have spent many years in the telecommunications business. This class will cover much of what you need to know to build and maintain these systems whether you are an installer, bench, field, or systems technician; engineer; chief technology officer; logistics manager; operations manager, or any person whose responsibility includes communication systems or peripheral equipment.

Register now! There is a discount for advanced registration. This is some of the best training available today in the entire communications industry!

Registration is now open at: www.iwceexpo.com

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ADVERTISERS SUPPORTING THE NEWSLETTER

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Please Support Our Advertisers
They Make This Newsletter Possible

Advertiser Index

American Messaging
Critical Alert Systems
Critical Response Systems
Eagle Telecom
Easy Solutions
Hahntech USA
Hark Technologies
Ira Wiesenfeld & Associates
Ivycorp
Leavitt Communications
Preferred Wireless
Prism Paging
Product Support Services — (PSSI)
Paging & Wireless Network Planners LLC — (Ron Mercer)
WiPath Communications

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IVY CORP EAGLE TELECOM

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CRITICAL RESPONSE SYSTEMS

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Over 70% of first responders are volunteers.
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PRESS RELEASE e_message

10th National Paging Congress:
Alerting—Warning—Informing

The leading expert congress on alerting and warning in Germany is held under the patronage of Hans-Peter Kröger, President of the DFV

Berlin, January 30, 2014—e*Message in cooperation with the German Fire Service Association (DFV) is organizing the 10th National Paging Congress in Berlin, February 24 and 25, 2014. This year's congress, titled “Alerting—Warning—Informing,” is devoted to the themes of fire and disaster management, population warning and industrial hazard prevention .

The focus of the event is on critical infrastructures, their failure scenarios, and the resulting requirements for preparedness information and population warning and for alerting non-police and industrial safety responders. Topics of discussion will include tasks, problems and solutions in fire and disaster management at the national, state, municipal and corporate levels. The first day's lecture program will be followed by an in-depth expert forum on the second day.

Expert speakers, including users and decision-makers from the various levels of government, policy-makers and industry representatives, will offer first-hand information. Some of the topics:

  • The 2013 Floods: Communication with Services and Citizens
  • Professional Systems and User Devices for Alerting and Warning
  • MoWaS: A Common Warning System for National, State and Municipal Agencies
  • From Malfunction to Disaster: Emergency and Crisis Management
  • Alerting Corporate Firefighters and Hazard Management Responders
  • Are Our Critical Infrastructures Safe?
  • Disaster Management in Metropolitan Berlin
  • How Best to Reach the Population in an Emergency?
  • Are We Prepared for Alerting and Warning during Power Outages?

The speakers at the 10th National Paging Congress include representatives of the German Ministry of the Interior (BMI), the German Federal Office of Civil Defense and Disaster Assistance (BBK), the Federal Agency for Technical Relief (THW), the Federal Agency for Public Safety Digital Radio (BDBOS), the state Ministries of the Interior of the large-area states Rhineland-Palatinate and Saxony-Anhalt, and renowned companies such as Deutsche Telekom, Deutsche Bahn, Merck, and Lyonell Basell. Among the speakers will also be scientists from leading research institutes as well as fire and disaster management officials from the State of Berlin and various counties.

The National Paging Congresses are held in close cooperation with the German Fire Service Association since 2003. It provides a nationwide German forum for information and communication on the issues of fire and disaster management, population warning and industrial hazard management. From the beginning, the forum has also promoted an international exchange of ideas thanks to speakers from Belgium, Finland, France, Great Britain, Israel, the Netherlands, Poland, Sweden, Switzerland and the USA.

The leading expert congress on alerting and warning in Germany was initiated by Albrecht Broemme, President of the Federal Agency for Technical Relief, and Dr. Dietmar Gollnick, CEO of the European e*Message Group, and is held under the patronage of Hans-Peter Kröger, President of the German Fire Service Association (DFV). This association represents the interests of some 1.3 million members of professional, industrial and volunteer fire brigades in Germany.

Congress Program:
http://www.bos-alarmierung.de/article-974-kongress-2014.html

For further information and photos, please contact:

e*Message Wireless Information Services Deutschland GmbH
Paging Congress Office
Schönhauser Allee 10–11
10119 Berlin, Germany

Phone: + 49-(0)30-4171 1213

Fax: + 49-(0)30-4171 2999

E-mail: presse@emessage.de
http://www.emessage.de

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e*Message Wireless Information Services GmbH (e*Message Europe)

e*Message, with subsidiaries in Germany and France, is the leader in the European continental paging market and owns and operates its own independent networks. The e*Message group provides the services e*BOS, e*Cityruf, Alphapage*, e*Warn and more over its own paging networks. These services are used by hundreds of thousands of individuals, government agencies, institutions and renowned companies. e*Message constantly transfers innovative ideas to existing and new services.

e*Message Europe was founded and acquired the paging operations of Deutsche Telekom AG and France Télécom in 2000, and has been developing them continuously ever since. The group's head offices are in Berlin and Paris.

Since 2005 e*Message has also been the operator of e*Dispatch, a powerful trunked radio network for voice and data in the Berlin–Brandenburg region.

Source: e*Message Wireless Information Services GmbH

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leavitt

Specialists in sales and service of equipment from these leading manufacturers, as well as other two-way radio and paging products:

UNICATIONbendix king
ZETRON

motorola blue Motorola SOLUTIONS

COMmotorola red Motorola MOBILITY spacer
Philip C. Leavitt
Manager
Leavitt Communications
7508 N. Red Ledge Drive
Paradise Valley, AZ 85253
CONTACT INFORMATION
E-mail: pcleavitt@leavittcom.com
Web Site: www.leavittcom.com
Mobile phone:847-494-0000
Telephone:847-955-0511
Fax:270-447-1909
Skype ID:pcleavitt

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Lenovo buying Motorola's handset business from Google for nearly $3 billion

BY TERRENCE O'BRIEN JANUARY 29TH, 2014 AT 4:26PM ET
engadget

According to several sources (update: and now confirmed by Google) Lenovo is nearing a rather stunning deal that would put Motorola's cellphone business in its back pocket for roughly $3 billion. Google snatched up Motorola in 2011 for $12.5 billion . Since then it's slowly broken the company up, scaled back its device lineup and added its massive pile of patents to its legal arsenal. Now, after losing money for several years straight, Mountain View is reportedly preparing to offload the division on Chinese computer giant Lenovo. The purchase of Motorola will probably also put to bed rumors of Lenovo purchasing BlackBerry ... at least for a little while. The company has been looking to step up its mobile efforts for the last couple of years, and Motorola's existing infrastructure, patent library and brand recognition should help it make a dent here in the US.

