On June 25, TIA hosted a Broadband and Technology Roundtable (B&T) lunch featuring Chairman William Kovacic of the Federal Trade Commission.

Chairman Kovacic spoke about net neutrality, data privacy issues, and licensing agreements as they pertain to consumers in their daily lives. He also spoke about the impact of legislation and regulation in these areas on e-commerce and international business. At the B&T, TIA members spoke about the implications of regulation in these areas on their companies, and asked the chairman to comment on the status of possible legislative and regulatory action. Members attending heard from the chairman about regulation and the need for disclosure in net neutrality and privacy issues. 

For more information about TIA’s government affairs initiatives, please contact Danielle Coffey at dcoffey@tiaonline.org.

< Back to Top >

TIA applauds the passage of a key communications modernization bill by the U.S. House of Representatives, H.R. 3403, the New and Emerging Technologies 911 Improvement Act of 2008. The bill was passed by the Senate last week.  

"We thank the Congress for acting on this critical legislation, which will improve both the capabilities and functionality of public safety communications systems, by providing network operators the tools necessary to relay accurate information to first responders in times of emergencies and national disasters," said TIA President Grant Seiffert.

The House bill, sponsored by Rep. Bart Gordon (D-Tenn.), and the Senate version, S. 428, sponsored by Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.), represent a significant step toward making America's IP-based services first-responder friendly. "Not only does this legislation facilitate the transition to competitive IP-based products and services," Seiffert said, "but it recognizes the need for public safety communications no matter what type of communications technology is being used. Enactment of this bill will allow a full transition to a 21st century emergency telecommunications infrastructure. We urge President Bush to sign this bill into law as soon as possible.”

For more information about TIA’s government affairs initiatives, please contact Danielle Coffey at dcoffey@tiaonline.org.

< Back to Top >

On June 12-15, TIA attended the Hearing Loss Association of America (HLAA) Convention 2008 in Reno, Nevada,with TIA member companies Panasonic, Uniden, and VTech.

During the convention, TIA unveiled the TIA-1083 logo which identifies TIA-1083 standard-compliant telephones and will be displayed on cordless phone packaging beginning in the fall 2008.  TIA-1083, developed by TIA with help from both Gallaudet University and HLAA, is the new standard which will improve hearing aid compatibility with Digital Cordless Phones. The standard will give manufacturers of cordless telephones the ability to test their products for compatibility with most hearing aids that have a T-Coil magnetic coupling mode.

In addition to having a presence in the exhibit hall, TIA and the attending member companies gave a presentation   to conference attendees about TIA-1083 compliant phones on June 13. The presentation included an overview of TIA and the association’s actions to implement the standard, the history of TIA-1083, and a demonstration of the reduced interference resulting from the standard.  TIA member companies Panasonic, Uniden, and VTech also demonstrated compliant telephones at the TIA and Panasonic booths.

TIA also discussed future plans for TIA-1083 during the presentation. On May 30, a proposed addendum was sent to ballot which would include testing methods for phones with digital interfaces allowing the standard to be applied to telephones utilizing newer technologies such as Wi-Fi, VoIP, Bluetooth, and USB. The voting period for this standard will close on July 15 and the results could be published as soon as September 2008.

To learn more about the TIA-1083 standard, contact Ronda Coulter: rcoulter@tiaonline.org.  For more information on TIA's role on Accessiblity, contact Rebecca Schwartz: rschwartz@tiaonline.org. For licensing information on the use of the new logo contact Andrew Kurtzman:  akurtzman@tiaonline.org.

< Back to Top >