Handset repair advocates told the FCC that a 60-day period in which handsets can’t be unlocked is too long. Commissioners approved an NPRM 5-0 this month seeking comment on unlocking rules (see 2407180037). “For the sake of full hardware freedom, we call on the Commission to eliminate hardware-based carrier lock-in periods entirely and require carriers to unlock handsets upon sale,” a filing posted Monday in docket 24-186 from iFixit, U.S. PIRG, The Repair Association, the Secure and Resilient Future Foundation, the Electronic Frontier Foundation and Waveform. A 60-day period, as the FCC proposed, is “customer-hostile, props up predatory business models, and weakens the secondary market for smartphones,” the groups said.

Garmin International defended its request for a waiver of FCC rules for handheld general mobile radio service (GMRS) devices limiting them to one transmission every 30 seconds (see 2310060031). Garmin proposes “digital data transmission parameters that, although different than the currently applicable rule, are more protective of GMRS voice communications,” a filing Thursday in docket 24-7 said. Relative to existing rules, “Garmin’s proposed parameters would drastically reduce the duration of each digital data transmission to provide more frequent -- but, in the aggregate, substantially shorter -- data transmissions,” Garmin said.

Dell’Oro Group warned that radio access network revenue worldwide is declining and that this trend should continue through 2028. Global RAN revenue is projected to decline at a 2% compound average growth “as continued 5G investments will be offset by rapidly declining LTE revenues,” Dell’Oro said last week. The Asia Pacific region is expected to lead declines. “It is not a surprise that there is rain after sunshine,” said Stefan Pongratz, vice president-RAN market research: “In addition to [mobile broadband]-based coverage-related challenges, this disconnect between mobile data traffic growth and the capacity boost provided by the mid-band, taken together with continued monetization uncertainty, is clearly weighing on the market.”

S&P Global Ratings rated as credit positive T-Mobile’s planned $4.9 billion investment in a joint venture with private-equity firm KKR to buy fiber provider Metronet (see 2407240020). “We view the proposed JV favorably because it will allow T-Mobile to expand its presence in the growing fiber broadband market in a capital-efficient manner, given that fiber deployments are very expensive and typically cost about $1,200 per passing,” S&P said. The report noted that T-Mobile previously launched a partnership with private equity firm EQT as part of a proposed acquisition of fiber-to-the-home provider Lumos (see 2404250047). “In aggregate, we expect these JVs will provide T-Mobile with access to over 10 million households over the next several years, which will complement its fixed wireless access (FWA) footprint and enable it to bundle in-home broadband service with its mobility product.”

The IOT security group ioXt Alliance urged the FCC to monitor closely fees the lead administrator charges cybersecurity label administrators (CLAs) as the commission takes comments on implementation of its voluntary cyber trust mark program. “There should be a neutral oversight committee” reviewing "the expenses a Lead Admin would incur and guide a decision towards an appropriate amount to charge CLAs,” a filing posted Friday in docket 23-239 said: “This fee may be higher during the initial rollout of the program, but should be lowered in the following year(s) as there will not be a need for as much ‘set up’ costs.” The group warned “there is a unique opportunity for the Lead Admin to have an unfair economic advantage by charging fees to CLAs.” Comments are due Aug. 19, replies Sept. 3, on a July 18 notice from the Public Safety Bureau. FCC commissioners approved the program 5-0 in March (see 2403140034).

CTIA Thursday marked the 30th anniversary of the FCC’s first spectrum auction by calling on Congress to restore the agency’s lapsed general auction authority. “For the past three decades, this Nobel-prize winning innovation has become increasingly key to America’s economic competitiveness and innovation leadership,” CTIA President Meredith Baker said. The anniversary is “an important reminder of the critical role that auctions play, and we call on policymakers to restore auction authority with a spectrum pipeline so that we can secure the benefits of wireless leadership for all Americans,” she said. CTIA also released the opening video of what it said will be a series of remembrances about auctions and the early days of the wireless industry. “The essential asset of wireless communications is spectrum,” former FCC Chair Tom Wheeler said in the first video. Wheeler noted that he became involved in wireless as part of a group of investors that won spectrum licenses in one of the lotteries that predated auctions, “the FCC’s dumbest way of allocating spectrum.” His group’s pingpong balls were picked “and suddenly I was in the wireless industry.” Licenses were also assigned through “beauty contests,” where companies made the case at the FCC on why they needed spectrum in a given area, he said. “That may have solved the instant problem, but it certainly didn’t facilitate how do you then have a concerted effort to deliver the important services,” Wheeler said: “It was widely understood that the … system was flawed.” Tom Sugrue, former head of the D.C. office for T-Mobile, said licenses' value increased rapidly “as people began to appreciate what mobile technology was worth.” But the “tools the FCC had to assign those licenses were becoming increasingly, obviously deficient.”

Edison Electric Institute representatives discussed the need electric utilities have for licensed spectrum to support uncrewed aerial systems and suggested to the FCC that the 4.9 and 5 GHz bands provide ideal frequencies. The utilities met with aides to Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel and Commissioner Geoffrey Starks. “The companies described the ways in which UAS operations allow them to more efficiently inspect and repair infrastructure, improve worker safety, and maintain consistent, reliable service for customers,” a filing Wednesday in docket 07-100 said: Utilities “conduct UAS operations to safely inspect property for damage after a storm, earthquake, fire or other adverse weather events or natural disasters, which often involves coordination with public safety.”

The FCC Public Safety Bureau on Thursday reminded Part 90 and Part 101 public safety licensees to update their license contact information with an email address. “Licensees without valid or updated email addresses will not receive courtesy electronic reminders regarding license expiration or construction deadlines,” which can lead to license cancelation, the bureau said in docket 19-212.

Samsung Electronics America representatives met with FCC Commissioners Brendan Carr and Nathan Simington on the company’s request for a waiver on a 5G base station radio that works across citizens broadband radio service and C-band spectrum (see 2309130041). Samsung “emphasized its dedication to the success of CBRS and 5G, generally, in the United States,” a filing posted Thursday in docket 23-93 said. “The proposed device -- which has been before the Commission for over 700 days -- would simply enable operators to deploy one radio where they would otherwise deploy two radios with substantially similar performance characteristics,” Samsung said.

T-Mobile is going deeper into fiber, investing $4.9 billion in a joint venture with investment firm KKR, which will buy fiber-based provider Metronet. The JV gets Metronet’s infrastructure, residential fiber business and customers, as well as Oak Hill Capital’s stake in the provider. Oak Hill will then reinvest to retain a minority position, T-Mobile said. The announcement comes a week ahead of T-Mobile’s Q2 earnings call. “Metronet is uniquely positioned as the fastest-growing pure play fiber company in the U.S. and an experienced independent fiber-to-the-home operator,” T-Mobile said. In April, T-Mobile announced a partnership with private equity firm EQT as part of a proposed acquisition of fiber-to-the-home provider Lumos (see 2404250047). T-Mobile CEO Mike Sievert said then that fiber could bolster the company’s fast-growing Home Internet offering. "Metronet is the perfect partner for T-Mobile as a leader in fiber solutions with an incredibly fast build pace, and a top-notch management team,” Sievert said Wednesday. “With this new partnership, Metronet will expand its fiber network faster and farther, reaching millions more households by the end of the decade,” Metronet CEO Dave Heimbach said. The companies expect the deal will close next year.