The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, like 911, needs geolocation capabilities, FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel said Friday in Philadelphia at an event marking Saturday's launch of 988 dialing for Lifeline. Saturday's launch "is not the end of things," she said, emphasizing the need for triangulation among cell towers "to know where you are" when dialing the Lifeline. The FCC is studying Lifeline geolocation issues (see (Ref:2206080058]). Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra said the success of 988 dialing hinges on governors and tribal governments "owning 988" since it's not a federal program but a state and local one being run with some federal support. That support includes $430 million invested under the Biden administration to boost crisis call center capacity, he said.

As customers’ phone and device usage grows, they’re citing more problems with network quality, and the perception of network quality is declining, reported J.D. Power Thursday. The most common reported problem is slow loading or failure to load content, it said. The most “influential problems on network quality ratings continue to be streaming audio and video quality, low loading times and calls not going through,” said J.D. Power Managing Director Ian Greenblatt. “An uptick in wireless and device usage was bound to catch up to network quality,” Greenblatt said, saying the more wireless customers are growing adept in using data and streaming, the more they’re aware of problems. The number of problems reported is significantly lower when 5G is available, he said. Verizon Wireless ranked highest in five regions evaluated in the study, with the fewest network quality problems per 100 connections in call, messaging and data quality in the Mid-Atlantic, North Central, Northeast, Southeast and West regions. AT&T ranked highest or was tied in the three ratings in the Southwest.

The FCC Wireless Bureau will host a workshop Sept. 13 on the environmental compliance and historic preservation review process for the construction of communications facilities supporting FCC licensed services, the agency said Wednesday. The workshop will be in-person in the Commission Meeting Room at FCC headquarters, starting at 10 a.m. It will also be streamed on the agency’s YouTube channel. “FCC and other federal agency subject-matter experts will provide information on a range of topics related to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA), and the FCC’s implementing regulations and related agreements,” the bureau said.

The FCC again asked the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals to extend abeyance on a lawsuit by the League of California Cities challenging the FCC’s June 2020 wireless infrastructure declaratory ruling. The court previously stretched the pause last spring (see 2204050033). The FCC sought another 120 days until Nov. 11. “Further abeyance will provide an opportunity for a fully-constituted Commission to consider how to proceed in this case,” wrote the commission Wednesday in case 20-71765. The FCC noted Senate confirmation of Gigi Sohn as commissioner is pending.

Verizon announced Tuesday it’s cutting rates for new subscribers, from $35 per line for four lines, to $30. "Welcome Unlimited opens the door for more people to switch to the network more Americans rely on, at a highly-competitive price," said Manon Brouillette, CEO of Verizon Consumer Group. Customers must enroll in auto pay, and pay taxes and fees. “Verizon is using the new pricing for better subscriber growth, an area where it is clearly struggling despite its 5G ad campaign and investment in C-Band spectrum,” Lightshed’s Walter Piecyk told investors: “Verizon hopes these lower prices will help attract and retain price conscious consumers, at a time when the inflationary pressures on consumers might be magnified by an economic recession. Last week we argued that Verizon and its peers should also be looking at cost cutting opportunities given the macro environment.” Piecyk pegged the likely cost at $60 million per year, which he said means Verizon would have to add 65,000 subscribers to break even.

Verizon asked for reconsideration of an FCC order saying it failed to adequately respond to a complaint about the company’s premium voicemail service. The Enforcement Bureau proposed a $100,000 fine last week (see 2207080042). “The Order is an adverse ruling against Verizon stemming from a complaint by an individual Verizon customer who had trouble using a Verizon service,” said a Tuesday petition: “Verizon never wants that to occur with any of its customers, and the issue regrettably took longer to address than Verizon would have liked. But that does not mean that Verizon violated any statute or Commission rule.”

The FCC Wireless Bureau and Office of Engineering and Technology approved Amdocs, Federated Wireless, Google, Key Bridge and Sony as spectrum access system (SAS) administrators to support spectrum manager leasing for priority access licenses in the citizens broadband radio service band, in a Tuesday order. All have been approved as SAS administrators but needed separate clearance to support PAL leasing, the order said.

NCTA supported an NFL request for a waiver of rules for the citizens broadband radio service allowing the league to continue operating a coach-to-coach communications systems in the event of a localized internet outage in stadiums during games. Any relief granted “should continue to be narrowly tailored to the NFL’s specific and unique circumstances to avoid creating a de facto exemption from the Spectrum Access System connectivity requirement” for CBRS operations “at special events, including sporting events,” said a filing by the group posted Tuesday in docket 22-111. Comments on the request were due Monday (see 2206300037).

Verizon qualified to bid in the 2.5 GHz auction, which starts July 29, joining AT&T, Dish Network, bidding as Carbonate Wireless, T-Mobile and UScellular, among 82 qualified bidders. Eleven bidders remained unqualified and won’t participate in what's expected to be the last 5G auction for some time. The FCC tabulated 39 qualified bidders on the initial list last month (see 2206090073). The number is higher than qualified bidders in both the 3.45 GHz and C-band auctions, the last two major auctions. Questions remain about whether small players will jump in or T-Mobile will dominate the auction, filling gaps in its 2.5 GHz portfolio (see 2204140062). Twenty-seven qualified providers will get small-business bidding credits and 35 rural provider credits. Each qualified bidder will be assigned to one of two mock auction dates -- July 26 or 27 -- said the notice by the Office of Economics and Analytics and the Wireless Bureau. “We strongly encourage each qualified bidder in Auction 108 to participate in its assigned mock auction as it provides an opportunity … to practice using the auction bidding system, including practice using the new proxy bidding functionality, and to test its contingency plans,” the FCC said. The auction starts on a Friday with one bidding round, moving to two on Monday.

Public Knowledge Senior Vice President Harold Feld applauded the FCC for extending the performance deadlines last week for 2.5 GHz tribal licensees (see 2207080037). Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel and the Wireless Bureau “deserve credit for reversing an injustice,” Feld emailed: “It is even more commendable that the Wireless Bureau did this on its own motion. It was unfair to give Tribes -- who lack the same access to capital and experienced work force as the private sector -- half the time allotted to the private sector to meet their build out obligations.” The deadlines “went from unfair to outrageous after Covid hit, which both showed the need for Tribal networks while further reducing the resources available to meet the accelerated build out schedule,” he said.