Wishing a safe and happy weekend for all readers of The Wireless Messaging News.

THIS WEEK'S HEADLINE

Wouldn't you hate to be working for Samsung in their Galaxy Note 7 smartphone product group right now?

In case you haven't heard or seen what's going on, take a look at these photos:

More info on the recall of the Samsung Galaxy Note 7 smartphone by the US Consumer Product Safety Commission follows below.

I think I will buy some shares of Apple stock.

Malicious smartphone apps turn your phone into tracking device

Researchers find apps spying on their users available for download in the Android play store.

September 16, 2016 — 5:00 AM PDT
by Laura Hautala @lhautala

Be careful what you download.

Four apps available on the Google Play Store were spying on users in secret, according to research released Friday by Mobile security company Lookout. Running a malicious code that Lookout has dubbed Overseer, the apps could track your latitude and longitude and collect information on who you were emailing when.

"That information is incredibly valuable to an attacker who wants to find out where a person is and who they're talking with," said Kristy Edwards, product manager for security research at Lookout.

One of the apps, called Embassy, functioned as advertised in the Play Store, letting users look up their nation's embassy in foreign cities. In the meantime, it turned users' phones into homing devices and sent out email contact lists to accounts hosted on servers run by Facebook and Amazon. The other apps advertised themselves as news apps but didn't actually work. Nonetheless, they also contained Overseer.

Google has since removed the apps from the Play Store, according to a Lookout spokesperson. Google confirmed that apps' removal but declined further comment.

Edwards said she can't speculate on who created Overseer. She said the malicious software, which hasn't been identified in any other mobile apps so far, uses a novel technique to avoid detection.

Often, malicious software shows its hand by sending data to a random server in a foreign country. The fact that Overseer was sending user information to an account hosted by a Facebook server makes everything look above board.

That's useful for bad guys, because these days, companies are monitoring their employees' work phones for problems just like Overseer. Tricks like these make it hard to see "weird traffic," Edwards said. [ source ]

Now on to more news and views.

Wayne County, Illinois

Emergency Radio Communications Wireless Messaging Critical Messaging Telemetry Paging 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.

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.

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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Court questions whether Berkeley cell phone law goes too far

By Bob Egelko Updated
3:28 pm, Tuesday, September 13, 2016

Photo: Eric Risberg, AP     [More photos here .]

A federal appeals court questioned during a hearing Tuesday whether the city of Berkeley is unduly discouraging customers from buying cell phones by requiring retailers to warn them about the possible radiation effects of carrying switched-on phones close to their bodies.

Berkeley’s ordinance, challenged by the cell phone industry, requires dealers to notify customers that the federal government sets radiation standards for the phones and that a user may be exposed to levels above those standards by carrying a cell phone in a pocket or tucked into a bra when the device is connected to a wireless network.

U.S. District Judge Edward Chen of San Francisco allowed the law to take effect in January, saying the warning was based on research and guidelines by the Federal Communications Commission .

But at Tuesday’s hearing, members of a three-judge panel of the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco asked the city’s attorney whether Berkeley had gone beyond the FCC’s findings and sent a message implying that cell phones are dangerous.

“If we interpret this (ordinance) as warning that cell phones are unsafe, I don’t see that you have defended it,” Judge Michelle Friedland told Berkeley’s lawyer, Lawrence Lessig , a Harvard law professor.

Judge William Fletcher said that the FCC had included an “enormous” safety margin in its radiation guidelines but that Berkeley appeared to be requiring retailers to tell their customers that if they absorb radiation above the guideline levels, “it’s unsafe.”

Lessig replied that the federal agency had labeled its standards as safety measures and required cell phone manufacturers to include them in their manuals with each sale, the same message that Berkeley is conveying to consumers.

“The FCC has never said that cell phones are safe” in all uses, Lessig said. “We should be allowed to rely on the FCC’s judgment.”

A lawyer for the industry group CTIA — The Wireless Association argued that the federal agency had indeed concluded that cell phones are safe in all current uses, no matter where they’re held.

Berkeley’s message, which retailers are required to pass along, is “an alarming point of view ... contrary to science, facts and the FCC’s considered findings that cell phones sold in the United States are safe to use,” attorney Theodore Olson told the court. He said the ordinance was “a burden on speech.”

Fletcher suggested that Olson was overstating the evidence. A federal report this year “suggests (radio-frequency) radiation is of some concern,” he said, and “we know there may be cancer” from some levels of radiation exposure.

But Olson said Berkeley was sending the same type of message that San Francisco tried to convey to cell phone customers in a now-withdrawn ordinance.

San Francisco would have required retailers to tell customers that cell phones could expose them to dangerous, possibly cancer-causing radiation.

The city dropped the ordinance in 2013 after the appeals court, in a suit by the same industry group, blocked its enforcement.