The deal hasn't been officially announced yet, but when (and if) it is There are bound to be plenty of questions . For one, how will the sale of Motorola to a Chinese firm affect the company's recent efforts to bring manufacturing jobs back to the US? And how will this impact Google's own expanding manufacturing plans in the future? Or course, we may have also just figured out how exactly Google convinced Samsung to start putting more focus on Play Services.

Update : Well, that was quick. Google has confirmed the deal, which will see Motorola Mobility change hands for $2.91 billion. Most of that money will be in the form of cash or a promissory note, but it will also include roughly $750 million worth of Lenovo shares. The deal will also cause more than a few cynics to shout, "I told you so," as Google will be maintaining ownership of "the vast majority" of Motorola's patents. Though, the deal does include a license for that intellectual property and Lenovo will take ownership of Moto's brand and trademarks.

Google also insists that this will not affect its other hardware efforts, including those that might involve wearables and smart home appliances. Though, the tone of the message seems to indicate that Google will be staying out of the mobile phone market for the foreseeable future. An internal memo said that Motorola would be "better served" by Lenovo in the "super competitive" smartphone market. The advanced research unit of the company will be staying in Google's possession, however, to help with those other hardware projects.

For Lenovo, the deal means that it is now not only the largest PC maker, but it will also soon be the third-largest handset manufacturer in the Americas (not to mention the second-largest cellphone company in China as Lenovo). Motorola's existing agreements with retailers and carriers instantly gives the Chinese manufacturer a broad reach into mobile markets all over the globe. The company also expressed confidence in Moto's existing team, and in the short term, it does not appear there are plans to close its Chicago headquarters or start laying off employees, including the executives. Though, things sound less rosy for employees at the Texas plant where the Moto X is manufactured. The company said only that it would do what made sense to grow the brand, and would not commit to keeping existing manufacturing jobs in the US. The current plan appears to be to maintain the Motorola brand where it enjoys recognition and success.

Source: engadget

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American Messaging

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amsi

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American Messaging

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Easy Solutions

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easy solutions

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.

  • We treat our customers like family. We don't just fix problems...
    • We recommend and implement better cost effective solutions.
  • We are not just another vendor — We are a part of your team.
    • All the advantages of high priced full time employment without the cost.
  • We are not in the Technical Services business...
    • We are in the Customer Satisfaction business.

Experts in Paging Infrastructure
Glenayre, Motorola, Unipage, etc.
Excellent Service Contracts
Full Service—Beyond Factory Support
Contracts for Glenayre and other Systems starting at $100
Making systems More Reliable and MORE PROFITABLE for over 28 years.

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 e-mail us for more information.

Easy Solutions
3220 San Simeon Way
Plano, Texas 75023

Vaughan Bowden
Telephone: 972-898-1119
Website: www.EasySolutions4You.com
E-mail: vaughan@easysolutions4you.com

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Easy Solutions

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Product Support Services, Inc.

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Repair and Refurbishment Services

pssi logo

pssi

Product Support Services, Inc.

511 South Royal Lane
Coppell, Texas 75019
(972) 462-3970 Ext. 261
sales@pssirl.com left arrow
www.pssirl.com left arrow

PSSI is the industry leader in reverse logistics, our services include depot repair, product returns management, RMA and RTV management, product audit, test, refurbishment, re-kitting and value recovery.

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LEAVITT Communications

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its stil here

It's still here — the tried and true Motorola Alphamate 250. Now owned, supported, and available from Leavitt Communications. Call us for new or reconditioned units, parts, manuals, and repairs.

We also offer refurbished Alphamate 250's, Alphamate IIs, the original Alphamate and new and refurbished pagers, pager repairs, pager parts and accessories. We are FULL SERVICE in Paging!

E-mail Phil Leavitt ( pcleavitt@leavittcom.com ) for pricing and delivery information or for a list of other available paging and two-way related equipment.

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Phil Leavitt
847-955-0511
pcleavitt@leavittcom.com

leavitt logo

7508 N. Red Ledge Drive
Paradise Valley, AZ 85253
www.leavittcom.com

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Regulatory: FCC Opens Brief Window for Comments on WRC-2015 Draft Recommendations

The FCC has invited comments by February 18 on the latest batch of draft recommendations of its Advisory Committee for World Radio-communication Conference 2015 (WRC-2015). At its January 27 meeting, the Advisory Committee (WAC) approved draft recommendations on a number of issues that will be considered by WRC-2015. Some items, including one which could possibly lead to changes to 60 meters in the long term, could affect the Amateur and Amateur-Satellite services. ARRL Chief Technology Officer Brennan Price, N4QX, is a member of the WAC, which is chartered to allow non-federal government entities to "provide to the [FCC] advice, technical support, and recommended proposals for the 2015 World Radio-communication Conference."

fcc "Based upon an initial review of the draft recommendations forwarded to the Commission, the International Bureau, in coordination with other Commission bureaus and offices, tentatively concludes that we can generally support most of the attached WRC-2015 Advisory Committee draft recommendations," the Commission said in a January 28 Public Notice .

The FCC also seeks comment on draft proposals from the National Telecommunications & Information Administration ( NTIA ) as well as on the International Bureau's initial conclusions with regard to the WRC-2015 Advisory Committee draft recommendations.

WRC-2012 Resolution 649 invited WRC-2015, to consider allocating "an appropriate amount of spectrum, not necessarily contiguous," to the Amateur Service on a secondary basis within the band 5250 to 5450 kHz. "In order to maintain effective and reliable communications capability throughout the sunspot cycle, allocations at regular intervals are desirable, in order to permit operation as close to the maximum usable frequency as possible," the WAC said in its draft recommendations. Incumbent services in the 5250 to 5450 kHz range include fixed, mobile, and radio-location services.

"A secondary allocation from 5275 to 5450 kHz avoids the unsuitable segment allocated to the Radio-location Service, reduces the interval between HF amateur allocations below 10 MHz to permit reliable operation throughout the sunspot cycle, maximizes the flexibility of Amateur Service stations to effectively communicate within the secondary allocation, and fulfills their obligations to avoid harmful interference to primary services," the WAC concluded.

wrc 2015 WRC-2015 will also consider a number of issues that could impact amateur allocations above 420 MHz, including a possible extension of the current worldwide allocation to the Earth Exploration-Satellite service in the band 9300 to 9900 MHz by up to 600 MHz "within the frequency bands 8700 to 9300 MHz and/or 9900 to 10,500 MHz."

