November 2008 - arrl-odv - reflector.arrl.org

[arrl-odv:17308] Re: IBM now partnering with BPL provider for rural areas
by Andy Oppel 12 Nov '08

12 Nov '08

Bob and I have already received at least one e-mail regarding this one (from a Section Manager) and more queries from members (particularly in the proposed service area) are sure to follow. Personally, I have a lot of trouble remembering which technology providers are good guys vs. bad guys vis-a-vis amateur spectrum pollution. Perhaps we should have a simple list of providers somewhere along with what we know about their threat to amateur communciations (something like "high", "low", "unknown"). It would make responding to queries that sometimes come weeks after an announcement easier to field. -- Andy Oppel, N6AJO On Wed, Nov 12, 2008 at 9:32 AM, <w3kd(a)aol.com> wrote: > Cliff, thanks for that. That story apparently was picked up by the Wall > Street Journal as well. > > At least it is IBEC, which is not one of the toxic BPL companies.... > > Chris W3KD > > Christopher D. Imlay > BOOTH, FRERET, IMLAY & TEPPER, P.C. > 14356 Cape May Road > Silver Spring, Maryland 20904-6011 > (301) 384-5525 telephone > (301) 384-6384 facsimile > W3KD(a)ARRL.ORG > > > -----Original Message----- > From: Cliff Ahrens <cahrens(a)mywdo.com> > To: arrl-odv <arrl-odv(a)reflector.arrl.org> > Sent: Wed, 12 Nov 2008 9:10 am > Subject: [arrl-odv:17305] IBM now partnering with BPL provider for rural > areas > > The BPL saga continues. Here's a link to a report on Yahoo Finance that IBM > is partnering with a small newcomer to offer BPL to 340,000 homes in rural > areas of Alabama, Indiana, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia, and > Wisconsin. > http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/081112/tec_broadband_over_power_lines.html?.v=4 > > Cliff K0CA > > > > > > ------------------------------ > Instant access to the latest & most popular FREE games while you browse > with the Games Toolbar - Download Now!<http://pr.atwola.com/promoclk/100000075x1212904500x1200818240/aol?redir=htt…> > -- ----- Andy Oppel andy.oppel(a)gmail.com

1 0

[arrl-odv:17307] Re: IBM now partnering with BPL provider for rural areas
by Richard J. Norton 12 Nov '08

12 Nov '08

This report and the recent report of Congressman Upton's inspiring the Department of Agriculture to loan money for a BPL project in Michigan, bring up the following questions: 1) Do either of these two projects present any threat to Amateur Radio frequencies? Are they low-band VHF-only or have they effectively notched the ham bands out in some way? If they are not threats, is there any plan to present technical information on why not to our members? 2) Was the League notified about the Upton project by Chwat and Company? Is unearthing this type of activity part of Chwat's responsibility? 3) Particularly if the Upton system poses a threat to Amateur Radio frequencies, is there any plan underway to present the Amateur Radio position to either Congressman Upton's office or the Department of Agriculture? Such information might influence additional funding. 73, Dick Norton, N6AA On Wed, Nov 12, 2008 at 6:10 AM, Cliff Ahrens <cahrens(a)mywdo.com> wrote: > The BPL saga continues. Here's a link to a report on Yahoo Finance that > IBM > is partnering with a small newcomer to offer BPL to 340,000 homes in rural > areas of Alabama, Indiana, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia, and > Wisconsin. > > http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/081112/tec_broadband_over_power_lines.html?.v=4 > > Cliff K0CA > > > >

1 0

[arrl-odv:17306] Re: IBM now partnering with BPL provider for rural areas
by w3kd＠aol.com 12 Nov '08

