PCIA – Wireless Infrastructure Assoc.

ALEXANDRIA, Va.-The Personal Communications Industry Association announced Mark Golden, senior vice president of industry affairs, is leaving the association as of Dec. 3 to become executive director of the National Court Reporters Association. Golden served as acting PCIA president in …

WASHINGTON-The Federal Communications Commission this week will vote to consider lifting the 45 megahertz spectrum cap, revamping relocation rules for 2 GHz mobile satellite operators and auctioning spectrum mandated by Congress-three controversial issues with broad implications for future terrestrial and …

The main goal for the American Mobile Telecommunications Association is regulatory flexibility or more accurately-one-size-does-not-fit-all. AMTA President Alan Shark has been fighting the good fight with the Federal Communications Commission to convince it traditional specialized mobile radio is not the …

One can only imagine the potential import of the victory of Jesse “The Body” Ventura, the ex-professional wrestler and Reform Party candidate who won the Minnesota gubernatorial election last Tuesday. Policy making in America may never be the same. Jesse …

WASHINGTON-The Federal Communications Commission agreed with law enforcement that five controversial features of new digital wiretap capabilities are within the law. However, the agency ruled three other capabilities are outside the law and on one other issue, the FCC chose …

WASHINGTON-The two trade associations representing the wireless industry last week joined other trade associations and the federal government in a major advertising campaign asking, “Are You Y2K OK?” The campaign’s objective is to reach small- and medium-sized companies that may …

WASHINGTON-The Federal Communications Commission last week said personal communications services is a facilities-based competitor to wireline services. However, in an order rejecting BellSouth Corp.’s application to offer long-distance service in Louisiana, the FCC said PCS in Louisiana has not risen …

An open letter praising the UWCC To the Editor: I feel compelled to write a letter of congratulations to the entire UWCC organization. It is the first time in my company’s history that I have ever done this, but your …

WASHINGTON-The telecommunications industry, while failing to get the digital wiretap grandfather date statutorily changed, appears to have been successful in getting written assurances included in the end-of-the-year spending bill that this date should be changed to correspond to the compliance …

The Personal Communications Industry Association hasn’t released the official number of those who attended PCS ’98 two weeks ago in Orlando, Fla. It wants to take its time to ensure that it releases the most accurate number possible. I would …

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 …

CTIA Christopher Putala joined the Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association as vice president for congressional affairs. Putala worked for nine years with the Senate Judiciary Committee on a wide variety of law-enforcement issues and served as Democratic staff director and chief …

Nearly a year into office, Bill Kennard has defied all attempts to be pigeonholed as the newest chairman of the Federal Communications Commission. He was general counsel and an understudy to former FCC chief Reed Hundt. Yet Kennard is not …

In preparation for PCS ’98, RCR sat down last month with Jay Kitchen, president of the Personal Communications Industry Association to talk about the trade show, the wireless industry in general, and PCIA specifically. The following is a transcript of …

WASHINGTON-Wireless carriers this week will be writing checks-big checks-to the Federal Communications Commission to pay statutorily required regulatory fees. Regulatory fees finance approximately 80 percent of the FCC’s operating expenses. These fees, set each year by Congress, have been increasing …

WASHINGTON-Under even the most abnormal of normal circumstances, it usually is possible to handicap odds for passage of wireless legislation before Congress adjourns. But these are not normal times. An American president is under siege, and the global stage is …

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-The Automobile Association of America received a powerful push from six U.S. senators last week, who urged the Federal Communications Commission to grant AAA “quasi public-safety” status, a request AAA has long been advocating. This status would allow it “the …

WASHINGTON-The Personal Communications Industry Association last week announced it is creating a new membership council to represent local multipoint distribution services operators. PCIA said it plans to represent fixed, broadband wireless interests on Capitol Hill, at the Federal Communications Commission …

To the Editor: I am writing in response to two recent articles-“McCain: FCC is Running a Do Nothing Wireless Bureau,” (July 20) and “McCain Lays Foundation to Revamp FCC” (July 27). These articles convey the impression that the commission exists …

The emergence of personal communications services providers is putting the often-tenuous relationship between carriers and resellers to the test in more ways than one. PCS once was viewed as the next area where resale would be used widely to increase …

WASHINGTON-A petition by three trade associations representing railroads, utilities and the petroleum industry is being criticized soundly by other frequency coordinators, which claim the request for a separate “public service pool” would destroy refarming goals. The petition, filed Aug. 14, …

WASHINGTON-An agreement between GTE Corp. and AirTouch Paging, signed earlier this month, is a good example of how the telecommunications industry can work with “regulatory guidance but without regulatory fiat,” said Rob Hoggarth, senior vice president for paging and messaging …

WASHINGTON-The wireless industry has been asked to help the Federal Communications Commission reduce a three-inch thick backlog of work yet to be completed by the FCC’s Wireless Telecommunications Bureau. At the urging of congressional staff, the Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association, …

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 …