Incumbent services in the 9900 to 10,500 MHz range include the Radio-location, Fixed, Mobile, Amateur, and Amateur-Satellite services. The Amateur Service is secondary at 10,000 to 10,500 MHz worldwide, and the Amateur-Satellite Service is secondary at 10,450 to 10,500 MHz worldwide.

The FCC said comments provided by interested parties will assist it in its consultations with the US Department of State and NTIA in the development of US positions for WRC-2015. "The recommendations . . . may evolve in the course of inter-agency discussions as we approach WRC-2015 and, therefore, do not constitute a final US Government position on any issue," the FCC Public Notice stressed.

Comments should reference IB Docket 04-286 and specific recommendations by WAC document number. Interested parties may file comments via the FCC's Electronic Comment Filing System ( ECFS ). The ARRL plans to file comments in this proceeding.

Source: ARRL Letter

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Consulting Alliance

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Brad Dye, Ron Mercer, Allan Angus, Vic Jackson, and Ira Wiesenfeld are friends and colleagues who work both together and independently, on wireline and wireless communications projects. Click here left arrow for a summary of their qualifications and experience. Each one has unique abilities. We would be happy to help you with a project, and maybe save you some time and money.

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Consulting Alliance

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advertise

 

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HahntechUSA

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HahntechUSA

Telemetry solution

Easy Application & Better Performance

 

NPCS Telemetry Modem

BLUE LINE

(ReFLEX 2.7.5)

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E-mail: sales@hahntechUSA.com

Website: hahntechUSA.com

 

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HahntechUSA

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Preferred Wireless

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preferred logo

Terminals & Controllers:
1Motorola ASC1500
3CNET Platinum Controllers 
2GL3100 RF Director 
45SkyData 8466 B Receivers
6Skydata 8466 A Receivers
1GL3000L Complete w/Spares
1Zetron 2200 Terminals
1Unipage—Many Unipage Cards & Chassis
9Zetron M66 Transmitter Controllers  
Miscellaneous:
4Glenayre Universal Exciters, 1 UHF, 3 VHF
5Hot Standby Panel—2 Old Style, 3 New Style
25New and Used Cabinets & Open Racks 
38Andrews PG1N0F-0093-810 Antennas 928-944 MHz, Omni, 10dBi, 8 Degree Down-Tilt
4Andrews PG1D0F-0093-610 Antennas 928-944 MHz, Omni, 10dBi, 6 Degree Down Tilt
Link Transmitters:
1QT-5701, 35W, UHF, Link Transmitter
4Glenayre QT4201 & 6201, 25 & 100W Midband Link TX
2Glenayre QT6201 Link Repeater and Link Station in Hot Standby
1Glenayre QT6994, 150W, 900 MHz Link TX
3Motorola 10W, 900 MHz Link TX (C35JZB6106)
1Motorola 30W, Midband Link TX (C42JZB6106AC)
2Eagle 900 MHz Link Transmitters, 60 & 80W
5Glenayre GL C2100 Link Repeaters
2Motorola Q2630A, 30W, UHF Link TX
VHF Paging Transmitters
1Glenayre QT7505
1Glenayre QT8505
UHF Paging Transmitters:
20Glenayre UHF GLT5340, 125W, DSP Exciter
900 MHz Paging Transmitters:
3Glenayre GLT 8600, 500W
2Glenayre GLT8200, 25W
15Glenayre GLT-8500 250W
40Motorola Nucleus 900MHz 300W CNET Transmitters
9Motorola PURC 5000 300W, 900MHz ACB Control

SEE WEB FOR COMPLETE LIST:

www.preferredwireless.com/equipment left arrow

Too Much To List • Call or E-Mail

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

preferred

SEE PHOTO REPORT HERE

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Preferred Wireless

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critical alert CA Partner’s Program
 

Providing better communications solutions to hospitals across the country — together!

For CAS, strong partnerships remain key to providing our software-based communications solutions to our customers. These solutions include:

ca dr and nurse
nurse call systemscritical messaging solutionsmobile health applications

We provide the communication, training and resources required to become a CA partner. In turn, our partners provide customers with the highest levels of local service & support. CA Partners may come from any number of business sectors, including:

  • Service Providers
  • System Integrators
  • Value Added Resellers and Distributors
  • Expert Contractors
If you would like to hear more about our CA Partners program, we’d love to hear from you. criticalalert.com

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Selected portions of the BloostonLaw Telecom Update, and/or the BloostonLaw Private Users Update — newsletters from the Law Offices of Blooston, Mordkofsky, Dickens, Duffy & Prendergast, LLP are reproduced in this section with the firm's permission.

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BloostonLaw Telecom Update Vol. 17, No. 3 January 29, 2014

New 911 Service Provider Requirements Clarified by FCC Staff

In meetings with the FCC staff, it has been clarified that the class of entities covered by the new rules and certification requirements — i.e. "Covered 911 Service Providers" — is limited. Entities that merely provide the capability for customers to originate 911 calls are generally not subject to the new 911 requirements. Rather, covered entities are limited to those that directly serve a Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP). The FCC expects that most wireless carriers will not qualify as "Covered 911 Service Providers" at this time. RLECs and CLECs may or may not qualify, depending upon whether they directly serve a PSAP (covered), or whether another carriers sits between them and the PSAP and provides the call routing, ALI/ANI and connecting lines.

Covered 911 Service Providers should begin complying with the new 911 requirements by February 18. This means either: (a) adopting and implementing the best practices referenced in the FCC order; (b) developing reasonably sufficient alternative practices that are more appropriate to the particular facts and circumstances of their network; or (c) demonstrating that a particular practice is not applicable to their network. Likewise, as of February 18, Covered 911 Service Providers will have to begin providing the required new telephone and email notifications to PSAPs of 911 outages within 30 minutes of the discovery of the outage, plus the required follow-up notifications as more damage and recovery information becomes available. Clients needing help determining whether they are "covered", or desiring assistance in preparing the necessary best practices program if they are covered, should contact us ASAP.

