McDowell nominated to FCC 

As expected, President George W. Bush nominated Robert McDowell to the open Republican slot on the FCC. If confirmed, McDowell-an attorney who previously...

Updating FCC rules and procedures 

BY ALAN TILLES

Recent public notices from the FCC provide a good opportunity to review some regulatory procedures for licensees that might have experienced personnel...

Transition Administrator takes charge 

BY DONNY JACKSON

Armed with additional authority from the FCC, the 800 MHz Transition Administrator in February took several measures to clear bottlenecks in the processes...

FCC refuses Sprint Nextel request for extra time 

Donny Jackson

The FCC last month denied Sprint Nextel's request for an eight-month delay in the 36-month schedule to reconfigure the 800 MHz band but acknowledged that...

700 MHz clearing date set for 2009 

BY DONNY JACKSON

President George W. Bush in February signed budget-reconciliation legislation that includes a firm date for TV broadcasters to clear 700 MHz spectrum...

Fractal Antenna awarded patent 

Bedford, Mass.-based Fractal Antenna Systems announced it has been awarded a U.S. patent for its proprietary technology that enables the company to manufacture...

xMAX passes FCC compliance test 

BY DONNY JACKSON

An FCC-compliant laboratory has determined that xG Technology's long-range xMAX system first demonstrated in November 2005 meets the FCC's Part 15 requirements,...

Senators propose legislation for unused broadcast spectrum 

Two U.S. senators have introduced separate legislative proposals that would earmark unused broadcast spectrum for unlicensed wireless applications, including...

Bush: Unauctioned spectrum licenses should be subject to user fees 

Donny Jackson

President George W. Bush's 2007 budget proposal includes authorizing the FCC to collect user fees on licensed spectrum not obtained via an auction. Exactly...

Back on track 

GLENN BISCHOFF glenn.bischoff@penton.com

Before becoming MRT's editor, I spent three years as the policy and law writer for our sister publication Telephony, which meant that I spent most of...

FCC sets date for wireless auction, proposes rule change 

Donny Jackson

Commercial wireless operators will have an opportunity in June to bid on 90 MHz of spectrum that is targeted for 3G services, but many large carriers...

[U] CAN,too 

By Donny Jackson

Yes, Virginia, planning-funding agreements for public-safety systems can be done. Indeed, Steve Proctor, Utah Communications Agency Network (UCAN) executive...

APCO: Plain-language communications are best 

Public-safety personnel should use plain-speech communications instead of the traditional 10-code languages currently used by most first-responder organizations,...

Why 700 MHz spectrum is important 

BY HARLIN MCEWEN

From my early days as a career police officer and volunteer firefighter, I realized how important it was to have reliable public-safety radio communications....

FAST+FURIOUS 

BY DONNY JACKSON

Nov. 14, 2005 TA releases quarterly report stating that rebanding is behind schedule. Dec. 1, 2005 Sprint Nextel asks FCC to extend the timetable for...