AT&T is prepared for the start of hurricane season, the carrier said Monday. It has a new 45-foot custom-built landing craft "capable of transporting trucks, network assets and other solutions,” and public safety agencies subscribed to FirstNet “have 24/7 access to a dedicated nationwide fleet of more than 180 deployable network assets,” the company said.
The U.S. is “poorly positioned to counter China’s effort to win the wireless future,” said new CTIA President and CEO Ajit Pai in a weekend opinion piece in The Wall Street Journal. Carriers lack enough licensed spectrum to keep up with expected consumer demand, wrote Pai, who served as FCC chairman during the first Trump presidency. “Thanks to AI, 5G home broadband and other emerging technologies, traffic on wireless networks is expected to triple by 2029.”
UL Solutions asked the FCC to further extend the deadline from May 3 to June 13 to complete its initial work as lead administrator in the agency’s voluntary cyber trust mark program (see 2503040062). The Public Safety Bureau previously extended the original March deadline by 60 days (see 2503050025).
Competitive Carriers Association representatives spoke with aides to FCC Chairman Brendan Carr about the agency's broadband data collection (BDC) “and the importance of an improved mobile mapping process in general” as it moves forward on a 5G Fund. Representatives of Nex-Tech Wireless, Ookla and Cellcom/Nsight were also at the meeting.
UScellular executives on Friday projected a mid-2025 closing on the proposed sale of wireless assets to T-Mobile following regulatory approvals. During a call with analysts to release Q1 results, UScellular said it lost 39,000 postpaid subscribers in the period ending March 31.
T-Mobile told the FCC that it complied with an unlocking requirement that was part of the order a year ago approving its acquisition of Mint Mobile and other assets from Ka’ena (see 2404250047). The redacted filing, posted Friday (docket 23-171), blanks out the number of devices that were unlocked. T-Mobile agreed to unlock “all Mint Mobile and Ultra Mobile devices activated on the T-Mobile network both pre- and post-closing.” That concession was less than what public interest and consumer groups sought and not as broad as an earlier Verizon unlocking agreement.
NextNav told the FCC it's working with location and monitoring services (LMS) licensees to address concerns about the company's proposal that the FCC reconfigure the 902-928 MHz band to enable a “terrestrial complement” to GPS for positioning, navigation and timing services. Initial comments were due last week on the FCC’s broad investigation of the NextNav proposal and other GPS issues (see 2504290042).
T-Mobile is making several changes to its network ahead of hurricane and wildfire season, the carrier said Thursday. “T-Mobile’s Enhanced Self-Organizing Network (SON) uses real-time data and AI to detect issues and adapt automatically, ensuring more reliable connectivity before, during and after disasters,” it said.
CEO Emmett Fitch and others from OptimERA met with aides to FCC Commissioners Nathan Simington and Anna Gomez on the company’s proposal for mobile service under the Alaska Connect Fund. Fitch provided “background on OptimERA’s history, current cellular business, and plans to develop and launch new cellular service in dozens of small, unserved, tribal villages in Alaska,” said a filing Thursday in docket 23-328.
FirstNet Authority Chief Counsel Mike Cannon is now its executive director and CEO, NTIA announced Thursday. The announcement doesn’t mention Joseph Wassel, a DOD veteran, who was picked to lead the authority two years ago (see 2303100023). Cannon has served at the Commerce Department since 1992 in various positions, including chief counsel for economic affairs.