The FCC has granted waivers allowing deployment of cellular vehicle-to-everything (C-V2X) technology in the 5.895-5.925 GHz band to eight applicants, per an order Friday in docket 19-138. Awarded the waivers for use of Intelligent Transportation System radio service were the North Carolina Department of Transportation, New York City DOT, Chattanooga, P3Mobility, Denso International, Rolling Wireless, Spoke Safety and Yunex. The Public Safety and Wireless bureaus and the Office of Engineering and Technology granted the waivers.

Summit Ridge Group, JPMorgan Chase and Lerman Senter together will serve as the relocation payment clearinghouse for the repurposed 3.45-3.55 GHz band, Summit Ridge said Friday.

FCC authorization of a slightly higher maximum power level for low-power indoor use of the 6 GHz band is “particularly crucial for digital equity and inclusion,” said Michael Calabrese of the New America Foundation’s Open Technology Institute in a meeting with aides to FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez Monday, according to an ex parte filing in docket 18-295. Failure to raise the power allowed could cause a “disproportionate number of lower-income and less tech savvy households to miss out on the full benefits of next generation Wi-Fi,” the filing said. The power increase now has greater support in the record than it did in 2020, and academic studies show that it wouldn’t pose an interference risk to incumbents, the filing said.

The FCC Wireless Bureau will conduct a hearing regarding the C-Band Transition Relocation Payment Clearinghouse's reduction of part of Mongoose Works' reimbursement claim, per a hearing notification for Friday's Federal Register. The hearing is in response to a Mongoose petition seeking de novo review of a Wireless Bureau order upholding the Clearinghouse decision to reduce Mongoose’s C-band relocation lump sum claim amount from $356,052 to $286,366. The notification said the hearing will look at whether the bureau erred in deciding Mongoose hadn't met its burden of proof and in deciding the Clearinghouse had properly classified two Mongoose antennas.

The FCC has unanimously approved an order to maintain rules governing radiotelephone requirements for vessels navigating the Great Lakes after the termination of a related treaty with Canada. The 1973 Great Lakes Agreement created requirements for usage and maintenance of radio telephones on some vessels on the Great Lakes, but in 2022 Canada terminated the agreement and it ceases to be effective Thursday. The order, released Tuesday, removes references to the treaty in the rules and maintains the radiotelephone requirements. “This will ensure that our rules continue to promote the safety of life and property on the Great Lakes, provide regulatory stability going forward, and accurately reflect the GLA’s status,” the order said. The order also amends the devices' inspection interval from every 13 months to every 48 to align with the Canadian rules that will apply after the end of the GLA. The GLA’s termination occurred after Canada's unsuccessful three-year effort to renegotiate the terms of the inspection requirement in the agreement, the order said. The FCC said it “had good cause” to bypass the usual notice and comment procedures before voting on the order because of the limited time and that the order is maintaining existing requirements.

The FCC should immediately cease using nationwide wireless emergency alerts of the type tested Oct. 4 (see 2310040071), said Jimmy Patronis, Florida chief financial officer and state fire marshal in a letter to Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel Monday. Patronis posted the letter on X and also issued it as a news release. “What was the point of that? Was it really necessary?” Patronis wrote about the nationwide WEA test. “The federal government scared about 70% of Americans with that alert, and in my opinion, this was government overreach at its finest.” Patronis characterized the WEA alert as a “DM” (direct message, such as those used by social media apps) in the letter, and said the alert test made “Big Tech” and “Big Government” seem to be “indistinguishable.” “There is absolutely zero reason that the federal government needs to notify millions of Americans at the exact same moment,” wrote Patronis. “It’s unreasonable that people on the West Coast need to be alerted about something going on in the East Coast.” Nationwide alerts exist to provide warning of a massive emergency event that could affect large swaths of the country, such as a large-scale nuclear missile strike, alerting officials have told us. They have also said that tests of the warning system are necessary to ensure that it will work when it is needed, similar to the local alerting tests commonly performed by broadcast stations around the country. “State Emergency Management Directors are more than capable of protecting and alerting their own citizens during emergencies without the federal government needlessly getting in the way,” wrote Patronis. “I urge you as the Chairwoman of the FCC and a fellow taxpayer to immediately halt any further utilization of the National Wireless Emergency Alert System.” "Life-saving emergency alert systems are the law, as is the requirement" that the Federal Emergency Management Agency "conduct periodic nationwide tests and they are responsible for setting the date and time of these tests," emailed an FCC spokesperson. "The FCC strongly supports emergency alerting, which saves lives in communities across the country."

The FCC Wireline Bureau and Office of Economics and Analytics approved parameters and a testing methodology for Bringing Puerto Rico Together Fund and the Connect USVI Fund mobile support recipients to submit network data verifying they met their deployment obligations. Recipients may use alternative testing procedures, subject to FCC staff approval. Submissions of drive and drone tests, which include "two tests in each sampling unit in a statistically significant sample of the network coverage areas," should be made through the broadband data collection mobile verification module, said a public notice Tuesday. Final network coverage data must be submitted between Dec. 1 and Jan. 30. All recipients will also have 60 calendar days, beginning "the day immediately following the day OEA provides the test sample to a recipient," to complete and submit network performance testing regardless of the methodology.

Grandfathered fixed satellite service licensees in the 3.6-3.7 GHz band must submit their 2024 annual registration updates by Dec. 1, the FCC Wireless and Space bureaus and the Office of Engineering and Technology said in a public notice Monday in docket 15-80. After Jan. 1, registrations not complete can be deactivated or deleted, meaning a loss of protection by Spectrum Access System administrators, the FCC said.

The FCC International Bureau Friday asked a series of questions on T-Mobile’s proposed buy of Mint Mobile (see 2303150032), a low-cost prepaid wireless brand, and other Ka’ena assets, in a letter to T-Mobile. The bureau asked for responses by Nov. 29 as it examines international authorizations under Section 214 of the Communications Act. “Discuss in detail all of T-Mobile’s current and anticipated future plans regarding the Mint Mobile and Ultra Mobile distribution networks, including, but not limited to, the extent to which Mint Mobile and Ultra Mobile plans and devices would be available at third-party locations, such as Walmart,” the bureau asked: “Explain in detail whether Mint Mobile and Ultra Mobile plans and devices will be offered in T-Mobile’s stores post-transaction.” The bureau also asked T-Mobile for more detail on data security breaches and cyberattacks it has reported, and steps taken in response.

Representatives of the Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG) completed a series of meetings at the FCC on the group’s push to use the 6 GHz band (see 2305260032), said a filing posted Friday in docket 18-295. SIG members met last week with Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel, Commissioners Brendan Carr and Geoffrey Starks, an aide to Commissioner Nathan Simington and staff from the Office of Engineering and Technology. They earlier met with Commissioner Anna Gomez (see 2310260030). SIG members “elaborated on the wide range of applications for Bluetooth technology, from wireless audio to connected consumer electronics, glucose monitors, and hearing aids,” the filing said: “They highlighted the importance of accessing the 6 GHz spectrum as a means to support and expand the technology and explained that their members are part of a cross-license patent agreement, which allows them to focus and spend their resources on growth and development.”