Headlines

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FCC Appears to Urge Rural Electric Utilities to Participate in IP Transition, Offer Broadband

On December 17, 2013, the Rural Broadband Council ("RBC"), an independent operating unit of the Utilities Telecom Council ("UTC"), issued a press release declaring that the FCC's plan to support IP transition experiments "strikes a positive step towards promoting rural broadband deployment by [electric] utilities." The RBC's Chairman stated that the RBC "seeks to establish a strategic, comprehensive, and nationally-organized effort to deploy broadband covering all of rural America."

More recently, on January 16, 2014, the RBC held a webinar entitled "Building the Gigabit Utility – The FCC's Role in Promoting Broadband Access in Rural America." The promotional material for the webinar declared that the "FCC has asked RBC to encourage its members and prospective members to submit Expressions of Interest (EOI) to participate in rural trials as part of a larger set of 'experiments' by the FCC Technology Transitions Policy Task Force." It indicated that the "FCC stated in a meeting last week that it 'very much wants UTC's members to participate in these rural trials' in order for the FCC to gauge the level of interest and dedication among utilities for bringing the benefits of real broadband to unserved and underserved rural America." It advised electric utilities that "while the submission of an EOI opens the door for you to participate in the process of gaining access to your share of the up-to $4.5 billion, it does not create a financial commitment for your utility."

At its January 30 open meeting, the FCC is scheduled to initiate a proceeding addressing AT&T's proposed TDM-to-IP "experiments," and establishing procedures for the filing and consideration of proposals from other entities for IP experiments. Some of the latter experiments may involve limited grants or universal service support from the FCC (rumored to be in the neighborhood of $1 billion) to defray some or all of the associated increased capital investment in broadband infrastructure.

Careful attention must be paid to how the FCC defines "unserved" and "underserved" areas for purposes of the contemplated IP experiments. It may be that the FCC views electric utility experiments as a means of discouraging the abandonment of rural wireline service by AT&T and others, or as a substitute for wireline broadband service in abandoned or never-served price cap areas. It is also possible that the FCC sees electric utilities as more likely than RLECs and CATV companies to deploy high-speed fiber-to-the-home networks along their existing rural rights-of-way, and/or as more likely to deploy broadband without continuing need for ongoing universal service support for their operating expenses. However, even if the FCC initially limits electric utility experiments to wholly unserved areas, the program may well whet the appetites of electric utilities to expand their broadband services into other price cap and rate-of-return areas.

Industry press reflects that many electric utilities have been interested in "smart home" technologies to increase the profitability of their power distribution business. Broadband over power line (BPL) alternatives have been discussed for years without much in the way of concrete results. It is quite possible that many electric utilities will not want to deal with the very different regulatory requirements imposed by federal and state authorities upon telecommunications carriers and broadband service providers. In fact, it is not clear what authority (if any) the FCC would have to provide universal service dollars to electric utilities that are not eligible telecommunications carriers, even for limited or temporary "experiments."

Because electric utilities serve virtually all of rural America and have poles, conduits and rights-of-way that are often more extensive than those of CATV companies, electric utilities may be positioned to be a force in the provision of broadband services. On the one hand, these entities may pose a potential competitive threat to traditional RLECs; but they may also present opportunities for partnerships and other joint ventures that may enable RLECs to expand their service areas, services and revenues.

It bears examination as to whether the proposed IP "experiments" and additional support dollars may also present significant opportunities for RLECs themselves to expand their broadband deployment and services.

Chairman Wheeler Speaks on Net Neutrality Decision, Advocates Case-by-Case Approach

At the annual State of the Net conference in Washington D.C. this week FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler said that, in the face of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit's recent decision striking down parts of the net neutrality regulations, he favors a case-by-case approach to dealing with the concerns net neutrality was intended to address. "Case-by-case is a dynamic approach rather than 'Well, everybody's got to go through the eye of this needle,'" said the Chairman during the discussion.

As reported in the January 15, 2014 edition of the BloostonLaw Telecom Update, the court upheld the disclosure rules adopted in the FCC's 2010 Open Internet Order, but vacated the anti-Blocking and anti-Discrimination rules adopted therein, i.e., the heart of the FCC's "net neutrality" principle.

The National Journal reports that during the conference, Wheeler noted that the court upheld a broad FCC authority to regulate the Internet, and further reasoned that the FCC could use that broad authority to punish flagrant net neutrality violations even in the absence of the Open Internet Order. Chairman Wheeler also reportedly indicated that he does not take issue with cellular carriers discriminating between different kinds of sites and services. "[The net-neutrality order] clearly allows and encourages in fact this kind of thing. We believe that markets should be innovative. And at the same point in time, we are not reticent to say, 'Excuse me, that's anticompetitive. Excuse me, that's self-dealing. Excuse me, this is a consumer abuse.' "

AT&T Files IP Trial Ex Partes

AT&T filed a series of ex parte notices that further explain its "IP trial" proposals that will be considered at the January 30, 2014 open meeting. According to its filings, AT&T met with Commissioner Pai's Chief of Staff and Wireline Legal Advisor on January 16, 2014, to discuss its efforts to prepare a detailed plan for service-based IP transition experiments, and on January 21, 2014 to proposed a two-stage process for IP transition trials.

The January 16 ex parte did not contain specific details, but indicated that AT&T was currently planning to identify all TDM services to be discontinued in a trial location and map those services to successor services, propose dates for the grandfathering and ultimate discontinuance of those TDM services, and provide notice to affected customers.

In the January 21 ex parte , AT&T proposed that the FCC consider a two-stage process for IP transition trials. In the first stage, which would reportedly be "largely voluntary" for customers, participating carriers would file detailed plans that identify their existing TDM services, the replacement products for those services, and when those services would be available. Carriers would then file Section 214 Petitions for the interstate TDM-based services they seek to discontinue, but could grandfather existing customers during this phase of the trial and could require all new orders for service to be provisioned using IP-based and wireless replacement services. During Phase 2 of the trial, participating carriers could file a second Section 214 application to withdraw the grandfathered TDM services for existing customers. According to AT&T, this would allow the FCC the opportunity to evaluate the results of the first phase of the trial before granting participating carriers approval to proceed with the withdrawal of TDM services for existing customers.

Further Letters Filed in the Tenth Circuit on the D.C. Circuit Open Internet Decision

Two more letters were filed since our article in the January 23, 2014 edition of the BloostonLaw Telecom Update arguing that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit's decision in Verizon v. FCC, striking down parts of the FCC's Open Internet Order, supports arguments made in the Tenth Circuit proceeding on the FCC's USF/ICC Reform Order.

