Welcome Back

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

Thanks for the many “get well soon” messages. This was certainly not one of those colds that “lasts for one week with medicine or seven days without medicine.” I am into my third week and just now starting to feel human again.

Two funny items this week. The THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK is a ridiculous poem, and the LETTERS TO THE EDITOR includes a story from Burch Falkner who is a legend in his own mind. I have known Burch long enough that I can give him a good-natured “poke in the ribs.” Besides he is in Alabama and has learned how to use a computer when all of his neighbors are still writing with crayons. You gotta' give him credit for that.

Picking on the citizens of Alabama is meant to goad my other good friend in Birmingham, Frank Hackett, into writing another one of his eloquent letters to the editor defending his position. Both of these “good ol' boys” are excellent examples silver-tongued Southern gentlemen who have a cleaver way with words. I am just not sure that I would want to buy a used car from either of them. Well . . . that should do it — anything to get more content for the newsletter.

By the way, I just read that sarcasm is against the law in North Korea. If I end up dead in the next few days, Kim Jong Un did it — no autopsy necessary — it wouldn't be Frank or Burch.

Vodafone , the last major pager network supplier in the UK is selling out.

The deal will make professional services firm Capita the last remaining pager operator in the UK.

[ source ]

Wayne County, Illinois

Emergency Radio Communications Wireless Messaging Critical Messaging Two-way Radio Technology Telemetry Science Paging Wi-Fi

Wireless Messaging

This doesn't mean that nothing is ever published here that mentions a US political party—it just means that the editorial policy of this newsletter is to remain neutral on all political issues. We don't take sides.

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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The Board of Advisor members are people with whom I have developed a special rapport, and have met personally. They are not obligated to support the newsletter in any way, except with advice, and maybe an occasional letter to the editor.

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Still The Most Reliable Protocol For Wireless Messaging!

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Everything You Need to Know About Cloudbleed, the Latest Internet Security Disaster

By Adam Clark Estes
Gizmodo.com
February 24, 2017

Image: Cloudflare / Gizmodo

Have you heard? A tiny bug in Cloudflare’s code has led an unknown quantity of data—including passwords, personal information, messages, cookies, and more— to leak all over the internet . If you haven’t heard of the so-called Cloudbleed vulnerability, keep reading. This is a scary big deal.

Let’s start with the good news. Cloudflare, one of the world’s largest internet security companies, acted fast when security researcher Tavis Ormandy of Google’s Project Zero identified the vulnerability.

The bad news is that the Cloudflare-backed websites had been leaking data for months before Ormandy noticed the bug. Cloudflare says the earliest data leak dates back to September 2016. It’s so far unclear if blackhat hackers had already found the vulnerability and exploited it secretly before Cloudflare fixed its code. Cloudflare’s clients include huge companies like Uber, OKCupid, 1Password, and FitBit. That means a holy [...] ton of sensitive data has potentially been compromised.

As with any major security vulnerability, it will take some time before we can fully comprehend the level of destruction caused by Cloudbleed. For now, you should change your passwords —all of them—and implement two-factor authentication everywhere you can. You’ll figure out why this is a good idea when you read about how this nasty little security disaster unfolded.

What is Cloudflare?

You might not be familiar with Cloudflare itself, but the company’s technology is running on a lot of your favorite websites. Cloudflare describes itself as a “web performance and security company.” Originally an app for tracking down the source of spam, the company now offers a whole menu of products to websites, including performance-based services like content delivery services; reliability-focused offerings like domain name server (DNS) services; and security services like protection against direct denial of service (DDoS) attacks.

The fact that Cloudflare is a security company makes the dustup around this new vulnerability supremely ironic. After all, countless companies pay Cloudflare to help keep their user data safe. The Cloudbleed blunder did the opposite of that.

“I’ve informed Cloudflare what I’m working on. I’m finding private messages from major dating sites, full messages from a well-known chat service, online password manager data, frames from adult video sites, hotel bookings,” Tavis Ormandy wrote in an advisory . “We’re talking full https requests, client IP addresses, full responses, cookies, passwords, keys, data, everything.” Ormandy also said that the Cloudbleed vulnerability leaked data across 3,438 unique domains during a five-day period in February.

How does Cloudbleed work?

For you geeks out there, Cloudbleed is especially interesting because a single character in Cloudflare’s code lead to the vulnerability. It appears to be a simple coding error, though we’ve reached out to Cloudflare for information on what exactly happened. Based on what’s been reported, it appears that Cloudbleed works a bit like Heartbleed in how it leaks information during certain processes. The scale of Cloudbleed also looks like it could impacts as many users as Heartbleed, as it affects a common security service used by many websites.

