WASHINGTON, July 12 (UPI) — The U.S. Senate did not pass a federal renewable portfolio standard, and there is none in the House energy bill.

Still, the American Wind Energy Association is optimistic there will be an amendment to the House bill later this month, possibly by Reps. Tom Udall, D-N.M., and Todd Platts, R-Pa.

AWEA is encouraging its members to write their legislators to support the bill, H.R. 969, that the amendment will likely be based on. The RPS bill has 120 co-sponsors and it needs more.

The five-year extension on the federal production tax credit was also rejected in the Senate energy bill — only 57 of the necessary 60 senators voted for it.

An extension of the PTC would ensure the stability of the industry for an additional five years and help projects gain investment.

A four year PTC extension was approved in a bill from the House Ways and Means Committee. The bill, however, implements a 35 percent cost cap, cutting around $10 million on average for each project.

The AWEA opposes such a cap, claiming full PTCs must be available in order to continue building new wind projects in the United States.

In the glowing reviews that have greeted Apple’s iPhone, two questions keep coming up. Why did Apple («www.businessweek.com») sign a long-term exclusive arrangement with AT&T, which gets low marks in customer service from both Consumers Union and J.D. Power & Associates («www.businessweek.com»), BusinessWeek’s sister company? And why did Apple choose AT&T’s («www.businessweek.com») relatively slow EDGE network rather than the much faster Mobile Broadband, a third-generation (3G) service fast enough for snappy Web page downloads and smooth video streaming?

Apple isn’t talking, but the decisions aren’t as mysterious as they might appear. And they say a lot about the confused and confusing state of the U.S. wireless industry.

In designing the iPhone, Apple had to make a fundamental choice between the two different technology camps into which U.S. wireless service is divided. AT&T and T-Mobile use a European-developed standard called GSM. Verizon Wireless and Sprint rely on Qualcomm’s («www.businessweek.com») CDMA technology. (Sprint’s Nextel («www.businessweek.com») unit uses an oddball technology all its own.) Why Not Verizon?

Because of its pervasive coverage in the Northeast and California, Verizon («www.businessweek.com») would have been a logical partner, but Verizon officials have told me they would never give any handset maker the kind of authority over hardware and software design Apple demanded from AT&T. Besides, from a global perspective, Apple’s choice of GSM was a no-brainer. GSM is the standard throughout Europe and nearly everywhere in Asia. The GSM iPhone could eventually be sold in nearly all major countries.

Apple says it decided to ignore AT&T’s Mobile Broadband because 3G networks draw more power, making it harder to hit iPhone’s ambitious battery-life goals. This explanation is not entirely convincing, since Wi-Fi, the iPhone’s high-speed option, also is a notorious power hog. I suspect Apple was worried about the dismal state of 3G service on GSM networks in the U.S.

The fact is, AT&T’s 3G service lags far behind its CDMA competitors. The technology used by Verizon and Sprint is capable of sustained downloads of 1 megabit per second, although the actual wireless speed varies greatly with the strength of the signal and the number of users competing for the bandwidth. AT&T’s speediest service runs about half as fast, although still three to four times faster than its EDGE network. Not Easy Choices

Coverage is an even bigger issue. Consider the most densely populated part of the U.S., the coastal plain from Washington to Boston. AT&T’s coverage maps show big gaps in 3G service in Maryland, New York’s Westchester County, and most of Long Island and Connecticut. Sprint and Verizon show 3G coverage along all the major transportation routes of the Northeast corridor. T-Mobile, the other big GSM carrier, has not yet turned on a 3G network.

Apple has designed the iPhone to be improved through software updates, but software can do only so much. In order to get true 3G service, you’re eventually going to need a different phone with a new radio. This redesign will happen, but it’s not clear when U.S. users will get their hands on it. In Europe, which has ubiquitous and underutilized 3G coverage, carriers are clamoring for a 3G iPhone, and Apple will probably introduce one before the end of the year.

Given the muddled state of 3G networks in the U.S., Apple’s decision to go with slower technology in the first edition of the iPhone was understandable. But right now we are stuck having to choose between the iPhone, with a good browser and a painful network, and rivals such as the Palm Treo 700p («www.businessweek.com») from Verizon or the HTC Mogul from Sprint, with fast networks and lousy browsers. Apple and AT&T have their work cut out for them.

Smith & Wesson Holding Corp. (http://www.businessweek.com/ticker/) blew away Wall Street on June 15 with record sales and profits, signs the gun maker’s two-year-old turnaround strategy is working.

Sales grew 59.7% in the fourth quarter from a year ago. That included a recent acquisition, Thompson/Center Arms, but even without adding in the rifle maker sales were up 22.3%. Profits were up 41% in fiscal 2007, despite a hit to fourth quarter earnings, which were 11 cents per share, due to charges related to the acquisition.

On June 15, the stock was trading up more than 6% on the news.

Smith & Wesson’s strategy is simple but aggressive: Overall, the gun market grows only slightly from year to year. So, Smith & Wesson, armed with a well-known, 155-year-old brand name, is moving into new product lines and renewing old lines that had been neglected (see BusinessWeek, 6/4/07, ).

For example, the vast majority of U.S. police departments used to use Smith & Wesson revolvers. This is why “Dirty Harry” carried a Smith & Wesson .44 Magnum. But then new pistol technology came along and officers stopped carrying revolvers. A new pistol from Smith & Wesson is trying to win back cops. The firm says four out of five departments on the market have chosen its product. So far 216 police departments have committed to it, out of a total potential market of 17,000 departments.

New product lines include long guns, a new market for Smith & Wesson that is 80% larger than the handgun market. That’s one reason for the acquisition of Thompson/Center Arms, a rifle maker. Smith & Wesson has also developed its own rifles.

“They’re being very aggressive expanding their portfolio of offerings,” says Rodman & Renshaw analyst Amit Dayal. The purchase of Thompson/Center Arms seems to be working out, he says, noting Smith & Wesson, once mostly confined to making revolvers, now sell all major categories of firearms. He says the fall hunting season will be key to seeing “how these market share gains play out.”

Chief executive and president Michael Golden told analysts he’s looking for other new product lines where the “Smith & Wesson” name might help win market share. Those include products in law enforcement, security, homeland security and defense, he said.

Dayal says he this move would probably come in the form of more acquisitions.

It’s not just new products driving Smith & Wesson profits, execs and analysts say. The firm is also finding operational efficiencies in factories. Gross margins were 32.3% in fiscal 2007, up from 31% in 2006. Also, the firm changed its marketing strategies. It’s trying to be more visible with NASCAR sponsorships. And it fired outside, independent sales representatives in favor of hiring its own sales force.

Finally, Smith & Wesson has boosted its presence in Washington, where it’s pursuing government contracts. It has won four pistol contracts in the last two years, some for firearms for Afghanistan.

The big prize, however, is a contract to replace the U.S. Defense Department’s 9 millimeter pistols with more powerful sidearms. Smith & Wesson says its new .45-caliber pistol is well-positioned to win this huge contract. But it’s unclear exactly when the government, probably starting with the Air Force, might make a decision, Dayal says.