12 Nov '08

Cliff, thanks for that.?That story?apparently was picked up by the Wall Street Journal as well. At least it is IBEC, which is not one of the toxic BPL companies.... Chris W3KD Christopher D. Imlay BOOTH, FRERET, IMLAY & TEPPER, P.C. 14356 Cape May Road Silver Spring, Maryland 20904-6011 (301) 384-5525 telephone (301) 384-6384 facsimile W3KD(a)ARRL.ORG -----Original Message----- From: Cliff Ahrens <cahrens(a)mywdo.com> To: arrl-odv <arrl-odv(a)reflector.arrl.org> Sent: Wed, 12 Nov 2008 9:10 am Subject: [arrl-odv:17305] IBM now partnering with BPL provider for rural areas The BPL saga continues. Here's a link to a report on Yahoo Finance that IBM is partnering with a small newcomer to offer BPL to 340,000 homes in rural areas of Alabama, Indiana, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia, and Wisconsin. http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/081112/tec_broadband_over_power_lines.html?.v=4 Cliff K0CA

1 0

[arrl-odv:17305] IBM now partnering with BPL provider for rural areas
by Cliff Ahrens 12 Nov '08

12 Nov '08

The BPL saga continues. Here's a link to a report on Yahoo Finance that IBM is partnering with a small newcomer to offer BPL to 340,000 homes in rural areas of Alabama, Indiana, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia, and Wisconsin. http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/081112/tec_broadband_over_power_lines.html?.v=4 Cliff K0CA

1 0

[arrl-odv:17304] FW: new ARRL banner - NOW SHIPPING
by Kramer, Harold, WJ1B 11 Nov '08

11 Nov '08

FYI >From Bob. Harold Kramer, WJ1B Chief Operating Officer ARRL - The national association for Amateur Radio 860 594 0220 hkramer(a)arrl.org <http://www.arrl.org/> ________________________________ From: Inderbitzen, Bob, NQ1R Sent: Tuesday, November 11, 2008 9:41 AM To: Kramer, Harold, WJ1B Cc: Hurtado, Amy KB1NXO; Cornell,Jacqueline, KB1PWB Subject: new ARRL banner - NOW SHIPPING Harold, One of our department goals this year was to introduce some higher-quality display materials for use by volunteers. We're particuarly interested in supporting volunteers that want to use ARRL branded materials for use at hamfests and conventions, club meetings, local recruitment opportunities, or at events where ham radio is used in public service. Following a survey we conducted earlier this year, we found that the most frequently requested items are banners, tabletop exhibits, and trinket give-aways. We intend to have all of these items available for ordering before the end of the year. We've just introduced a new ARRL banner. It's 3 x 8 feet, and printed on a high-quality fabric (nylon). Amy identified a vendor that was able to keep down the manufacturing cost--which I think is suprisingly reasonable for the quality of this banner. It's similar in design to the banners used by ARRL at our exhibit in Dayton each year. The retail price is $50 plus shipping. We've included no profit margin in this product, so there are no discounts. You'll find it on the web in 2 locations...the e-store and our event exhibit materials site: http://www.arrl.org/catalog/?item=1302 http://www.arrl.org/brochures/ Bob

1 0

[arrl-odv:17303] Fwd: Great young ham story
by Andy Oppel 07 Nov '08

07 Nov '08

>You gotta love this one: > >This came to us via Bill Pasternak / WA6ITF of ARNewsline and Don >Carlson, KQ6FM > > >A WCNC TV news spot on a newly licensed 7 year old ham Cameron Hasson, >KJ4EDF of Gastonia, North Carolina. > >http://www.yahoo.com/s/983345 > >It will make you smile and make your day. > Andy Oppel andy(a)andyoppel.com andy_oppel(a)alamedanet.net

