The decision to construct its network using open radio access network technology has allowed EchoStar to adapt quickly as it builds out its Boost Mobile network, Boost Chief Technology Officer Eben Albertyn said Wednesday. ORAN has kept Boost from being overcharged for network components, he said: “We were not going to be price-gouged and have a gun held to our head,” he said during a keynote at a Competitive Carriers Association conference in Denver.
Carriers may expect too much in terms of the potential financial benefits of open application programmable interfaces (APIs), said Grant Lenahan, principal analyst at Appledore Research. Open APIs are a growing focus of providers (see 2404160065) and of the GSMA (see 2402260054). Lenahan spoke Wednesday during TelecomTV's Telco at a Platform Summit.
The Association for Uncrewed Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI) supported proposals in a January FCC NPRM providing spectrum for drones and the advanced air mobility (AAM) industries (see 2501170023). Electric utilities and other commenters supported AUVSI's position. The FCC proposed flexible use of the 450 MHz band for drones and permitting radiolocation operations in the 24.45–24.65 GHz band. The FCC also sought comment on “modernizing” rules governing commercial aviation air-ground systems. Comments were due this week in docket 24-629.
Approved by Congress last year (see 2412180027), the Spectrum and Secure Technology and Innovation Act makes clear that the FCC must auction all AWS-3 licenses remaining in its inventory, CTIA said in reply comments about an auction procedures NPRM. Whether the FCC should create a tribal licensing window (TLW), which could allow tribes to obtain spectrum for some of the least-connected communities in the U.S., remains a contentious issue (see 2504010055). Comments were posted Tuesday in docket 25-70.
The FCC's World Radiocommunication Conference Advisory Committee held its third meeting Tuesday as it prepares for the next WRC in 2027, approving early proposals for U.S. positions. The meeting was the first under the current Trump administration and finished in 20 minutes. The committee last met in August (see 2408050034).
CTIA offered the FCC a list of programs for streamlining through the commission’s “Delete” proceeding in comments posted Monday in docket 25-133. In addition, USTelecom recommended “eliminating, streamlining, or reforming” some 3,000 rules in the "Code of Federal Regulations." The comments provide commission staff with thousands of suggestions to wade through as they evaluate changes the telecom industry suggested. As of late Monday, the commission has received nearly 900 comments in the proceeding (see 2504140063 and 2504140037).
The USF's future is one of the biggest issues for Competitive Carriers Association members, CEO and President Tim Donovan said in an interview. The organization is “cautiously optimistic” following U.S. Supreme Court arguments in the Consumers' Research case (see 2503260061), he said.
The Competitive Carriers Association supported petitions for reconsideration of the FCC’s August order launching a 5G Fund filed by the Coalition of Rural Wireless Carriers (CWRC) and the Rural Wireless Association (see 2501140056). CCA agrees that “several aspects” of the order “require prompt reconsideration,” said a filing posted Friday in docket 20-32.
Major providers discussed what they saw as the key technical rules for the upcoming AWS-3 auction in comments on a March public notice on its bidding procedures. Initial comments are already in on a separate NPRM looking more generally at changes to auction rules (see 2504010055). Replies on the NPRM are due next week. The auction will offer licenses that affiliates of Dish Network returned to the FCC in 2023, as well as unsold licenses from the initial AWS-3 auction 10 years ago.
Comments in Chairman Brendan Carr's “Delete, Delete, Delete” docket (25-133) continue to roll in to the FCC. As of late Friday, the due date, nearly 600 comments have been filed. Also on Friday, USTelecom CEO Jonathan Spalter compared the docket to “spring cleaning.”