According to a Cloudflare blog post , the issue stems from the company’s decision to use a new HTML parser called cf-html. An HTML parser is an application that scans code to pull out relevant information like start tags and end tags. This makes it easier to modify that code.

Cloudflare ran into trouble when formatting the source code of cf-html and its old parser Ragel to work with its own software. An error in the code created something called a buffer overrun vulnerability. (The error involved a “==” in the code where there should have been a “>=”.) This means that when the software was writing data to a buffer, a limited amount of space for temporary data, it would fill up the buffer and then keep writing code somewhere else. (If you’re dying for a more technical explanation, Cloudflare laid it all out in a blog post .)

In plain English, Cloudflare’s software tried to save user data in the right place. That place got full. So Cloudflare’s software ended up storing that data elsewhere, like on a completely different website. Again, the data included everything from API keys to private messages. The data was also cached by Google and other sites, which means that Cloudflare now has to hunt it all down before hackers find it.

Have you been pwned?

It’s unclear who exactly has been pwned. Cloudlfare claims that only a very small number of requests led to leaked data, but since the vulnerability has been almost six months, who knows how much information is out in the wild. Furthermore, the fact that so much of that data was cached across different sites means that, while Cloudflare’s initial patch stopped the leaking, the company needs to do lots of hunting around the web to ensure that all of the leaked data gets scrubbed. And even worse, even sites that don’t user Cloudflare’s service but have a lot of Cloudflare users might have compromised data on their servers.

Entrepreneur and security expert Ryan Lackey offered some good advice in a blog post . And Lackey knows what he’s talking about, since his company CryptoSeal was acquired by Cloudflare in 2014.

“Cloudflare is behind many of the largest consumer web services (Uber, Fitbit, OKCupid, …), so rather than trying to identify which services are on Cloudflare, it’s probably most prudent to use this as an opportunity to rotate ALL passwords on all of your sites,” Lackey wrote. “Users should also log out and log in to their mobile applications after this update. While you’re at it, if it’s possible to use 2FA or 2SV with sites you consider important.”

Changing your passwords sucks, but you should be doing it on a semi-regular basis anyways. As we’ve argued in the past, you might as well enable two-factor authentication on everything , too, since it’s your best first defense against hackers. That said, nothing is ever truly secure on the internet, and Cloudbleed might compromise some accounts using. two-factor authentication.

This is all to say: you can’t control what happens under the hood of websites and companies like Cloudflare that power them. But you can watch your own ass — and pray to the hacker gods to keep you safe. Whatever works.

Source:

Gizmodo.com

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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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Lakewood beeper store operator illegally moved millions

Payton Guion, Published 2:30 p.m. ET Feb. 23, 2017
ASBURY PARK PRESS

An operator of a beeper store in downtown Lakewood that was a focus of an Asbury Park Press investigation this year pleaded guilty Thursday to running a business that illegally sent millions of dollars across the country.

Operating out of Beepers Plus, at 428 Clifton Ave., Yisroel Malamud accepted money from customers, deposited that money into his own bank accounts and then transmitted the funds to third parties within the United States at the request of customers, according to U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Paul Fishman. Investigators found that Malamud transmitted more than $3.5 million but less than $9.5 million from Beepers Plus.

Transmitting money without a license is a felony in New Jersey. Malamud faces up to five years in prison and up to $250,000 in fines. He will be sentenced on June 1. According to property records, the store is owned by Este Holding LLC, but documents do not show the names of the owner or owners. The company was not accused of any wrongdoing by the U.S. attorney.

MORE: Beepers Plus helps shield hundreds of companies

By pleading guilty to running an unlicensed money-transmitting business, Malamud avoided further charges of “engaging in or conspiring to conduct a money laundering and money transmitting scheme,” according to the U.S. attorney. That scheme is alleged to have taken place from January 2010 to about May 2013, federal documents claim.

In an investigation published this year, the Press found that Beepers Plus was used as a mail drop for nearly 300 different limited-liability companies that own hundreds of properties across New Jersey.

The store doesn’t sell many beepers anymore — about two a year, an employee said. Signage on the front of the store advertises cellphones and copy services, among other offerings.

But its business is mailboxes. The small store has a wall with dozens of silver mail slots — think post office boxes — that can be opened by key. Many of the boxes at Beepers Plus are home to LLCs. Mailbox 165 alone is home to more than a dozen LLCs, according to property records.

When a reporter went to the store last year, the two employees working — who declined to give their names — said they knew nothing about any of the companies that have mailboxes there.

None of the individual companies with mailboxes at Beepers Plus have been implicated. A phone call to the store on Wednesday afternoon was met with an automated response.

