The National Sheriffs’ Association and the California State Sheriffs’ Association asked that the FCC stay an October order giving the FirstNet Authority -- and, indirectly, AT&T -- use of the 4.9 GHz band (see 2410220027) pending judicial review of the order. The Coalition for Emergency Response and Critical Infrastructure challenged the order, while the Public Safety Spectrum Alliance questioned aspects of it, in petitions for review in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit (see 2412040043). The sheriffs groups said plaintiffs will likely prevail in court. “The Order is arbitrary and capricious because its last minute decision to block public safety entities from modifying existing licenses and applying for new licenses was not the subject of adequate notice,” said a filing posted Thursday in docket 07-100. In addition, the order is “self-contradictory and not based on sound reasoning,” the groups said. It "claims that incumbent licensees will not be adversely affected, when they will immediately be stripped of their geographic license rights and ability to apply for new or modified licenses as needed.” The order also unfairly helps AT&T “better position itself vis-à-vis its commercial wireless service competitors” by giving it “access to free mid-band spectrum in order to ‘maintain parity’ with its competitors, which is not an appropriate use of the 4.9 GHz public safety spectrum.”

The National Wireless Communications Council (NWCC) asked that new FCC Chairman Brendan Carr address T-band interference issues. Formerly the Land Mobile Communications Council, the group noted that it initially asked about the issue in 2020, seeking “expedited FCC action” to address alleged harmful interference from newly authorized DTV stations to Part 90 private land mobile radio systems (see 2008280062). The NWCC “recognizes that interference from one category of FCC-compliant systems to another, equally compliant group of licensees presents a difficult situation for the Commission,” said an undocketed filing Thursday. “What is certain is that no solution will be found unless the FCC addresses the issue.” The NWCC said it's willing to participate in a task force on T-band interference “or in any other forum the FCC chooses to convene for that purpose.”

Consumer and public interest groups urged the FCC on Wednesday to avoid acting on a petition by Responsible Enterprises Against Consumer Harassment (REACH), which seeks an emergency stay of the FCC's one-to-one robotext consent rules (see 2501210058). Commissioners approved the rules 13 months ago (see 2312130019). Absent further FCC action, the order will take effect Monday. The rules are “widely supported by consumers and small businesses, a bipartisan coalition of 28 state Attorneys General, as well as the telephone industry,” said a filing this week in docket 02-278. The delay that REACH proposes “requires full compliance with the Administrative Procedures Act, and thus even [if] it was warranted (which it is not), cannot be adopted in time to delay the effective date of the one-to-one regulation,” the groups said. The National Consumer Law Center, Consumer Action, the Consumer Federation of America, the Electronic Privacy Information Center, the National Association of Consumer Advocates, the National Consumers League, Public Knowledge and the U.S. Public Interest Research Group signed the filing.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit said Thursday that judges will hear T-Mobile’s challenge of an $80 million penalty for allegedly not safeguarding data on customers' real-time locations (see 2501210036) on March 24, starting at 9:30 a.m. The composition of the panel that will hear the case will be revealed 30 days prior to oral argument, said a Thursday notice from the court. T-Mobile was also fined $12.2 million for violations by Sprint, which it later purchased.

Semtech said Wednesday that its EM8695 5G RedCap module was tested and certified for use on AT&T’s reduced capacity (RedCap) network. The device also has certifications from the FCC and the PCS Type Certification Review Board. RedCap technology allows more bandwidth and capacity in IoT devices while reducing power use and other costs (see 2303270060). “Recent industry projections emphasize RedCap's critical role in driving IoT growth,” Semtech said. “According to Omdia, global RedCap connections are expected to surge from 27.6 million in 2023 to 963.5 million by 2030.”

5G Americas noted AI's benefits and risks when it's applied to mobile networks. A paper released Wednesday said “the integration of AI into the mobile network is expected to bring significant improvements in network performance and user experience.” Yet AI "comes with potential risks, broadly categorised into Security, Regulatory, Trustworthiness and Sustainability.” As AI systems see greater use in network management and operations, they also become "attractive targets for cyberattacks," the paper said. “AI is no longer a futuristic concept; it’s actively shaping wireless networks today,” said Viet Nguyen, 5G Americas president, noting work by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project and the Open Radio Access Network Alliance. “Attacks, such as data poisoning or intelligent jamming, can undermine the very systems we depend on,” he said: “These threats aren’t theoretical -- they’re real, and they’re evolving alongside the technology. Addressing them requires not just innovation but vigilance.

T-Mobile last year canceled more than 500 millimeter-wave spectrum licenses it won in auctions, and all appear to be in the 28 GHz band, Spektrum Sense said Wednesday. “It would seem that the 28 GHz licenses would be more difficult to meet the covered population criteria for substantial service since each of the licenses are for individual counties,” the firm said. The other millimeter wave licenses that T-Mobile has cover the much larger partial economic areas, “providing at least one population dense county where a significant portion of the PEA population can be served.”

Michael Calabrese, representing the Open Technology Institute at New America, spoke with an aide to FCC Chairman Brendan Carr on some of the group’s priorities at the new FCC. Calabrese urged “a rapid resolution” of remaining issues in the FCC’s 2020 6 GHz Further NPRM. He explained “why the authorization of a somewhat higher maximum power level,” 8 dBm/MHz power spectral density level for indoor-only use, is “important for continued U.S. leadership in next generation Wi-Fi, and to ensure affordable high-capacity Wi-Fi 6/7 connectivity for virtually all consumers, businesses and community anchor institutions,” according to a filing this week in docket 18-295. Calabrese encouraged the FCC to complete work on mobile handset unlocking rules teed up in the last administration (see 2407180037). Moreover, he asked about the status of FCC work on the lower 12 GHz band (see 2411270046). In 12 GHz, “coordinated sharing is clearly feasible between the fixed satellite incumbents and proposed fixed terrestrial point-to-point and point-to-multipoint services” in the band, the filing said.

The Wi-Fi Alliance disputed the Fixed Wireless Communications Coalition's arguments against an FCC waiver allowing automated frequency coordination systems in the 6 GHz band to take building entry loss (BEL) into account for “composite” standard-power and low-power devices that are restricted to operating indoors (see 2501060060). FWCC claims that the waiver “conflicts with established Commission policy because [the Office of Engineering and Technology] failed to articulate ‘special circumstances beyond those considered during regular rulemaking,’” the alliance said in a filing posted Wednesday in docket 23-107. FWCC also “claims that this established Commission policy was violated because (i) the circumstances were already considered during a rulemaking proceeding; and (ii) the circumstances were insufficiently different from those considered during the rulemaking proceeding,” the alliance said. “Neither claim is accurate and, therefore, does not support granting FWCC’s requested relief.”

Responsible Enterprises Against Consumer Harassment (REACH) filed an emergency petition at the FCC Monday asking the agency to stay implementation of its one-to-one robotext consent rules, which commissioners approved in December 2023 (see 2312130019). The petition cites President Donald Trump's order on Monday (see 2501210070) requiring that agencies review all orders issued under the Biden administration. “The FCC’s one-to-one consent ruling was published in the Federal Registrar with an effective date of January 27 … but has not yet taken effect,” the petition said. Consistent with the regulatory freeze, REACH asked the commission to “immediately stay the effective date of the one-to-one rule until March 18, 2025, and re-open a comment period to consider issues of fact, law, and policy raised by the rule.” While the group “generally supports the one-to-one rule it has filed comments suggesting important modifications to help small businesses better comply with the rule,” said attorney Eric Troutman of Troutman Amin.