1 0

[arrl-odv:17302] Arrl.net e-mail blockage
by Shelley, Barry, N1VXY 06 Nov '08

06 Nov '08

Just for your information in case you get a question, the following notice is being posted on the ARRL web site as I write this note. Comcast only blacklisted one of the many servers that processes arrl.net messages and it took us a long time to even get them to admit that they were. Hence the backlog of messages. 73, Barry J. Shelley, N1VXY Chief Financial Officer ARRL, Inc-The National Association for Amateur Radio 225 Main St. Newington, CT 06111 www.arrl.org <http://www.arrl.org> Phone: (860) 594-0212 E-mail: bshelley(a)arrl.org <mailto:bshelley@arrl.org> Comcast Partially Blocking ARRL.net Forwarding Service Comcast, one of the largest cable providers in the country, was blocking e-mail traffic from one of the servers that processes messages for the ARRL.net Forwarding Service. This resulted in a disruption of service to those 5,512 ARRL members who have their callsign(a)arrl.net e-mail forwarded to a Comcast.net e-mail address. We have been in contact with Comcast and have finally been to convince them to remove the blockage. Their actions have caused a significant backlog of messages which will take the next several hours to clear. Unfortunately, messages that were bounced will need to be resent. We apologize for the inconvenience.

1 0

[arrl-odv:17301] FW: New Membership Manager
by Kramer, Harold, WJ1B 06 Nov '08

06 Nov '08

>From Bob Inderbitzen: Harold Kramer, WJ1B _____________________________________________ From: Inderbitzen, Bob, NQ1R Sent: Thursday, November 06, 2008 3:00 PM To: HQ Staff Subject: New Membership Manager I am pleased to announce our selection of a new Membership Manager. Diane Petrilli of Higganum has accepted the position. Among her most relevant and interesting employment background is her experience working for the Connecticut Bar Association in marketing, electronic communications, recruitment, membership, and information systems. She'll begin here at headquarters on Monday, November 24. I'll look forward to introducing Diane to everyone. Diane does not yet have a ham radio license, but has already hit the books. My thanks to the search committee that assisted me in reviewing applications and interviewing candidates: Harold Kramer, Mary Hobart and Dave Patton. 73, Bob, NQ1R