On January 22, 2014, Cellular Network Partnership and Cellular South (C Spire Wireless) filed a letter arguing that the D.C. Circuit found in Verizon v. FCC that the FCC would violate either § 153(51) or § 332(c)(2) of the Communications Act if it regulated wireline or wireless broadband service providers as common carriers, which is the same argument Cellular Network Partnership and C-Spire made in the Wireless Petitioners' USF Brief and Reply Brief. According to the letter, by imposing duties on ETCs to offer broadband service that meets FCC-prescribed performance requirements upon their customers' reasonable request, and to provide broadband at rates that are reasonably comparable to those charged in urban areas, the FCC regulated broadband under Title II and subjects broadband providers, in the words of the D.C. Circuit, "to common carrier treatment" and obligates them "to act as common carriers."

On January 27, 2014, the FCC filed a letter in response to this letter, and to the letter filed by Cellular South, Inc. and the Rural Independent Competitive Alliance (RICA) on Jan. 16, 2014. In its response, the FCC argued that the D.C. Circuit held that FCC rules prohibiting all broadband providers from blocking or discriminating against certain content, services, and applications offered over the Internet imposed an unlawful common carriage obligation; but by contrast, the broadband public interest obligation at issue in the USF/ICC Reform Order is conditional. That is, under the USF/ICC Reform Order, broadband providers may decline to sell broadband service to any customer, and a broadband provider only has to offer broadband service to a customer if the provider seeks designation as an ETC and requests federal subsidies. The FCC also claimed that RICA's reliance on §214(e)(3) — which allows the FCC or a state commission to designate an ETC in an unserved area — to argue that the broadband public interest obligation is involuntary has been waived because it was not raised in the opening brief.

FCC Acting General Counsel Sallet Addresses Competition Policy

On January 22, 2014, Jon Sallet, FCC Acting General Counsel, spoke at a Conference on Competition and IP Policy in High-Technology Industries in Stanford, California. Mr. Sallet's speech focused on how the FCC can best formulate and apply a competition policy.

Mr. Sallet advocated FCC action informed by competition principles that look to the impact of practices on consumers, not just on competitors, and cited the FCC's ability to act in anticipation of a problem, rather than waiting for harm to occur and then reacting.

Reciting Chairman Wheeler's statement: "Where competition does exist, we will protect it. Where competition can exist, we will incent it. And where private markets cannot be expected to deliver what the public needs, then we will proceed in a transparent manner to fill that void," Sallet went on to discuss the ways the FCC will attempt to uphold that mantra. This included setting out rules that spur networks by removing barriers to deployment; preventing competitive markets from being transformed artificially into non-competitive markets through anti-competitive actions or transactions; ensuring that multiple carriers have access to needed airwaves; and more.

He closed with an open invitation to take part in this conversation with the FCC about its competition policy: "From your perspective, what are the critical competitive questions around communications networks? Do you see bottlenecks? Are old categories obsolete? Are networks being effectively interconnected? Are certain kinds of services, like special access, competitive or non-competitive?"

Law & Regulation

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FCC Issues Agenda for January Open Meeting

On January 23, 2014, The FCC issued the official agenda for its Open Meeting on January 30, 2014. The meeting is scheduled to commence at 10:30 a.m. in Room TW-C305, at 445 12th Street, S.W., Washington, D.C, and can be viewed live over George Mason University's Capitol Connection for a fee.

At the meeting, the FCC will consider an Order, NPRM, and NOI that invites diverse technology transitions experiments; a Policy Statement and FNPRM on enabling nationwide text-to-911 service; an update on the project plan for the broadcast television incentive auction; and a presentation on FCC Process Reform.

FCC "Guidance" Not Binding—Court Dismisses DISH Network TCPA Challenge

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit's issued a decision dismissing a petition by DISH Network, LLC (DISH) that challenged the FCC's "guidance" on the interpretation of agency law in the context of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991, 47 U.S.C. § 227 ("TCPA"). In a May 9, 2013 Declaratory Ruling, the FCC held that a seller could be held vicariously liable for a telemarketer's TCPA violations if the telemarketer acted as an agent of the seller under the federal common law of agency. The FCC also provided "guidance" to the courts, including hypothetical examples, regarding how the common law of agency might apply to such cases. DISH sought review solely of the "guidance," arguing that the FCC exceeded its authority and acted arbitrarily and capriciously in stating how the common law of agency should apply in the telemarketing context.

The Court dismissed DISH's petition, finding that the FCC's "guidance" is not a final order ripe for judicial review. According to the Court, "[a]n agency action that merely expresses a legal view 'that has force only to the extent the agency can persuade a court to the same conclusion'" is not a final order subject to review. The Court also stated that the FCC agreed in its brief and at oral argument, "that the 'guidance' in question has no binding effect on courts, that it is not entitled to deference under Chevron U.S.A. Inc. v. NRDC, Inc., 467 U.S. 837 (1984), and that 'its force is dependent entirely on its power to persuade.' The court, therefore, concluded that it lacked jurisdiction to review the guidance.

As a result of the D.C. Circuit's decision, questions of agency in the context of TCPA violations will be litigated in individual cases and courts should not afford the FCC's guidance special deference.

Comment Sought on Waiver of Periodic Inspection of Marking and Lighting Alarm System Rules

American Tower has filed a request for permanent waiver of Section 17.47(b) of the Commission's Rules, which requires owners of antenna structures that have been registered with the FCC to conduct quarterly inspections of all automatic or mechanical control devices, indicators or alarm systems that are used to monitor and verify the proper operation of obstruction lighting devices that have been mounted on an antenna structure. Comments are due February 14, 2014 and reply comments are due one week later, on February 21, 2014.

Because American Tower installed sophisticated monitoring equipment, the FCC previously granted American Tower a partial waiver of this rule by permitting American Tower to make these inspections on an annual, rather than a quarterly, basis. American Tower now seeks a permanent waiver from the requirement. American Tower claims that its use of a robust, continuous remote tower monitoring system justifies the waiver. Additionally, American Tower has taken the position that a grant of this waiver would provide an incentive for other tower owners to implement similarly advanced monitoring systems — which would serve the public interest by ensuring the safety to air navigation.

Industry

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Technology & Telecom Vendors Spend Millions Lobbying the Federal Government

InfoWorld has published some interesting numbers obtained from lobbying disclosure forms filed with the Office of the Clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives showing just how much technology and telecom firms spent on Capitol Hill lobbying during 2013. From a humorous point of view, the numbers show that these organizations know how things get done on the Hill; and the results achieved show that they know which lobbyists to hire.

