The FCC Wireless Bureau and Office of Engineering and Technology certified Amdocs as an administrator for the citizens broadband radio service band spectrum access system. This covers the contiguous U.S., Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico and Guam. A second Tuesday public notice greenlit Federated Wireless, already an accepted SAS in those areas, for American Samoa.

Garmin asked the FCC to allow provisional certification of RF devices, which the agency declined to do in a July 2017 order reshaping Part 2 equipment authorization rules (see 1707130032). Garmin representatives met with Office of Engineering and Technology staff, including acting Chief Ronald Repasi, said a filing posted Tuesday in docket 15-170. “Provisional certification would provide no shortcuts from the current rigorous testing and certification.” Such certification would expire in 90 days or when the device is delivered to users.

Energous got FCC Part 18 certification for an over-the-air wireless charging transmitter based on a single antenna and new chip components, said the company Tuesday. The stock closed up 156% at $2.68. The certification reflects a “completely new” technology, CEO Steve Rizzone emailed Tuesday, contrasting it with the company’s first certification for wireless power received in 2017. That transmitter employed beamforming, multiple antennas to focus radio beams at a three-dimensional point in space. “Due to the use of several antennas required to beamform, the implementation was large and cost-prohibitive for many consumer electronic applications,” Rizzone said now. The new technology uses “a single antenna, single power amplifier and single control chip ... resulting in a much smaller design at a fraction of the cost of the larger, more powerful beamforming transmitter,” said the executive. “We’re imagining new products such as smart speakers and gaming consoles that can also wirelessly charge smartwatches, smart glasses, sensors and other IoT devices within range.” Citing uncertainties about the impact of COVID-19 and the bankruptcy filing of potential partner ZPower, Energous withdrew 2020 guidance of $1 million-$10 million in revenue that Rizzone projected on the company’s Q4 call. The companies showcased at CES their micro-battery wireless reference design aimed at small electronic devices such as hearing aids.

T-Mobile signed a three-year agreement to lease 600 MHz spectrum from entities controlled by Columbia Capital, and a similar deal is likely to follow with Dish Network, LightShed’s Walter Piecyk wrote investors Friday. Leasing is preferable because of T-Mobile’s “current leverage” ahead of the citizens broadband radio service and C-band auctions, the analyst said. Leasing spectrum means it can be “deployed in a matter of days,” he said. T-Mobile didn't comment Monday.

Rural Wireless Association staff and members discussed “the urgent need for Congress to appropriate a sufficient amount of funding so that the FCC can successfully establish and manage a covered company equipment replacement, removal, and disposal program, as required by the Secure Networks Act,” in meetings with Chairman Ajit Pai, Commissioner Brendan Carr and aides to the other commissioners, said a filing posted Monday in docket 18-89. Members agreed with Pai that as much as $2 billion is needed, RWA said. Mavenir, Sagebrush Cellular, Nokia, NTCH, Panhandle Telephone, Pine Belt Cellular, Strata Networks and United Wireless were among the companies participating. President Donald Trump signed the Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Act in March (see 2003120061).

National Emergency Number Association officials discussed “methods used to derive confidence and uncertainty figures in location estimation,” meeting with Public Safety Bureau staff on the FCC vertical location accuracy mandate, said a filing posted Friday in docket 07-114. “Such methods are a well-explored and always developing academic topic.” Also discussed: “Specifics of how a particular platform determines location are largely proprietary" and the interfaces "are well-standardized for interoperability purposes.”

The American Highway Users Alliance asked the FCC to drop proposed new rules for the 5.9 GHz band, reallocating 45 MHz for Wi-Fi, with 20 MHz reserved for cellular vehicle to everything and possibly 10 MHz for dedicated short-range communications (see 2003100014). “The record now in the docket after the first round of comment reveals that implementation of the proposed rule would have a more significant adverse impact on transportation safety than the Commission has acknowledged,” the alliance replied, posted Friday in docket 19-138. Replies now are due April 27.

Verizon may be poised to make big gains this fall due to dynamic spectrum sharing and carrier aggregation technologies it's deploying, LightShed’s Walter Piecyk told investors Thursday. “These technologies will enable Verizon to not only activate the 5G indicator on new 5G enabled iPhones, but also actually deliver industry leading 5G speeds,” the analyst said: “Phone reviewers are going to love it.” Piecyk said Verizon also faces spectrum concerns.

The U.S. is “losing its battle to keep European and Asian allies from including Huawei equipment in their 5G rollouts,” blogged Claude Barfield, American Enterprise Institute resident scholar, Thursday. The administration’s push on 5G continues “to be described as chaotic,” he said. In December, President Donald Trump “assigned coordinating responsibilities for 5G development to White House national security staffer Robert Blair,” Barfield said: “Confusion remains, as Blair has made it clear that his responsibility is confined largely to international 5G negotiations, and Larry Kudlow, who heads the National Economic Council, remains in charge of the administration’s domestic 5G strategy.”

5G Americas asked NTIA Thursday to release its technical feasibility report on the 3100-3450 MHz by the end of April. NTIA should also ask its Commerce Spectrum Management Advisory Council “to focus exclusively on facilitating commercial access to the Lower 3 GHz Band with a goal of developing recommendations by the end of 2020, for action in 2021,” the group said. NTIA and DOD officials should “begin biweekly meetings with the FCC and industry on evaluating the Lower 3 GHz for commercial access” and NTIA should “issue a statement committing to licensed commercial use in the Lower 3 GHz Band where feasible,” the letter said. “High-speed broadband is critical to weathering the current COVID crisis, and America’s reliance on broadband is only growing,” 5G Americas said: “America will need the efficiencies and innovation 5G brings all the more across the range of industrial, government and personal applications 5G makes possible.” Commissioner Mike O’Rielly, in particular, has focused on 3.1-3.55 GHz, which he considers prime spectrum (see 2001080035). NTIA didn't comment.