1 0

[arrl-odv:17300] IN-News
by Kustosik, Lisa, KA1UFZ 06 Nov '08

06 Nov '08

<<110508.doc>> IN-Newsletter <<Microsoft Word Picture>> Vol. 31, No. 45 November 5, 2008 -- Covers the period October 26-November 1. Upcoming Meetings and Events Ballot Counting for Director/Vice Director Elections November 21 in Newington, CT Administration &Finance Committee November 22 @ 8:30am in Newington, CT Regulatory Information Reported by Dan Henderson, N1ND The issue of misidentification of several repeaters in the third round of California PAVE PAWS mitigation has arisen. After discussion with General Counsel and Fred Moorefield, of the Air Force Spectrum Management office, Chris Imlay will be again raising the question of proper identification of repeaters with Air Force Space Command contact Dave Pooley. Our point is that while we don't question that the Air Force monitored and tested specific signals, that their identification of the source of some signals is still incorrect. Since this process is, in essence, "spectrum law enforcement" the identification process by the Air Force has to be error-free. (In the current case in question, the Air Force matched the signal to a callsign which hasn't had a repeater on that frequency in over 10-years. This understandably raises strong concerns over the Air Force's identification process. Based on the process that they told us they were using (monitoring and recording IDs) this kind of error should not be occurring.) In recent weeks we have been forwarded several pieces of legislation enacted by states - such as a privacy provision newly implemented in Massachusetts. When we receive items such as this, after a review of them here, we usually consult with ARRL Counsel to check their impact on the amateur community. Most of these do not appear to impact the amateur service or its licensees. When one does have the potential to impact us, we work closely with General Counsel on the best plan for following up on these items. The most common member questions for the week dealt with reciprocal operating under CEPT in Europe, with a couple of queries related to operating in the US under CEPT. The FCC has still not issued the new public notice for CEPT operations, which were changed by the ERO in February 2008. Several questions also came in about "bootlegged" callsigns and QSLs. We explain that the vast majority of these are the result not of someone illegally using someone's callsign, but the result of busted callsigns (many traceable back to bad packet spots). We advise the party contacting us that as far as the QSL request, simply to return the card to the sender with an explanation that they were not on the air, so it was probably a busted callsign. Also, the web-version of the 2008 Field Day results was proofed and opened to the membership. Significant work on the white paper on amateur radio and the appropriate interfacing with public service and served agencies was done. The paper has been vetted by ARRL counsel, as well as officials at the FCC. It will be presented to the EVP this week for discussion, editing, and finalization. Once ready for release, the full text will be posted on the ARRL Web. In addition, we will be announcing it, with a brief summary, on the ARRL Web, a one-page article in QST (tentatively set for the February issue), the ARRL Letter, the club email letter as well as other sources as appropriate. We will also be sending the full text and announcement to other amateur radio publications and news resources. Media & Public Relations Reported by Allen Pitts, W1AGP Allen was off watching punkin chunkin in Delaware for an extended vacation weekend but still ended up in the news as his picture made the papers - cowboy hat and all. The November issue of Contact! is up on the web and opportunities to piggyback onto coming news about the California ShakeOut drill has been sent out on the PR email reflector. The elections are over and quiet work behind the scenes to keep hams from using ARRL options in starting inappropriate political dialog has been successful - there was only one real challenge while most members "got it" quickly. An ad hoc contest for PIOs on the email reflector to guesstimate the dollar value of ARES equipment and training on a national scale per year is in play until Nov 15. Prize is a copy of "PR for Dummies." More Leonard Award nominations have come (due Dec 5) and we are awaiting video taken from the Marine Corps Marathon last month which we hope will advance the creation of a new video PSA. Development Reported by Mary Hobart, K1MMH First returns are in for the 2009 Spectrum Defense Fund mailing. A follow up letter will be mailed to Major Donors and Major Prospects in mid-November. The Diamond Club revenues for September total more than $29,600, bringing the Year to Date total to $243,869. A mailing to capture lapsed diamond club members will be mailed in November. Development has received a third distribution