The court did not indicate when it would rule on the Berkeley ordinance.

Bob Egelko is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: begelko@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @egelko

Be sure your infrastructure is up and running with the ProTek Flex Site Monitor from PageTek.

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• TAP, COMP2, Scope, WaveWare, SNPP, PET and SIP Input Protocols
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MARS (Mobile Alert Response System)

• Combines Paging Protocol Monitoring and Wireless Sensor Monitoring (Inovonics and Bluetooth LE)
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STG (SIP to TAP Gateway)

• Monitors SIP protocol (engineered for Rauland Responder V nurse call)
• Outputs TAP protocol to Ethernet and Serial Port Paging Systems
• Linux Based Embedded System
• Browser Based Configuration

A Problem

The Motorola Nucleus II Paging Base Station is a great paging transmitter. The Nucleus I, however, had some problems.

One of the best features of this product was its modular construction. Most of the Nucleus' component parts were in plug-in modules that were field replaceable making maintenance much easier.

One issue was (and still is) that two of the modules had to always be kept together. They are called the “matched pair.”

Motorola used some tricks to keep people in the field from trying to match unmatched pairs, and force them to send SCM and Exciter modules back to the factory for calibrating them with precision laboratory equipment.

The serial numbers have to match in the Nucleus programing software or you can't transmit. Specifically the 4-level alignment ID parameter contained in the SCM has to match the Exciter ID parameter.

Even if someone could modify the programing software to “fudge” these parameters, that would not let them use unmatched modules effectively without recalibrating them to exact factory specifications.

So now that there is no longer a Motorola factory laboratory to send them to, what do we do?

I hope someone can help us resolve this serious problem for users of the Nucleus paging transmitter.

Please let me know if you can help. [ click here ]

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What's been fixed and what's still broken in Windows 10

Credit: MIT News

Microsoft has provided some relief for well-known bugs, but there are still big problems, especially with the Anniversary Update

InfoWorld | Sep 15, 2016 By Woody Leonhard

Two weeks ago I posted a short list of the major bugs that continue to bedevil the Windows 10 versions. With all the updates released this week, you'd think the problems would be solved.

Of course, you'd be wrong. Here's what I've found.

[...]

Windows 10 Anniversary Update — version 1607

Sept. 13's cumulative update, KB 3189866 , brings Win10 Anniversary Update, version 1607, up to build 14393.187. It's another massive update, the fifth since 1607 was released on Aug. 2. Yes, that's five major updates in six weeks. No wonder Microsoft's holding off on the Anniversary Update rollout.

The KB article for the cumulative update now sits at "Revision 2.0," revised Sept. 14, although there's no indication what might've changed. The Win10 update history page has no mention of the revision, and the build number hasn't changed. There's a chance that problems that appeared on Sept. 13 — there were many — may have been fixed under the covers on Sept. 14.

In addition to the many complaints about the installer hanging at 45 percent and 95 percent, I also see reports of corruption (CRC errors) when admins try to download the patch to their update servers. In both cases, a manual download and install seems to fix the problem.

A couple of the bugs from two weeks ago have been resolved. The plug-in-a-Kindle-and-blue-screen-your-system problem has been solved. The double-printing bug has also been fixed, as best I can tell, although Seagull Scientific support hasn't yet officially confirmed the fix in the afflicted BarTender bar-code printing program.

But other bugs remain.

The misidentified RAW format partition problem, which I discussed on Aug. 3 , and updated in more detail on Sept. 13 , hasn't been fixed. That bug has led many people to reformat perfectly valid drives simply because of a bug in the Anniversary Update.

Microsoft reports that it's made some progress. There's a thread on Reddit where Microsoft employee maheshrd says:

As some of you have gleefully posted, the issue is fixed for you. And I am very glad that you are happy now :) I do understand that there are another set of folks who have applied KB3189866, but still cannot access their drives. We are still working on those variations. So please wait for those fixes to hit Windows Update. Trust us, we are actively working on that.

There's also a nasty bug that affects creating and renaming folders on a network share. On the TechNet forums, poster T Jahns describes it :

When I create a new folder on a share (e.g. \\contososerver\Company) that is hosted on Windows Server 2012 R2 running on a VM (in my situation hosted by Windows Server 2012 R2), File Explorer hangs for about 30 seconds then pops up a message that reads "An unexpected error is keeping you from renaming the folder [...] Error 0x8007003B: An unexpected network error occurred".  The error also occurs when I attempt to rename a folder.  After dismissing the error message, I am then able to rename the folder as desired.  Note that any network file transfer traffic (which happens be running in the background) is stalled until the operation times out (after 30 seconds or so).

No word on when that bug will get fixed.

