Info and News
May 2005
FCC Levies $20,000 Forfeiture on Importer of Unauthorized Equipment
The FCC has issued an NAL (“Notice of Apparent Liability for Forfeiture”) to Bureau D’Electronique Appliquee, Inc (“B. E. A”) in the amount of $20,000 for importing and marketing unauthorized equipment. Two types of microwave motion sensors were imported over a period of several years without the proper authorization. These sensors are considered intentional radiators, regulated under the FCC’s Part 15 Rules, and must be certified.
The FCC investigation was triggered by an informal complaint that two models, the “Wizard” and the “Falcon” had been imported since 1999 and 2001, respectively. One was unlabeled, and the other was labeled with a non existent FCC Identifier indicating a certification that had not taken place.
When contacted, B.E.A. stated that it had thought that these models were covered under the certification of a different product. However, during 2004, before it was contacted by the FCC, B.E.A realized this was not the case and applied for certification, which was issued on October 25, 2004.
In analyzing the situation, the FCC pointed out that the base forfeiture amount for importation or marketing of unauthorized or non-compliant equipment is $7000. However, there were two devices, and the unauthorized conduct spanned a period of five years. On that basis, the FCC adjusted the penalty upward to $25,000, but then abated it somewhat to $20,000 in recognition of B.E.A.’s good faith effort to bring the units into compliance before the FCC’s inquiry.
Link: http://www.fcc.gov/eb/Orders/2005/DA-05-345A1.html
Annual NEBS Conference Date Set
The 11th annual NEBS Conference is scheduled for September 21 – 22, 2005 in Las Vegas, at the Westin Casuarina Hotel and Spa. The conference, which is hosted by Verizon and Underwriters Laboratories, features presentations and panels by industry experts. NEBS Compliance information on fiber and legacy network equipment requirements of the RBOCs (Regional Bell Operating Companies), BellSouth, Qwest, SBC, and Verizon is discussed.
The NEBS (Network Equipment Building System) Requirements are a set of standards that outline construction, performance, environmental, and electromagnetic compatibility requirements for network equipment. The importance of NEBS stems from the fact that the RBOCs incorporate NEBS standards into their procurement specifications.
The NEBS standards originated in the Bell System. After the breakup of AT&T, they were maintained at Bellcore, which when privatized passed to SAIC and eventually to Telcordia. Telcordia maintains and updates the standards with industry input.
For more information on the seminar, and to register for the conference, use the following URL:
http://www.verizonnebs.com/conf2005.html
Kevin Martin Appointed Chairman of the FCC
President George W. Bush has nominated Kevin Martin to be the FCC’s new chairman, replacing the outgoing Chairman, Michael Powell, who announced his resignation in January. Since Mr. Martin is already an FCC Commissioner, his appointment does not require Senate confirmation. Mr. Martin has been a commissioner since 2001.
Mr. Martin, 38 years old, is a Republican who worked for the President in the 2000 campaign as an attorney. He is considered to be in favor of reduced regulation in most areas, although he has been aggressive in pushing for stiffer penalties against media companies that broadcast indecent material
Are we running out of telephone numbers?
The US telephone system has had ten numbers – a 3 digit area code and a seven-digit phone number – for some 60 years. With the advent of cellular telephones, faxes, modems, pagers, and the prospect of VoIP (voice over internet protocol), the numbers in use has kept on rising. Will we ever run out? It would be a problem for many pieces of equipment and software if we did, not to mention the difficulties your editor would have memorizing longer numbers. Fortunately, this is not the case.
A 10 digit code would appear to make nearly 10 billion numbers available with nearly 1000 area codes. How close are we? Not too close. A recent FCC report describes the usage of telephone numbers under the North American Numbering Plan (NANP). The NANP includes not only the United States, but also it territories, Canada, Bermuda, and many Caribbean nations. The FCC’s report addresses number usage in the U. S. and its territories.
It turns out that of the possible area codes, 255 have been assigned to the United States, and an average of approximately 50% of the numbers that would be available have been distributed to telephone carriers for assignment to users. The assignment process is surprisingly complex, but the bottom line is that we aren’t running out of numbers just yet. Some 1.2 billion numbers are in play, but at any given time, a good number of these are unassigned. Utilization rates vary around the country, tending to be lower in rural areas, at 16%, and higher in urban areas (44% in use by end users). There is a lot of fluctuation, with the highest utilization being in a New York City’s 212 area code at 73.8%, with Washington DC’s area code 202 running a close second at 66.7%.
Since there’s no immediate shortage of numbers or area codes, the NANP should continue in its present form for some time, although there may be some area code division in places where usage is high. The details can be found at this FCC link:
http://www.fcc.gov/Bureaus/Common_Carrier/Reports/FCC-State_Link/IAD/utilizationjun2004.pdf
They Should Have Used Spam
I’ve been getting fewer junk mail calls; I hope our readers are as well. Perhaps the FCC’s efforts to enforce the National Do-Not-Call Registry are responsible. A recent FCC Notice gives an example of how they do it. A mortgage company which reportedly flouted the FCC’s rules for an extended period has been hit with a $770k notice of forfeiture. That’s a pretty hefty fine.
Telemarketing is under joint regulation by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) because it involves commerce, and by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) because telephone communications are involved. In 1991 the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) placed restrictions on some telemarketing practices. In 2003, the TCPA was further amended and the Do-Not-Call Registry was created. This national list allowed consumers to opt out of unwanted telephone solicitations. Telemarketers were required to subscribe to the list and remove consumers who had entered the Registry from their calls.
In 2003, the FCC received over 100 complaints concerning calls made by Dynasty Mortgage, LLC to people who had registered on the do-not-call list. The FCC sent Dynasty a letter warning Dynasty that it would issue a citation if the company did not convince the FCC that it was following the Do-Not-Call rules. In December, 2003, a citation was issued warning that further solicitations to residential consumers registered in the Do-Not-Call-Registry would result in monetary forfeitures of up to $11,000 per call. A number of back and forth communications ensued, but according to the Commission, Dynasty kept on calling and consumers kept on complaining for another year. Recently, the FCC documented 70 of these calls, and issued an NAL (Notice of Apparent Liability for Forfeiture) in the maximum amount for each of these calls, resulting in a very substantial proposed $770,000 fine. Dynasty has yet to respond, so the final resolution of this matter has not occurred. Still, one would think this action would encourage increased attention to vigilance by cold-calling telemarketers. The FCC’s side of the story is told at:
http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/FCC-05-47A1.pdf
Yes, my junk phone calls are down. But, every day my e-mail inbox is stuffed with multiple offers for mortgage financing. There’s no recourse for that other than a junk mail filter. Perhaps Dynasty picked the wrong business model – they could have tried spam.
For information on the National Do-Not-Call Registry see:
http://www.fcc.gov/cgb/donotcall/ and http://www.donotcall.gov
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