Representatives of the ioXt Alliance, an IoT security group, met with Public Safety Bureau staff about the FCC’s nascent voluntary cyber trust mark program. They “provided a general overview of how ioXt’s own certified products registry operates and offered insights on challenges and opportunities associated with the design and development of the registry for the Commission’s IoT Cybersecurity Labeling Program,” said a filing posted Thursday in docket 23-239.
The FCC defended its 50% upward adjustment of a fine it imposed on Verizon for data violations, bringing the total penalty to $46.9 million, in a brief filed Wednesday at the 2nd Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals. The court heard Verizon’s challenge of the fine in April (docket 24-1733), with judges appearing skeptical of the carrier’s arguments (see 2504290060). This week, they asked both sides about the adjustment as they near a decision. The FCC defended the fine even though now-Chairman Brendan Carr and Commissioner Nathan Simington had opposed it (see 2504250062).
The Enterprise Wireless Alliance asked the FCC to clarify the regulatory status of 800/900 MHz specialized mobile radio service systems not interconnected with the public switched telephone network. They should be considered private mobile systems that “may not be classified or regulated as common carriers for any purpose under the Communications Act,” the group said in an undocketed filing posted Wednesday.
Geophysical Survey Systems Inc. (GSSI) asked the FCC to act on its 2019 request for a waiver of commission rules for ultra-wideband ground-penetrating radar devices to allow the certification and marketing of a new device it's developing. The device would help autonomous vehicles in stay in a lane.
NAB fired back at the Wi-Fi Alliance and various tech companies for opposing its petition for reconsideration of an order expanding the parts of the 6 GHz band where new very-low-power devices can operate without coordination (see 2505150017). “Both oppositions misstate the nature of NAB’s request in alleging procedural defects,” said a filing posted Wednesday in docket 18-295.
Motorola Solutions Inc. (MSI) announced a deal after markets closed Tuesday to buy Silvus Communications for up to $5 billion. Silvus “designs and develops software-defined high-speed mobile ad-hoc network (MANET) technologies that enable highly secure data, video and voice communications without the need for fixed infrastructure,” MSI said: The solution Silvus offers “consists of industry-leading algorithms running on a software-defined communications platform to provide high bandwidth network connectivity to mobile frontline teams and unmanned assets that operate in challenging environments.”
A new report from the Phoenix Center questions whether 5G has been the huge boon for the U.S. economy that the wireless industry claims. The report, released Wednesday, comes as the Trump administration launches a push to make 600 MHz of midband spectrum available for licensed use (see 2505270045). It disputes findings from a January study released by CTIA that each additional 100 MHz of midband spectrum set aside for carrier use will add $260 billion to the national GDP, generate $390 billion in consumer benefits and create 1.5 million jobs (see 2501230041).
Verizon representatives expressed general support for FCC rules covering an AWS-3 reauction (see 2504290007) in a meeting with agency staff, said a filing posted Tuesday in docket 25-117. “We urged the FCC to move swiftly to get the AWS-3 spectrum in its inventory back into the marketplace after lying fallow for too long,” Verizon said. The meeting included personnel from the Office of Economics and Analytics and the Wireless Bureau.
NTIA filed at the FCC on Tuesday an “inventory” discussing the possible alternatives to GPS for positioning, navigation and timing (PNT) and GPS modernization. FCC commissioners approved a notice of inquiry in March seeking broad comment on the issue (see 2503270042).
The FCC asked for comment on whether it should update its “covered list” of unsecure companies to reflect a January finding by the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security. BIS found “that the provision of certain connected vehicle hardware or software by certain Chinese- or Russian-controlled entities poses an unacceptable risk to U.S. national security and the safety and security of U.S. persons.” The notice, published by the FCC Public Safety Bureau and Office of Engineering and Technology in Tuesday's Daily Digest, asks for comments by June 9 in docket 18-89.