Though one National Public Safety Telecommunications Council representative told Gogo he no longer had concerns about a Gogo Business Aviation waiver (see 2110130063), "NPSTC's position of concern has not changed," Spectrum Committee Chairman Don Root emailed us Wednesday. Root said NPSTC's 16 organizations representing public safety communications interests haven't reached consensus on whether there's no longer a concern. Gogo said Thursday it "remains eager ‘to satisfactorily resolve any concerns raised by NPSTC, Motorola or other stakeholders" about its waiver request and it "will continue to reach out and address any public safety concerns raised by any party or representative.”

The FCC “reasonably exercised its authority over the Nation’s airwaves” in dividing the 5.9 GHz band, with 45 MHz set aside for Wi-Fi and 30 MHz for cellular vehicle-to-everything technology, the government told the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. Last year's order met a “pressing need for improved Wi-Fi internet service and other unlicensed uses, while also preserving ample capacity for present and anticipated vehicular-communications needs,” said a brief filed Wednesday in docket 21-1130. ITS America and the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials asked the court to overturn the order (see 2106020076). Wi-Fi advocates believe the order will stand (see 2107020036). The needs of the public and the best use of the spectrum have changed “dramatically” since the FCC allocated the spectrum for auto safety in 1999, the U.S. said. “Vehicular communications technology using the band has barely been deployed, and many of the features for which this spectrum was expected to be used have shifted to different technologies and to other bands,” the government said: “Demand for this spectrum to support Wi-Fi networks and wireless broadband -- technology that barely existed when this spectrum was allocated more than two decades ago -- has exploded.”

Children’s Health Defense and four individuals challenging revised rules for over-the-air reception devices urged the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit to overturn revised OTARD rules, approved by FCC commissioners in January (see 2101070068). “The amendments are not ‘modest,’” said a final brief posted Wednesday in docket 21-1075. The revisions “contemplate massive deployment of carrier-grade base stations and antennas in residential areas despite significant local impact, opposition and harm,” the pleading said. Petitioners said the FCC lacked legal authority to approve the revisions. The FCC defended the order (see 2108240040). Safe Technology Minnesota, Wired Broadband and other opponents of the rules filed a brief supporting Children’s Health Defense. “What is striking about the OTARD Report and Order is what it does not contain: any meaningful response to the hundreds of comments filed by parties who advised the Commission that they themselves -- or members of their families or friends -- are suffering health effects as a result of RF emissions,” they said: “The Report and Order dismisses in one sentence the health risks and conditions suffered by hundreds of people who filed comments regarding RF exposure levels.” Public Knowledge and the Open Technology Institute at New America told the court Thursday they plan to file an amicus brief in support of the FCC.

The National Public Safety Telecommunications Council (NPSTC) no longer has concerns about possible disruptions to public safety operations in the 851-854 MHz band segment from a pending Gogo Business Aviation waiver on power limits for air-to-ground operations in the 849-851 MHz and 894-896 MHz bands, Gogo said in docket 21-282 Wednesday. In a meeting with an FCC Wireless Bureau staffer, Gogo said it's providing Motorola with technical information in hopes of assuaging its concerns about harmful interference to base stations receiving in the 896.0-897.5 MHz band. NPSTC didn't comment.

The FCC Wireless Bureau sought comment Tuesday on Midland Radio’s request for waiver of FCC rules for general mobile radio service devices in the 462 MHz band. Midland requested a waiver to allow digital data transmission from non-handheld radios, the automatic transmission of digital data more than once within a 30-second period, and antennas to be a non-integrated part of the GMRS unit, the bureau said. Midland said the waiver would “improve safety for GMRS users.” Midland proposed to “manufacture GMRS radios that can be used by the off-road/off-grid community to communicate with each other and share real-time GPS location information.” Comments are due Nov. 12, replies Nov. 26, in docket 21-388.

Small- and medium-sized wireless carriers urged a standard simultaneous multiple round auction in the 2.5 GHz band, in a letter posted Tuesday in FCC docket 18-120. “A single round bid does not allow for price discovery,” the providers said: “There is little public information on the value of this spectrum, especially the value assigned by small companies, so it will be hard to know what a winning bid will be until we see others’ bids.” Licenses here "are unique due to different levels of incumbency -- even within markets,” the companies said. Among signers were Cellcom, Inland Cellular, VTel Wireless, C Spire, GCI Communications, Union Telephone, Carolina West Wireless, NE Colorado Cellular and NTT Docomo Pacific.

The Wireless Innovation Forum urged the FCC to keep in mind the benefits of dynamic spectrum sharing, in comments on a Wireless Bureau record refresh on use of the 5030-5091 MHz band by drones (see 2108230034). WInnForum “strongly supports the use of networked and synchronized databases accessed with device location information,” said a filing posted Friday in docket RM-11798: “These databases have emerged as a critical technology for enabling and managing spectrum access.” Networked databases “provide access to information beyond what is immediately observable by a radio, thereby mitigating hidden node problems in spectrum sharing scenarios,” the group said. They also provide “a simpler mechanism for managing upgrades to spectrum management and dynamic access schemes by updating rules in a small set of databases rather than in millions of individual radios,” WInnForum said.

Motorola announced a 6.5-inch mid-tier Android smartphone with a 20:9 aspect ratio, fingerprint unlock, two-day battery life and 13-megapixel camera with phase-detection autofocus. The $159 motog pure, available unlocked and open, will be available for preorder Oct. 14 at Best Buy, Walmart, B&H Photo, Amazon, Motorola.com and Verizon, said the company. Shipping date wasn't given. It will be available to other carriers in coming months.

The FCC's 3.45 GHz auction crested above $1 billion Thursday, to close the day at $1.2 billion in gross proceeds. That’s up from $893 million on Wednesday. Three more rounds are scheduled for Friday, with four rounds a day starting Tuesday.

A single-round, sealed-bid format is critical for wireless ISPs to bid in an eventual 2.5 GHz auction, WISPA said in calls with aides to FCC Commissioners Brendan Carr and Geoffrey Starks. “The vast majority of WISPA’s 700-plus members are very small fixed wireless internet service providers” who “lack the resources to hire auction consultants and inhouse counsel,” said a filing posted Thursday in docket 20-429. Most have never participated in an FCC auction, the group said: “There is equal unfamiliarity with both auction designs. To these potential bidders, who lack experience with spectrum auctions and the resources to hire consultants, a single-round, sealed-bid auction is much easier to understand than a simultaneous, multiple-round auction.” WISPA noted a single round auction would also be quicker and makes sense in a band where “the lack of fungibility contrasts with other spectrum auctions where the licenses are typically offered for an unencumbered area … in equal-size spectrum blocks.”