  • Comcast – $20.7 million (up from $14.7 during 2012; and ranking fifth among all organizations lobbying on Capitol Hill);
  • National Cable and Telecommunications Association — $19.9 million;
  • AT&T — $15.9 million (an 8% decrease from 2012);
  • Google — $14.4 million (a 14.7% decrease from 2012, a year when it was under an antitrust investigation by the Federal Trade Commission);
  • Verizon — $13.4 million (a decrease of 10.5% from 2012);
  • Microsoft — $10.5 million (up 29.7% from 2012);
  • Facebook — $6.4 million (up 61.2% from 2012);
  • Apple — $3.4 million (a 71.7% increase from 2012);
  • Amazon — $3.5 million (a 38.3% increase from 2012);
  • Intel — $4.4 million (an 18.2% increase from 2012); and
  • IBM — $7.1 million (a 45.6% increase from 2012).

With this much money dumped into the Great National Hog Trough of Lobbying, the K Street lobbyists will not be experiencing a recession any time soon. (Alas, we are located on L Street)

Study Finds Dominant Wireless Broadband Providers Overcharge Consumers $15 Billion Per Year

The Consumer Federation of America (CFA) has released a report indicating that dominant incumbent wireless broadband providers may be overcharging customers by about $15 billion per year for wireless service.
The report was issued by the CFR in an effort to demonstrate that a recent analysis of broadband prices and services from the Phoenix Center and the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF) is "fundamentally flawed and purposefully misleading." A copy of the report, titled "Abuse of Market Power for Broadband Internet Access Service: Blind Theory and Bonehead Analysis Can't Hide the Problem," can be found here .

According to the report, AT&T and Verizon have enjoyed a per subscriber cash flow that is $7 higher than their closest competitor, T-Mobile. Even if the difference in CAPEX between AT&T and Verizon and the non-dominant providers is subtracted, the excess cash flow is still over $6 per month per subscriber. Assuming 210 million subscribers at $6, per month, the CFA report argues that this amounts to excessive charges imposed by the dominant providers on American wireless consumers of over $15 billion per year.

The report also indicates that, utilizing data from a New America Foundation global survey of rates, terms and conditions of wireline and wireless service, the CFA also found that U.S. providers charge more, offer slower speeds and, in the case of mobile broadband, have lower caps and more onerous penalties for exceeding those caps than their non-U.S. counterparts.

Wireless Price War, Cash Flow, And Broadband Deployment

At the same time that the CFA is reporting that dominant wireless carriers are charging too much, the Washington Post reported on January 29, 2014, that AT&T failed to meet its targets for fourth-quarter wireless subscriber growth and free cash flow. The Post also reported that AT&T's cash flow targets for 2014 and 2015 are down from 2013. The Post reports that according to Moffett-Nathanson analyst Craig Moffett, this implies that most of AT&T's cash flow will be needed for paying dividends.

The Post article also reported that a wireless price war is brewing and that AT&T's cash flow position "doesn't leave much room for a price war."

The same edition of the Post reported that Verizon's shareholders have approved a $130 billion deal to buy the 45 percent stake in its wireless division owned by Vodafone.

One wonders if these announcements will have an impact on the ability of Verizon and AT&T to invest in wireless broadband in the near term.

Calendar At-A-Glance

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February

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Feb. 1 – FCC Form 499-Q is due.
Feb. 1 – FCC Form 502 (Number Utilization and Forecast Report) is due.
Feb. 10 – Electronic filing deadline for Form 497 for carriers seeking support for the preceding month and wishing to receive reimbursement by month's end.
Feb. 14 – Comments are due on Use of Mobile Wireless Devices on Airborne Aircraft.
Feb. 14 – Comments due on American Tower Petition for Waiver of Periodic Inspection of Marking and Lighting Alarm System Rules.
Feb. 18 – Effective date for new 911 reliability requirements.
Feb. 21
– Reply comments due on American Tower Petition for Waiver of Periodic Inspection of Marking and Lighting Alarm System Rules.
Feb. 28
– PRA comments on Rural Call Completion are due.

March

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Mar. 3 – Copyright Statement of Account Form for cable companies is due.
Mar. 3 – FCC Form 477 (Local Competition & Broadband Reporting) is due.
Mar. 3 – Annual CPNI Certification is due.
Mar. 10 – Electronic filing deadline for Form 497 for carriers seeking support for the preceding month and wishing to receive reimbursement by month's end.
Mar. 17 – Reply comments are due on Use of Mobile Wireless Devices on Airborne Aircraft.
Mar. 31
– FCC Form 525 (Delayed Phase-down CETC Line Counts) is due.
Mar. 31 – FCC Form 508 (ICLS Projected Annual Common Line Requirement) is due.

April

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Apr. 1 – FCC Form 499-A (Telecommunications Reporting Worksheet) is due.
Apr. 1 – Annual Accessibility Certification is due.

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

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The new face of smartwatches

Published: Wednesday, 29 Jan 2014 | 3:23 PM ET
By: Christina Medici Scolaro
CNBC.com

The fast-growing smartwatch market may finally begin to appeal to the mainstream public ... and that appeal might be because it doesn't really look like much of a smartwatch.

The Pebble Steel has a metal band, giving it a more fashionable look than the original Pebble released one year ago as well as its rival smartwatches that have a bulky, techie look.

But that's not the main thing that pushes them forward in the smartwatch market, according to Michael Prospero, reviews editor at Tom's Guide.

"The real reason why the Steel is better than other smartwatches is its app store," he said. "There are nearly 1,000 apps available, compared to 300 for the Sony SmartWatch and 75 for the Galaxy Gear."


Pebble Steel smartwatches.

The developer community includes apps such as Yelp, Pandora, ESPN and Foursquare.

It has a $249 price tag, which is about $100 more than the original Pebble, but it's $100 less than the Samsung Galaxy Gear.

"I think the mainstream is still maybe a little ways off, maybe a year off, but this is definitely going to push it a lot further along in that direction. I think you're going to see a lot more adoption of the Steel than you will than other smartwatches," said Prospero.

"The Pebble Steel is the only smartwatch worth buying right now, because it's not trying to be too smart—it's just a useful extension of the phone you already have in your pocket," said Nilay Patel, managing editor of The Verge. "But if you're not interested in a smartwatch right this second, it's worth waiting for things to develop farther."

