The FCC Wireless Bureau sought comment on a request by Ocean Signal for waiver for a personal locator beacon (PLB) in spectrum used for maritime navigation. The beacon incorporates automatic identification system functionality in compliance with a recently published Radio Technical Commission for Maritime Services standard, the bureau said Tuesday. “Ocean Signal believes that PLBs designed to the new … standard will provide users with enhanced safety, as the addition of AIS in PLBs will provide increased location accuracy and enhance the ability of rescuing resources to locate persons in distress,” the bureau said: “We ask commenters to address the potential effect on the integrity of AIS, which is primarily a maritime navigation system, of the addition of PLBs, which may be used on both land and water.” Comments are due May 30, replies June 14, in docket 19-124.

Microsoft representatives stressed the importance of broadband in the TV white spaces, meeting with FCC Office of Native Affairs and Policy staff, said a filing posted Tuesday in docket 14-165. The company held a series of recent meetings on the topic at the FCC, including with an aide to Chairman Ajit Pai (see 1904250039) and staff from the Office of Engineering and Technology (see 1904190027).

AT&T turned on its narrowband IoT network. "It’s a big step toward massive IoT and 5G,” blogged Chris Penrose, AT&T Business president-IoT solutions. It complements AT&T’s existing IoT network -- called LTE-M for LTE Cat M (see 1705180058) -- launched last year (see 1806200022), Penrose said Monday. "With NB-IoT, we now have two complementary Low-Power Wide Area networks -- including our LTE-M network in the U.S. and Mexico,” he said.

The FCC reminded carriers Tuesday of revised rules for wireless emergency alerts, approved in 2016 (see 1609290060), which take effect Wednesday. The order increased the maximum length of WEA messages from 90 to 360 characters for 4G LTE and future networks, created a new class of alerts -- public safety messages -- to “convey essential recommended actions that can save lives or property,” such as information on emergency shelter locations or boil water orders, and requires carriers to send out alerts in Spanish. The order also requires presenting the message on the device as soon as it's received. The FCC “adopted these improvements to help communities communicate clearly and effectively about imminent threats and local crises, and to create a framework that would allow emergency managers to test, exercise, and raise public awareness about WEA,” said the Public Safety Bureau notice.

Attorney General William Barr recused himself from overseeing an eventual decision whether DOJ should block T-Mobile’s proposed buy of Sprint, industry officials said Tuesday. In a December filing with the Office of Government Ethics, Barr reported holding a T-Mobile bond valued at up to $50,000 and other T-Mobile and Sprint bonds. Barr earlier recused himself from DOJ review of AT&T/Time Warner (see 1901110028). Justice didn’t comment.

The FCC Wireless Bureau sought comment Monday on a waiver request by MiMOMax Wireless allowing its Tornado radios to use emission designator W1W. The MiMOMax narrowband radio is certified for use under parts 15, 27 and 101 of FCC rules, and the company wants certification for part 90 private land mobile radio bands, said a public notice. Comments are due May 29, replies June 13, in docket 19-122.

The FCC should modify its reconfiguration proposal to use only auctions for partial economic areas (PEA) licenses in its price index for the 37, 39 and 47 GHz auction, Verizon said in docket 14-177. “With PEA-based data available, there is no reason to develop a PEA-based price index for incumbent licenses using data from auctions of different license configurations.” Verizon urged the FCC to use data from the 24 GHz and TV incentive auction in its valuations for incumbent PEA-sized 39 GHz licenses. “The Commission has long used multiple spectrum bands to set initial valuations (through the setting of upfront payments and minimum opening bids) for licenses being auctioned,” the carrier said: “Despite claims to the contrary, the critical component of these valuations is license area, not spectrum band.”

The FCC should clear at least 300 MHz for commercial use, plus a 20 MHz guard band, the Competitive Carriers Association told aides to all five commissioners. Anything less “would be inadequate to simultaneously provide channel sizes sufficiently large for 5G deployments and generate a sufficient number of licenses in each market to promote competition and investment,” CCA said Friday in docket 18-122. CCA supports using "some of the proceeds from repurposing C-Band spectrum to incentivize current end users to pursue alternative distribution methods and to ensure that existing users are fairly reimbursed for repacking or transitioning out of the band.”

Chairman Henry Samueli and other Broadcom executives met Monday with FCC Chairman Ajit Pai on the company’s “enthusiastic support” for the proposed framework for opening the 6 GHz band for unlicensed use. “An FCC decision to open the full 6 GHz band to unlicensed technologies is critical to accelerating deployment of 5G services in the U.S. and extending 5G’s reach beyond urban cores and into rural areas,” says a filing to come in docket 18-295. “Adjust the proposed framework in certain limited, but important, ways in order for the 6 GHz band to support all the benefits of Wi-Fi 6, and support 5G services in the near term. In particular, they emphasized the need for rules that allow low-power indoor operations throughout the band, and the importance of very-low-power portable operations.” The agency is examining Wi-Fi and other unlicensed use of the band (see 1903190050).

Strength in the industry’s 5G “ramp” contributed much of the 15 percent Q1 revenue growth in ON Semiconductor’s “communications end-market” sector, with networking and wireless components, said CEO Keith Jackson on a Q1 call Monday. Revenue of $259 million in the sector was 19 percent of total sales, he said. “We are seeing strong ramp in our power products in the 5G infrastructure market,” said Jackson. “We expect this ramp to accelerate in 2019 with increasing 5G deployments in a few parts of the world.” The “current indication” suggests a “better than expected rate of deployment for 5G systems in the near term,” he said. ON’s power “content” in 5G infrastructure systems is “many times” that of 4G systems, he said. “Our participation in 5G systems is expected to be significantly higher than our participation in 4G systems.”