CTIA

In comments that may reflect competitive positions in today’s mobile phone market, mobile phone and mobile satellite service industries told the Federal Communications Commission more spectrum will be needed for third-generation services. Industry comments are in response to a Notice …

WASHINGTON-The postponement of arguments in a federal appeals court on the wireless number portability issue seems to bode well for the industry because it will have even more time to implement this requirement. Portability refers to telephone subscribers keeping their …

WASHINGTON-Despite action by the Federal Communications Commission earlier this month to extend the compliance date on the digital wiretap act, the debate over its implementation rages on. In two separate luncheon briefings last week, the telecommunications industry-specifically the Cellular Telecommunications …

WASHINGTON-Bell Atlantic Mobile refuses to throw in the towel on antenna siting and continues to fight for sites the company claims are necessary for coverage. In two cases, opponents see their actions as intransigent and perhaps even threatening. In another …

WASHINGTON-Federal agency head William Kennard said he is not backing off from support of the strongest-signal proposal to ensure emergency 911 calls are completed, and indeed, is interested in a new proposal that calls for an adequate signal to place …

WASHINGTON-The wireless industry is at a “watershed point,” and is now beginning to compete in earnest with wireline telephony, said Tom Wheeler, president of the Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association. The industry is entering the fourth wave of its development, Wheeler …

WASHINGTON-The wireless industry this week is preparing to argue before a federal appeals court in Oklahoma City that the Federal Communications Commission’s rules requiring wireless number portability were enacted improperly and should therefore be reversed. Portability refers to telephone subscribers …

The global market for in-vehicle intelligent transportation systems is expected to grow from $1 billion today to more than $18 billion annually during the next five years, according to a new report from Allied Business Intelligence. Major ITS systems include …

When controversy comes calling, policy makers and wireless telecom firms turn to a high-tech sounding board whose work is based more on reality than on rhetoric: the Telecommunications Industry Association. TIA, comprised of U.S. and foreign telecom manufacturers that develop …

The Federal Communications Commission late Friday extended the compliance deadline for implementation of the digital wiretap act until June 30, 2000. Without the extension, telecommunications carriers were subject to possible fines of as much as $10,000 per day come Oct. …

Nextel Communications Inc. recently offered a farmer in South Coventry, Pa., a new $70,000, 105-foot silo if the wireless phone company could put an antenna inside of it to fill a gap in its coverage. This is just one example …

WASHINGTON-The Federal Communications Commission’s Wireless Telecommunications Bureau last week issued an order granting the Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association’s request for a nine-month stay of wireless number portability requirements. The Wireless Bureau said it found extending the deadline from June 30, …

WASHINGTON-Finishing guidelines to facilitate antenna sitings on park property, The National Park Service stopped short of presuming that antennas can be sited without harming NPS lands. Instead, NPS decided each application must be reviewed individually, including applications for collocation. “The …

WASHINGTON-The wireless industry and the hearing-impaired community appear headed on a collision course over the implementation of the 1996 telecom act’s mandate that equipment and service be accessible and usable by persons with disabilities if it is “readily achievable.” The …

WASHINGTON-In comments filed late last week with the Federal Communications Commission, CTIA asked the regulator to provide nationwide liability protection for wireless service providers when their systems are used to connect callers to emergency services. The Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association …

WASHINGTON-The Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association last week convened the third annual wireless number portability forum to discuss ways to implement wireless number portability before the June 30 deadline. Portability facilitates telephone subscribers keeping their telephone number when switching service providers. …

NEW YORK-To get a better idea of the impact of cellular phone use while driving, tap the World Wide Web, but please don’t do it while your vehicle is in motion, even if you do have Internet access via your …

WASHINGTON-The wireless industry last week made significant strides in its efforts to reach a conciliatory note on antenna siting with various parties with which the industry has often disagreed. Additionally, the House Commerce Committee approved legislation that encourages tower sitings …

WASHINGTON-A proposal to assign abbreviated dialing codes nationwide appears to be headed for a major roadblock from the North American Numbering Council. NANC is expected to approve a report in September that will declare no one supports abbreviated dialing codes, …

WASHINGTON-The Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association is taking the lead on implementing wireless number portability at the same time it waits for the Federal Communications Commission to rule on its request that the wireless number portability rules be delayed or eliminated …

WASHINGTON-The Superintendent of Rock Creek Park, an urban national park, said it would take five months before an environmental assessment is completed to determine whether Bell Atlantic Mobile can site two antennas inside the park. The National Park Service sent …

Turns out there is not one but two million-dollar men in the Portals fiasco. Subpoenaed documents provided to congressional investigators by Tennessee developer Franklin Haney last week supposedly reveal that former Tennessee senator Jim Sasser, before becoming U.S. ambassador to …

WASHINGTON-The FBI and the Department of Justice are shopping an amendment to congressional appropriators to change the Justice Department budget in a way that would re-write the controversial digital wiretap act. The amendment not only addresses the date issue, but …

NEW YORK-A Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association group is developing recommendations for handset manufacturers that would reduce fraud potential and facilitate over-the-air customer activations for non-Global System for Mobile Communications carriers. The CTIA Fraud Technology Assessment Group, charged with evaluating and …

WASHINGTON-The Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association scheduled a forum Aug. 18 in Washington, D.C., to deal with all aspects of number-portability requirements and implementation, said CTIA. Also, CTIA recently issued a document on number portability, outlining the network architecture and operational …