of $5405 from the Stoner Estate, bringing the ARRL Endowment contributions for 2008 to more than $701,000. The renewal of the charitable contribution provision of the Pension Protection Act enables qualified donors (aged at least 70-1/2 years) to make contributions from their IRA or Roth IRA to qualified non-profit organizations. This information has been sent to more than 9600 ARRL members aged 70-1.2 or more. Production/Editorial Reported by Joel Kleinman, N1BKE Khrystyne Keane wrote and distributed The ARRL Letter, Vol. 27, No. 43, for October 31, 2008. It was distributed to more than 72,000 ARRL members, a new record. She also voiced and produced ARRL Audio News for October 31. Lab Reported by Ed Hare, W1RFI ARRL Web Zack Lau looked at Ward Silver's web quiz and found a few issues before publication. RFI Interference cases at the FCC continue to remain on hold MG visited the home of a ham that has been having powerline problems for almost nine years. He identified four noises sources in less than an hour-the utility workers lacked the necessary skills and equipment to do the job. TIS Question Tracking Question BA MG EFH ZL NA Totals 01 What rig is best? / Prod Rev 4 4 02 RFI/EMI/FCC issues 6 3 2 11 03 How to use equipment 2 2 04 Propagation 0 0 05 Antenna/Feedline/Tower questions 2 3 18 1 24 06 Locate companies/parts/services 5 5 07 Software problems 1 9 10 08 Regulatory questions 2 10 12 09 Operating / amateur exam questions 2 5 5 10 Article photocopies/archive corrections 1 33 5 21 60 11 Other 8 6 14 12 BPL 5 0 5 13 PAVE-PAWS 3 0 3 Sales and Marketing Reported by Bob Inderbitzen, NQ1R October results will be reported next week for membership and product sales. It was a busy month! Membership exceeded 154,100 members (September @ 153,596) on Halloween--our highest membership level since 2003. While its 2,000 members lower than we predicted by this part of the year, it's shaping up to be a good single month. Bob met with affinity benefits representatives that organized our MetLife group insurance and ARRL Visa Card benefits. They discussed program achievements to date, 2009 marketing plans, membership feedback, and considerations for additional programs and products. We are assembling the components for our first telemarketing venture, a trial effort, which will focus on making phone calls to a selection of lapsed members. We have met with, and selected, a telemarketing services company that operates call centers throughout the country, and is equipped with the latest communication technology and staffed with highly trained professionals with a proven track record in circulation marketing and retention. The company will help append phone numbers to our membership records, develop effective scripts and offers, and make the phone calls. The effort should be underway soon, with results reported before the end of the year. A handful of email solicitations were sent to targeted groups, promoting the ARRL Auction, charitable giving, and membership. We continue to improve and expand the way we promote ARRL publications and products. Most recently, we posted an excerpt from the new ARRL Satellite Handbook on the web. Customers can peruse the book's table of contents and a portion of the first chapter (http://www.arrl.org/catalog/?item=9857) Candidates for the position of Membership Manager were interviewed throughout the month. This effort is ongoing. The search committee includes Bob Inderbitzen, Harold Kramer, Mary Hobart and Dave Patton. It has been a very busy week at the Warehouse facility with the receipt of 19 separate products totaling over 50,000 Lbs on 29 pallets. The Warehouse crew fulfilled 1,035 packages for publication and product orders, shipped 281 free book membership premiums, and sent October and November QST mailing supplements. Business Services Reported by Deb Jahnke, K1DAJ The 2008 ARRL On-Line Auction concluded on October 31, with gross proceeds came to $43,053. During the time the auction was live, Business Services staff fielded a myriad of questions ranging from retrieval of lost passwords to providing details on specific items up for bid. Staff is now entering all orders into Seibel and coordinating with Shipping to ensure that all items are shipped in a timely manner. This year's auction drew a smaller crowd than the 2007 auction, although gross revenue was slightly higher. However, we did not reach the goal of $60,000 in gross sales we had hoped for. Fortunately, we had accumulated a positive variance in QST display revenue that compensated for the shortfall. We are unsure if the current economic climate, combined with the public's focus on the election contributed to a less active event, but we are presently working on our cost-benefit analysis and will be conducting a survey to determine the direction of future events. The "New Year" 6-page edition of advertising matters has been sent to all advertisers. Since World Radio's claim of sending a copy