BROWSING: FCC

WASHINGTON-On the day before the first anniversary of the bidding error that plunged C-block personal communications services applicant PCS 2000 L.P. into the lion's den of licensing problems, the Federal Communications Commission finally granted the partnership its 15 markets Jan. 22, conditioned on a...

Is the Federal Communications Commission setting the stage for new Wireless Telecom Bureau leadership?With Dan Phythyon's return (from Office of Legislative and Intergovernmental Affairs) to deputy bureau chief, and with Chief Michele Farquhar hedging on future plans, who knows.... Charlene bar the door. Clinton...

Western Wireless Corp. said it became the first commercial mobile radio service provider to obtain arbitration decisions from state regulatory bodies implementing the interconnection requirements of the Telecommunications Act of 1996.The company said the decisions lower the rates Western Wireless pays for mobile calls...

Federal Communications Commission Common Carrier Bureau Chief Regina Keeney, citing personal reasons, abruptly pulled herself from contention for the open agency seat last week.Keeney, former chief of the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau, was nominated last July by President Clinton to fill the Republican seat left...

"Why does Detroit not design these cars with phone holders, just like cup holders?" asked Federal Communications Commission Chairman Reed Hundt when he called National Public Radio's popular Car Talk program a few weeks ago."People bring all kinds of things into cars, but they...

WASHINGTON-The Federal Communications Commission, responding to congressional pressure, will likely leave intact microwave relocation rules affecting public safety but change negotiating parameters governing other 2 GHz private wireless and personal communications services licensees.The FCC is expected to issue revised PCS microwave relocation regulations any...

NEW YORK-Moody's Investors Service Inc. announced Jan. 22 it had downgraded to B3 from B2 its speculative grade rating on $450 million in outstanding Omnipoint Corp. 10-year notes.Moody's estimated that Omnipoint has only two years to generate the more than $100 million in annual...

ATLANTA-Preferred Networks Inc. and TeleTouch Communications Inc. agreed to jointly share common radio frequency transmitters in selected metropolitan markets. According to the agreement, each company will control the RF in specific markets and will provide reciprocal rights for interconnect facilities through the Telecator Network...

In 1997, set your sights on antenna siting.It's the No. 1 issue, first and foremost. Every other issue-and there are many-pales in comparison.Why? It's simple. Without antennas, to paraphrase Bell Atlantic Nynex Mobile star James Earl Jones, "The call doesn't go through." That can...

WASHINGTON-A settlement is believed near that would have Teledesic Corp. pay to relocate Associated Communications L.L.C. fixed wireless facilities to the 24 GHz band, though it is unclear whether the deal will be voluntary or government-imposed.The two wireless startups have been battling for months...

WASHINGTON-In a stinging setback for Federal Communications Commission Chairman Reed Hundt, three commissioners rejected a proposed spectrum policy statement to substitute market forces for government regulation in the future.Only Hundt endorsed the failed policy statement, which the full commission had wanted to unveil last...

CLAYTON, N.J.-With a gaggle of journalists and public officials present, the first user trial of an automatic location system for analog cellular 911 calls began with a flourish Jan. 22 at the Gloucester County Public Safety headquarters."This demonstrates so much about the country's policy...

NEW YORK-Advanced Radio Telecom Corp., a 38 GHz provider of wireless local loop service that went public last year, has registered to sell a public offering of debt and stock-purchase warrants. In documents filed Jan. 16 with the Securities and Exchange Commission, ART, headquartered in...

WASHINGTON-According to company spokeswoman Jennifer Walsh, NextWave Telecom Inc. plans to amend its current S-1 filing at the Securities and Exchange Commission soon to get its stalled initial public offering off the ground. On Jan. 20, news agency Reuters America Inc. quoted a source...

WASHINGTON-Utility and energy companies want a federal court to force the Federal Communications Commission to process 50,000 multiple address system applications pending since 1992, a delay regulators say is necessary to consider auctioning the spectrum.UTC, a trade group representing electric, gas and water utilities...

ST. LOUIS-A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit heard nearly four hours of argument from opponents and proponents of currently stayed federal interconnection rules last Friday, but it is not expected to render a decision regarding the validity...

WASHINGTON-In a potential trend-setting move that could prove a huge loophole in the antenna siting law, the Vermont Department of Public Service has asked the state legislature to consider allowing state and local government agencies to impose radio frequency radiation safety guidelines through private...

Dear Editor: Recent trade articles have covered the story of American Airlines' difficulties with a commercial specialized mobile radio service. This is just one part of a multidimensional problem that is finally garnering the attention of some members of Congress. The problem, known to most...

WASHINGTON-Tempering her replies with the caveat that she was speaking only for the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau and not for the full Federal Communications Commission, bureau chief Michele Farquhar in a Jan. 13 reply provided some positive responses to state and local concerns voiced Jan....

The Federal Communications Commission terminated 402 paging applications and licenses held by MobileMedia Corp. because the company failed to build sites under the license terms, which require construction to be completed within a year.MobileMedia said the FCC's action to cancel the licenses and applications...

WASHINGTON-Republicans have suggested the illegally taped cellular phone conversation of House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) and top GOP leaders late last month may be part of a broader Democratic conspiracy, a possibility the FBI could examine as part of its investigation.The probe, requested by...

Samsung Telecommunications America Inc. introduced its SCH-1011, a personal communications services handset using Code Division Multiple Access technology, and SCH-110, a cellular dual-mode CDMA handset. The products include menu-driven interfaces to access functions like messaging and memory. Other features include caller ID, call timer,...

WASHINGTON-The Federal Communications Commission adopted new rules Jan. 9 that will allow users of unlicensed Part 15 equipment, including laptop computers, to access the Internet wirelessly.By unanimous vote, commissioners ordered that 300 megahertz of spectrum in the 5.15 GHz-5.35 GHz and 5.725-5.825 GHz ranges...

The U.S. District Court for the Central District of California early last month issued orders for final injunctions against two companies and two individuals who had been accused by the Federal Trade Commission of telemarketing paging licenses to potential buyers with the promise that...