Comments are due Jan. 27, replies Feb. 11 on a petition seeking an FCC ruling that consumers have a right to revoke consent from receiving unwanted marketing text messages from carriers “at any time by any reasonable means; and that wireless providers must honor these revocation requests immediately” under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act. Petitioner Lucas “Cranor contends that, although cellular carriers are not required to obtain consent from their cellular subscribers prior to initiating autodialed calls or texts for which the subscriber is not charged, they must nevertheless honor requests to opt out of such communications,” the Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau said Friday in docket 02-278.

In a C-band clearing and transition, cable operators need to be eligible for funds to cover the cost of interconnecting existing earth station/headends with an earth station/super-headend or with a managed video service provider, or for some fiber-based means of video backhaul, America's Communications Association told FCC officials including Wireless Bureau Chief Donald Stockdale and Office of Economics and Analytics acting Chief Giulia McHenry, according to a docket 18-122 posting Friday. It said an initial C-band order should declare fiber is an acceptable use of MVPD earth station operator relocation funds and that MVPD earth station operators should be able to access these funds in advance of incurring their costs. It estimated the cost of using fiber to receive video programming over the next decade would be comparable to the cost of being repacked into a smaller portion of the C band -- $3.7 billion and $3.1 billion, respectively.

Microsoft representatives updated FCC Commissioners Brendan Carr and Jessica Rosenworcel on the company’s Rural Airband Initiative and “discussed how White Spaces technologies provide broadband access to underserved and rural Americans,” said a filing posted Tuesday in docket 18-295. The company sought action on its May request for a Further NPRM on the TV white spaces (see 1905030050). “We noted that adopting the proposals in the petition would expand rural broadband access, facilitate connected school buses and agricultural vehicles, advance the internet of things including precision agriculture, and support other connectivity solutions,” Microsoft said.

Southern Linc and Cellular South representatives asked the FCC Public Safety Bureau staff to grant Colorado's Boulder Regional Emergency Telephone Service Authority (BRETSA) petitions for declaratory ruling or rulemaking on interoperability on the FirstNet network. The BRETSA request has been controversial (see 1910150038). Grant of the declaratory ruling would be “an important milestone in prompting FirstNet to interoperate with communications systems used by public safety agencies,” the companies said in a filing posted Tuesday in docket 19-254: Approving an NPRM would “begin the process through which the Commission can establish clear interoperability standards for public safety communications systems. Without such standards, deployment of FirstNet across the country will lead to situations in which communications systems are no longer interoperable when they are needed most, especially during natural disasters and emergencies.”

Pivotal Commware got a partial for waiver of FCC industrial signal booster labeling requirements for its Echo 5G signal booster, despite opposition by AT&T and T-Mobile and other booster makers (see 1910080012). The Wireless Bureau noted the opposition in a Thursday order in docket 19-272. “We find that a limited waiver permitting the following alternate label is warranted,” the bureau said: “WARNING. This is not a CONSUMER device. This device may not be sold at retail. You MUST have an FCC LICENSE or express consent of an FCC Licensee (or express consent of your service provider) to operate this device. Antennas must be installed at least 20 cm (8 inches) from any person. Unauthorized use may result in significant forfeiture penalties, including penalties in excess of $100,000 for each continuing violation.” The bureau also imposed various conditions, including a requirement the device be obtained “exclusively from the FCC licensee that is the user’s service provider.”

Penumbra Brands teamed with smartphone case maker Pela on a biodegradable insert that’s said to reduce exposure to cellphone radiation. Penumbra’s alara technology cuts a phone’s radiation by 80 percent without degrading signal quality, the company emailed. The insert is designed to fit inside Pela cases and is billed as 100 percent compostable.

An “ugly fight” is likely, with resistance from the Transportation Department, as the FCC looks at sharing part of the 5.9 GHz band with Wi-Fi, CCG Consulting’s Doug Dawson blogged Monday. “Expect major filings by the transportation industry describing reasons why taking away most of this spectrum is a bad idea,” Dawson wrote. Carriers may not make heavy use of the band, he said. “Recall a few years ago there was the opportunity for the cellular carriers to dip into the existing WiFi spectrum using [LTE-unlicensed] to offload busy cellular networks,” he said: “The carriers used LTE-U much less than anticipated by the WiFi industry, which had warned that cellular offload could overwhelm WiFi. It turns out the cellular carriers don’t like spectrum where they have to deal with unpredictable interference.” Commissioners approved an NPRM on the band 5-0 at their December meeting (see 1912120058). Had the FCC waited a few more years “the spectrum would have been full of millions of users -- Ford already announced plans to introduce the technology into their whole fleet by 2022,” Dawson told us: “Once a spectrum [band] becomes busy it’s much harder for the FCC to repurpose it.”

The Fixed Wireless Communications Coalition filed at the FCC a response to a question in a recent meeting with Office of Engineering and Technology Chief Julius Knapp and OET staff on FWCC concerns about uncontrolled radio LAN devices in the 6 GHz band. “During the meeting, a question arose regarding how the FWCC reached its determination that ‘every 10 dB of RLAN incursion into fade margin increases [fixed service] outage times tenfold,’” FWCC said in an ex parte filing posted Monday in docket 18-295. It filed a response with technical data by telecom consultant George Kizer, also president of the National Spectrum Management Association.

A DOJ and FCC brief urging the court to allow T-Mobile/Sprint is likely headed to the “dustbin,” the same fate as DOJ’s earlier motion to disqualify states’ lead counsel, New Street Research's Blair Levin wrote in a Monday note to investors. Friday, the FCC and DOJ Antitrust Division urged deference to their conditional OKs, at U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York (see 1912200043). Judge Victor Marrero “is already well aware of the DOJ/FCC decisions,” and the new brief raises little new upon which he’d be likely to rely, said Levin. The filing “might have been done to help on appeal, in creating issues on which the DOJ could appeal,” he said. “If, however, the judge decides against the companies, we think he will have grounds to do so in ways that will make the odds of success for any appeal low. And if he decides to rule for the companies, it will likely be for reasons outside the DOJ/FCC filing.” Closing arguments at SDNY will be Jan. 15, with two hours per side. Parties must file post-trial findings of fact and conclusions of law by Jan. 8. That could put a ruling between mid-February and mid-March, Levin wrote.

Verizon said it met its 5G goals for 2019, with 5G Ultra Wideband service available in 31 cities, with seven 5G-enabled devices. The service is also available in 15 NFL stadiums and four indoor arenas, Verizon said Monday. The latest cities are Cleveland; Columbus, Ohio; and Hampton Roads, Virginia. “We said we would lead in 5G and we are,” said Kyle Malady, Verizon chief technology officer.