FCC Meeting Recap

FCC FINES ALLEGED PHONE RECORDS SCAMMER
[SOURCE: C-Net|News.com, AUTHOR: Anne Broache]
The Federal Communications Commission on Thursday voted to impose fines on a Florida company accused of thieving phone call records and selling them on the Web for as little as $100. The FCC unanimously adopted an order that would force LocateCell to pay $97,500 -- the highest fee possible for an unregulated company in such a situation -- for allegedly failing to provide the agency with all the information it had requested about how the company obtained the data it had sold.
http://news.com.com/FCC+fines+alleged+phone+records+scammer/2100-1037_3-...
* FCC Press Release: http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-266392A1.doc

MEDICAL RADIO COMMUNICATION DEVICES
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission]
The FCC initiated a proceeding to establish a new service for advanced medical radio communication ("MedRadio") devices in the 401-406 MHz band. The FCC noted that an ever-increasing number of medical devices are coming to rely upon radio transmissions for critical aspects of their functionality. These devices are improving the health care of all Americans by providing relief and recovery of function from many types of illness and injury. In today's Notice of Proposed Rule Making, the FCC proposed designating an additional two-megahertz of spectrum for these devices, at 401-402 MHz and 405-406 MHz, adjacent to the existing Medical Implant Communications Service (MICS) band at 402-405 MHz, for a total of 5 megahertz specifically designated for medical device radiocommunications. Underscoring the flexibility and scope of potential uses under this new service, the FCC proposed to revise its nomenclature and designate the entire 401-406 MHz band as MedRadio service.
http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-266397A1.doc

TRS COMPENSATION
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission]
The FCC is seeking comment on a broad range of issues concerning the compensation of providers of telecommunications relay services (TRS) from the Interstate TRS Fund (Fund) for their costs of providing TRS. Title IV of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) requires common carriers offering "telephone voice transmission services" to also provide TRS so that persons with hearing and speech disabilities will have access to the telephone system. The ADA also mandates that eligible TRS providers will be compensated for certain costs associated with providing TRS. TRS enables an individual with a hearing or speech disability to communicate by telephone with a person without such a disability. This is accomplished through TRS facilities that are staffed by specially trained communications assistants (CAs) using special technology. The CA relays conversations between persons using various types of assistive communication devices and persons who do not require such assistive devices. The CA, in turn, places an outbound voice call to the called party. The CA serves as the "link" in the conversation, converting the caller's conversation into voice, and all voice from the called party into typed or signed messages for the relay user. The process is performed in reverse when a voice telephone user initiates a voice call to a relay user. TRS includes Internet Protocol (IP) relay, Speech-to-Speech (STS), Captioned Telephone, and Video Relay Services (VRS) in which a user communicates with a CA using American Sign Language over a broadband video link.
http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-266399A1.doc

GABELLI SETTLES FCC AUCTION CHARGES
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Brooke A. Masters]
Money manager Mario Gabelli and companies affiliated with him agreed yesterday to pay $130 million to settle allegations that he used sham companies to buy cellphone licenses under a federal program for small and minority-owned businesses. The federal government alleged that 38 individuals and companies backed by Gabelli's money improperly participated in eight wireless spectrum auctions under special Federal Communications Commission rules reserved for small businesses. The Gabelli-backed entrepreneurs included his relatives, a former aerobics instructor, the caretaker of his vacation home and a retired professional basketball player, the government alleged. Gabelli was not eligible.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/07/13/AR200607...
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