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Repair and Refurbishment Services

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HAARP Goes Classical During New Experimental Campaign

The just-concluded run of ionospheric investigations conducted from Alaska's High Frequency Active Auroral Research Program ( HAARP ) observatory — quite likely the most powerful HF transmission facility in the world — revived the latent shortwave listener (SWL) lurking within most radio amateurs. Operating under Part 5 Experimental license WI2XFX, HAARP this month even aired some classical music as it conducted its first scientific research campaign since being taken over 18 months ago from the military by the University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF) Geophysical Institute.

A section of the extensive HAARP antenna array and one of the transmitter shelters. [Photo courtesy of Jeff Dumps, KL4IU]

UAF Space Physics Group Assistant Research Professor Chris Fallen, KL3WX, focused on two experiments — one called “airglow” that literally aimed to light up the ionosphere, and another to demonstrate the so-called “Luxembourg effect,” first noticed on a 1930s Radio Luxembourg broadcast. Public engagement was part of his plan, and Fallen this week said the Twitter and e-mail feedback from his transmissions had been “fantastic,” and that his science campaign had become "quite an event."

University of Alaska Fairbanks Space Physics Group Assistant Research Professor Chris Fallen, KL3WX.

“Thank you for making a difference and advancing Amateur Radio as well,” Doug Howard, VE6CID, tweeted. Another Twitter follower enthused, “You're running the coolest DX station in the world.” Fallen said he also received “a lot of great waterfalls,” as well as video and audio recordings from hams and SWLs.

Fallen started and stopped each experiment block with DTMF tones, transmitted in AM on or about 2.8 and 3.3 MHz, each channel fed with audio tones of different frequencies or, in the case of music, as a separate stereo channel. If the Luxembourg effect is present, skywave-signal listeners would hear both channels combined on a single frequency; Fallen said the effect is easier to detect with tones. In addition to tones, he transmitted “a 'dance track,' a Pachelbel Canon arrangement, and a variation of 'Row, Row, Row Your Boat.'” Jeff Dumps, KL4IU, composed some of the music, and he arranged and performed all of it.

A view from the HAARP helm during the Luxembourg Effect experiment. [Photo courtesy of Chris Fallen, KL3WX]

The CW “airglow” artificial aurora experiment followed the Luxembourg effect transmissions. All week, Fallen despaired that the “ratty” ionosphere and cloud cover were diminishing his hopes for success with the artificial aurora experiments. But on the last night, he tweeted, “Seeing artificial airglow with the spectrometer. Film at 11.”

Fallen is now evaluating the results of his HAARP efforts. He said one listener posted “a most excellent” YouTube clip. He was not specific; several have been posted that document this week's experiments, including this one from Stephen Oleson, VE6SLP. Laurence Howell, KL7L, in Wasilla, Alaska, posted an audio file .

“The miracle of crowd sourcing!” Fallen said. “If only the Luxembourg effect was more pronounced, but it is in the 3,300 kHz recording.”

Fallen has been working under a $60,000 National Science Foundation grant . “During campaigns, significant expenditures for fuel and personnel are required,” the grant abstract said. “Large start-up costs make HAARP experiments largely inaccessible to individual researchers unless multiple experiments and funding sources can be bundled together during a campaign of up to 2-week duration.” According to the abstract, public participation would maximize “the broader impacts of the investigations.”

Fallen posted additional information on his "Gakona HAARPoon 2017" blog .

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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.
• If you want better indoor coverage, you put sites closer together at lower heights.
• A self-healing system that also remains reliable in various disaster situations.
• Place base station where you need them, without the usage of an expensive backhaul network.
• Protect victim confidentiality and prevent unauthorized use of public safety communications, with integrated encryption service.

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• 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.
• The new s.ONE solution enables the dispatcher or fire chiefs to view the availability of relief forces.
• A graphical screen shows how many of the dispatched team members have responded to the call.

Swissphone provides a proven solution at an affordable cost. Do you want to learn more?
Visit: www.swissphone.com or call 800-596-1914.

Friday, February 24, 2017	Volume 5 | Issue 39

Neutrality Reporting Waiver Restored for Small ISPs After Fractious FCC Vote

On two out of three telecom items FCC Commissioners voted on yesterday, things went smoothly, but the item to roll back reporting requirements for small internet service providers as part of Net Neutrality regulations sparked controversy. Two of the three Commissioners, Chairman Ajit Pai and Michael O’Rielly, approved granting a five-year waiver of enhanced reporting requirements to ISPs with 250,000 or fewer connections.

