BROWSING: FCC

FILING CHARGES NEXTWAVE WITH RAISING NEW ISSUES AFTER THE FACT

WASHINGTON-In the final salvo of paperwork regarding NextWave Telecom Inc.'s opposition to its application for review, Antigone Communications L.P. and PCS Devco Inc. continue to maintain their push for, at best, a reversal of NextWave's personal communications services licenses and, at second best, an...

PEOPLE

The Federal Communications Commission announced three appointments in the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau. David Horowitz was named chief of the Private Wireless Division of the Bureau, which he joined in 1995 as deputy chief. He joined the commission in 1998 as a staff attorney with...

FDA REPLY TO MARKEY ON CELLULAR, CANCER RESEARCH IS DUE TODAY

WASHINGTON-As Rep. Edward Markey (D-Mass.) examines replies due today from the Food and Drug Administration to questions on the agency's oversight of a cellular industry-financed cancer research program that has produced no bioeffects studies after four years and $17 million, the question of the...

GSA, INDUSTRY SET TO RELEASE TOWER SITING GUIDELINES NEXT MONTH

WASHINGTON-A status report released at the third of a three-part series of open meetings between wireless industry players and government agencies outlined six critical issues that will form the basis of a future General Services Administration set of guidelines aimed at assisting federal agencies...

SMALL SMRS SHARE DISMAL CMRS BOND

Small- and medium-sized dispatch radio operators gathering at the 21st annual International Wireless Communications Expo this week in Las Vegas will recognize each other as the fierce competitors they are by day.But many, whether they know it or not, share a common bond: They're the...

AUCTION BAND PLAYS ON AS FCC TRIES TO TUNE LICENSING SOUR NOTES

WASHINGTON-In the early to mid-1980s, the rush was on at the Federal Communications Commission to get cellular licenses in major metropolitan and rural areas issued as quickly as possible to get the new service operating. Because of the time element involved in using comparative...

D.C. NOTES

Julius Caesar had his ides of March. I had my ides of April, and I think it would have been cheaper for me this year to have just fallen on my sword (or pen, as the case may be) instead of filing mountainous tax...

TELEDESIC GETS OK FOR LEO PROJECT

KIRKLAND, Wash.-Teledesic Corp. said it received approval for its low-earth-orbit satellite project from the Federal Communications Commission. The company plans to launch 840 LEO satellites to offer high-speed access to services such as the Internet or corporate local area networks.The project's main backers, Bill...

THE PCS SHAKEOUT BEGINS: CONGRESS TRIES TO MANAGE AUCTION PROGRAMS

Editor's Note: As C-block winner Pocket Communications Inc. goes through its bankruptcy restructuring, RCR takes an in-depth look at how Congress, the FCC and Wall Street are addressing PCS auction issues. Additional stories appear from page 9 through 15.WASHINGTON-The shakeout emerging in the personal communications...

PANAMSAT, GALAXY MERGER GETS APPROVAL

GREENWICH, Conn.-The proposed merger of PanAmSat Corp. and the Galaxy satellite services business of Hughes Communications Inc. received approval from the Federal Communications Commission to transfer orbital slot licenses from both PanAmSat and Galaxy to the combined company.The companies now need approval from the...

CARRIERS EXPERIENCE DIA STATIC

Antenna placement at the new Denver International Airport is on hold until carriers can convince airport authorities that additional sites won't cause interference."We didn't spend $8 million building a radio system for this airport to have anyone come in and interfere with the operational...

SEVERAL WIRELESS INITIATIVES CAUGHT UP IN LEGISLATIVE STANDSTILL

WASHINGTON-Key wireless initiatives are caught in the grip of legislative inertia that has paralyzed Congress and the White House and shaken the foundations of both institutions in the aftermath of House Speaker Newt Gingrich's (R-Ga.) ethics violations and the Clinton administration's link to the...

