T-Mobile responded to FCC questions (see 2310270058) on its proposed acquisition of Mint Mobile (see 2303150032), a low-cost prepaid wireless brand, and other Ka’ena assets. Much of the response was redacted, including seven exhibits posted Wednesday in docket 23-171. Among the FCC's requests was one seeking more information on claimed transaction-specific public interest benefits. “In the transfer applications, the Applicants stated that post-transaction T-Mobile plans to ‘supercharge the Mint and Ultra brands,’” T-Mobile said: “Specifically, the transaction will enable these brands, which are complementary to T-Mobile’s current prepaid service offerings, to grow faster and reach more consumers across the United States. T-Mobile is an experienced wireless operator known for its customer-first focus and best-of-class services and network.” Among the sections redacted was a document answering questions on reported data security breaches and cyberattacks.
FCC Commissioner Geoffrey Starks emphasized the importance of the work the World Radiocommunication Conference will do during the next four weeks in remarks to the U.S. delegation’s reception at the conference in Dubai. “Radio spectrum is infrastructure,” Starks said in a speech the FCC posted Wednesday. “There could not be a more important time to future-proof our infrastructure than this moment of serial innovation, driven by advancements in fields like AI,” he said. The WRC offers “tremendous promise for us to build that more just and inclusive digital future together,” he said.
Open radio access networks on their own won’t make a network faster, just as new running shoes alone won’t make someone a faster runner, Geoff Hollingworth, chief marketing officer at Rakuten Symphony, said in a Tuesday blog. ORAN by itself “doesn’t make you more efficient, quicker or cost-effective,” Hollingworth said: ORAN “on its own is potentially a bad idea if operations and procurement aren’t redesigned to support the changes it causes. Operations need to manage disaggregated supply chains at both a software functional level and a hardware platform level, and dynamically deploy the radio software as efficiently as possible. This is equivalent to the training required before putting on new shoes and running a race.”
The FCC Wireless Bureau is seeking comment by Dec. 21 on a request by American Electric Power for a waiver allowing it to operate 800 MHz low-power temporary repeaters and “talk-around on mobile units” in remote areas outside the range of its existing 800 MHz network. Replies are due Jan. 5, in docket 23-390. A power provider in 11 states, AEP made the request in a June filing in the FCC’s Universal Licensing System. “Section 90.621(b) of the Commission’s rules governs the required separation distances for fixed stations operating on frequencies in the 806/851–824/869 MHz band, and its underlying purpose is to ensure licensees can maintain interference-free operations,” the bureau said: “In its waiver request, AEP detailed the steps it intends to take that will ensure its proposed operations on the requested frequencies will not cause interference to co-channel licensees.”
The FCC Wireless Bureau approved a waiver, with conditions, sought by ContiTech USA, for a conveyor radar the company developed to monitor content carried on conveyor belts for a variety of applications, including mining. The bureau sought comment last year on the device, which uses the 76-81 GHz bands (see 2207080050). “We find that ContiTech has demonstrated that the Device can serve an important public interest function by monitoring material in various milling, mining, and other processes to improve the safety and efficiency of such mining operations and the other uses detailed in this request,” said a Tuesday order: “Its operations will be conducted under Part 90 site-based radiolocation rules, meaning that each installation will require a separate application and authorization by the Bureau, which allows additional conditions for operation to be added if needed.” The order includes conditions, such as the placement of the radar and exclusion zones.
Deere & Company asked that agricultural interests be taken into account as the FCC considers a 5G Fund (see 2310240046). Deere noted that the Rural Wireless Association and the Wireless Infrastucture Association mentioned agricultural land in their comments. “Deere has pioneered state-of-the-art precision agriculture technologies that provide growers with unprecedented efficiencies in managing inputs, such as seed, fertilizer, herbicides, pesticides, and water, as well as significant labor costs associated with operational delays and downtime,” said a filing posted Tuesday in docket 20-32: “These precision agriculture technologies are heavily dependent on the availability of mobile broadband service in fields where our customers work.”
NTIA’s revised Manual of Regulations and Procedures for Federal Radio Frequency Management is effective immediately, according to a notice for Tuesday’s Federal Register. The manual is “the compilation of policies and procedures that govern the use of the radio frequency spectrum by the U.S. Government,” the notice said: “Federal Government agencies are required to follow these policies and procedures in their use of spectrum.”
ARRL sought a waiver of the FCC’s Part 97 rules to allow cross-band communications with stations authorized to use federal government frequencies, during an event commemorating the Pearl Harbor attack. “Tests such as those proposed provide opportunities to train operators and test two-way communications capabilities between military communicators and radio stations in the Amateur Radio Service,” said a filing posted Monday: “Such tests challenge the operators to demonstrate individual technical skills in a controlled exercise scenario.”
Amateur radio operators have filed hundreds of short comments urging the FCC to retain the 60-meter band for amateur use. The band was the focus of a question teed up in an April order and NPRM on implementing decisions by the World Radiocommunication Conference in 2015 and 2019. Replies are due Nov. 28 in docket 23-120. “We propose to allocate the 5351.5-5366.5 kHz band to the Amateur Radio Service on a secondary basis and seek comment on whether the amateur service should keep the existing channels they use in the 60-meter band,” the NPRM said. Federal agencies use the larger 5275-5450 kHz band “for services that include military, law enforcement, disaster relief, emergency, and contingency operations” and there are also non-federal operations, the FCC said at the time. The NPRM notes that amateurs often refer to frequency bands by the wavelength of the signal rather than by the spectrum range. “Commenters that support expanded access to the 60 meter band should provide information regarding how heavily the five amateur frequencies in the 5275-5450 kHz band are used and why additional amateur spectrum in this frequency range is needed if we adopt the proposed allocation,” the notice said. The FCC also asked about the power levels that should be allowed. Most comments run only a sentence or two. “The 60 meter band is ideally located between the amateur 80- and 40-meter bands, which is critical to ensuring signal propagation to certain geographic areas during variations in time and the solar cycle while providing communications for disaster relief,” said a filing by amateur operator Douglas Wilkerson, posted Monday. “I have used the 60 meter band to establish communications when propagation on other amateur bands was not optimal,” said operator Deane Charlson: “The 60 meter band is a nice option to have during emergency communications.”
Representatives of Responsible Enterprises Against Consumer Harassment (REACH) met with an aide to FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel on a March Further NPRM on robotexts (see 2303160061) and the effect on “the lead generation industry.” REACH said "banning lead generation would unfairly punish good actors and shut down an entire industry." Under the proposed rules “hundreds of thousands of small businesses would lose their ability to connect with consumers via the purchase of leads,” said a filing Monday in docket 21-402: “Tens of thousands of individuals -- if not more -- would lose their jobs instantly.”