The exemption expired in December, Inside Towers reported, and wireless trade associations including the Competitive Carriers Association, NTCA-The Rural Broadband Association, the Wireless Internet Service Providers Association and their members urged the agency to reinstate it, calling the requirements “onerous” and “burdensome.”

Compliance burdens on small IPSs are especially high because of their limited resources, according to Pai and O’Rielly. O’Rielly called the exemption “sound and justifiable” even though he supported an even lower threshold. “These ISPs should spend their limited capital” on building out their rural broadband networks, “not on hiring lawyers in D.C.” to fill out the paperwork, said Pai.

Commissioner Mignon Clyburn, now the lone Democrat, blasted the item and dissented from her GOP colleagues, saying it lets “billion dollar companies” avoid transparency. “We should not stand silent,” she said, adding that what was voted on was “vastly different” than what had been proposed during the previous administration. “The order doubles down by allowing the biggest providers to exempt their subsidiaries. The order runs roughshod over past precedent with no discussion as to why the Commission is changing its mind.”

O’Rielly said the result was a compromise and he would have supported a lower threshold.

At least one Congressional Democrat opposed the change. Sen. Ed Markey of Massachusetts stated that by “granting this carve out for the broadband industry, the FCC has made pricing and performance information less accessible to small businesses and consumers. Consumers deserve truth in pricing information.”

The vote could signal a sign of things to come. O’Rielly said the agency may look at getting rid of the reporting requirements altogether.

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Paging Data Receiver (PDR)

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SEE WEB FOR COMPLETE LIST:

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

Selected portions [sometimes more, sometimes less] 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: Deadline to File Geocoded Location Data is March 1

By March 1, Connect America Fund recipients must report geo-located broadband information and make service milestone certifications to the Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC). Companies that have taken the Alternative Connect America Model (A-CAM) funding option must report all new qualifying locations where broadband service made available in the prior calendar year. Companies that have chosen to remain on the rate-of-return (RoR) path must report all new qualifying locations made available between May 25, 2016 and December 31, 2016.

WTA has filed a petition requesting a temporary extension of this deadline; see the full article below for more information.

BloostonLaw Contacts: Ben Dickens , Gerry Duffy , and Mary Sisak .

Headlines

International Bureau Reminds Circuit Capacity Holders of March 31 Reporting Deadline

On February 22, the FCC’s International Bureau issued a Public Notice reminding filers that data for the annual Circuit Capacity Reports are due no later than March 31, 2017. The filing requirement applies to:

1. any facilities-based common carrier with active satellite or terrestrial circuits between the United States and a foreign point;
2. any non-common carrier satellite licensee with active circuits between the United States and a foreign point;
3. any licensee of a submarine cable between the United States and a foreign point; and
4. any common carrier with capacity on a submarine cable between the United States and a foreign point providing international telecommunications services.

This filing is completed through the FCC’s Section 43.62 online filing system, available at https://www.fcc.gov/general/section-4362-online-filing . The Public Notice also notes that starting this year, staff has the capability to send emails through the Section 43.62 online filing system. All system-generated emails will be from FCC-INTL-Part43@fcc.gov , and filers should ensure that their systems will accept emails from this address. Finally, letters notifying the Commission that circuits have been discontinued should be emailed to Circuit.Capacity@fcc.gov .

BloostonLaw Contacts: Gerry Duffy .

WTA Files Petition for Extension of High Cost USF Broadband Portal Filings

On February 17, WTA requested a temporary waiver or extension of the March 1, 2017 deadlines: (a) for recipients of Connect America Fund Alternative Connect America Cost Model (“CAF A-CAM”) support to file in the High Cost Universal Service Broadband (“HUBB”) portal all new qualifying locations to which they made broadband service available in the prior calendar year (2016); and (b) for recipients of Connect America Fund – Broadband Loop Support (“CAF-BLS”) to file in the HUBB portal all qualifying locations to which they newly made qualifying broadband service available between May 25, 2016 and December 31, 2016. Specifically, WTA requested that both of these March 1, 2017 deadlines be extended until December 31, 2017.

According to WTA, both the CAF A-CAM and the CAF-BLS filing requirements with respect to the HUBB portal are subject to Office of Management and Budget (“OMB”) review under the Paperwork Reduction Act (“PRA”), and that is not yet clear when OMB action will occur. Even if full OMB approval were to be issued today, there would be only seven (7) business days remaining for WTA members to make the new and unfamiliar (and very likely complicated) filings in the HUBB portal.

BloostonLaw Contacts: Gerry Duffy .

Sprint and T-Mobile Merger Talks May Be Rekindled Soon

There has been increasing speculation among telecom analysts that a merger between Sprint and T-Mobile may be back in the works, given the likelihood of a more conducive regulatory environment under a Republican administration.

