RoW Update

Bell Mobility to launch 1X network in Ottawa next weekBell Mobility will official roll out its next-generation 1XRTT wireless network in Ottawa next week, closely following launches in Toronto and Montreal in recent weeks. Company president and COO Michael Neuman and Charlotte Burke, senior VP, will be on hand to discuss the benefits and features of the new network. The company also plans to show off some products that have yet to be released in the Canadian market. Infowave posts lower revenueInfowave Software Inc. expects to post first-quarter revenue that is nearly half of that reported in the previous quarter, according to preliminary estimates. The news gets worse for the Vancouver-based firm as the US$350,000 expected in revenue this quarter is almost a third of the amount posted in the first quarter of the previous year.To combat the significant decrease in revenue, the company continues to reduce expenditures, which are anticipated to be 10% lower than the previous quarter. Net loss for the quarter should ring in at between US$3.4 million and US$3.6 million. Company officials aren’t worried about running out of money before a pick up in sales boosts the top line. Infowave has approximately US$7 million in cash, cash equivalent and short-term investments. More details. CTIA wants FCC to delay auction of 700 MHzThe Cellular Telecommunications and Internet Association has asked the U.S. spectrum regulator to delay plans to auction airwaves in the 700 MHz band. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) had set the auction start date at June 19. However, association president and CEO Thomas Wheeler says an auction in June would violate the Communications Act. The 700 MHz band is currently used by broadcasters to carry channels 60-69. This attempt to delay the auction yet again is being met with some stern opposition. The auction has already been delayed five times. Paxon Communications chair Lowell Paxon says the CTIA has had a full year to prepare and its request should be denied. "When the wireless community led by CTIA sought a delay of this auction until June of 2001, they cited the need to assess market conditions, develop business plans and otherwise prepare for the auction," he said during a news conference last week.The CTIA contends that broadcasters shouldn’t be allowed to receive compensation for spectrum they received for free. In defending the association’s position, Wheeler said: "In the interim, however, it is clear that to hold the auction in June would make the FCC the croupier collecting the ante for the real game: the subsequent private auction of spectrum the broadcasters received for free, promised to give back, and now want to use for personal enrichment by exploiting a carefully crafted legislative loophole." More details. Disagreement over spectrum allocation continuesDisagreement is still the order of the day as groups from the commercial wireless industry and the U.S. government still can’t come to a consensus on where additional spectrum for advanced wireless services is going to come from. The National Telecommunication and Information Administration (NTIA) made it quite clear at a conference last week that it isn’t at all interested in sharing its spectrum with commercial wireless operators. Commercial operations could "share my spectrum as long as they assume liability if the missile goes into the next country," TelecomWeb quoted John Stenbit, head of the Defense Department’s command, control, communications and intelligence unit, as saying during a two-day conference. More details. IEEE forms 802 technical advisory groupThe IEEE has formed a technical advisory group (TAG) to address radio regulations affecting the evolving local and metropolitan wireless networks. The IEEE 802.18 Advisory Group is to act as the radio regulation expert and interface with national and international regulatory bodies. The Advisory Group is currently in the process of developing its charter, which will be presented at the next IEEE 802 Plenary in Vancouver July 8 to 12. More details. PacketVideo lays off about a third of staffPacketVideo has laid off a significant amount of its staff, a move company executives say will give the San Diego-based firm the right number of employees going forward. This latest staff cut, which has been estimated at about 75 employees, is to get the exact number of employees that "we need to be cash-flow positive", chair and co-founder Jim Carol told U.S. industry trade publication Wireless Week. It will also help PacketVideo focus on its core business, which appears to be changing. The company is exploring other possibilities for its software, which enables handheld devices support and deliver streaming video. Carol says that homeland security is the name of the game right now, adding that the company has been working with law enforcement officials to develop applications for this market. Announcements will be forthcoming, he says. More details. FCC grants VoiceStream waiver for priority accessThe Federal Communications Commission has granted VoiceStream Wireless a temporary waiver of its wireless priority access rules. Last November, the company filed the petition so it could move forward with a plan to provide the National Communications System with wireless emergency service. The plan has been stalled, however, due to the need for the waiver (RoW, April 3/02). More details. Satellite radio concerned over Wi-Fi interferenceSatellite radio operators XM Satellite Radio and Sirius Satellite Radio are expressing serious concerns about the potential for interference from the neighbouring wireless LAN standard, dubbed Wi-Fi. The companies are stepping up their lobbying efforts and have asked the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to make sure Wi-Fi interference doesn’t affect their operations. The two companies want the FCC to consider imposing more regulations on Wi-Fi equipment makers, including forcing them to put controls on spurious signals. While both companies admit that there isn’t a problem right now, they want to make sure that it doesn’t become a problem. More details. RF technology could mean quicker pint refillsEver have to catch the eye of your server to get another pint of your favourite pale ale? Well, a new smart glass technology may be coming to your local pub. Japanese electronics company Mitsubishi Electric Research Laboratories and Paul Dietz used a variation of RFID technology that would alert staff at a pub or restaurant when the glass is empty, according to a story posted on New Scientist.com (link not available at press time).

RoW Update

News | April 8, 2002

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