The FCC Public Safety and Wireless bureaus said the 800 MHz rebanding is complete in nine additional National Public Safety Planning Advisory Committee (NPSPAC) regions. With the rebanding a wrap, remaining channels in the interleaved segment of the band vacated by Sprint are now available for licensing to public safety entities and, later, to critical infrastructure entities. Unoccupied channels in the expansion band and guard band are also available for licensing, the bureaus said. The NPSPAC regions cover: Idaho, Kansas, Kentucky, Missouri, Montana, Eastern and Western Upstate New York (two regions), West Virginia and American Samoa. Finally, the bureaus announced the availability for licensing of additional channels vacated by Sprint in NPSPAC regions that aren't finished with band reconfiguration. Other channels outside those regions have also become available, the Tuesday notice said. The majority of vacated channels are in regions that had been affected by an application freeze along the border with Canada that has now been lifted, though other channels also are available, the bureaus said: “Potential applicants should check the Commission’s Vacated Channel Search Engine (VCSE) to determine which channels may be available in their region.” The 800 MHz rebanding has been in process since the FCC approved its landmark order in 2004.

The FCC Public Safety Bureau released certification and registration instructions for public safety answering points that request delivery of text-to-911 service from wireless carriers and interconnected over-the-top text providers. The FCC approved an order in August (see 1408110031) requiring both to have the capacity to transmit emergency texts to 911 call centers by the end of the year. Under the Tuesday notice, a PSAP is required to certify it's “technically ready” to accept texts and must demonstrate that the state or other 911 service governing authority has authorized it to accept texts. A PSAP must also notify covered text providers of its status, the bureau said. “At the Commission’s direction, the Bureau will maintain a centralized database that will list those PSAPs that have registered and certified their readiness to receive texts to 911, and will list the date of each PSAP’s request,” the bureau said. The FCC also posted the form PSAPs must fill out to become certified.

Wireless pricing is confusing to many subscribers, Glenn Lurie, new chief executive of AT&T’s mobile business, said in an interview with The New York Times. Lurie said AT&T wants to go beyond deal-of-the-day offers, citing new offerings that spring up almost daily. “Some of those offers are long-term offers, some of them are short-term,” he said. “Some of them stay for the customers and some of them don’t. I think we’re propagating some confusion in the market place -- us as an industry. There’s been so much noise in the industry. There’s been so much noise that customers are getting confused.” Lurie also said AT&T dropped the use of “super cookies," which track users' mobile activity in a deeper manner than in the past, because of subscriber “discomfort” with their use. “It’s a great example of us listening to our customers,” he said.

The unexpectedly high prices in the AWS-3 auction may reflect carrier recognition that unlike the TV incentive auction, the AWS spectrum will be immediately available for use, with none of the same uncertainties, Guggenheim Partners analyst Paul Gallant told us in an email. “Hard to say why everyone missed it by so much, but it’s pretty remarkable what’s happened on pricing,” Gallant said. “It could be that only carriers themselves truly see where mobile and video are taking the Internet. And AWS is a bird in the hand. There’s plenty of hopefulness around the broadcast auction, but AWS is here and now, which is powerful.”

Rules proposed by the FCC in February aren't a viable alternative to the wireless location accuracy road map proposed by the four major carriers, APCO and the National Emergency Number Association last month, said Verizon in reply comments posted in docket 07-114 Monday. Comments were due last week at the FCC (see 1412230037), and some were made public Monday. “Many Roadmap opponents erroneously presume that the NPRM’s proposed rules are technically feasible, contrary to the rulemaking record, and object to the Roadmap simply on the basis that it departs from the NPRM,” Verizon said. The carrier cautioned the FCC not to make major changes to the consensus proposal. “The Roadmap is an integrated combination of enforceable milestones that balances multiple public interest objectives, and supplementing or modifying it will undermine that careful balance,” the carrier said. T-Mobile offered a similar take in its reply comments. “The Roadmap sets into motion the necessary steps to implement and deploy a true dispatchable location solution -- something not one of the Roadmap’s critics has attempted to do and for which none of them has a proposed alternative,” T-Mobile said. NENA also urged adoption of the road map. “The record in this proceeding is replete with references to new technologies that can and will bring significant improvements to wireless location accuracy,” NENA said. “But to suggest that these benefits can somehow magically accrue to the installed base is, at best, disingenuous and, at worst, intentionally misleading.”