Each Steel also comes with a leather band. Shipments began Jan. 28.

—By CNBC's Christina Medici Scolaro.

Source: CNBC.com

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Google Glass now comes with $225 prescription frames: What you should know

By Randell Suba, Tech Times | January 29, 7:48 AM


(Photo : Google) Google released $225-prescription frames for Google Glass. The Titanium Collection includes four styles including Thin pictured above.

While everyone is waiting for the official release of Google Glass, expected some time before the end of 2014, Google announced Monday that prescription frames will be available for the wearable technology device. The prescription frames cost $225 on top of the $1,500 fee to enter the Glass "Explorer Program."

Google released four styles — Split, Thin, Bold, and Curve — of the prescription frames that will also be available in eight colors. For those using the headset during outdoor activities, the company also rolled out new tinted shades in the form of Edge and Classic available for $150. At the moment, Glass users can experiment with different frames, shades, and colors and come up with 40 possible combinations.

"If we had a nickel for every time someone has asked about prescription lenses for Glass ... well, we'd have a lot of nickels. So we want you to be the first to know that the Titanium Collection is here, with a handful of new styles for Glass so you can make it your own. Whether you wear prescription glasses or just want a new look, we've got four feather-light titanium frames designed just for you. And if you need prescription lenses and have vision insurance (such as VSP), your policy might even help cover your new frames. Explorers can access the Titanium Collection tomorrow afternoon, along with two new styles of twist-on shades," the company wrote on the official Google+ page of its wearable smart glass.

The involvement of optical insurance provider VSP confirms reports in November that Google has been working with other companies to bring the device to optometrists.

"Our goal is to have 6,000 doctors trained by the end of the year, throughout the country. We have 200 trained so far," said VSP VisionCare president Jim McGrann.

McGrann says optometrists capable of fitting prescription frames into Google Glass are only located in New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco for now, but they will soon have professionals trained in other cities.

With the much awaited prescription frames in the picture, will users feel more comfortable wearing the device?

"That's hard to say — there's no getting around the fact that you have a camera strapped to your head, but at least it's attached to a piece of wearable technology that's been around for hundreds of years instead of a half-dozen months. To my eyes — both wearing them and looking at them — they look better. But make no mistake, this is still Google Glass, and you're still likely to get into some awkward conversations," wrote Dieter Bohn of the technology blog The Verge.

Source: TECHTIMES.com

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UNTIL NEXT WEEK

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With best regards,
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Newsletter Editor
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Brad Dye
P.O. Box 266
Fairfield, IL 62837
USA

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THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK

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The Older Mind May Just Be a Fuller Mind

By BENEDICT CAREY
The New York Times (blog)
JANUARY 27, 2014, 3:27 PM

People of a certain age (and we know who we are) don't spend much leisure time reviewing the research into cognitive performance and aging. The story is grim, for one thing: Memory's speed and accuracy begin to slip around age 25 and keep on slipping.

The story is familiar, too, for anyone who is over 50 and, having finally learned to live fully in the moment, discovers it's a senior moment. The finding that the brain slows with age is one of the strongest in all of psychology.


Lisa Haney

Over the years, some scientists have questioned this dotage curve. But these challenges have had an ornery-old-person slant: that the tests were biased toward the young, for example. Or that older people have learned not to care about clearly trivial things, like memory tests. Or that an older mind must organize information differently from one attached to some 22-year-old who records his every Ultimate Frisbee move on Instagram.

Now comes a new kind of challenge to the evidence of a cognitive decline, from a decidedly digital quarter: data mining, based on theories of information processing. In a paper published in Topics in Cognitive Science, a team of linguistic researchers from the University of Tübingen in Germany used advanced learning models to search enormous databases of words and phrases.

Since educated older people generally know more words than younger people, simply by virtue of having been around longer, the experiment simulates what an older brain has to do to retrieve a word. And when the researchers incorporated that difference into the models, the aging "deficits" largely disappeared.

"What shocked me, to be honest, is that for the first half of the time we were doing this project, I totally bought into the idea of age-related cognitive decline in healthy adults," the lead author, Michael Ramscar, said by e-mail. But the simulations, he added, "fit so well to human data that it slowly forced me to entertain this idea that I didn't need to invoke decline at all."

Can it be? Digital tools have confounded pre-digital generations; now here they are, coming to the rescue. Or is it that younger scientists are simply pretesting excuses they can use in the future to cover their own golden-years lapses?

In fact, the new study is not likely to overturn 100 years of research, cognitive scientists say. Neuroscientists have some reason to believe that neural processing speed, like many reflexes, slows over the years; anatomical studies suggest that the brain also undergoes subtle structural changes that could affect memory.

Still, the new report will very likely add to a growing skepticism about how steep age-related decline really is. It goes without saying that many people remain disarmingly razor-witted well into their 90s; yet doubts about the average extent of the decline are rooted not in individual differences but in study methodology. Many studies comparing older and younger people, for instance, did not take into account the effects of pre-symptomatic Alzheimer's disease, said Laura Carstensen, a psychologist at Stanford University.

Dr. Carstensen and others have found, too, that with age people become biased in their memory toward words and associations that have a positive connotation — the " age-related positivity effect ," as it's known. This bias very likely applies when older people perform so-called paired-associate tests, a common measure that involves memorizing random word pairs, like ostrich and house.

"Given that most cognitive research asks participants to engage with neutral (and in emotion studies, negative) stimuli, the traditional research paradigm may put older people at a disadvantage," Dr. Carstensen said by email.

The new data-mining analysis also raises questions about many of the measures scientists use. Dr. Ramscar and his colleagues applied leading learning models to an estimated pool of words and phrases that an educated 70-year-old would have seen, and another pool suitable for an educated 20-year-old. Their model accounted for more than 75 percent of the difference in scores between older and younger adults on items in a paired-associate test, he said.

That is to say, the larger the library you have in your head, the longer it usually takes to find a particular word (or pair).

Scientists who study thinking and memory often make a broad distinction between "fluid" and "crystallized" intelligence. The former includes short-term memory, like holding a phone number in mind, analytical reasoning, and the ability to tune out distractions, like ambient conversation. The latter is accumulated knowledge, vocabulary and expertise.

