The FCC Wireless Bureau granted E-911 location accuracy waiver requests to multiple small wireless providers serving rural areas. The petitioners said public safety answering points in their areas either can’t receive and use Phase II E-911 location data or haven’t requested that service, the bureau said in a Friday order in docket 07-114. Each waiver ends six months after the petitioner receives a request for Phase II location data from a PSAP, and is conditioned on the petitioner notifying the FCC within 30 days of receipt of a valid request. It denied a request for a blanket waiver of Section 20.18(i) by NTCA, which said the issues raised by the petitioners applied broadly to all similarly situated rural wireless operators. The bureau said it wants only individual waiver requests. Also, the FCC granted a T-Mobile request to withdraw another waiver petition.

Bidding has concluded in Auction 102, the FCC’s sale of 24 GHz spectrum for 5G, said an FCC release Tuesday. Along with Auction 101 -- the 28 GHz auction completed in January -- the FCC “has now completed its first set of high-band airwaves auctions to make spectrum available for 5G wireless, Internet of Things, and other advanced spectrum-based services,” the announcement said. “The successful conclusion of our nation’s first two high-band flexible, mobile-use spectrum auctions is a critical step,” said FCC Chairman Ajit Pai in the release. Bidding in Auction 102 ended at 5 p.m. Tuesday, and raised more than $2 billion in gross bids, it said, adding that bidders won 2,904 of the 2,909 licenses on offer. Auction 101 raised $702.6 million in gross bids with bidders winning 2,965 of the 3,072 licenses offered. A public notice with detailed results for Auction 102 will be available “in a few days” the release said. Auction 101’s results have remained nonpublic but a PN on them will also be released “soon,” the announcement said. Auction 103, which involves spectrum from the upper 37 GHz, 39 GHz, and 47 GHz bands, will start Dec. 10.

Officials from the Communications Workers of America, Public Knowledge and CTC Technology & Energy said they spoke with an aide to FCC Commissioner Geoffrey Starks on T-Mobile/Sprint’s latest commitments, unveiled May 20 (see 1905200051). “The commitments and conditions do nothing to address CWA’s concerns about the impact of this merger on T-Mobile and Sprint workers and consumers,” said a filing posted Friday in docket 18-197: “The merger will still result in elimination of 30,000 U.S. jobs as the new T-Mobile shuts down duplicative retail stores and consolidates headquarters functions. T-Mobile has made no written, verifiable commitments to the FCC to protect jobs.” The officials also said the companies’ “rural promises are overstated and don’t hold up to scrutiny.” T-Mobile didn't comment.

The FCC Public Safety Bureau extended the construction period for four 700 MHz trunked public safety stations licensed by Westchester County, New York. It granted the county’s petition to extend the period through Nov. 20, 2023; two had previously ended Nov. 20, 2018, and the others were to end July 29 this year. “The County is understandably reluctant to finalize the design of its combined 700/800 MHz system until it becomes clear whether and how the design would have to be crafted to account for the potential loss of the County’s T-Band channels,” the bureau said. Also Friday, the bureau granted Fairmont (North Carolina) Rural Fire Department’s petition to reinstate its license for WQJL499, which the department said it inadvertently let lapse. The bureau viewed the mistake as “a de minimus error.” In two separate orders related to call signs, the bureau denied reconsideration petitions by the Honolulu Police Department and Lawrence County, New York. Honolulu sought reversal of the FCC's placing its license for WRAH381 on termination-pending status due to the police department failing to meet construction and notification requirements. But the reconsideration petition “was untimely filed,” the bureau said. St. Lawrence County asked the bureau to reconsider terminating its license for WQZG446 due to similarly missed deadlines, and to extend its buildout deadline. The county seemed to ignore rather than accidentally miss the commission’s rule for time extensions, the bureau said.

Crown Castle representatives told an aide to FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr that September’s infrastructure order has helped to more quickly site small cells and other wireless facilities. But they also said problems remain. The reps discussed “areas where challenges remain, including issues with timely access to electrical power, unreasonably high fees for application review, inappropriate consultant charges, and issues relating to Section 6409 [of the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act], including pad expansion and the scope of ‘concealment elements,’” said a filing Thursday in docket 17-19. Carr has been leading FCC efforts to address wireless infrastructure rules.

CTIA representatives met aides to Commissioners Brendan Carr, Jessica Rosenworcel and Geoffrey Starks on dispatchable solutions for calls to 911. “Member companies are committed to enhancing the location accuracy of wireless 9-1-1 calls, particularly indoors, for Public Safety Answering Points (PSAPs) through innovative solutions,” CTIA said, in a letter posted Wednesday in docket 07-114 . Since 2015, “wireless providers have met every location accuracy benchmark and requirement set forth” that was approved by the FCC that year (see 1501290066), the group said. The nationwide carriers have “tested and implemented solutions, such as device-based hybrid to meet the Commission’s increasing benchmarks for horizontal location accuracy, stood up the NEAD [National Emergency Address Database] and attained Commission approval for its privacy and security plan, and proposed a vertical metric for z-axis information,” CTIA said.

FCC Chairman Ajit Pai assured Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., the agency will protect critical infrastructure use of the 6 GHz band, even if it’s reallocated for Wi-Fi and other unlicensed use. “I agree that protecting incumbent users from interference is an important consideration,” Pai said in an April 29 letter posted Thursday. “That is why the FCC suggested allowing unlicensed devices to operate in the 6 GHz band only in locations and in frequencies where they would not cause harmful interference to incumbents.” The agency is examining Wi-Fi and other unlicensed use of the band (see 1903190050). Some utilities are concerned (see 1905200048).

Sennheiser officials asked the FCC to press at the 2023 World Radiocommunication Conference for an agenda item on harmonizing spectrum for wireless mics. The agenda for that meeting is to be set at this year’s conference. Sennheiser met with Commissioner Mike O’Rielly, aides to Commissioners Brendan Carr and Geoffrey Starks, and staff for the International Bureau, said a filing posted Thursday in docket 16-185.

ATIS said Thursday it has completed changes to wireless emergency alerts standards. The FCC last year imposed a Nov. 30 deadline for carriers to more accurately “geotarget” alerts (see 1801300027). The new version of WEA will more precisely target warnings, ATIS said. It also made changes: “1) defining a set of requirements for the behavior of the mobile devices when a WEA alert message is received; 2) defining the interface between the Federal Alert Gateway and the Commercial Mobile Service Provider Gateway for WEA alerts; and 3) providing a Public Warning System Specification, describing the use of the Evolved Packet System Public Warning System for the delivery of … messages.” The new standards were “delivered on time to meet deadline-driven FCC requirements,” said ATIS President Susan Miller.

Via Licensing said Wednesday it added nearly 100 BlackBerry patents to its LTE patent pools. The patents have coverage in 23 countries, it said.