There are still intermittent reports of Win10 AU freezing sporadically, although the Aug. 31 update appears to have fixed most of the freezes, and it isn't clear if the extant problems are caused by Win10 AU or by something else. No word on whether this patch fixes the infuriating, intermittent malfunctioning of Ctrl-C for simple copying. I haven't hit it yet with this patch, but it's hard to cross your fingers and hit Ctrl-C simultaneously.

Skype remains an enigma. Plenty of folks reported problems using Skype with a Logitech C920 camera after installing the Anniversary Update. Since then, we've seen a registry hack to fix the problem, a workaround that involves running screen sharing for a few seconds, and lots of buck-passing between Microsoft's Windows Camera and Skype teams. If there's a Microsoft-sanctioned solution to the Skype on 1607 problem, I haven't seen it.

I continue to recommend that you actively block the Anniversary Update . And for Pete's sake don't manually download and install it.

Windows 10 Fall (November) Update — version 1511

Tuesday's cumulative update for the Fall Update, KB 3185614 , brings version 1511 up to build 10586.589. That's the 16th cumulative update since 1511 was released 10 months ago. (Some now call this the "November Update" instead of the hemispherically challenged original "Fall Update." Wonder what'll happen in November 2017?)

Unlike the KB article for the Win10 Anniversary Update, which says "Revision 2.0," this patch's KB article now declares it's "Revision 3.0," originally released Sept. 12, last revised Sept. 14, although there's no indication what changed in either revisions 2 or 3. The Win10 update history page has no indication of the reason for the revision, and the build number hasn't changed. Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain .

Generic problems with 1511 have largely disappeared, although several admins report that KB 3185611 won't download, with a CRC verification failure . It looks like the double-print bug in MS16-098/KB 3176493 has been resolved, but again, Seagull Scientific support hasn't yet officially confirmed the fix .

The KB 3185614 patch blazes new ground in an interesting way. As far as I know, it's the first Win10 cumulative update that was preceded by a "hotfix"— KB 3186988 , a patch for the double-print bug that was specifically released for version 1511. I don't see any admonitions about removing the hotfix prior to installing this cumulative update, and that's a very good sign. Perhaps we'll see more hotfixes in the future. Since there's no Insider Release Preview ring for older versions of Win10 (the only Insider Release Preview ring right now is for 1607), hotfixes may become an important part of our patching regimen in the future. Of course, Microsoft won't call it a "hotfix" — it'd be hard to sell Hotfixes as a Service — but if it works, I'm not complaining.

Microsoft employees (and my personal heroes) johnwinkmsft and jenmsft are tracking the main Reddit thread on the updates. That's a good place to go if you want to ask a question. And if you hit any new significant problems, drop me a line here or over on AskWoody.com .

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Spectrum Warehousing — EWA Seeks to Close Loopholes

For Immediate Release

Contact: Andrea Cumpston, Communications Director
Email: andrea.cumpston@enterprisewireless.org
Phone: 703-797-5111

September 13, 2016 (Herndon, VA) — Earlier this month, the Enterprise Wireless Alliance (EWA) filed a letter with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) seeking clarification on how many channels an 800/900 MHz Business/Industrial Land Transportation (B/ILT) applicant normally could expect to receive during the initial frequency advisory committee certification process if it were planning to operate a non-for-profit Specialized Mobile Radio (SMR) system when no one, not even the applicant, has any idea how many entities it will eventually need to serve. Similarly, EWA requested clarification on how many channels should be initially assigned to a radio rental business. Should the number of channels be based on the number of radios the applicant intends to maintain in inventory, even if its experience is that only some percentage of those radios are rented and actually in use at any time?

These types of applications tend to create the potential for spectrum warehousing. Even if EWA and other interested frequency advisory committees are not responsible to verify the accuracy of an applicant’s mobile count, EWA’s advice on such FCC requirements is frequently requested.

“Over decades, B/ILT applicants representing the mass transit, airline, manufacturing, utility, agriculture, energy and other business enterprise sectors have generally honored the FCC’s expectation that applicants not overstate the amount of spectrum they require to serve their communication requirements,” EWA President Mark Crosby noted. “What is not particularly clear is how the rules apply to B/ILT applicants that propose to provide either service to eligible users on a not-for-profit or intend to enter the radio rental business. We simply do not have the luxury of permitting applicants to secure more spectrum than perhaps they will ever need, as it is near impossible at the moment to have licensees on their own return excess spectrum,” Crosby concluded.

About the Enterprise Wireless Alliance
EWA is an FCC-certified frequency advisory committee and leading advocate for business enterprises that rely on wireless communications systems. EWA provides its members and clients with license preparation, spectrum management and associated services. Membership in EWA is open to users of wireless communications systems, vendors, system operators and service organizations EWA is the creator of Cevo ^® , a powerful frequency coordination portal, which includes the industry’s first mobile app for frequency inquiries. Additional information about membership and services is available at www.enterprisewireless.org .

