T-Mobile representatives met with FCC staffers to discuss the difficulty of calculating eligible and supported households for the purposes of fixed wireless access as the agency considers the company’s proposed buy of wireless assets from UScellular. Parts of the filing, posted Wednesday in docket 24-286, were redacted.
Since any FCC action on EchoStar's use of the 2 GHz band could affect the future of open radio access network deployments, more time to comment on the relevant public notices is warranted, a collection of interest groups said Tuesday (docket 25-173). Public Knowledge, the Open Technology Institute at New America, the Benton Institute for Broadband & Society and the Institute for Local Self-Reliance backed Incompas' call to add 30 days to the comment deadline for the FCC's EchoStar public notices (see 2505190056). The groups said the extra time is also justified because the FCC must consider the effect on EchoStar's Dish Network subscribers if the commission makes it impossible for Dish to expand its 5G network to the point of viability.
A new report by CableLabs warned that Wi-Fi is running out of spectrum given spiraling demand, and it urged policymakers to preserve the 6 GHz band for unlicensed use. The report came as Congress scrambles to identify 600 MHz of spectrum for full-power licensed use (see 2505140062).
The FCC Enforcement Bureau issued a warning to Miami’s Biscayne Towing & Salvage for allegedly operating a radio that was interfering with 156.8 MHz (VHF Marine Channel 16), following a complaint by the U.S. Coast Guard. Operation on the frequency “is reserved for the marine radio service and is for ship to ship or ship to shore (coast station) operation,” said a notice posted Tuesday. It gave the business 10 days to report back on what steps it has taken to ensure the interference has stopped and won't happen again.
The FCC Office of Engineering and Technology on Tuesday approved waivers sought by Comsearch and C3Spectra, which provide automated frequency coordination systems in the 6 GHz band, to take building entry loss into account for “composite” standard- and low-power devices that are restricted to operating indoors. “We find that granting this waiver will serve the public interest by increasing the utility of 6 GHz unlicensed devices without increasing the potential for these devices to cause harmful interference to licensed services that share the spectrum,” OET said.
The FCC Wireless Bureau announced Tuesday that it found a spectrum transaction between Grain Management and T-Mobile to be “acceptable for filing” and started a pleading cycle. The companies said in March that Grain Management would buy all of T-Mobile's 800 MHz spectrum in exchange for cash and Grain's 600 MHz spectrum portfolio (see 2503210033).
CTIA told the FCC there appears to be broad agreement (see 2504210013) that the commission should move carefully as it considers changes to wireless emergency alerts, which were proposed in a February Further NPRM. Replies were due Monday in dockets 15-94 and 15-91. The FNPRM proposed allowing more flexibility in issuing alerts using a “Public Safety Message” classification (see 2502270042).
The Better Business Bureau's National Advertising Division recommended that T-Mobile drop an advertising slogan that says, “Holidays Are Coming in Hot: Families: Save 20%.” Verizon had complained to the NAD, which “determined that, despite T-Mobile having modified the savings claims to explicitly reference streaming services, one message that continues to be conveyed is that consumers who switch to T-Mobile from Verizon can save 20%, and that those savings are achieved through plan costs alone,” said a Monday release. T-Mobile plans to appeal the decision, the release said.
Representatives of the National Consumer Law Center urged the FCC to take a limited approach in response to a petition by the Ecommerce Innovation Alliance and others asking the agency to issue a declaratory ruling that people who provide prior express written consent to receive text messages can't claim damages under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act for messages received outside the hours of 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. (see 2503030036). Representatives met with aides to FCC Chairman Brendan Carr, said a filing posted Monday in docket 02-278. The center said the FCC could address the Edison Electric Institute's complaints (see 2504280016) “by issuing a waiver for communications seeking enrollment in demand response programs,” without making other changes.
The Coalition for Emergency Response and Critical Infrastructure (CERCI) and AT&T disagreed sharply on the Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials’ request that the FCC launch an NPRM on rules for the 4.9 GHz band (see 2502070020), including increasing the equivalent isotropically radiated power (EIRP) limits to make the band more attractive for 5G. Reply comments were due Thursday in docket 07-100.