Reuters reported late last week that SoftBank would be willing to give up control of Sprint Corp. to Deutsche Telekom AG’s T-Mobile US, Inc. in order to facilitate a merger of the third- and fourth-largest US wireless carriers. SoftBank currently owns more than 80% of Sprint.

Our clients may recall when Sprint tried to acquire T-Mobile back in 2014, it had to go back to the drawing board and ultimately dropped the deal as a result of objections by the DoJ. Since then, however, T-Mobile’s financial position has reportedly improved considerably. Last December, SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son met in Trump Tower with the then-President-elect, rekindling speculation that a merger could take place.

Reuters reported that no formal discussions between the companies has taken place yet due to the fact of T-Mobile’s participation in the forward auction portion of the 600 MHz Broadcast Incentive Auction and an FCC-imposed prohibition on certain communications while the auction is ongoing. Sprint had said early on that it is not participating in the Incentive Auction; however the revised prohibited communications rule that the FCC adopted in the fall of 2015 prohibits auction applicants from communicating with or disclosing information about their auction participation to any nationwide providers of communications services regardless of their auction participation.

The forward auction recently concluded its “clock phase” bidding, and will soon begin an “assignment phase” that is expected to run until the end of March. Sources reportedly told Reuters that the companies are expected to begin talks in April, after the down payment deadline for the auction has passed.
In 2011, Federal regulators rejected a deal by AT&T to buy T-Mobile for $39 billion, arguing that four national competitors were preferable to three. Sprint and T-Mobile will likely face significant regulatory scrutiny if a potential purchase deal is reached between the two.

BloostonLaw Contacts: John Prendergast , Cary Mitchell .

Law & Regulation

FCC Announces Agenda for February Open Meeting

On February 17, the FCC announced that it will hold an Open Meeting on Thursday, February 23 at 10:30 a.m. At the meeting, the FCC will consider the following items:

• a Report and Order adopting rules to provide ongoing support targeted to preserve and advance high-speed mobile broadband and voice service in high-cost areas that the marketplace does not otherwise serve.
• a Report and Order and Order on Reconsideration that (1) resolves a number of issues raised in the Phase II Auction Order FNPRM, including the adoption of weights to compare bids among service performance and latency tiers, and (2) considers several petitions for reconsideration for decisions made in the Phase II Auction Order.
• a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that proposes to let television broadcasters use the “Next Generation” broadcast television transmission standard associated with recent work of the Advanced Television Systems Committee (ATSC 3.0) on a voluntary, market-driven basis.
• a Second Report and Order that would relax the siting rule for an FM fill-in translator rebroadcasting an AM broadcast station.
• an Order granting a five-year waiver to broadband Internet access service providers with 250,000 or fewer broadband connections from the enhanced reporting requirements adopted in the 2015 Title II Order.
• a Report and Order that would “streamline and eliminate outdated accounting rules no longer needed to fulfill the Commission’s statutory or regulatory duties.”

As usual, the meeting will be broadcast live with open captioning over the Internet from the FCC Live web page at www.fcc.gov/live.

BloostonLaw Contacts: Ben Dickens , Gerry Duffy , and John Prendergast .

FCC Settles TRS Fund Investigation for $9.1 Million

On February 15, the FCC announced a $9.1 million settlement with Purple Communications, Inc. (Purple), CSDVRS, LLC (CSDVRS), and their parent company, ZVRS Holding Company (ZVRS Holding) to resolve pending enforcement matters involving Purple and CSDVRS. In addition to a monetary penalty for improper billing, the settlement repays the TRS Fund and establishes a 5-year compliance plan to ensure that services going forward incorporate the required checks.

Specifically, the Consent Decree resolves an $11 million Forfeiture Order against Purple from 2015 for “failing both to submit accurate data to the Telecommunications Relay Services (TRS) administrator (Administrator) and to use a reasonable process to verify the registration information of thousands of TRS user.” It also resolves ongoing investigation into its affiliate and parent companies.

This Consent Decree is the first to follow Chairman Pai’s new policy of requiring the full FCC to review and approve settlements. Previously, the Enforcement Bureau handled such matters without formal input from the Commissioners.

BloostonLaw Contacts: Gerry Duffy , and Sal Taillefer .

Comment Deadlines Established for Petitions for Reconsideration of Broadband Privacy Order

On February 17, the FCC published notice of several Petitions for Reconsideration of the Broadband Privacy Order of November 2, 2016. Accordingly, any oppositions to the Petitions must be filed on or before March 6, and replies to an opposition must be filed on or before March 16.