CEA, CTIA and the Telecommunications Industry Association asked the FCC to delay comment deadlines on the TV incentive auction procedures public notice for 30 days. Comments are currently due Jan. 30, replies Feb. 27. The FCC approved the PN on a 3-2 vote at the December open meeting (see 1412110065). Interested parties need time to “examine the novel issues raised by this auction and to develop a meaningful record in this proceeding,” the groups said. The AWS-3 auction is still in progress and several likely incentive auction bidders also are bidding in that auction, they said. “Key personnel for these companies are currently sequestered and may be unavailable to assist with comments and/or reply comments until bidding is complete.” Even after the auction is complete, there's a prohibition of certain communications between bidders for another 10 days, the groups reminded the FCC. “The requested extension will permit individual Auction 97 bidders to fully dedicate the resources of their auction experts to comments filed in this proceeding, and it will also permit industry associations such as Petitioners to engage in greater discussion with their member companies regarding comments and reply comments.” The Expanding Opportunities for Broadcasters Coalition filed in support of the delay. "This request is in the public interest and will provide interested parties an adequate opportunity to analyze the highly technical proposals in the Comment PN and address, in a meaningful manner, the important questions regarding the implementation of this complex and novel auction," the group said.

The industry road map for ensuring indoor location accuracy for wireless calls to 911 has gathered wide support and the FCC should move quickly to incorporate key provisions into its rules, CTIA said in a filing at the commission. The four major carriers, APCO and the National Emergency Number Association proposed the plan last month. “Public safety representatives and agencies from across the country eager for dispatchable location,” technology companies, members of the accessibility community and the “national carriers and wireless associations including those that represent small carriers” all support the plan, CTIA said in reply comments filed in docket 07-114, posted by the FCC Wednesday. “The Roadmap is a concrete, carefully-negotiated and -balanced solution to help deliver new and better E911 location accuracy,” CTIA said. “To be clear, however, the Roadmap is intended to function as an alternative -- not a supplement -- to the proposed standards and timetables in the Commission’s NPRM.” TruePosition, which offers an alternative solution for indoor location accuracy, however, said it's hardly a “consensus” plan. It's “opposed by the vast majority of public safety officials who have participated in this proceeding” and “there is scant evidence that the Plan would actually work,” TruePosition said. The carriers just want to “postpone fixing” a problem they caused to begin with, the company said: “The premise of the Roadmap is that if the FCC will simply leave the carriers alone they will someday fix the problem of poor indoor location capabilities for emergency 911 calls.” Officials with Telecommunications for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing reported on a meeting at the FCC. The FCC should look at the road map and other solutions, advocates for the group said. “We want the same capacity we had when we had the landline phones,” the officials said. “During those days, all we had to do was to dial 9-1-1, and help would come, with much success. When we call for an emergency, the first objective is for the dispatcher to get our call, and immediately know where the call came from. Then the dispatcher can send police, fire, or paramedics to the scene of the emergency.” “The Roadmap outlines a clear path to delivering first responders the necessary ‘dispatchable location’ information in an accelerated timeframe,” PCIA said in its reply comments. The plan also “leverages technologies that have been proven successful in commercial location services,” like Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, “rather than proprietary technologies without a commercial track record,” the group said. The road map was “the result of tough negotiations between APCO and NENA, on the one hand, and the Carrier Signatories, on the other,” AT&T told the FCC. APCO acknowledged the complaints of some 20 public safety commenters left out of negotiations on the road map. “Since finalizing the Roadmap, APCO has reached out extensively, and will continue to do so, to describe the Roadmap to all interested stakeholders and respond to any questions,” the group said. “Further, APCO welcomes the active assistance of these groups to implement the Roadmap’s solutions to this complex problem.”

ZTE USA announced availability of the ZTE Speed for $99 through Boost Mobile’s no-contract wireless service. The smartphone packs 4G LTE, Android 4.4, a 4.5-inch display and a 1.2-GHz quad-core processor, the company said Tuesday. It includes a 4.5-inch display, 5-megapixel rear camera and 2-megapixel front camera, it said. Plans start at $35 per month.

Comment deadlines are now set on a Nov. 21 public notice asking for “updated information” to help the FCC assess whether the agency’s hearing aid compatibility rules for wireless handsets effectively meet the needs of the deaf and hard of hearing, said a Tuesday public notice. Comments are due Jan. 22, replies Feb. 6.

Smart watch company Burg announced an all-stainless steel smart watch that can make and receive phone calls and texts without connecting to a smartphone. The watch comes with its own SIM card or can pair with an Android phone or with non-Android phones via Bluetooth, the company said Tuesday. It includes a Media Tek chip; voice activation; fitness apps to track steps, calories, sleep and sports schedule; GPS; Wi-Fi; an MP3/MP4 player; FM radio; voice recorder; 2 megapixel camera; contact list, calendar; calculator; alarm clock; 8 GB memory (upgradable to 16 GB with microSD) card; and a charging microSD port. The BURG 27, due in March, will debut at CES where pricing will be announced. Also at CES, the company will launch a Swarovski crystal Burg smartwatch/bracelet and a Wearables Franchise Shop, it said.