"In essence, what Ramscar's group is arguing is that an increase in crystallized intelligence can account for a decrease in fluid intelligence," said Zach Hambrick , a psychologist at Michigan State University. In a variety of experiments, Dr. Hambrick and Timothy A. Salthouse of the University of Virginia have shown that crystallized knowledge (as measured by New York Times crosswords, for example) climbs sharply between ages 20 and 50 and then plateaus, even as the fluid kind (like analytical reasoning) is dropping steadily — by more than 50 percent between ages 20 and 70 in some studies. "To know for sure whether the one affects the other, ideally we'd need to see it in human studies over time," Dr. Hambrick said.

Dr. Ramscar's report was a simulation and included no tested subjects, though he said he does have several memory studies with normal subjects on the way.

For the time being, this new digital-era challenge to "cognitive decline" can serve as a ready-made explanation for blank moments, whether senior or otherwise.

It's not that you're slow. It's that you know so much.

Source: The New York Times (blog)

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Holmes Writes Brief History On Illinois' Wild Bill Hickok

bill_hickok Editor's Note: Retired U.S. Marshal Charles Holmes who grew up in Fairfield and now lives in Jacksonville, Fla., wrote this brief history on Wild Bill Hickok, a native son of Illinois who built a reputation as one of those who helped tame the wild west.

This article was researched and written so as to provide the appropriate information of the legendary frontiersman Wild Bill Hickok, who was born and raised in rural Illinois rather than some other state or country. The presented photograph of Hickok was taken at the age 36 after he had personally stated that he had justifiably killed over one hundred men not counting hostiles.

In the land of Hickok on May 27, 1837, at Homer (Troy Grove) LaSalle, Illinois, James Butler (Wild Bill) Hickok was born to parents, Bill Alonzo and Polly Butler Hickok. He was the fifth born of seven children. Wild Bill Hickok having been born in rural Illinois became very proficient with his fists, pistols, rifles, and horses. Hickok at age sixteen left home to drive a horse team at the Illinois-Michigan Canal. The job did not last long because Hickok's boss Charles Hudson made a serious mistake and mistreated Hickok's horses at which time Hickok threw him into said canal — after a merciless beating by the blond haired blue-eyed 6'2" man.

In 1855 Hickok left Illinois for the Kansas Territory joining the Free State Army. In 1858 Hickok became the first constable on Monticello Township, Johnson County, KS Territory. In 1859 Hickok sold his 160-acre farm in Johnson County to drive freight and stage-coach wagons on the Santa Fe Trail for the Overland Stage Company, at which time he met the legendary frontiersman Christopher (Kit) Carson (1809-1868).

While employed by the afore-mentioned company on July 12, 1861 at Rock Creek Station in Nebraska Territory, Hickok gained his gunfighter's reputation when killing a David C. McCanles and wiping out his gang in a shootout during the gang's attempt to overthrow the station.

In the same year of 1861 Hickok joined the U.S. (Union) Army as a wagon master and scout, then went on to become a spy/lawman for the U.S. Provost Marshal's office. (In 1930 the State of Illinois erected a monument at Troy Grove, Ill., for Hickok's National Heroism in the Civil War — currently an Illinois historical site). After the last Confederate surrender on May 26, 1865 in Texas, the war was over or it seemed to be.

However, on July 21, 1865, an ex-Confederate named Davis (Dave) Tutt challenged Wild Bill Hickok to a dual at Springfield, Mo. Tutt having drawn first, gave cause for Hickok to shoot him through the heart at an approx. distance of 150-175 feet, with one of his pair of walnut grip 1851 Colt pistols that he carried at that time. Afterward Hickok was titled by frontiersmen as "The Prince of Pistoleros." (A prominent U.S. Senator later on presented Hickok with a pair of ivory grip 1851 Colt pistols for services rendered.)

Wild Bill Hickok, having continued scouting for the U.S. Army (while intermittently gambling and buffalo hunting), from 1865 to 1869 united with friends such as scout William F. Cody (Buffalo Bill, 1846-1917) and General George A. Custer (1839-1876) at Fort Riley, Kan. During this time period Wild Bill was credited for killing a hostile Dakota Sioux Indian Chief named "Whistler." The rifle shot by Hickok was at an approx. distance of 800-900 yards. Also in 1867 Hickok was appointed a U.S. Marshal at Fort Riley, Kansas, which authorized him to enforce the laws in the entire territory. Folks and hostiles with bad intention by this time knew to stay clear of Wild Bill Hickok.

In 1870 Wild Bill Hickok became City Marshal and Sheriff at Hays City, Kansas. In 1871 Hickok became City Marshal at Abilene, Kansas. (In the same year Hickok met legendary frontiersman Wyatt S. Earp (1848-19229) at Kansas City, Kansas at a Frontiersmen meeting.) In 1873 Buffalo Bill asked his friend Wild Bill to join his Scouts of the Plains Stage Show, and so he did until 1874. Afterward Hickok went on a cabling circuit of such places as Cheyenne, Wyo., St. Louis, Mo., Kansas City Kans., and back to Cheyenne, Wyo. Hickok, having met Anges Lake at Cheyenne, married her there an March 5, 1876.

On July 12, 1876 Wild Bill at age 39 left Cheyenne for the rich mining town of Deadwood, Dakota Territory (S.D.) to seek his fortune. According to bartender Harry Young of Deadwood's No. 10 Saloon, Wild Bill Hickok was mortally shot in the back of the head by an assassin named Jack McCall, who had come in behind Hickok playing cards, (while holding a hand of aces and eights).

Wild Bill Hickok was buried at Deadwood's cemetery on August 3, 1876, by his friend Charlie H. (Colorado) Utter (1838-19100. Jack (crooked nose) McCall (1852-1877) was subsequently tried, convicted and hanged by federal authorities at Yankton, Dakota Territory (S.D.) on March 1, 1877 for Hickok's murder. McCall was buried in an unmarked grave of Yankton Catholic Cemetery. On August 3, 1879, Hickok's remains were re-interred at Mount Moriah Cemetery, Deadwood, Dakota Territory (S.D.) by Colorado Charlie; on the insistence of Martha Jan Canary Burke, (Calamity Jane, 1852-1903), who on her request was buried next to Hickok.

The legendary Wild Bill Hickok was a farmer, freight/stagecoach wagon master, buffalo hunter, famous gunfighter, famous Indian fighter, famous U.S. Army scout/spy, National Hero of the Civil War, famous pistol/rifle marksman, famous city/county federal lawman, professional stage actor, and professional gambler. (1837-1876).

Wayne County Press, Monday, Feb. 15, 2010

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