CTIA reported Thursday that some 34% of active smartphones can get the latest generation of wireless emergency alerts, up from 18% last year. A majority will be capable next year, said a filing posted Thursday in FCC docket 15-91: Since they began in 2012, more than 61,000 WEAs have been sent.
An Aug. 12 FCC Broadband Data Task Force webinar at 2 p.m. EDT will provide information on “proposed technical requirements for the mobile challenge, verification, and crowdsourcing processes required under the Broadband DATA Act,” said a Thursday notice.
CTIA representatives told FCC Office of Economics and Analytics staff that potential bidders still don’t have enough information on “federal government encumbrances, coordination, and available auction products” for the October 3.45 GHz auction. “It is essential that potential bidders have access to additional information with more granularity,” said a filing posted Thursday in docket 21-62.
New America's Open Technology Institute asked FCC acting Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel to consider revising emergency broadband benefit program rules, said a filing Thursday in docket 20-445. Require participating providers to make all plans eligible, include a broadband label to disclose services and ban data caps, it said. OTI questioned Verizon's buying Tracfone, asking that “rigorous enforcement mechanisms” be applied (see 2107210054). “Given the likelihood that any violation of Verizon/TracFone conditions would only harm low-income consumers and not implicate an aggrieved third-party company, it is imperative that the Commission create strong, independent enforcement mechanisms,” the group said.
Mobile & Wireless Forum representatives met staff from the FCC Office of Engineering and Technology to share recent research on the health implications of RF exposure, the topic of a 2019 NPRM. The FCC’s current approach to time averaging for exposure “is extremely conservative” and it should reconsider, members of the group said in a filing posted Wednesday in docket 19-226.
The FCC Wireless Bureau accepted for filing waivers from six tribal groups to use the 2.5 GHz band for broadband or next-generation wireless, the bureau said Tuesday. The bureau has already granted 262 licenses following an application window last year, the bureau said. Applications from the Sitka Tribe of Alaska and the Central Council of Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska were among the six.
Competitive Carriers Association representatives urged a more traditional simultaneous multiple-round auction in the 2.5 GHz band, in a call with an aide to FCC Commissioner Nathan Simington. “The proposed single-round sealed-bid structure lacks a meaningful opportunity for price discovery, which is critical given the unique characteristics and history of this band,” said a filing posted Tuesday in docket 18-120: “An SMR format allows for price discovery and would employ procedures that smaller carriers are comfortable with from prior auctions.” The group made the same argument last week to aides to the other three commissioners.
AT&T and Washington, D.C., area builder JBG Smith signed a letter of intent to work together on “the first 5G Smart City at scale” at the National Landing development, with deployments starting early next year. “5G, with local area compute edges, could make National Landing a prototype for smart cities of the future,” the companies said Tuesday: “The area could also enhance offerings in mobility and self-driving vehicles, immersive retail and entertainment, and building automation and environmental sustainability.”
The Competitive Carriers Association urged the FCC to rethink a decision not to issue a six-month blanket extension of deadlines in the rip and replace program for removing Huawei and ZTE gear from carrier networks. CCA cited NTIA’s recent comment on open radio access networks (see 2107160042). “NTIA noted that a blanket extension ‘would not preference any solution,’ but would ‘ensure operators have sufficient time to consider options, design networks, and carry out deployments,’” said a CCA filing Tuesday in docket 18-89. “A one-year deadline would be challenging for many carriers in the best of circumstances, but it is particularly daunting in the face of potential supply chain and labor shortages and the recovery from a global pandemic,” the group said.
The FCC partnered with 11 federal, state and local agencies to assess the delivery of wireless emergency alerts as part of a planned Aug. 11 test of the emergency alert system (see 2105040068). Acting FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel also sent letters to AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon asking them to provide performance information after the test, said a Tuesday release. WEAs “are a powerful tool for public safety managers to inform and protect the public during disasters,” Rosenworcel said: “While the FCC has long required … participants to report how nationwide EAS tests fared on their television and radio systems, this is the first time we will gather meaningful data about the performance of a nationwide” WEA test. The letters ask the providers to provide the data within two weeks of the test. “Describe any complications with alert processing or transmission” that may have kept subscribers from receiving an alert, the letters ask. They ask about actions “to address any complications identified.”