Petitioners include the United States Telecom Association, CTIA, the Competitive Carriers Association, the Association of National Advertisers, ITTA, and NCTA. In general, all Petitions argue that the FCC did not have the authority to promulgate privacy rules for broadband. Many argue in the alternative that the FCC should modify the rules to be more “flexible and workable,” as CTIA put it. Common arguments call for the removal of web browsing and app usage history from the definition of “sensitive information”; relaxation or outright elimination of restrictions on the use of customer information; and a more technology neutral approach, as several Petitioners argue that the rules apply to some classes of service providers but not others. The Competitive Carriers Association calls for an extension of the small provider exemption, which currently only lasts for one year. Clients interested in participating in comments on these petitions should contact the firm promptly.

BloostonLaw Contacts: Ben Dickens , Mary Sisak , and Sal Taillefer .

Industry

Verizon Shaves $350 Million Off Yahoo Purchase Price Over Data Breaches

On February 21, Verizon and Yahoo announced that they have amended the existing terms of their agreement for the purchase of Yahoo's operating business. Under the amended terms, Verizon and Yahoo have agreed to reduce the price Verizon will pay to acquire Yahoo's operating business by $350 million. In addition, Verizon and Yahoo will share certain legal and regulatory liabilities arising from two recent data breaches by Yahoo.

Specifically, under the amended terms, Yahoo will be responsible for 50 percent of any cash liabilities incurred following the closing related to non-SEC government investigations and third-party litigation related to the breaches. Liabilities arising from shareholder lawsuits and SEC investigations will continue to be the responsibility of Yahoo.

Verizon's acquisition of Yahoo — which is now valued at approximately $4.48 billion in cash — is expected to close in second-quarter 2017. The definitive stock purchase agreement was originally entered into on July 23, 2016.

Chairman Touts Virtues of FM Chip Activation, But FCC Won’t Regulate

On February 16, during his speech at the North American Broadcasters Association at the Association’s Future of Radio and Audio Symposium, FCC Chairman Ajit Pai called for the activation of FM chips in smartphones. According to the Chairman, while “the vast majority of smartphones sold in the United States do, in fact, contain FM chips … only about 44% of the top-selling smartphones in the United States have activated FM chips.” He went on to cite the public safety benefits of activated FM chips, specifically noting the FCC’s expert panel statement that “[h]aving access to terrestrial FM radio broadcasts, as opposed to streaming audio services, may enable smartphone users to receive broadcast-based EAS alerts and other vital information in emergency situations—particularly when the wireless network is down or overloaded.”

Interestingly, despite his support for the activation of the FM chips, Chairman Pai also said that he did not believe the government could mandate such a thing: “I don’t believe the FCC has the power to issue a mandate like that, and more generally I believe it’s best to sort this issue out in the marketplace.”

Deadlines

MARCH 1: COPYRIGHT STATEMENT OF ACCOUNT FORM FOR CABLE COMPANIES. This form, plus royalty payment for the second half of calendar year 2016, is due March 1. The form covers the period July 1 to December 31, 2016, and is due to be mailed directly to cable TV operators by the Library of Congress’ Copyright Office. If you do not receive the form, please contact Gerry Duffy.

BloostonLaw Contacts: Gerry Duffy .

MARCH 1: FCC FORM 477, LOCAL COMPETITION & BROADBAND REPORTING FORM. This annual form is due March 1 and September 1 annually. The FCC requires facilities-based wired, terrestrial fixed wireless, and satellite broadband service providers to report on FCC Form 477 the number of broadband subscribers they have in each census tract they serve. The Census Bureau changed the boundaries of some census tracts as part of the 2010 Census.

Specifically, three types of entities must file this form:

