ARRL opposed an April petition by the Shortwave Modernization Coalition (SMC) asking the FCC to launch a rulemaking to amend its eligibility and technical rules for industrial/business pool licensees to authorize licensed use of frequencies above 2 MHz and below 25 MHz for fixed, long-distance, non-voice communications. Hundreds of amateur operators also expressed concerns (see [2307270035). “Many of the subject Part 90 bands are immediately adjacent or very near to spectrum bands that are allocated to the Amateur Radio Service on a primary basis,” said a filing Wednesday in RM-11953. “These bands are very heavily used for worldwide communication by Amateur Radio licensees employing significantly less power than that proposed by SMC for purposes that include vital support during disaster recovery and mitigation, technical and scientific experiments, and propagation studies,” ARRL said.

UScellular now has more than 100,000 fixed-wireless internet customers and expects additional growth in the program, the carrier said. “The advancement of fixed wireless technology has helped enable the growth of UScellular's Home Internet product and its ability to provide the speed and reliability that a typical household needs,” said a Tuesday news release. “Three or four years ago, few people predicted the popularity of fixed wireless for in-building internet, but we knew rural areas in particular would see great benefit from having this type of connectivity solution," said Eric Jagher, chief marketing officer. UScellular launched FWA using its 4G network, and now uses low-, mid- and high-band 5G spectrum in select markets, the carrier said. About one million households are already covered with 5G mid-band, with a goal of reaching 3 million by the end of next year, UScellular said: “This network can deliver speeds up to 10x faster than [with the] 4G LTE network and low-band 5G.”

T-Mobile announced launch of a 5G network slicing beta on its stand-alone (SA) network, targeting developers working on video calling applications. “With a customized network slice, developers can sign up to test video calling applications that require consistent uplink and downlink speeds along with lower latency (near-real-time responsiveness) and increased reliability,” T-Mobile said Wednesday. T-Mobile plans to expand the beta to other application types. “The wireless industry has talked about 5G network slicing for years,” said Ulf Ewaldsson, president-technology. “Thanks to our nationwide 5G SA network, T-Mobile is the only operator in the country capable of unlocking this technology, so developers can immediately begin creating applications that can one day provide tangible benefits to wireless users everywhere.”

The Federal Emergency Management Agency asked the FCC for a limited waiver of the agency's wireless emergency alert rules, allowing a national test Oct. 4. The test would start at 2:18 p.m. EDT and “involve sending a WEA message to the entire United States and U.S. territories,” FEMA said: “The 87-character test message to be displayed on cellular handsets will read: THIS IS A TEST of the National Wireless Emergency Alert System. No action is needed.” FEMA said it would be the third national WEA test and “is necessary because it will determine if carrier WEA configuration, systems, and networks can and will process a National Level WEA delivering the message via all WEA enabled cell sites with minimal latency.” The FEMA letter is dated July 21 but was posted Tuesday in docket 15-91.

The 3.45 GHz Clearinghouse Search Committee submitted to the FCC Wireless Bureau documents tied to its selection of Summit Ridge Group to run the 3.45 GHz relocation reimbursement clearinghouse (see 2305030037). Parts of the documents were redacted as the committee seeks confidential treatment. “By unanimous consent, the Search Committee informs the Bureau that its selection of Summit Ridge Group, LLC for the position of the 3.45 GHz Relocation Reimbursement Clearinghouse is finalized, subject to the Bureau’s determination that the selection criteria have been satisfied,” said a filing in docket 19-348. The filing was signed by the Competitive Carriers Association, CTIA, NBCUniversal and Nexstar.

Electric utility representatives, led by FirstEnergy and the Edison Electric Institute, met with FCC Office of Engineering and Technology staff about FirstEnergy’s recent 6 GHz interference tests (see 2305100047). Electric companies “operate 6 GHz communications networks that are necessary for the safety of electric company personnel and to maintain the backbone of electric companies’ operations during emergencies and disasters such as hurricanes, tornadoes, and wildfires,” said a filing posted Tuesday in docket 18-295: “Protecting existing 6 GHz networks remains the reason for electric companies to invest their limited resources to conduct tests to evaluate the risk that unlicensed devices pose to their networks.”

The Commerce Department is allowing an additional 30 days for comment on information collection tied to the Public Wireless Supply Chain Innovation Fund Grant Program, said a notice in Tuesday’s Federal Register. “With this information collection, NTIA will be able to monitor the grant recipients’ spending habits and activities. In the absence of collecting this information, NTIA would fail to evaluate the grant recipients’ progress toward the grant program priority areas and program goals,” the notice said. The program has been popular. NTIA previously said 127 applicants had requested $1.39 billion under the fund to support testing and research and development activities on open and interoperable networks (see 2306090044), which is about 10 times the amount of money available in the first round.

AT&T opposed a recent waiver request by Extreme Weather of FCC rules for low-power indoor devices for 6 GHz access points (APs), to be installed exclusively in indoor-only sports venues. The company wants to protect the APs with a waterproof enclosure “to protect the devices from beverage spills and during venue washing,” said a July 21 waiver request in docket 18-295. “As a general matter, access points in the 6 GHz band must operate using an automated frequency coordination system to avoid interference with primary Fixed Service microwave incumbents in the band,” though an exception is for points “limited to indoor operation,” which are governed by form-factor rules including that “devices cannot be weather resistant,” AT&T said, posted Tuesday. The waiver “should be denied because the form factor rules are a key component of the regulatory scheme protecting primary FS incumbents and Extreme has not justified undermining those safeguards,” AT&T said.

CTIA hired Umair Javed, a longtime adviser to FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel, as senior vice president-spectrum, effective immediately, the group said Tuesday. Javed is responsible for shaping and coordinating CTIA’s spectrum advocacy. “Umair brings exemplary credentials and expertise from his tenure at the FCC, and adding someone of Umair’s caliber to our senior team underscores the critical role spectrum plays in our 5G future,” said CTIA President Meredith Baker: “We need a pipeline of new spectrum auctions, and Umair will help make that a reality.” At the FCC, Javed “helped focus the agency on identifying mid-band spectrum for 5G, oversaw one of the most successful auctions in U.S. history, and launched the FCC’s Spectrum Coordination Initiative to enhance partnerships between agencies and the private sector,” CTIA said.

Some 83% of active smartphones in the U.S. support the latest standard for wireless emergency alerts, WEA 3.0, CTIA said. That’s up from about 60% a year ago, said a filing posted Monday in docket 15-91. “CTIA and its member companies appreciate the Commission’s dedication to enhancing the WEA system and are very pleased with the progress that the wireless industry and [Federal Emergency Management Agency] FEMA have made on delivering new WEA features to consumers,” CTIA said.