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Disaster-Proven Paging for Public Safety

Paging system designs in the United States typically use a voice radio-style infrastructure. These systems are primarily designed for outdoor mobile coverage with modest indoor coverage. Before Narrowbanding, coverage wasn’t good, but what they have now is not acceptable! The high power, high tower approach also makes the system vulnerable. If one base station fails, a large area loses their paging service immediately!

Almost every technology went from analog to digital except fire paging. So it’s time to think about digital paging! The Disaster-Proven Paging Solution (DiCal) from Swissphone offers improved coverage, higher reliability and flexibility beyond anything that traditional analog or digital paging systems can provide. 

Swissphone is the No. 1 supplier for digital paging solutions worldwide. The Swiss company has built paging networks for public safety organizations all over the world. Swissphone has more than 1 million pagers in the field running for years and years due to their renowned high quality.

DiCal is the digital paging system developed and manufactured by Swissphone. It is designed to meet the specific needs of public safety organizations. Fire and EMS rely on these types of networks to improve incident response time. DiCal systems are designed and engineered to provide maximum indoor paging coverage across an entire county. In a disaster situation, when one or several connections in a simulcast solution are disrupted or interrupted, the radio network automatically switches to fall back operating mode. Full functionality is preserved at all times. This new system is the next level of what we know as “Simulcast Paging” here in the U.S.

Swissphone offers high-quality pagers, very robust and waterproof. Swissphone offers the best sensitivity in the industry, and battery autonomy of up to three months. First responder may choose between a smart s.QUAD pager, which is able to connect with a smartphone and the Hurricane DUO pager, the only digital pager who offers text-to-voice functionality.

Bluetooth technology makes it possible to connect the s.QUAD with a compatible smartphone, and ultimately with various s.ONE software solutions from Swissphone. Thanks to Bluetooth pairing, the s.QUAD combines the reliability of an independent paging system with the benefits of commercial cellular network. Dispatched team members can respond back to the call, directly from the pager. The alert message is sent to the pager via paging and cellular at the same time. This hybrid solution makes the alert faster and more secure. Paging ensures alerting even if the commercial network fails or is overloaded.

Swissphone sets new standards in paging:

Paging Network

• It’s much faster to send individual and stacked pages digitally than with analog voice.
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• Protect victim confidentiality and prevent unauthorized use of public safety communications, with integrated encryption service.

Pager

• Reliable message reception, thanks to the best sensitivity in the industry.
• Ruggedized and waterproof, IP67 and 6 1/2-feet drop test-certified products.
• Battery autonomy of up to three months, with a standard AA battery.
• Bluetooth enables the new s.QUAD pager to respond back to the dispatch center or fire chief.

Dispatching:

• Two-way CAD interfaces will make dispatching much easier.
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Swissphone provides a proven solution at an affordable cost. Do you want to learn more?
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Samsung formally recalls the Note 7 in the US

There are now 92 incidents of overheating batteries

By Nick Statt on September 15, 2016 04:26 pm Email @nickstatt

After weeks of investigation, the US Consumer Product Safety Commission announced a formal recall of the Galaxy Note 7 in conjunction with Samsung today. The move outlines the problems with the phone's exploding battery and puts in place a path for consumers to return or replace the device. The news should come as source of relief for Samsung customers, many of whom have been grappling with the company's mixed messaging and sometimes confusing responses to the Note 7's ongoing issues. The formal recall covers about 1 million devices.

"Consumers should immediately stop using and power down the recalled Galaxy Note 7 devices purchased before September 15th, 2016," reads the CPSC's recommendation. "Contact the wireless carrier, retail outlet, or Samsung.com where you purchased your device to receive free of charge a new Galaxy Note 7 with a different battery, a refund, or a new replacement device." The CPSC has also updated the US incident count, pegging the number of units with overheating batteries at 92, including 26 reports of burns and 55 reports of property damage.

"IMMEDIATELY STOP USING AND POWER DOWN THE RECALLED GALAXY NOTE 7"

The CPSC has had a staggered response to the recall due to delayed communications with Samsung, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal . The tension there has made it difficult for US carriers to issue new devices, and every Note 7 has needed approval from the CPSC before it can be cleared for consumers. A software update issued to South Korean owners earlier this week caps the battery capacity at 60 percent , supposedly to prevent overheating and eventual battery combustion. The fix is a stopgap, and it's not yet available to Note 7 owners outside South Korea.

T-Mobile, in response to the CPSC recall, released a statement saying it expects Samsung shipments of replacement Note 7's to arrive "no later than September 21st." For those interested in getting a different device, the company says customers will receive a full refund on the Note 7 and any accessories, and the money can put toward any device in T-Mobile's inventory. T-Mobile will also waive any restocking charges and shipping fees, and it's also including a $25 credit on their monthly cell bill. Samsung had previously said its replacement Note 7's will come in boxes with a blue "S" over the barcode sticker.

