Support Industry-wide Appeal for AT&T 3G Sunset Extension

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The Monitoring Association (TMA) is taking part in an industry-wide advocacy campaign calling for AT&T to delay their 3G sunset, which is currently set for February 2022. The campaign is being coordinated and led by the Alarm Industry Communications Committee (AICC), which is chaired by longtime TMA member Lou Fiore.

While the AICC has been in communication with the various House and Senate Committee staff with jurisdiction over telecom issues, it is important that Committee staff for the members hear from you directly – especially if you have a significant presence or customer base in their state, or even better, House members in your district. They need to know that this is a real problem that will impact the safety of life and property, as well as the safety and health of the homebound individuals who they represent.

AICC has put together a list of key members on the House and Senate Committees, as well as the Committee staff that is working on these issues and a letter template for you to send. It is important that you contact both the staff of the representatives on the key committees and the full Committee staff.

A number of you have responded to an earlier request, but we need what has been a trickle to become a flood. We are seeing some positive responses from Members of Congress, but it’s not enough. Please, if you haven’t done so, send an email as directed and ask all your employees to do the same.

Please let me know if you have any questions. Our lobbyist Bill Signer, AICC Chair Lou Fiore, or I will endeavor to assist you.

Thank you in advance for your help.

Sincerely,

Celia T. Besore
Executive Director, TMA
cbesore@tma.us | (703) 660-4913

OUR ASK:

Send the letter template, linked below, to the House and Senate representatives in states where your company does business, as well as the full Committee staff. Pass along the resources to your employees to do the same.

RESOURCES:

  1. Full Introduction Letter
  2. Contact List
  3. Letter Template
  4. Industry and Issue Backgrounder

ABOUT AICC:

The Alarm Industry Communications Committee (AICC), a committee of The Monitoring Association (TMA), is composed of representatives of TMA, the Electronic Security Association (ESA), the Security Industry Association (SIA) and major alarm companies and manufacturers. The AICC chair is Louis T. Fiore, L.T. Fiore, Inc. (ltfiore@aol.com).

 

AICC Seeks Comment – Recent Equipment Prohibitions

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AICC is evaluating the possibility of filing comments regarding the impact of recent prohibitions on use of equipment (including video surveillance) from ZTE and Huawei (and their affiliates) on its members. Comments are due September 14. Any information you can about your company in response to the following questions would be greatly appreciated:

  1. Does your company provide services or equipment to any Federal government agency, or to any entity pursuant to the Federal Acquisition Rules (FAR), either as a primary contractor or subcontractor?
  2. Does your company use equipment manufactured by or services provided by ZTE, Huawei, Hytera Communications Corporation, Hangzhou Hikvision Digital Technology Company, or Dahua Technology Company? This question is not limited to equipment or services you offer; it includes any usage of equipment or services from these companies whatsoever.
  3. If you do not know the answer to question 2 above, please provide a sense of how difficult it might be to determine the answer.

As noted, the next opportunity to provide feedback on the subject to regulators is September 14. Accordingly, we ask that you please forward your responses to Sal Taillefer (sta@bloostonlaw.com) as soon as possible.

FCC’s Chairman Pai Asks Congress to Repeal T-Band Mandate

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FCC Chairman Ajit Pai reiterated his call for congressional repeal of the T-band auction mandate while also circulating a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) that would take the next statutorily required step to implement this mandate to his fellow commissioners.

“An FCC auction of the T-band is a bad idea,” Pai said. “But as of today, the law mandates that we do it. It’s unfortunate that commission resources must be dedicated to laying the groundwork for an auction that will likely fail. This is especially true at a time when we are making every effort to keep Americans safe and connected, including allowing expanded temporary use of this very spectrum to help first responders save lives.

“Fortunately, there is bipartisan legislation in Congress to repeal this mandate, including bills that couple repeal with 9-1-1 fee diversion reform as reported out by the Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation of the U.S. Senate and the Subcommittee on Communications and Technology of the Committee on Energy and Commerce of the U.S. House of Representatives. I hope legislation passes soon, so first responders who rely on this spectrum no longer need to worry about a potential loss of or significant disruption to their mission-critical radio systems. I remain committed to helping Congress in any way I can to ensure that such harms to public safety operations do not come to pass.”

In 2012, Congress passed the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act requiring the FCC to reallocate T-band spectrum used by public-safety and private wireless licensees and “begin a system of competitive bidding” for reallocated spectrum by 2021. The FCC has compiled a record on the T-band that demonstrates that an auction is unlikely to yield sufficient revenue to cover the costs to move public safety users out of the band.

Pai first asked Congress to repeal the mandate late last year.