Mark Crosby, EWA Chief Strategy Officer
Unleashed and unvarnished, Mark provides his unique commentary on important telecom policy issues of the day.
September 21, 2021
The land of make believe is alive and well at Federal Licensing, Inc., whose “Publication Division” persists in sending letters to new licensees advising that they are required to have in their possession a copy of the FCC rules. The communication is full of misstatements and threats of financial penalties if the licensee fails to heed the dire...
September 21, 2021
Nine years ago, the FCC froze the T-Band, shut down most application processing, and walked away pending further instructions. They froze the band as a result of the Congressional T-Band Mandate that was supposed to support a successful auction at some future date. Despite EWA’s best efforts, incumbents took it on the chin as they could modify...
September 21, 2021
by F. H. "Rick" Smith
Note: Mr. Smith, recently retired from Chevron, is an honorary member of the EWA Board of Directors and is a past Board Chairman.
Two things have happened recently that just came out of the blue. Who would have expected the lights to go out in Texas and gas stations in the east would run dry. Thankfully neither of these...
September 21, 2021
They are at it again, or perhaps they never stopped, but Federal Licensing, Inc.’s Publication Division is warning licensees that a “financial penalty (fine)” may be assessed by the FCC if radio systems are not operated in accordance with the FCC’s rules. And just in case licensees do not have a copy of the rules governing their radio system to...
September 21, 2021
The T-Band Mandate hit the proverbial ice burg at launch. The deal to trade 6 to 18 MHz of 470-512 MHz spectrum, the amount dependent upon which of the eleven urban areas one is reviewing, in exchange for 10 MHz of spectrum available nationwide, plus billions of dollars to develop a national interoperable public safety network (now FirstNet) was...
September 21, 2021
Not everyone was in favor of the Federal Communication Commission (FCC) transitioning entirely to an all-electronic means of communication with its licensees. EWA’s view was that it was time to do so, after all we are well into the 21st century. And speaking of those that are stuck in the past, I’ll bet you that both Federal Licensing and Federal...
September 21, 2021
Dear Members… The letter certainly wants to look official, but as we have alerted you in the past, “Federal License Management” is not affiliated in any manner with the Federal Government, and most certainly, has nothing to do with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). So, if you or your customers recently received an “ADMINISTRATIVE UPDATE...
September 21, 2021
We have been informed on more than one occasion that our FCC-certified frequency advisory committee (FAC) activities make EWA “an agent” of the FCC. It is a responsibility that EWA takes very seriously. Our fundamental objectives are to assist the FCC by ensuring that license applications are complete, accurate and in compliance with Commission...
September 21, 2021
This past week, FCC Commissioner Michael O’Rielly asked whether certain information collection mandates by the FCC are “truly justified,” noting that certain rules stay in place past any useful purpose, while the burden can accumulate unnoticed for segments of the industry. What an incredible observation and call for action, which has EWA’s total...
September 21, 2021
As one of EWA’s members stated this morning, “that didn’t take long” after receiving a solicitation from a brokerage and consulting firm offering a complimentary telephone consultation regarding the FCC’s 900 MHz NPRM and “pdvWireless activity.” Indeed the ink isn’t even yet dry on the final NPRM which now awaits publishing in the Federal Register...