Likewise, AT&T issued a similar statement saying it will receive inventory of new Galaxy Note 7s from Samsung no later than September 21st. "These devices have been tested by Samsung and approved by the Consumer Product Safety Commission," reads the support note. AT&T customers with the original Note 7 "are strongly encouraged to immediately power down and stop using their device and visit their original place of purchase to exchange that device."

Samsung first acknowledged problems with the phone's battery on September 2nd, when it issued a recall with a statement telling owners it would "voluntarily replace [users'] current device with a new one over the coming weeks." This lack of clarity, compounded by follow-up statements telling users to power the phone off, has turned the situation into a pressing and financially sensitive situation for Samsung. The company's stock is currently experiencing its largest ever price decline in its 28 years as a public company.

Meanwhile, mobile analytics company Apteligent, which issued a report on the Note 7 this week, claims the "usage rate of the phone among existing users has been almost the exact same since the day of the recall." In other words, Note 7 users are ignoring Samsung's recommendations and continuing to use the phone. According to Recode , only 130,000 Note 7 units have been returned as part of Samsung's exchange program. So this recall, while giving people formal instructions on how to get a replacement or return the Note 7, is also designed to highlight the dangers of continuing to use the device.

Update September 15th, 4:50PM ET: Added statements from T-Mobile and AT&T.

Tuesday, September 13, 2016		Volume 4 | Issue 179

911 Call Centers Could Be Hacked

Cell phone towers are at the heart of the country’s 911 system, one which is vulnerable to attack, according to researchers in Israel. Fifteen years after the September 11 attacks on the U.S. comes the sobering news that the nation’s 911 system could potentially be hacked.

Researchers at Ben Gurion University in Israel say in a report they’ve shared with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the FBI they’ve simulated a telephone denial-of-service attack to disable a state’s 911 call centers, reports NDTV. In a Telephony Denial of Service (TDoS) attack, cell phones are infected with malware so they make fake 911 calls, clogging the phone lines and preventing legitimate calls from getting through.

It would take just 6,000 infected phones to disrupt a 911 system in a typical state and some 200,000 infected phones to disrupt 911 centers nationwide, according to the researchers. That’s because 911 call centers operate at near capacity on a given day and it doesn’t take much to overwhelm them by increasing call volume just a little bit, says Mordechai Guri, head of R&D at the university’s Cyber Security Center and chief scientist at Morphisec Endpoint Security.

National Emergency Number Association Government Affairs Director Trey Forgety says the group believes the potential for a TDoS attack is “far worse” than what the Israeli researchers believe.

Part of the vulnerability issue is each state operates its own 911 call centers; telecom providers or third-party contractors route the calls to the call centers. A router determines the landline caller’s location by consulting a database. The router can determine a mobile caller’s location from the device’s GPS chip or from the cell tower that picks up the call. Based on location, the router directs the call to the nearest Public Safety Answering Point.

Hackers could potentially infect cell phones with malware that allows them to control the device as well as overwhelm the call centers and their routers with repeated, fake calls. A carrier or 911 system could theoretically block the calls, however the researchers were able to create malware that causes the phones to transmit random IDs to cell towers — changing the ID with each call to circumvent blacklisting.

Many states rely on a single router in each county to process 911 calls; by overwhelming one device, hackers can affect several call centers. Research suggests states could employ more routers to ensure no one device becomes a choke point in an attack.

Wireless Communication Solutions

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• PURC or direct connect
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Paging Data Receiver (PDR)

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

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SEE WEB FOR COMPLETE LIST:

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Rick McMichael
Preferred Wireless, Inc.
Telephone: 888-429-4171
(If you are calling from outside of the USA, please use: 314-575-8425)
rickm@preferredwireless.com

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.

REMINDER: 911 Reliability Certification Due October 15

Covered 911 Service Providers are reminded that their Reliability Certification pursuant to the FCC's 911 reliability rules is due October 15, 2016. (PS Docket Nos. 13-75, 11-60) Covered 911 Service Providers may submit their certifications through the Commission’s online portal at https://apps2.fcc.gov/rcs911/.

“Covered 911 Service Providers” includes any entity that provides 911, E911, or NG911 capabilities such as call routing, ALI, ANI, or the functional equivalent of those capabilities, directly to a PSAP, statewide default answering point, or appropriate local emergency authority, or that operates one or more central offices that directly serve a PSAP. The definition does not include any entity that constitutes a PSAP or governmental authority to the extent that it provides 911 capabilities; or offers the capability to originate 911 calls where another service provider delivers those calls and associated number or location information to the appropriate PSAP. The Commission does not intend for the certification requirement to apply to wireless providers, VoIP providers, backhaul providers, Internet service providers (ISPs), or commercial data centers based on the functions they currently provide in 911 networks, assuming they do not otherwise provide the functions of a Covered 911 Service Provider under the definition.

