RCR Wireless News

It would be a tough stretch to suggest Genachowski has a pre-determined goal of radical regulation.

Wireless technology will be used to help utility grids become smarter as the technology can help better manage in the delivery of electricity in real time in a more efficient manner.

The most profound impact on the availability of high-speed Internet access in the United States is likely to flow from universal service fund reform and other regulatory changes. Such issues involve billions of dollars on an annual basis.

Late last week, a group of public-interest groups reiterated how they believe the Federal Communications Commission should address handset exclusivity arrangements. "Handset exclusivity arrangements are harmful to consumers," the Ad Hoc Public Interest Spectrum Coalition told the agency.

A big chunk of the billions of dollars earmarked in economic recovery bills for broadband grants for wireless and other service providers likely will not make it into the private sector anytime soon, raising questions about the intended stimulus effect.

Julius Genachowski is unofficially the official pick of the president to chair the Federal Communications Commission. Perhaps no FCC chairman has ever had the kind of close, personal ties to a U.S.

An ambitious campaign has begun to press the new Obama administration and Congress to embrace policies promoting diversity in telecom and media sectors.

Sprint Nextel has pitched to the Obama transition team a $2 billion plan to provide first responders with emergency interoperable wireless communications anywhere in the country within four hours, a model based on the use of fleets of trucks equipped with cellular gear and satellite backhaul.

The incoming administration may move faster than expected to put a tech team in place, given the unsettled state of the Federal Communications Commission and President-elect Obama's desire to leverage broadband, wireless and other technologies to advance top priorities such as economic revitalization, health care reform, education and public safety.

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin Martin and the Bush administration are on a collision course over a possible Dec. 18 vote on a free, family-friendly wireless auction plan, uncharacteristically bringing into public view a high-stakes policy dispute between the Republican White House and one of its top appointees.