Survivors of domestic violence can now request that their service provider separate their mobile phone lines from family plans if an abuser is on the account, the FCC said in a news release Tuesday (see 2311150042). In addition, survivors may also apply for the Lifeline program, it said. The agency made the announcements ahead of the 30th anniversary of the Violence Against Women Act. Survivors experiencing financial hardship are eligible for up to six months of "emergency Lifeline support," the agency said. "Rebuilding a life after escaping an abusive relationship is already hard enough for survivors of domestic violence," said Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel: "Maintaining phone service shouldn't add to that hardship." To participate in Lifeline, survivors can confirm their eligibility by providing documentation or self-certify that they participate in a qualifying program.

The FCC Space and Wireless bureaus are pressing SpaceX for further details about its pending requests for commercial supplemental coverage from space (SCS) service authorization and operating satellites at altitudes in the 300 km range. In a letter posted Tuesday in docket 23-135, the bureaus asked for clarification about whether the company's orbital debris mitigation plan has changed in light of its iterative design process for satellites. It also asked for details about how SpaceX will ensure its 300 km satellite operations don't interfere with crewed space stations, including the Chinese space station. It also requested more technical details about the company's requested waiver that would allow higher aggregate out-of-band emissions for its SCS service.

The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation warned of potential unintended consequences if the FCC approves industrywide handset unlocking rules, as proposed in a July NPRM (see 2407180037). Comments were due Monday in docket 24-186. “The NPRM’s tentative conclusions in favor [of] a uniform 60-day unlocking requirement overstate the benefits of the Commission’s proposal relative to its costs,” ITIF warned. Handsets are often tied to a carrier because they are subsidized, the group added. “This bargained-for exchange is beneficial to consumers who may be more price sensitive and thus willing to forgo some future flexibility in exchange for more money in their pockets at the time of purchase,” ITIF said: “Mandatory unlocking denies consumers this choice.” Incompas supports unlocking requirements, President Angie Kronenberg said Monday. "The practice of locking phones makes it more difficult for consumers to change providers,” she said: “Unlocking requirements allow customers to switch networks more easily, which means larger providers are incentivized to compete for customers rather than locking them into a plan -- enabling smaller providers to better compete.”

The Enterprise Wireless Alliance welcomes innovation in spectrum but can’t support NextNav’s proposal for reconfiguring the 900 MHz band, the group said in a filing last week in docket 24-240 (see 2409060046). “EWA’s established commitment to encouraging innovative spectrum approaches has always been conditioned on an appropriate balancing of the potential benefits of those initiatives and the continued viability of incumbent operations that also serve vital public interests,” EWA said. In most cases, it’s possible “to craft an approach that accommodates both objectives,” but “EWA is not confident that spectrum equilibrium can be achieved in this instance and thus cannot support the Petition.”

Wireless carriers are unlikely to “get more promotional in a way that would drive demand for the iPhone” following Monday’s release of the iPhone 16, New Street’s Jonathan Chaplin told investors Monday. “The big question is whether there will be organic demand for the device that will drive an upgrade cycle; based on the comments from industry executives and the extensive work done by our Global Tech team … we think the answer is ‘no,’ but we’ll be watching for clues to the contrary,” Chaplin said.

Verizon has focused on AI for more than a decade and sees itself as “very advanced” in the technology, CEO Hans Vestberg said Monday during a Goldman Sachs technology conference. For example, Verizon is experiencing the growth of AI in handling calls from customers, and quickly forwarding them to the best agent to address customer concerns, he said. AI will also mean more personalized service from the carrier, Vestberg added. “Given the amount of data we have on the customer, we can personalize the plans much better.” Generative AI will also help Verizon in its strategy of bringing computing closer to the edge, Vestberg said. The carrier already has agreements with Google, Amazon and Microsoft on mobile-edge compute, he said. Large-language models are still being trained, but “the loads are coming.” In the 1990s, customers changed their phones yearly, and now it's closer to every 40 months, Vestberg said. “People keep the phone because the quality is higher” and “that's partly because … the network is great.” Verizon has two “great” AI phones available today, but so far they’re not driving changes in customer behavior, he said. Cable wireless is making gains, he admitted, though some of the companies use the Verizon network. Cable providers “are an important wholesale partner on the wireless side for us” and “accretive to our bottom line.” We treat them as “important, large enterprise customers. Then we compete with them every day.”

The Michigan Public Safety Communications Interoperability Board and Florida Police Chiefs Association became the latest groups to oppose a proposal to give the FirstNet Authority control of the 4.9 GHz band. “Granting the license to the FirstNet Authority would likely result in that spectrum being incorporated into that network’s existing cellular architecture, which would practically eliminate one of the primary existing applications of the band -- local point-to-point links,” the Michigan organization said in a comment posted Monday in docket 07-100. The Florida chiefs called the proposal “troubling.” Groups have lined up on both sides of the issue. New Street’s Blair Levin told investors last week, that FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel appears supportive of the band's reallocation to FirstNet. “This issue does not appear to be election dependent, but there is a material risk that the order may be overturned by the courts,” Levin said.

Comments are due Oct. 7, replies Nov. 5, in docket 17-258, on an August NPRM from the FCC asking about further changes to rules for the citizens broadband radio service band, said a Friday notice in the Federal Register. The FCC adopted initial CBRS rules in 2015, launching a three-tier model for sharing 3.5 GHz spectrum, while protecting naval radars. The NPRM explores further changes (see 2408160031).

CTIA urged the FCC to avoid imposing additional requirements to block texts, in response to a December Further NPRM (see 2312130019). A filing posted Friday reports on a meeting with an aide to Commissioner Brendan Carr, ahead of the FCC’s release of a draft order for the Sept. 26 open meeting on new robocalling and robotexting rules (see 2409050045). “The record continues to show that a requirement to incorporate text message authentication solutions are unnecessary to address the main problem in text messaging: identity spoofing/impersonation,” the filing in docket 21-402 said. CTIA urged the commission “to reject calls from a handful of non-consumer message senders to dismantle the wireless ecosystem’s existing practices that are stopping billions of spam and scam text messages.”

Very low power (VLP) devices pose little risk to mobile electronic newsgathering (ENG) receivers, tech companies said in a meeting with FCC Office of Engineering and Technology staff. A Broadcom analysis “demonstrated that ENG systems can operate error-free with SINRs [signal to interference and noise ratio] at and above 1 dB and that interference from VLP transmitters is very unlikely to cause SINR levels to fall below that 1 dB threshold in any plausible operating scenario,” said a filing posted Friday in docket 18-295. New, supplemental analysis further “confirms that VLP devices in U-NII-6 and U-NII-8 do not present a significant risk of harmful interference and that mobile ENG systems will operate with a[n] SINR above 8 dB in every realistic scenario,” the filing said. Also in the meeting were Apple, Google, Meta Platforms and Qualcomm.