1. Facilities-based Providers of Broadband Connections to End User Locations: Entities that are facilities-based providers of broadband connections – which are wired “lines” or wireless “channels” that enable the end user to receive information from and/or send information to the Internet at information transfer rates exceeding 200 kbps in at least one direction – must complete and file the applicable portions of this form for each state in which the entity provides one or more such connections to end user locations. For the purposes of Form 477, an entity is a “facilities-based” provider of broadband connections to end user locations if it owns the portion of the physical facility that terminates at the end user location, if it obtains unbundled network elements (UNEs), special access lines, or other leased facilities that terminate at the end user location and provisions/equips them as broadband, or if it provisions/equips a broadband wireless channel to the end user location over licensed or unlicensed spectrum. Such entities include incumbent and competitive local exchange carriers (LECs), cable system operators, fixed wireless service providers (including “wireless ISPs”), terrestrial and satellite mobile wireless service providers, BRS providers, electric utilities, municipalities, and other entities. (Such entities do not include equipment suppliers unless the equipment supplier uses the equipment to provision a broadband connection that it offers to the public for sale. Such entities also do not include providers of fixed wireless services (e.g., “Wi-Fi” and other wireless ethernet, or wireless local area network, applications) that only enable local distribution and sharing of a premises broadband facility.)
2. Providers of Wired or Fixed Wireless Local Telephone Services: Incumbent and competitive LECs must complete and file the applicable portions of the form for each state in which they provide local exchange service to one or more end user customers (which may include “dial-up” ISPs).
3. Providers of Mobile Telephony Services: Facilities-based providers of mobile telephony services must complete and file the applicable portions of this form for each state in which they serve one or more mobile telephony subscribers. A mobile telephony service is a real-time, two-way switched voice service that is interconnected with the public switched network using an in-network switching facility that enables the provider to reuse frequencies and accomplish seamless handoff of subscriber calls. A mobile telephony service provider is considered “facilities-based” if it serves a subscriber using spectrum for which the entity holds a license that it manages, or for which it has obtained the right to use via lease or other arrangement with a Band Manager.

BloostonLaw Contacts: Ben Dickens , Gerry Duffy , and Mary Sisak .

MARCH 1: GEOCODED BROADBAND LOCATION DATA. By March 1, Connect America Fund recipients must report geo-located broadband information and make service milestone certifications to the Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC). Companies that have taken the Alternative Connect America Model (A-CAM) funding option must report all new qualifying locations where broadband service made available in the prior calendar year. Companies that have chosen to remain on the rate-of-return (RoR) path must report all new qualifying locations made available between May 25, 2016 and December 31, 2016.

BloostonLaw Contacts: Ben Dickens , Gerry Duffy , and Mary Sisak .

MARCH 31: INTERNATIONAL CIRCUIT CAPACITY REPORT. No later than March 31, all U.S. international carriers that owned or leased bare capacity on a submarine cable between the United States and any foreign point on December 31, 2016 and any person or entity that held a submarine cable landing license on December 31, 2016 must file a Circuit Capacity Report to provide information about the submarine cable capacity it holds. Additionally, cable landing licensees must file information on the Circuit Capacity Report about the amount of available and planned capacity on the submarine cable for which they have a license. Any U.S. International Carrier that owned or leased bare capacity on a terrestrial or satellite facility as of December 31, 2016 must file a Circuit Capacity Report showing its active common carrier circuits for the provision of service to an end-user or resale carrier, including active circuits used by itself or its affiliates. Any satellite licensee that is not a U.S. International Carrier and that owns circuits between the United States and any foreign point as of December 31, 2016 of the reporting period must file a Circuit Capacity Report showing its active circuits sold or leased to any customer, including itself or its affiliates, other than a carrier authorized by the FCC to provide U.S. international common carrier services.

BloostonLaw Contacts: Gerry Duffy .

APRIL 1: FCC FORM 499-A, TELECOMMUNICATIONS REPORTING WORKSHEET. This form must be filed by all contributors to the Universal Service Fund (USF) sup-port mechanisms, the Telecommunications Relay Service (TRS) Fund, the cost recovery mechanism for the North American Numbering Plan Administration (NANPA), and the shared costs of local number portability (LNP). Contributors include every telecommunications carrier that provides interstate, intrastate, and international telecommunications, and certain other entities that provide interstate telecommunications for a fee. Even common carriers that qualify for the de minimis exemption must file Form 499-A. Entities whose universal service contributions will be less than $10,000 qualify for the de minimis exemption. De minimis entities do not have to file the quarterly report (FCC Form 499-Q), which was due February 1, and will again be due May 1. Form 499-Q relates to universal and LNP mechanisms. Form 499-A relates to all of these mechanisms and, hence, applies to all providers of interstate, intrastate, and international telecommunications services. Form 499-A contains revenue information for January 1 through December 31 of the prior calendar year. And Form 499-Q contains revenue information from the prior quarter plus projections for the next quarter. (Note: the revised 499-A and 499-Q forms are now available.) Block 2-B of the Form 499-A requires each carrier to designate an agent in the District of Columbia upon whom all notices, process, orders, and decisions by the FCC may be served on behalf of that carrier in proceedings before the FCC. Carriers receiving this newsletter may specify our law firm as their D.C. agent for service of process using the information in our masthead. There is no charge for this service.

BloostonLaw Contacts: Hal Mordkofsky , Ben Dickens , and Gerry Duffy .

