Policy

WASHINGTON-No matter who is the next president, Congress is going to look at reforming the Telecommunications Act of 1996, said panelists Tuesday morning at a breakfast panel. “I think a …

WASHINGTON-Legg Mason Inc., which owns just over 9 percent of the stock for Nextel Communications Inc., said Monday it expects Nextel to accept the Federal Communications Commission’s plan to solve …

WASHINGTON-Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) wants excess revenue from a future third-generation mobile-phone auction to help fund deployment of enhanced 911 service, according to sources. The plan could …

NextWave Telecom Inc.’s announcement last week that it would give back 60 of its PCS licenses to the Federal Communications Commission could finally give the government a clear path to …

WASHINGTON-Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska), chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, told the Federal Communications Commission recently that any plan to solve the public-safety interference problem in the 800 MHz band …

WASHINGTON-Ten years after Congress authorized auctions to award wireless permits, the market-based licensing scheme continues be a magnet for those needing funding for pet projects, but the Federal Communications Commission’s …

WASHINGTON-Federal Communications Commission Chairman Michael Powell told Congress he is opposed to an amendment in a spending bill that would exempt from spectrum auction an application of a wireless startup …

WASHINGTON-The Senate Commerce Committee may have killed the wireless industry’s hopes of gaining much-desired frequencies in the 1700 MHz band when it amended a bill to allow the Pentagon to …

WASHINGTON-The Senate Commerce Committee passed by voice vote a bill meant to keep the NextWave Telecom Inc. bankruptcy saga from happening again. “The bill would ensure that valuable spectrum would …

WASHINGTON-A watchdog group said a quasi-governmental corporation set up to fund small telecom startups spends nearly as much on executive salaries and overhead as on investments in companies. The Center …

A recently completed Federal Communications Commission paging spectrum auction generated about $2.4 million for a total of 2,832 licenses, numbers that come nowhere near the billions spent on other wireless …

WASHINGTON-House telecom subcommittee Chairman Fred Upton (R-Mich.) introduced legislation to create a trust fund that would use spectrum auction proceeds to underwrite the cost of moving military radio systems to …

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina-Movicom BellSouth was the only operator that presented the prequalification documents to participate in the spectrum auction that will take place on 18 November in Uruguay. As it …

WASHINGTON-House Commerce Committee Chairman Billy Tauzin (R-La.) today introduced legislation to establish a fund to underwrite the cost of moving government licensees to other bands in order to free up …

WASHINGTON-The Federal Communications Commission is seeking comment on whether bidders in the re-auction of bankrupt NextWave Telecom Inc.’s PCS C- and F-block licenses should be able to withdraw entirely from …

OXFORD, United Kingdom-In an effort to revive broadband wireless services in the United Kingdom, the government has outlined plans for an auction of the 3.4 GHz band that will carry …

WASHINGTON-The Bush administration’s top telecom adviser today refused to say how much longer a much anticipated report on frequency options for third-generation wireless systems and related legislation will be delayed. …

WASHINGTON—The negotiators finally reached a settlement agreement on 14 November that will give the personal communications services (PCS) C- and F-block licenses of bankrupt NextWave Telecom to the re-auction winners, …

WASHINGTON—The negotiators finally reached a settlement agreement Thursday that will give the PCS C- and F-block licenses of bankrupt NextWave Telecom Inc. to the re-auction winners. It remains unclear whether …

HONG KONG—The Hong Kong telecom regulator announced the initial results of the first phase of its third-generation (3G) license auction. The successful bidders are Hong Kong CSL, a company jointly …

JAKARTA, Indonesia-Amid an unpredictable economic crisis, Indonesia’s telecommunication sector is moving forward, with new regulation in effect since 8 September, 2000. The new regulation, which says any company can provide …

TORONTO-The Canadian government may give a new meaning to the sounds of silence for wireless devices. Ottawa is considering changing its laws to allow restaurants, theaters, hospitals and churches to …

Australia Australia’s third-generation (3G) spectrum auction fell well short of the federal government’s budget forecasts of A$2.6 billion (US$1.3 billion). Six bidders paid a total of almost A$1.17 billion (US$577 …

WASHINGTON-Jeb Bush, the Florida governor who figured big in the controversial electoral victory that proved decisive in getting his brother elected president, has entered the political fray over third-generation mobile-phone …

WASHINGTON-House and Senate budget leaders are at odds over President Bush’s plan to delay auctions of valuable broadcast spectrum, a dispute that arises at a time when the mobile-phone industry …