of their magazine to every new ham, we have been receiving increasing queries and comments about our "high" CPM (Cost per Thousand) QST advertising rates. This new 6-page edition contains a full page "chat" titled QST-CPM-AND YOU. Our key points were to continue to demonstrate that cheaper isn't always better and the make-up and focus of the readership is key to a successful campaign. Staff continues to work on the January issue of QST and negotiate 2009 advertising contracts with our clients. A publication sales promotion featuring new titles is in the mail to our present and potential publication dealers. We have also reached a discounted agreement with Amazon.com to have access to more data about the customers who ultimately buy our titles after we sell them to Amazon. Their "Premiere Reports" will provide customer type and demographic information along with a host of other features. Membership & Volunteer Programs Reported by Dave Patton, NN1N Awards Branch Category Oct 2008 Year-to-Date WAS Cert. (Manual) 8 283 WAS Cert. (LoTW) 11 145 A-1 Op Nominations 5 177 A-1 Op Certificates 9 156 Extra Class Certificates 11 98 WAC Certificates 10 256 VUCC New / Grids 15/1,644 109 / 11,882 VUCC Endorse / Grids 26/1,084 132 / 7,135 Processing Time Current Current Contest Branch The 75th running of CW Sweepstakes is history. Band conditions were good, and the multipliers were out in force. 60 hours after the event has ended, we have received 660 logs via email. Scuttlebutt on various reflectors indicates folks really enjoyed themselves this year. Promotion efforts seem to have paid off; several anecdotal reports from various Sections and Divisions indicate participation seemed higher than usual. SSB Sweepstakes is the weekend of November 15. We are now officially in the thick of the Contest Season. Major events will take place regularly until the ARRL SSB DX Contest on the weekend of March 7, 2009. Plaque sponsorship letters for ARRL Sweepstakes went out the door last week. Letters for 2009 RTTY Roundup and DX Contest plaques sponsorships will go out late this week or early next week. DXCC Branch Credits Applications 2007 Carryover 220,630 1,829 YTD Received 616,058 5,762 Cumulative Total 836,688 7,591 YTD Processed 789,581 7,173 Remaining 47,107 418 Process Time=4 weeks Logbook of the World Category Oct 2008 QSO Records Entered In System 188,306,408 QSL Record Matches 15,588,670 Logs Processed 719,985 Active Certificates 34,580 Registered Users in System 22,615 Logbook (Email Only) Inquiries 2008 YTD Lost Certificates 1,181 DXCC Status Inquiries 676 Directions Not Followed 532 Additional Certificates 494 Startup Inquiries 375 Total 3,258 QSL Branch Oct 2008 Year-to-Date Cards Recv'd 34,650 528,300 Cards Mailed 0 491,950 Field Organization/Public Service Team One radio amateur from Western Washington completed certification to become an Official Observer this week. A very favorable reply to an out-of-band notice sent by a Northern Florida OO was received. Information was supplied for the "ditter" story for the Web that describing how Ohio Official Observers were successful with direction finding help from the FCC, in locating the source of continuous dits being sent on 7057 kHz. A report of an unidentified digital signal on 14173/14115 was investigated by the monitoring system, with the probably conclusion it is originating from a Region 1 Military station. Chuck Skolaut received several reports of a Chinese broadcast station heard on 20 meters during last weekend's contest, ceased shortly afterward. Leona Adams has been preparing Field Organization appointee report rosters for all of the sections so that Section Managers will be able to cross check their own records and to help keep the HQ data base up to date. North Texas Section Manager Tom Blackwell, N5GAR, has been nominated to run for another term as Section Manager starting in April 2009. SM nominations for this particular election cycle are due at HQ by December 5. Steve Ewald represented ARRL on the Citizen Corps quarterly teleconference with other nationally affiliated organizations and national partners of Citizen Corps. Chuck and Steve also acted as tour guides for visitors to Headquarters when our volunteer tour guides were not available. Sincerely Compiled by, Lisa Kustosik, KA1UFZ Assistant to the CEO Staff Absentee List All Staff 11/27-11/28 Holiday `` 12/25 Holiday Steve Capodicasa 11/24-11/26 Vacation Steve Ford 11/11 Vacation Scott Gee 12/8-12/9 Vacation `` 12/24-12/26 Vacation Mike Gruber 5/29-5/31 Rocky Mountain Division Convention, Estes Park, CO Dan Henderson 11/14-11/16 Indiana State Convention, Ft. Wayne, IN `` 11/21-12/3 ARI Headquarters Milan/Pescara Convention, Italy `` 12/18-1/5 Vacation Bill Moore 11/24-11/26 Vacation `` 12/26-1/3 Vacation Allen Pitts 10/31-11/4 Vacation Brennan Price 11/7-11/25 Vacation Steve Sant Andrea 11/7 Medical Dave Sumner 11/10-11/21 IARU Reg.1 Conference, Cavtat, Croatia/Vacation