APRIL 1: ANNUAL ACCESS TO ADVANCED SERVICES CERTIFICATION. All providers of telecommunications services and telecommunications carriers subject to Section 255 of the Telecommunications Act are required to file with the FCC an annual certification that (1) states the company has procedures in place to meet the recordkeeping requirements of Part 14 of the Rules; (2) states that the company has in fact kept records for the previous calendar year; (3) contains contact information for the individual or individuals handling customer complaints under Part 14; (4) contains contact information for the company’s designated agent; and (5) is supported by an affidavit or declaration under penalty of perjury signed by an officer of the company.

BloostonLaw Contacts: Gerry Duffy , Mary Sisak , Sal Taillefer .

Calendar At-A-Glance

February
Feb. 27 – Reply comments are due on A-CAM Funding FNPRM.

March
Mar. 1 – Copyright Statement of Account Form for cable companies is due.
Mar. 1 – FCC Form 477 (Local Competition & Broadband Reporting) is due.
Mar. 1 – Deadline to Report Geocoded Locations for New Broadband Deployments.
Mar. 6 – Comments are due on Dormant Proceeding Termination Public Notice.
Mar. 10 – Comments are due on TCPA “Prior Express Consent” Declaratory Ruling.
Mar. 13 – Comments are due on TCPA Revocation of Consent Petition.
Mar. 15 – Reply comments are due on Eighth Annual Report to Congress on State Collection and Distribution of 911 and Enhanced 911 Fees and Charges
Mar. 20 – Reply comments are due on Dormant Proceeding Termination Public Notice.
Mar. 27 – Reply comments are due on TCPA “Prior Express Consent” Declaratory Ruling.
Mar. 28 – Reply comments are due on TCPA Revocation of Consent Petition.
Mar. 31 – FCC Form 525 (Delayed Phasedown CETC Line Counts) is due.
Mar. 31 – FCC Form 508 (ICLS Projected Annual Common Line Requirement) is due.
Mar. 31 – International Circuit Capacity Report is due.

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

May
May 1 – FCC Form 499-Q (Quarterly Telecommunications Reporting Worksheet) is due.
May 4 – Comments on Regulatory Flexibility Act Rule Review and Elimination Proceeding are due.
May 31 – FCC Form 395 (Annual Employment Report) 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.

Click here 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.

Note: We do not like Patent Trolls, i.e. “a person or company who enforces patent rights against accused infringers in an attempt to collect licensing fees, but does not manufacture products or supply services based upon the patents in question.” We have helped some prominent law firms defend their clients against this annoyance, and would be happy to do some more of this same kind of work.

Some people use the title “consultant” when they don't have a real job. We actually do consulting work, and help others based on our many years of experience.

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“If you would know the road ahead, ask someone who has traveled it.”
— Chinese Proverb

Wireless Network Planners
Wireless Specialists

R.H. (Ron) Mercer Consultant 217 First Street East Northport, NY 11731
Telephone: 631-786-9359
www.wirelessplanners.com
wirelessplannerron@gmail.com

Almost
“Is Paging Going Away?” by Jim Nelson Click here for English. Click here for German. (Berlin Revision: November 8, 2016) Click here for French. Volunteers needed for translations into other languages.

Dave Powis, G4HUP, SK

rsgb | February 17, 2017

Sad news that Dave Powis, G4HUP became a silent key on 9 February.

Dave was a well-respected tutor and mentor and a very active member of several radio clubs, mentoring many candidates to gaining their amateur radio licences.

He joined the Examinations Standards Committee in 2007 and spent much of 2016 working with the Exams Group on revising the licence syllabuses.

Late in 2016 he became RSGB Exam Standards Committee Chairman and was just beginning to bring his newest ideas to bear.

He also was well-known for the excellent surface mount soldering classes at the RSGB Convention in recent years.

Our thoughts are with his family and many friends at this difficult time.

Category: Front Page News

One fine day in the middle of the night,
Two dead boys got up to fight,
Back to back they faced each other,
Drew their swords and shot each other,

One was blind and the other couldn't, see
So they chose a dummy for a referee.
A blind man went to see fair play,
A dumb man went to shout “hooray!”

A paralyzed donkey passing by,
Kicked the blind man in the eye,
Knocked him through a nine inch wall,
Into a dry ditch and drowned them all,

A deaf policeman heard the noise,
And came to arrest the two dead boys,
If you don't believe this story’s true,
Ask the blind man he saw it too!

North Korea Lets Loose a Weapon of Mass Destruction

Security footage shows Kim Jong-nam being accosted by a woman in a white shirt at Kuala Lumpur International Airport.

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia — The poison used to kill Kim Jong-nam, the half brother of the North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, was VX nerve agent, which is listed as a chemical weapon, the Malaysian police announced Friday. [ source ]