The FCC Wireless Bureau on Tuesday extended for two years a temporary waiver that allows use of the interim volume control testing method for hearing-aid compatibility (HAC) compliance. The waiver will now expire Sept. 29, 2027. The extension was requested by CTIA and had the support of industry commenters (see 2507210008). Groups representing consumers said any additional waiver must be limited and come with “safeguards and guardrails.” The bureau is requiring CTIA, in coordination with the Telecommunications Industry Association, to file two reports updating the FCC on their progress toward a permanent solution.
NTIA will host a spectrum policy symposium in Washington on Sept. 10, said a notice for Tuesday’s Federal Register. “Panelists are expected to include participants from the Executive Office of the President, the FCC, Executive Branch agencies, and leading wireless and satellite companies,” it said. The event will start at 9:30 a.m. at the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center, 1300 Pennsylvania Ave. NW.
Motorola Solutions asked the FCC to lift its 2018 900 MHz band freeze, countering arguments by Anterix that the freeze should be maintained. Anterix had a proposal before the agency asking it to authorize 5/5 MHz broadband deployments in the band (see 2405210041). The freeze “no longer serves its intended purpose,” Motorola Solutions said in a filing posted Monday in docket 24-99. “The freeze also imposes significant burdens on the maintenance and expansion of narrowband networks used to power critical emergency and public safety communications and deters new investment in narrowband technologies.”
The FCC Wireless Bureau agreed to “long-term de facto transfer leasing arrangements” in which AT&T and FTC Management will lease spectrum to each other, mainly in the 3.45 GHz band, in markets in South Carolina. The bureau also approved a waiver for the companies to exceed the 40 MHz aggregation limit on 3.45 GHz spectrum in some of the markets. “We find that the proposed transaction has a low likelihood of competitive harm and would serve the public interest, convenience and necessity,” said an order in docket 25-138 in Friday’s Daily Digest.
T-Mobile representatives met with FCC staff to discuss the “drive test data” that the company submitted with its annual progress report, required as part of its purchase of Sprint. “T‑Mobile also identified the software used to calculate low-, medium-, and high-intensity developed areas in large rural census blocks as part of the selection of additional testing locations in these areas,” said a filing Friday in docket 22-211. The slides from T-Mobile’s presentation to staff were redacted in the filing.
A coalition opposed to T-Mobile’s purchase of wireless assets from UScellular spoke with aides to FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez about its challenge to a Wireless Bureau order approving the deal. Gomez has said commissioners should have been asked to vote on it (see 2507310041). Representatives from the Rural Wireless Association, Open Technology Institute at New America and Communications Workers of America were present, according to a filing posted Friday in docket 24-286.
The Wireless Infrastructure Association urged the FCC to move forward on a proposal in a January NPRM seeking comment on a voluntary, negotiation-based process to transition 10 MHz in the 900 MHz band to broadband (see 2505190025). The proposal is consistent with FCC Chairman Brendan Carr’s "Build America Agenda,” and the record “shows overwhelming support for the proposal,” said a filing Thursday in docket 24-99. “This proposal is particularly timely as the nation looks at ways to improve the reliability and capacity of utility networks to power revolutions in AI technologies.”
Network provider Boldyn Networks said this week it will build and manage the city-owned private wireless network in Chesapeake, Virginia, to be used for its smart-city strategy. The network's wireless services will support the operational needs of municipal departments, schools, libraries and first responders, Boldyn said. It also noted that the private network will have a citizens broadband radio service overlay and a low-power wide-area network for IoT endpoints.
The C-band Relocation Payment Clearinghouse has shut down, the FCC Wireless Bureau said Thursday. The clearinghouse submitted a final written certification of completion on Wednesday, indicating that it had finished its administrative duties, the notice said. The bureau approved the clearinghouse ending operations in June (see 2506040046).
A recent decision by the 6th U.S. Circuit Appeals Court upholding the FCC's 2024 data breach notification rules (see 2508140052) likely has broader implications for the agency, lawyers at Cooley wrote Wednesday. “The decision’s expansive reading of Section 201(b) [of the Communications Act] suggests that the FCC’s power extends beyond the actual provision of service to cover all ‘practices’ in support of providing the service, which could lead to more aggressive regulation in the future,” they wrote.