---------------------------------------------------------------------- Message-ID: <20180114225004.GA23253@telecom.csail.mit.edu> Date: Sun, 14 Jan 2018 17:50:04 -0500 From: Bill Horne <bill@horneQRM.net> Subject: New Verizon antennas generate unwelcome buzz in Santa Rosa CA A city-sanctioned bid to improve wireless connectivity for internet and cellphone users in Santa Rosa has run into opposition from some residents and generated concern among city officials after the first round of "small-cell" antennas went up on utility poles in recent weeks. The equipment - including large metal in-ground utility boxes about 5 feet tall - varies greatly in design from anything the city was previously shown by Verizon, the wireless provider installing the antennas, said Eric McHenry, director of Santa Rosa's Information Technology Department. http://www.pressdemocrat.com/news/7864085-181/new-verizon-antennas-generate-unwelcome -- Bill Horne (Remove QRM from my email address to write to me directly) ------------------------------ Message-ID: <20180114225255.GA23325@telecom.csail.mit.edu> Date: Sun, 14 Jan 2018 17:52:55 -0500 From: Bill Horne <bill@horneQRM.net> Subject: How Changes To The U.S. Tax Code Could Impact AT&T And Verizon The U.S. government recently passed one of the biggest changes to the tax code in decades, as it seeks to increase investments and accelerate economic growth. Under the new tax bill, the corporate tax rate will be lowered to 21% from 35%, while the overall tax structure is also expected to be simplified. Large telecom companies such as Verizon and AT&T could have a lot to gain from the changes, given their large and fairly consistent profits. Moreover, these companies derive a bulk of their revenues from the domestic market, with most of their capital investments and workforce in the U.S. While the impacts of the tax reform are likely to be partly baked in to the market prices of these companies, the full impact of the tax cuts on stock valuations are only expected to be felt in the years to come, as companies potentially deploy tax savings into more productive avenues. We have created an interactive model that details how changes in effective tax rates can impact the valuation of these major telecom companies. You can modify assumptions such as projected taxable income, long-term growth rates and discount rates (weighted average cost of capital) to see how the tax rate/valuation dynamics change. https://www.forbes.com/sites/greatspeculations/2018/01/12/how-changes-to-the-u-s-tax-code-could-impact-att-and-verizon/#560e423a29ef -- Bill Horne (Remove QRM from my email address to write to me directly) ------------------------------ Message-ID: <50F1C87A-5936-4243-B594-2B6AF1C44A51@roscom.com> Date: Sun, 14 Jan 2018 10:28:47 -0500 From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com> Subject: False Missile Warning in Hawaii Adds to Scrutiny of Emergency Alert System False Missile Warning in Hawaii Adds to Scrutiny of Emergency Alert System An errant cellphone alert about an incoming ballistic missile set off a panic and prompted calls for major improvements to America's approach to disaster notification. By Cecilia Kang WASHINGTON - A false alert sent to cellphones across Hawaii on Saturday warning of an incoming ballistic missile is calling attention to an emergency notification system that government officials at all levels say needs major improvements. The Federal Communications Commission said it was opening a "full investigation into what happened" when the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency sent the errant alert as a result of what Gov. David Y. Ige said was human error: a worker who "pushed the wrong button" during a shift change at the state's emergency command post. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/13/business/hawaii-missile-emergency-alert.html ***** Moderator's Note ***** It-increases-my-paranoia department ... This sounds like the other "mistake" which occurred back around 1976, where a nuclear warning was "accidentally" issued from Colorado when a government employee "mistakenly" ran the wrong paper tape through the Teletype machine which broadcast it on the wire services to virtually all radio stations. Most of them ignored the alert and stayed on the air. After all, employees figured, if it was genuine then nobody would be around to complain, and if it wasn't then they didn't loose any ad revenue or get fired. I'm tempted to write that this is another step in the creeping McCarthyism which Washington enjoyed during my youth: keep the public afraid and plyable, and they're going to vote for more defense money. However, that doesn't make sense in Hawaii - a state which, more than any other, is dependent on tourism for the money to keep its police and fire and sanitation workers paid, its politicians in fashionable suits, and its image spotless. That means it must really have been a mistake, and of course that invites a whole bunch of questions about how seriously state governments take the federal mandates to maintain alert systems. The states are, of course, delighted to take my tax money for the latest federal gew-gaw, but I have the suspicion that they view the mandate just as seriously as did all those radio station managers who decided to keep their stations on the air back around 1976. Bill Horne Moderator ------------------------------ ********************************************* End of telecom Digest Mon, 15 Jan 2018