1 0

[arrl-odv:17299] FW: "White Space" Fights Are Just Beginning
by Sumner, Dave, K1ZZ 06 Nov '08

06 Nov '08

As many of you know, Mitchell Lazarus is an outstanding communications attorney who often represents opposing interests to ours. It is interesting to see that this morning he is citing the Court of Appeals decision in ARRL v. FCC - in which he represented Current Technologies as an intervenor on the side of the FCC - as evidence that the FCC has acted improperly in the so-called "white space" proceeding. We do not have a dog in the "white space" fight directly, but it has indirect implications that cut both ways. On the one hand, anything that makes BPL even less competitive as a consumer broadband delivery system is good. On the other, more intensive use of the TV broadcasting spectrum will create pressure elsewhere and might even lead to unfounded TVI complaints against amateurs. Dave K1ZZ From: Mitchell Lazarus [mailto:lazarus@fhhlaw.com] Sent: Thursday, November 06, 2008 9:53 AM Subject: "White Space" Fights are Just Beginning. Engineering and politics do not mix well. The FCC encountered that truth again this week when it authorized the use of unlicensed devices in vacant TV frequencies, the so-called "white space" spectrum. The idea is controversial because unlicensed devices pose a potential risk both to TV reception and to the wireless microphones that use empty TV frequencies. The idea became more controversial three weeks ago when the FCC's own engineers released a report showing that white-space devices might indeed cause interference, especially when an adjacent TV channel is in use. The report concluded, however, that white space proponents had shown "proof of concept." The proponents seized on this language as establishing that white space devices could safely be deployed. I noted then that the Wright brothers had established "proof of concept" at Kitty Hawk - that is, they proved the feasibility of powered, heavier-than-air flight. But it still took another thirty years to develop safe, commercial air travel. "Proof of concept" does not mean ready for everyday use. We wanted to make this point to the FCC, along with some observations on the data. But the FCC turned down requests to delay its decision long enough to receive public comment on the engineering report. Yet just last April, the U.S. Court of Appeals sent a rulemaking back to the FCC for not taking comment on an engineering report. The "studies upon which an agency relies . . . ," said the court, "must be made available during the rulemaking in order to afford interested persons meaningful notice and an opportunity for comment." ARRL v. FCC, 524 F.3d 227, 237 (D.F. Cir. 2008). That is pretty clear. We can only speculate as to why the FCC did not follow those instructions this time. Even if the aim was to beat the coming hand-over in the Administration, there would still have been time for a brief comment period. Instead, the FCC has (in effect) put off the hard technical decisions by adding extra layers to its approval procedures for white space products. Devices that rely on sensing the spectrum for TV and microphone signals will have their applications released for public comment (this is a first), will be tested by the FCC in real-world environments (ditto), and will require approval by the full FCC, not just the engineering staff. The all-important details of the required testing have not yet been disclosed. But we can expect long, hard-fought battles, complete with extensive lobbying, over the first several devices submitted for approval. White space devices that rely on "geolocation" - i.e., on location-finding via GPS, coupled with a database look-up for available channels - will have an easier approval process, on the theory that the technology has fewer unknowns. But GPS has the serious downside of not working well indoors, which is where most people use their communications devices. Manufacturers may find themselves forced into the more contentious approval regime for sensing devices in order to satisfy consumers' needs. Despite this week's decision against them, the opponents of white space devices still have plenty of opportunity to press their case in the laboratories and conference rooms of the FCC, and possibly in court as well. We can only hope that in future deliberations the decision-makers keep a better focus on the engineering. For a blog item (unlike this one) having actual facts on the FCC's white space decision: http://www.commlawblog.com/2008/11/articles/unlicensed-operations-and-em er/welcome-to-the-white-spaces-no-license-no-problem/ For the FCC's news release: http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-286566A1.doc USUAL DISCLAIMER: This email is one of an occasional series on telecommunications regulatory issues sent to both clients and non-clients free of charge. It is not legal advice, does not create, extend, or reinstate an attorney-client relationship, and does not solicit the representation of entities that have regulatory counsel. Recipients are free to distribute this email to others, but please include this notice and the signature block. To add, change, or drop an email address, just let me know. Earlier emails are archived at http://www.commlawblog.com <http://www.commlawblog.com/> . Mitchell Lazarus Fletcher, Heald & Hildreth, PLC 703-812-0440 (office) 301-537-7278 (mobile) MLazarus(a)alum.MIT.edu <mailto:MLazarus@alum.MIT.edu> www.fhhlaw.com <http://www.fhhlaw.com> blog: www.commlawblog.com <http://www.commlawblog.com>

1 0