Headlines

FCC Releases Fact Sheet on Upcoming Set-Top Box Order, Including Small Carrier Exemption

On Friday, September 9, the FCC released a Fact Sheet detailing some of the points covered in its upcoming Report and Order on rules to allow consumers to use a device of their choosing to access multichannel video programming. The Report and Order will be voted on at the September Open Meeting.
According to the Fact Sheet:

• new rules will require pay-TV providers to offer to consumers a free app, controlled by the pay-TV provider, to access all the programming they pay for on a variety of devices, including tablets, smartphones, gaming systems, streaming devices or smart TVs.
• Consumers are no longer forced to rent boxes from their pay-TV provider.
• Pay-TV providers must provide their apps to widely deployed platforms, such as Roku, Apple iOS, Windows and Android.
• Pay-TV providers must enable consumers’ ability to search the content in their service, both linear and on-demand, alongside other video services accessible through the device.
• Pay-TV providers may not require a platform or device to promote the pay-TV app over other sources of programming in the search function.
• Pay-TV providers must provide consumers with an equivalent ability to access content via the pay-TV app as they have in the set-top box.
• Pay-TV apps must provide at least the same accessibility functions for people with disabilities that a set-top box provides. Third party devices may not block such functions and must adhere to the Commission’s accessibility rules.
• Pay-TV providers may choose to develop apps themselves or provide the necessary code to a third-party developer to develop an app on behalf of the pay-TV provider.

Large providers will have two years to fully implement the new requirements, while medium sized providers will have an additional two years to comply. Smaller operators (those with fewer than 400,000 subscribers) will not have to comply with the requirements, but may provide apps or software as appropriate for their business.

Reminder: EAS Test Reporting System Forms Due

As we reported in the June 29 edition of the BloostonLaw Telecom Update, the FCC’s Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau provided notice to all Emergency Alert System (EAS) Participants that the EAS Test Reporting System (ETRS) is operational and ready to accept filings for the upcoming EAS test on September 28, 2016. EAS Participants were required to complete Form One of ETRS on or before August 26, and still have until September 26 to update or correct any errors in their initial Form One filings. ETRS Forms Two and Three will become available on ETRS at the time of initiation of the nationwide test. Form Two must be filed on or before 11:59 pm EDT on September 28, 2016. Form Three must be filed on or before November 14, 2016.

Under the FCC’s rules, EAS participation is required by analog radio and television stations, wired and wireless cable television systems, digital broadcast systems, digital television broadcast stations, Satellite Digital Audio Radio Service, digital cable and digital audio broadcasting systems, and wireline video systems. On June 3, 2015 the Commission released the Sixth Report and Order, in which it adopted rules establishing the ETRS, a mandatory version of the voluntary electronic test reporting system employed for the 2011 nationwide EAS test. The Commission retained the three-form structure of the 2011 version, and adopted new features and data fields responsive to stakeholder comments.

Form 1 collected background information, including EAS system and equipment information and EAS point-of-contact information. Form 2 will collect information on whether the EAS National Test alert code was received and rebroadcast. Form 3 will collect information regarding receipt and rebroadcasting of the alert code, including an explanation of any complications in receiving or rebroadcasting the code.

FCC Publishes Transition Order in Federal Register; Effective Date to be Established by OMB

On September 12, the FCC published its Technology Transitions Second Report and Order and Order on Reconsideration in the Federal Register. The effective date for the rules adopted by the Second Order will be announced upon approval by the Office of Management and Budget. For simplicity’s sake, we will refer to the document as the Second Order; note, however that this Federal Register publication does not include the Declaratory Ruling pertaining to access tariffs that part of the original document.

Originally released on July 15, 2016, the Second Order contains new rules applicable to technology transition discontinuance applications. Specifically, “…applications seeking to discontinue a legacy TDM-based voice service or part of a new technology, whether IP or wireless, or another type, indicate that a technology transition is indicated.” The Second Order adopts eligibility requirements to meet automatic grant status for discontinuance applications involving technology transitions for voice services only.

The basis for streamlined treatment is referred the “adequate replacement test,” which requires a showing across three basic elements in order to qualify for automatic grant. Failure to meet any of these factors will subject the applicant to non-streamlined Section 214 processing for any legacy voice discontinuance. Please note that rural ILECs are not exempt from the adequate replacement showing if they desire automatic grant processing. However, the FCC has exempted “small businesses, including rural LECs who satisfy the standard [small business] for this designation” from network testing requirements part of the test. The Second Order further prescribes consumer education and notification requirements, including preferred notice methods (e-mail) and specific company contact information in the case of copper retirements.

