Bluewind Medical executives answered technical questions on the company’s request for a waiver to permit its implantable medical device system operating at 6.78 MHz to exceed FCC emission limits (see 2301190018), in meetings with FCC Office of Engineering and Technology staff. Bluewind “answered the Commission’s questions regarding the operation of the device, including the process for confirming the positioning of the device on a patient, the timeframes for treatment, the power levels during each phase of operation and potential conditions associated with certification of the device,” said a filing Tuesday in docket 23-27.

AT&T has access to all the C-band spectrum it bought in a 2021 auction, it said in an emailed statement Wednesday. The company, unlike Verizon (see 2308140051), didn’t post a public news release making the announcement. “With satellite companies finished clearing the remaining C-Band spectrum months ahead of the December 2023 deadline, we got early access to our full C-Band spectrum holdings -- doubling our available C-Band spectrum for deployment,” AT&T said: “We’ve since re-tuned our previously deployed C-Band in the original 46 locations … resulting in notable capacity and speed gains, and ultimately an enhanced customer experience with fast, reliable and consistent performance.” AT&T noted it’s deploying C band in combination with 3.45 GHz. “In the coming months, markets like Denver and Atlanta will see performance improvements as we continue expanding the deployment of our entire licensed C-Band spectrum -- an average of 80 MHz or more by market,” AT&T said. “Because our deployed cell site equipment, such as radios, are capable of handling the full bandwidth spectrum load, once a software update is completed, customers will immediately experience a dramatic increase in bandwidth,” the carrier said. AT&T said it has a minimum of 100 MHz of total mid-band spectrum throughout the contiguous U.S. and an average of 120 MHz nationwide. Verizon dominated the C-band auction, bidding $45.4 billion, almost twice the $23.4 billion bid by AT&T (see 2102250046).

Sennheiser urged the FCC to adopt final rules in its wireless multichannel audio system proceeding, in a meeting with Office of Engineering and Technology and Wireless Bureau staff (see 2104220056). Sennheiser “filed its original Petition for Rulemaking for WMAS technology in 2018 solely to lift the wireless microphone bandwidth limit, and the Commission’s WMAS Notice of Proposed Rulemaking has been pending since April 2021,” said a filing posted Tuesday in docket 21-115: “Continuing to delay this proceeding runs the risk that the United States will have to play catch up with the rest of the world, rather than leading the charge on this revolutionary technology.”

Mitre said Tuesday it opened a test facility for small drones in Orange, Virginia. The site serves as a proving ground for Mitre's “technologists and U.S. government sponsors to develop, test, and evaluate the newest technological advances for commercial robotics, autonomous systems, drones, and counter-drone systems,” the company said.

The FCC published a small entity compliance guide Tuesday on revised rules for the 60 GHz band, approved by commissioners 4-0 in May (see 2305180036). “These rule changes establish clear technical and operational provisions for multiple band segments,” the guide says: “For example, under the adopted rules, new fixed and mobile [field disturbance sensor] devices are permitted to implement modulation techniques such as pulse or frequency-modulated continuous-wave as a means of facilitating new use cases such as installation on low-flying unmanned aircraft.”

The FCC Wireless Bureau and Office of Economics and Analytics ordered the eight mobile providers participating in the Alaska Plan to file through March 1, 2028, mobile wireless coverage data consistent with the FCC Form 477 reporting requirements annually. The FCC earlier asked for comment on the proposed requirement (see 2304110067). Only the Alaska Remote Carrier Coalition and Alaska Telecom Association filed comments but didn’t oppose the proposal, the Tuesday order said. “The coverage milestones to which these participants committed in their approved performance plans would not be accurately captured” by broadband data collection data, the FCC said: “Accordingly, we find it appropriate to require annual filings of deployment data consistent with the FCC Form 477 for the duration of the plan in order to allow apples-to-apples comparisons of mobile coverage data that show whether these providers have met their commitments.”

Assurant said Tuesday the average trade-in value of smartphones reached $135 during Q2, with iPhones hitting “their highest recorded value” of $215. The average price in Q1 for all smartphones was $126. “With the economic challenges affecting the mobile device market, new smartphone shipments have declined resulting in a decrease of pre-owned smartphone inventory,” the report said: “Simultaneously, many consumers are now taking more interest in purchasing refurbished smartphones -- whether that’s to make devices more affordable, or as a greener alternative to buying new.” The top five traded devices in Q2 were the iPhone 11, iPhone 12, iPhone XR, iPhone 12 Pro Max and iPhone 11 Pro Max, Assurant said, noting 5G-capable devices were 34% of the trade-ins, compared with 29% in Q1.

Apple supports the more narrowly tailored View C on identifying additional frequency bands for international mobile telecommunications (IMT) over View A, supported by much of the wireless industry (see 2304240049), at the upcoming World Radiocommunication Conference, representatives told Ethan Lucarelli, chief of the FCC Office of International Affairs. “We noted how View C offers appropriate refinements to the frequency bands for study for a future IMT agenda item by accounting for increasing deployments of ultrawideband technologies in 7.7-9.3 GHz,” said a filing posted Tuesday in docket 17-183. Apple also urged a “no change” position on “the 6 GHz bands in Agenda Item 1.2, as well as provided a status update on recent filings concerning potential rules for very low power device operations in the 6 GHz band being considered as part of a pending” Further NPRM, the filing said.

Verizon said Monday it now has access to all the C-band spectrum it bought in a 2021 auction, four months earlier than expected. “Early access to the remainder of the C-band spectrum puts us another four months ahead of schedule from our original projections,” said Joe Russo, president-global networks and technology: “This additional spectrum will make 5G Ultra Wideband available to even more Americans, and will open up more availability of our home and business broadband solutions.” Verizon said the spectrum already covers 222 million people in 359 markets. Verizon can now deploy a minimum 140 MHz in the contiguous U.S. with an average of 161 MHz. The latest development gives the carrier access to up to 200 MHz in 158 “mostly rural markets covering nearly 40 million people,” Verizon said. Verizon will likely push fixed wireless broadband “more aggressively with the increase in capacity,” New Street’s Jonathan Chaplin told investors: “This will boost Verizon’s FWB adds and potentially weigh on Cable broadband adds in 2H23. Verizon’s early access to C-Band will also help their competitive position in mobile in 2H23.” Intelsat, meanwhile, said Monday, it expects to receive nearly $3.7 billion Q4 after completing its C-band frequency clearing. “We reached this milestone well ahead of expectations, and I’m exceptionally proud of the Intelsat team and the hard work that led to this remarkable achievement,” said CEO Dave Wajsgras.

Quokka, a mobile security and privacy solutions firm, said in a Monday report it identified security flaws that come with 21 prepaid Android smartphones sold in the U.S. Quokka “examined the local attack surface of the smartphones and uncovered flaws in the preloaded software, that if leveraged can escalate privileges to indirectly perform actions and obtain data without having the necessary permissions to do so,” said a news release: “This means that even when an app requests minimal permission levels from its users, it could be exploiting vulnerabilities on the phone itself to illicitly escalate its privileges.” Quokka said it made available an app that enables end users to scan their devices to see if they're affected by the vulnerabilities discovered.