Verizon is pitching a free month of YouTube TV, a Stream TV device and an Amazon smart home bundle in a promotion for Verizon 5G Home Internet, targeting customers in areas of Atlanta, Dallas, Denver and San Jose where service launches Nov. 5. Customers in parts of a dozen cities now have access to Verizon's 5G Home Internet. Nineteen cities, six stadiums and six airports have 5G Ultra Wideband, it noted. The Amazon bundle includes an Echo Show 5, Ring Stick Up Cam, Echo Dot and smart plug. The carrier is pitching the offering as “ideal for people working remotely, schooling at home or streaming their favorite shows.” Peak downloads are up to 1 Gbps, with typical download speeds of 300 Mbps. Service is $50 monthly for Verizon customers with a monthly mobile plan of $30 or more, $70 for non-Verizon customers. Customers can set up 5G Home Internet using “innovative new hardware” with augmented reality, Verizon said.

Act on an order allowing Wi-Fi use of the 5.9 GHz band, Michael Calabrese, director of the Wireless Future Program at New America, told aides to FCC Chairman Ajit Pai and Commissioner Geoffrey Starks. “By employing a firmware upgrade to existing equipment, this additional 45 megahertz can very quickly create the first and only gigabit-fast Wi-Fi channel at standard power that is unimpeded by the cost, complexity and delay of control by a geolocation database,” Calabrese said in a filing posted Wednesday in docket 19-138: “The ability to rapidly upgrade existing Wi-Fi routers to help families struggling to work, learn and stay connected to loved ones at home is even more critical for the duration of the pandemic.” The FCC votes Nov. 18 (see 2010280064).

CTIA countered a recent report by RTCA, formerly the Radio Technical Commission for Aeronautics, on interference risks to low-range radar altimeters posed by mobile use of the C band. “The Report is severely lacking in several respects: the underlying test data driving the conclusions has not been made available for review, the analysis is suspect, and its findings are unsupported,” CTIA said in an FCC filing posted Wednesday in docket 18-122. RTCA didn’t comment.

The U.S. isn’t losing to China on 5G, said Larry Kudlow, National Economic Council director, at a GSMA/CTIA 5G summit Tuesday. “America is doing very well on 5G,” he said: “People are always way too pessimistic. … Our technology advances are the best in the world; they remain so.” President Donald Trump directed him to push a free-market approach, and that hasn’t “wavered,” Kudlow said. “We are moving forward to auction off as much spectrum as possible, to get it across the country as fast as possible,” the economist said. “We’re working very hard dealing with privacy issues and security issues, and, of course, technological issues and market changes.” The U.S. is having success getting other nations, including Britain, Sweden, Australia and Japan, to reject Huawei equipment in their networks, he said. “The list is growing.” Kudlow stressed the importance of open radio access networks, with their emphasis on software over hardware. The Chinese Embassy and Huawei didn't comment.

The FCC Enforcement Bureau issued a $20,000 fine against Puerto Rican wireless ISP WiFi Services Caribbean for interfering with FAA terminal Doppler weather radar. The bureau proposed a $25,000 fine in April (see 2004220037). The WISP conceded the violation but asked for a lower fine, the bureau said. “After reviewing the record in this matter, including WiFi Services’ financial condition, we find that reducing the forfeiture to $20,000 is appropriate here,” said a Monday order.

The FCC Enforcement Bureau proposed a $20,000 fine Monday against Puerto Rico’s Osnet Wireless for allegedly modifying network equipment to operate in restricted parts of the wireless communications service band where a license is required. Reacting to a carrier complaint, FCC investigators found in December that two transmitters operated by Osnet were using 2307-2327 MHz because they hadn’t been properly configured to reflect U.S. restrictions, the bureau said. The company then retuned the devices “so that both operated with a center frequency of 2457 MHz with a bandwidth of 20 MHz, which is permitted for unlicensed operations.” The bureau found Osnet "has apparently willfully violated section 301 of the [Communications] Act and has also apparently violated sections 15.1(b) and 15.205 of the Commission’s rules” and proposed the fine. The company didn’t comment.

Apple intentionally embedded iOS version 13 last year with a “consuming code” for “its own undisclosed purposes and its own benefit,” causing iPhone users to deplete their monthly data allowances without their knowledge and face “exorbitant” overage fees from their carriers, alleged a complaint (in Pacer) Saturday in U.S. District Court in San Jose that seeks class-action status. “Apple has the ability to correctly identify and account for all mobile data usage by its numerous operating system features,” said the complaint. The iPhone maker instead “tried to hide the massive data usage” by “miscategorizing it in a way that many users would not discern,” it said, in violation of California consumer protection and unfair competition laws. “Apple knew what it was doing, and it tried to keep users from discovering the amount of money Apple was costing them. Apple also deliberately withheld from users the ability to control the costs.” The suit identifies the potential class as all who installed iOS 13 on their iPhones before Apple released version 13.6 in June, eliminating the consuming code. Apple didn’t comment Monday.

The FCC Wireless Bureau approved license modifications that Southern California Regional Rail Authority (SCRRA) needed to implement positive train control. Amtrak, BNSF Railway and Union Pacific Railroad use part of the tracks and will also benefit, said a Friday order. “We have reviewed the License Modification Application, Engineering Report, Interference Mitigation Plan, Waiver Request, and all other filings in the record before us, and we find that the public interest in facilitating rail safety will be served by granting SCRRA permanent authority to operate 17 PTC wireless radio base stations, 546 PTC wireless radio wayside stations, and related PTC wireless radio mobile (locomotive) stations,” the bureau said.

The FCC issued the first 2.5 GHz licenses through the agency’s rural tribal priority application window to tribal entities across the U.S. The Wireless Bureau granted 154 applications allowing use of up to 117.5 MHz of spectrum. The window to apply closed Sept. 2 (see 2007310066). “Few communities face the digital connectivity challenges faced by rural Tribes,” Chairman Ajit Pai said Friday: “By prioritizing Tribal access to this mid-band spectrum, we are ensuring that Tribes can quickly access spectrum to connect their schools, homes, hospitals, and businesses.”

The worldwide trend is to use the 5.9 GHz band for intelligent transportation systems, and allocating 45 MHz in the U.S. for Wi-Fi would make the U.S. an outlier, Continental Automotive Systems said in a call with an aide to FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr. “Brazil has now announced that it is also allocating 75 MHz of spectrum in the 5.9 GHz band for ITS, joining a large number of countries that have allocated substantially more than 30 MHz for ITS in the 5.9 GHz band,” said a filing posted Thursday in docket 19-138.