AT DEADLINE

2 names forwarded to fill FCC slotsActivities surrounding the future makeup of the head table at the Federal Communications Commission heated up late last week with some congressional endorsements of commissioner candidates, but there still appears to be no consensus regarding how and when...

PENTAGON GOES PUBLIC TO COMPLAIN ABOUT SPECTRUM PRIVATIZATION

WASHINGTON-Pentagon officials, in a highly public break with the Clinton administration, say further transfer of federal government frequencies to the private sector will compromise military combat capability.That the Department of Defense is going public with grievances about spectrum policy represents a marked shift in...

FCC’S ORDER WILL SCRUTINIZE MOBILEMEDIA LICENSE QUALIFICATION

The Federal Communications Commission released a hearing order to allow an administrative judge to examine whether paging operator MobileMedia Corp. is fit to hold its licenses.The Order to Show Cause, Hearing Designation Order and Notice of Opportunity for Hearing for Forfeiture was released last...

ADJUNCT SERVICES ARE KEY TO WCS BIDDING STRATEGY

WASHINGTON-Most of the 24 bidders who made the cut to participate in tomorrow's start of the Wireless Communications Services auction remain mum regarding how they plan to use their frequencies if any are gained. Those who aren't holding their cards close to the vest...

MARKEY PROBES FDA ON CELLULAR RESEARCH

WASHINGTON-Rep. Edward Markey (D-Mass.) last week launched a congressional investigation into the Food and Drug Administration's oversight of the struggling cancer research program funded by the cellular telephone industry, a move that signals renewed congressional interest in the controversial issue.The probe by Markey, top...

NEW DTV RULES PROMISE FAST PUBLIC-SAFETY ALLOCATION PROCEEDING

WASHINGTON-The Federal Communications Commission's adoption of long-awaited rules for digital television service also buoyed up hope that additional spectrum for public safety and other wireless services via reallocation of channels 60-69 may become a reality sooner rather than later.According to a new table of...

D.C. NOTES

Here's a question: Is the wireless business being ill served by leaders unable to adjust thinking and strategy during a period of transition from a heavily regulated industry to one increasingly free of rules and dominated by consumers?Here's why I ask: antenna siting and health effects....

HERITAGE FOUNDATION BUDGET PLAN INVOLVES A PHASEOUT OF FCC

WASHINGTON-The Federal Communications Commission would be phased out over five years and spectrum management given over to a board with limited powers, under a new balanced budget proposal by a conservative think tank."Although the Telecommunications Act of 1996 eliminated many of the rules and...

POCKET SEEKS BANKRUPTCY PROTECTION

WASHINGTON-Despite the optimism expressed fewer than two weeks ago by Daniel Riker, chairman and chief executive officer of Pocket Communications Inc., regarding the financial future of his C-block personal communications services company, things apparently were not as rosy Riker described them.Citing the preservation of...

SPECTRUM LEGISLATION DESIGNED TO GET HOLD ON WIRELESS LICENSING

WASHINGTON-Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John McCain (R-Ariz.) has drafted spectrum auction legislation designed to rein in what has become a high-stakes wireless licensing process driven increasingly by budget forces, possibly at the expense of competition.Pete Belvin, a Commerce Committee telecom counsel, told an industry...

PCS LICENSES ACCOUNT FOR ONLY A PORTION OF AUCTIONED SPECTRUM

WASHINGTON-When all is said and done at the Federal Communications Commission, the auctions ended and the money counted, some 14,745 megahertz of spectrum from all parts of the chart will have been sold to those whom the commission has deemed "most committed to offering...

NEXTWAVE EXPERTS FIND FAULT WITH FCC DEBT-EQUITY ANALYSIS

WASHINGTON-Paperwork filed at the Federal Communications Commission April 1 by NextWave Telecom Inc. has the country's largest C-block personal communications services winner stating once again that the FCC is all wrong regarding its debt instruments and that even if NextWave hadn't participated in the...