HWG’s Paul Margie, who represents tech companies on 6 GHz issues, spoke with an aide to FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel and a staffer from the Office of Engineering and Technology to urge further FCC action on the band. Margie discussed “the importance of adopting rules to permit portable operations in the 6 GHz band that both protect incumbent microwave links and permit commercially viable unlicensed operations, including considerations of product design and power consumption,” said a filing posted Wednesday in docket 18-295: “Any consideration of potential interference should account for propagation loss, polarization loss, feeder loss, far-field/body loss, antenna mismatch loss, transmit power control, and terrain.” Margie represents Apple, Broadcom, Google, Meta Platforms and Microsoft, and was joined on the OET call by a Qualcomm representative.

The FCC can help promote 5G deployment by issuing to T-Mobile the 7,156 spectrum licenses it bought last year in the FCC’s 2.5 GHz auction, said Public Knowledge Government Affairs Director Greg Guice and Digital Progress Institute President Joel Thayer Wednesday in a Broadband Breakfast opinion piece. FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel has taken a firm stand the FCC can't legally issue the licenses since the March expiration of the agency’s auction authority (see 2307070042). “That’s a strange conclusion because the 2.5 gigahertz auction occurred before its authority expired -- and T-Mobile has already paid for the licenses,” Guice and Thayer said: “And the FCC issued spectrum licenses for six decades without auction authority.”

Keysight Technologies and Skylo Technologies agreed to work together on extending Keysight’s cellular testing expertise to non-terrestrial networks (NTNs), said a Wednesday news release. The goal is a certification program for 3rd Generation Partnership Project 5G Release 17 NTN chipsets, modules and devices using narrowband (NB) IoT protocol over NTN. “The use of 5G satellite-to-ground connections is rapidly gaining traction as mobile operators and their customers look to extend secure, reliable, and high-bandwidth connectivity across their entire geographical footprint and surrounding waters,” the companies said: “Widespread NTN deployments can enable industries such as agriculture, energy, healthcare, and transportation by using low-cost and low-powered NB-IoT devices for applications including remote sensing, asset tracking, and surveillance.”

The FCC is closing P.O. Box 979097, a lockbox for manual payment of filing fees for site-based license applications, personal license applications and geographic-based license applications, effective Aug. 14, said a notice for Thursday’s Federal Register. The FCC is discontinuing the option to make manual fee payments, and instead requiring “the use of an electronic payment for each listing in this rule, and make conforming changes to other related provisions,” the notice said. Closing the lockbox will cut the agency’s costs, “including eliminating the annual fee for the bank’s services … and the cost of manually processing each transaction, with little or no inconvenience to the Commission’s regulatees, applicants, and the public,” the FCC said.

The Texas Department of Transportation said it would be willing to accept conditions approved as part of the joint waiver allowing early cellular-vehicle-to-everything use of the 5.9 GHz band, said a filing posted Wednesday in docket 19-138. The FCC approved the joint waiver request in April (see 2304240066). The Texas DOT sought the waiver a year ago.

FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel circulated for a commissioner vote a proposed order that would revise FCC customer proprietary network information and local number portability rules to require wireless carriers to adopt secure authentication methods before redirecting a customer’s phone number to a new device or provider. The order would also require providers to immediately notify customers whenever a SIM change or port-out request is made on their accounts and “take additional steps to protect customers from SIM swap and port-out fraud,” said a Tuesday news release. “These new rules would set baseline requirements that establish a uniform framework across the mobile wireless industry while giving wireless providers the flexibility to deliver the most advanced and appropriate fraud protection measures available,” the FCC said. An accompanying Further NPRM would seek comment on “ways to further harmonize these rules with existing CPNI rules and additional steps the Commission can take to harmonize government efforts to address SIM swap and port-out fraud.” Announcing launch of a Privacy and Data Protection Task Force in June, Rosenworcel said one item would be following up on a SIM swap and port-out fraud notice released last year (see 2111160036). “Every consumer has a right to expect that their mobile phone service providers keep their accounts secure and their data private,” Rosenworcel said: “These updated rules will help protect consumers from ugly new frauds while maintaining their well-established freedom to pick their preferred device and provider.” A CTIA spokesperson emailed, “The wireless industry is committed to working with other stakeholders, including the FCC, to stay ahead of bad actors, while protecting the ability of legitimate customers to transfer their phone number to a new device or wireless provider.”

Vodafone veteran Eben Albertyn will join Dish Network as executive vice president-chief technology officer, wireless business in September, Dish said Tuesday. He will oversee network technology strategy and operations for Dish Wireless, and replaces Dave Mayo and Marc Rouanne, who have overseen the growth of the network since its launch. "Eben has operated in fast-moving environments where highly engaged leadership, communication and teamwork matter, like they do at DISH," said John Swieringa, Dish Wireless president-chief operations officer: "He brings a deep understanding of both wireless infrastructure and IT, which is key given our first-of-its-kind, cloud-based Open RAN network architecture." Mayo is retiring and Rouanne will become executive vice president-global partnerships.

Aura Network Systems CEO Bill Tolpegin and others from the company spoke with FCC Wireless Bureau staff about the company’s request for a rulemaking on expanding use of air-ground radiotelephone service (Agras) channels between 454.675-454.975 MHz and 459.675-459.975 MHz for voice and data communications, including by drones (see 2109230049), said a filing posted Tuesday in RM-11912. The representatives “discussed AURA’s operations and its significant progress developing its terrestrial, standards compliant, command and control (C2) and voice technology stack to augment its existing network to enable uncrewed and remotely piloted flights in controlled airspace and other advanced air mobility (AAM) operations,” company said: They “stressed the importance of C2 to AAM operations, many of which will rely on standards compliant C2 networks and services to gain” FAA approval.

CTIA supported developing a “National AI Strategy” that highlights the “far-reaching consumer, economic, and societal benefits promised by AI,” in comments to the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. The strategy should “encourage organizations to weigh the risks and the benefits of AI systems, which will allow AI stakeholders to make more considered decisions about AI deployment and promote more effective use of AI technology,” CTIA said. The comments were due last week but haven't been posted (see 2307100060). CTIA cited the benefits of “AI in action.” The wireless industry already uses AI to “improve national security and cybersecurity, by engaging in real-time network threat detection and combating fraud; optimally and efficiently operate networks and services; improve customer care and service interactions as well as order fulfillment; help build 5G networks; contribute to the development of Open Radio Access Networks; and stop illegal robocalls,” CTIA said. The group said potential bias in AI can be overcome: “While AI could potentially reinforce biases if systems are poorly designed, with appropriate controls in place, AI can also be used to address and reduce potential biases and shortcomings in human decisionmaking.” CTIA said there's no need for new laws or regulation to control AI: “Reactive, technology-specific laws run the risk of creating ambiguity, sweeping too broadly, inhibiting innovation, and failing to anticipate future technology changes. Burdensome AI-specific regulations would be detrimental to businesses, consumers, and the United States’ leadership abroad.”

The Texas Department of Public Safety urged the FCC to address limitations on the symbol, or baud, rate for amateur radio operators, which has been a focus of the ARRL (see 1907160016). “It is critical that our State Emergency Response Teams have timely, accurate, and adequate communication flow during disasters,” said a filing posted Monday in docket 16-239: The state “relies on effective amateur radio communications to provide critical information and ground truth in areas severed from traditional modes of communications. Unfortunately, the Symbol Rate Limit rule restricts our ability to accomplish this vital task. … Eliminating the … rule will eliminate this need and allow seamless information flow during training, planning, responding to, and recovering from disasters.”