Pioneer Cellular Launches 4G LTE
Posted by Steve Fravel on Friday, May 4, 2012 · 
On April 30, Pioneer Cellular became the first participating Verizon Wireless LTE in Rural America (LRA) partner to launch 4G LTE service. The rollout comes after 18 months of planning, building and testing. The service, available to portions of six counties in central and western Oklahoma near Oklahoma City, will eventually cover 21 counties, 17,000 miles and 260,000 people.
As a Verizon LRA partner, Pioneer leases spectrum in the same frequency used by Verizon Wireless’ 4G LTE service. Read more
AT&T Partners with VRI on Remote Medical Monitoring Service
Posted by Jesse Ward on Friday, May 4, 2012 ·
According to the market research firm Kalorama Information, chronic conditions – such as asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder, coronary heart disease, congestive heart failure and diabetes — account for nearly 80% of physician visits, more than 80% of hospital inpatient stays, 90% of prescriptions and 95% of home healthcare visits. Further, patients recently hospitalized with one or more of these conditions are at significantly higher risk for re-admission.
Thanks to advances in technology, caregivers can efficiently care for patients outside of the hospital walls. With the aging population, chronic diseases on the rise and a shortage of healthcare workers, remote patient monitoring solutions can help reduce the amount of time patients spend in hospitals by enabling caregivers to continuously monitor their health.
Remote patient monitoring devices remotely collect, store and communicate biometric health information to health care practitioners. As I discussed in NTCA’s “The Smart Rural Community“ white paper, and more in depth in NTCA’s telemedicine ePaper, remote patient monitoring has widespread applicability, from those who suffer from chronic illnesses to monitoring infants and the elderly. Kalorama projects the market to grow 26% overall, from $6 billion in 2011 to more than $18 billion by 2014. A more recent and conservative report by Technavio estimates that the global patient monitoring market will reach $9.3 billion by 2014. Regardless of the exact figure, the nascent market is poised for exponential growth.
AT&T is capitalizing on this business opportunity, announcing May 1 it will partner with Valued Relationships Inc. (VRI) for the national rollout of a new remote patient monitoring service, designed to manage chronic diseases and help reduce hospital re-admissions. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Read more
FCC Grants Tower Lighting Monitoring Waiver
Posted by Steve Fravel on Friday, May 4, 2012 ·
The Wireless Telecommunications Bureau (WTB) of the FCC granted a waiver from the quarterly inspection requirement for antenna structure lighting monitoring on April 26 to Crown Castle USA Inc. and AT&T Services Inc.
Crown leases 1564 towers from AT&T that fall under the quarterly inspection requirement. Crown employs remote automatic monitoring systems on some of the leased towers. These monitoring systems are equipped with tracking mechanisms that evaluate the remote monitoring technology, essentially building a log that verifies testing parameters. Crown and AT&T have complied with the quarterly monitoring reporting and have demonstrated the overall reliability and safety the systems provide to the equipped towers.
The WTB noted in its order that it had granted similar waivers to antenna structure owners who were able to provide similar reliability and safety reporting. The waiver moves the reporting requirement under FCC Rule 17.47(b) from quarterly to annual reporting for Crown specifically covering the specially equipped AT&T-owned towers.
The WTB issued the orders after input from the Airspace and Rules Group of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) indicated no opposition, as long as the applicant demonstrated a reliable monitoring technology.
The Crown-AT&T waiver adheres to findings in an earlier ruling favoring Crown. The company had proven the required reliability in earlier filings and had received waivers for towers owned by Crown and equipped with the same monitoring systems.
NetAmerica Unveils Program for 700 MHz Licensees
Posted by Steve Fravel on Friday, May 4, 2012 ·
NetAmerica Alliance LLC announced in an April 27 press statement the launch of a new program designed to assist those companies that purchased 700 MHz spectrum in Auction 73 to fulfill build-out requirements.
The License Saver Program is an initiative intended to assist in the development of new, immediate revenue generation though the acquisition of IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) services. The program also address three key elements for licensees. It (1) preserves the license, (2) minimizes and conserves both capital and operating expenditures, and (3) minimizes waste while assuring compatibility with future deployment. Read more
IIA Hosts Spectrum Event on Capitol Hill
Posted by Jesse Ward on Thursday, May 3, 2012 ·
Yesterday, Meagan Foster and I attended the Internet Innovation Alliance’s (IIA) Capitol Hill briefing entitled “20 Years Later: Are We Winning or Losing the Spectrum War.” Meagan is in charge of wireless issues for NTCA’s government affairs department.
The majority of the briefing was centered on the explosive growth in mobile wireless traffic and the need for more commercial spectrum. Panelists included: Bret Swanson, President, Entropy Economics; Morgan Reed, Executive Director, Association for Competitive Technology; and Bruce Mehlman and Jamal Simmons, Co-Chairmen, Internet Innovation Alliance.
Spectrum is a particularly hot topic in DC, as the Verizon-cable company spectrum/marketing agreements are currently under review at the FCC. Major industry players are weighing in on this proceeding and its potential impact on wireless competition. At the same time, the commission is preparing to launch an incentive auction that is designed to entice traditional TV broadcasters to relinquish their spectrum to commercial wireless service providers. Read more
GWI to Build 1 Gbps Network in Maine
Posted by Jesse Ward on Wednesday, May 2, 2012 ·
GWI Inc. announced today that it plans to build a 1 Gbps fiber to the home (FTTH) network in the Old Town and Orono communities surrounding the University of Maine campus.
The project, called Gigabit Main Street Internet Network, sprung from the efforts of the Gig.U initiative, a group of 37 research universities across the United States seeking to accelerate the deployment of ultra-high-speed networks to U.S. universities and their surrounding communities. Gig.U is hopeful that the creation of these networks will drive economic growth and stimulate innovation.
The GWI-built network will be the first gigabit Internet network commercially available to both business and residential customers in the state of Maine. It also is the second Gig.U. network to be built in the United States, following on the heels of an announcement in March by Michigan State University stating that it had received a commitment from a local carrier to build a 1 Gbps network in East Lansing. Read more
Sen. Grassley Lifts Hold on FCC Nominees
Posted by Steve Fravel on Monday, April 30, 2012 ·
Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) on April 27 released a hold he placed on two nominees for vacant commissioner seats at the FCC. Releasing the hold will allow the senate to proceed with its review and potential confirmation of the two applicants.
Sen. Grassley placed the holds on Ajit Pai (R) and Jessica Rosenworcel (De) four months ago after his request for information from the commission was rebuffed primarily due to Sen. Grassley not holding a leadership position on a committee with jurisdiction over the commission.
In a statement released by his office, Sen. Grassley said that he intends to pursue his inquiry into LightSquared. “The documents I’ve seen so far raise more questions than I had before,” he said. Read more