rh@well.sf.ca.us (Robert Horvitz) (02/09/90)
Here's a quick summary of the actions taken at this morning's meeting of the Federal Communications Commission. Check the "Airwaves" conference's file library in Capital OnLine (1-202-833-1591; 8/N/1) for more information. 1) The Commissioners approved four policy changes designed to speed up the processing of construction permits and new station applications for commercial FM broadcasters. 2) The Commissioners voted to adopt a "Notice of Proposed Rule Making" to facilitate the use of various microwave channels for "wireless cable TV" services, as a "competitive alternative" to traditional wire-based cable TV systems. 3) The Commissioners voted to adopt a "Report and Order" concerning private point-to-multipoint microwave systems. Included in the action is a rule-change allowing the use of "multiple low-power transmitters instead of one high-power transmitter" in the 18 GHz band. This is intended to support the development of "wireless local area networks" for computers. 4) The Commissioners approved a "Notice of Proposed Rule Making" to create a new license category for amateur radio operators that would not require a test of Morse code proficiency. This is expected to remove a major obstacle stopping many people from participating in the Amateur service. 5) The Commissioners approved a "Notice of Proposed Rule Making" to allocate an additional 33 MHz of spectrum for mobile satellite services. 6) The Commissioners adopted a "Memorandum Opinion and Order" creating a new coordination procedure for sharing the 900 MHz channels allocated to both federal government and nongovernmental systems. Finally, FCC Chairman Alfred Sikes announced that the Commission would hold a "field hearing" next Monday (12 February 1990) in Los Angeles at City Hall. This is the first such formal meeting outside of Washington "in living memory," Sikes said, and it reflects the Commission's interest in hearing "points of view that wouldn't necessarily be represented here in Washington." Additional meetings will be held in Orlando, Florida and St. Louis, Missouri (no dates given).
tronix@polari.UUCP (David Daniel) (02/10/90)
Point #2 caught my interest.
I had wondered if the cable franchise (read: Monopoly) would be
addressed within my lifetime. I had thought that the easiest way to
allow the consumer a choice in cable providers would be for each
franchize to encode their signals to proprietary boxes and to
interconnect all cable systens within a region. The FCC porposal
sounds like the same thing, only different. I wonder if the customer
box in that proposal would be receiving the transmission directly or
what.
--- "What's so funny 'bout peace, love & understanding?"
Elvis Costello