Law & Regulation

FCC Announces Tentative Agenda for September Open Meeting

On September 8, FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler announced that the following items are tentatively on the agenda for the Open Commission Meeting scheduled for Thursday, September 29, 2016:

• a Report and Order and Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that would leverage advancements in technology to improve wireless emergency alert content, delivery and testing, while seeking comment on further measures to ensure effective alerts. (PS Docket No. 15-91)
• a Report and Order that extends to broadcast licensees the same streamlined rules and procedures that common carrier wireless licensees use to seek approval for foreign ownership, with appropriate broadcast-specific modifications. The item also establishes a framework for a publicly traded common carrier or broadcast licensee or controlling U.S. parent to ascertain its foreign ownership levels. (GN Docket No. 15-236)
• a NPRM that proposes steps the Commission can take to promote the distribution of independent and diverse programming to consumers. (MB Docket No. 16-41)
• a Report and Order that modernizes the Commission’s rules to allow consumers to use a device of their choosing to access multichannel video programming instead of leasing devices from their cable or satellite providers. (MB Docket No. 16-42)

The Open Meeting is scheduled to commence at 10:30 a.m. at the FCC, and will be webcast live at that time at www.fcc.gov/live .

FCC Converts Various Paper Notifications to Electronic Notifications

Today, the FCC released its public notice announcing the elimination of the mailing of certain paper notices in its Universal Licensing System (ULS) and Antenna Structure Registration System (ASR) to licensees, registrants and applicants. This change is part of the FCC’s efforts to streamline its notification efforts in advance of the FCC’s transition to a new licensing system. What is significant, however, is that the paper notices which are being eliminated are those that provide information about FCC actions but “do not require a response from a system user and the information from those notices is available by other means in either ULS or the ASR System.”

The FCC has made clear that it will continue to mail any letter which requires a response (such as a proposed license termination, application dismissal, etc.) even though those letters are available in ULS or ASR as part of the license record. Appendix A to the Public Notice lists those notices that are being eliminated, including: Aircraft and Ship Radio Station Termination, Ownership Notification Letters, Application Notification Letters and FCC Registration Notifications (involving FRN’s). Likewise, the FCC is also eliminating paper notifications with respect to ASR ownership changes and receipts of applications. This is because most changes are made electronically and the FCC believes that affirmative notification is not required in order to ensure the integrity of its systems. That said, Appendix B lists those notifications that are being retained because action on the part of a licensee or applicant would be required, including: application dismissal letters, application return letters, letters advising of partial grants of applications, construction reminder letters, transactional consummation letters, license renewal and reminder letters. It is also important to note that the FCC’s move towards electronic notification does not impact the public notice requirement. Thus, the FCC will continue to issue its Wednesday weekly public notices announcing applications that are accepted for filing as well as various actions taken. Finally, while the FCC will continue letters proposing the termination of licenses for non-construction, it will also publish that proposal on public notice.

FCC Announces 17.4% USF Contribution Factor

On September 12, the FCC’s Office of the Managing Director issued a Public Notice announcing that the proposed universal service contribution factor for the fourth quarter of 2016 will be 0.174 or 17.4 percent. If the FCC takes no action regarding the projections of demand and administrative expenses and the proposed contribution factor within the 14-day period following release of this Public Notice, they will be deemed approved.

Contributions to the federal universal service support mechanisms are determined using a quarterly contribution factor based on the ratio of total projected quarterly costs of the universal service support mechanisms to contributors’ total projected collected end-user interstate and international telecommunications revenues, net of projected contributions Projections of Demand and Administrative Expenses for this quarter are:

($ millions)

Total Projected Collected Interstate and International End-User Telecommunications Revenues for Fourth Quarter 2016: $14.2 billion.

Industry

FCC Seeks Nominations for USAC Board

On September 9, the FCC issued a Public Notice seeking nominations for six positions on the Board of Directors of the Universal Service Administrative Company. Nominations are due October 21. The tenure of a position on the Board is three years. Specifically, the FCC seeks nominations for the following positions:

• Representative for incumbent local exchange carriers (Bell Operating Companies), (position currently held by Joel Lubin, Consultant, AT&T);
• Representative for libraries that are eligible to receive discounts pursuant to section 54.501 of the Commission’s rules (position currently held by Robert Bocher, Consultant, Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction);
• Representative for state consumer advocates (position currently held by Wayne Jortner);
• Representative for commercial mobile radio service (CMRS) providers (position currently held by Matt Gerst, Director for Regulatory Affairs, CTIA – The Wireless Association);
• Representative for cable operators (position currently held by Jose Jimenez, Executive Director, Cox Communications, Inc.); and
• Representative for schools that are eligible to receive discounts pursuant to section 54.501 of the Commission’s rules (position currently held by Dr. Daniel A. Domenech, Executive Director, American Association of School Administrators).

According to the Public Notice, if members of the relevant industry or non-industry group fail to reach consensus on a candidate to serve on the Board, or fail to submit a nomination for the particular Board member seat, the Chairman of the FCC will select an individual from that industry or non-industry group to serve on the Board.

Deadlines

SEPTEMBER 28: EAS TEST. The FCC’s Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau, in collaboration with FEMA, will conduct a nationwide test of the Emergency Alert System (or “EAS”) on Wednesday, September 28, 2016, at 2:20 PM EDT. Entities required under the Commission's rules to comply with EAS rules (“EAS Participants”) include broadcast radio and television stations, and wired and wireless cable television systems, DBS, DTV, SDARS, digital cable and DAB, and wireline video systems. Under FCC Part 11 Rules, EAS Participants are required to file their “day of test” data within 24 hours of any nationwide EAS test or as otherwise required by the Bureau. The September nationwide EAS test will be the first time that test data will be captured and analyzed using the EAS Test Reporting System (ETRS). EAS Participants must file the “day of test” information sought by ETRS Form Two at or before 11:59 PM EDT on September 28, 2016. EAS Participants must file the detailed post-test data sought by ETRS Form Three on or before November 14, 2016.

SEPTEMBER 30: FCC FORM 396-C, MVPD EEO PROGRAM REPORTING FORM. Each year on September 30, multi-channel video program distributors (“MVPDs”) must file with the Commission an FCC Form 396-C, Multi-Channel Video Programming Distributor EEO Program Annual Report, for employment units with six or more full-time employees. Users must access the FCC’s electronic filing system via the Internet in order to submit the form; it will not be accepted if filed on paper unless accompanied by an appropriate request for waiver of the electronic filing requirement. Certain MVPDs also will be required to complete portions of the Supplemental Investigation Sheet (“SIS”) located at the end of the Form. These MVPDs are specifically identified in a Public Notice each year by the FCC.

NOVEMBER 1: FCC FORM 499-Q, TELECOMMUNICATIONS REPORTING WORKSHEET. All telecommunications common carriers that expect to contribute more than $10,000 to federal Universal Service Fund (USF) support mechanisms must file this quarterly form. The FCC has modified this form in light of its decision to establish interim measures for USF contribution assessments. The form contains revenue information from the prior quarter plus projections for the next quarter. Form 499-Q relates only to USF contributions. It does not relate to the cost recovery mechanisms for the Telecommunications Relay Service (TRS) Fund, the North American Numbering Plan Administration (NANPA), and the shared costs of local number portability (LNP), which are covered in the annual Form 499-A that is due April 1.

Calendar At-A-Glance

September
Sep. 12 – Reply comments are due on Part 4 Revisions.
Sep. 26 – EAS Participants must have all updates or corrections to Form One of the ETRS filed.
Sep. 27 – Regulatory fee deadline.
Sep. 28 – EAS Test. Form Two of the ETRS due before midnight.
Sep. 30 – FCC Form 396-C (MVPD EEO Program Annual Report).

October
Oct. 15 – 911 Reliability Certification.

November
Nov. 1 – FCC Form 499-Q (Quarterly Telecommunications Reporting Worksheet) is due.
Nov. 14 – Form Three of the ETRS is due.

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.

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Ending a sentence with a preposition is nothing to be afraid of.

This week’s picture was taken by ESO Photo Ambassador Babak Tafreshi at ESO’s La Silla Observatory . The bright lane of the Milky Way can be seen streaking across the skies above the Chilean Atacama Desert, beneath which sits the New Technology Telescope (NTT), one of the ten active telescopes located at the observatory.

La Silla is the oldest observation site used by ESO — it has been an ESO stronghold since the 1960s. The site houses a number of telescopes, two of which are operated solely by ESO: the aforementioned NTT, the star of this image, and the 3.6-metre ESO telescope .

Joining this duo are many other collaborative telescopes, operated by various ESO Member States — the Swiss 1.2-metre Leonhard Euler Telescope , the Rapid Eye Mount (REM) telescope , the TAROT gamma-ray-burst chaser, the planet-hunting TRAPPIST , the MPG/ESO 2.2-metre telescope , the ESO 1-metre Schmidt telescope , the ESO 1-metre , and the Danish 1.54-metre telescope .

The NTT saw first light in 1989. It was a key player in ESO’s development of active optics , a technique used by astronomers to control the shape of the main mirror and correct for deformations that may affect image quality. Today, active optics is — or will be — used by all major modern telescopes, including ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT) and the forthcoming European Extremely Large Telescope (E-ELT) .

Click here to see more images taken by Babak.