FCC Commissioner Olivia Trusty said Wednesday that she's already talking with the wireless industry, federal agencies and other upper C-band incumbents on moves to auction that spectrum within two years, as required by the reconciliation act. Trusty spoke at NTIA’s spectrum policy symposium (see 2509100051). “I also think we can look at lessons learned from the previous C-band auction,” she said. “There’s going to be tremendous interest” in the band, she predicted. “The clock is ticking. Time is of the essence, and 2027 will be here before we know it.”
NextNav CEO Mariam Sorond and other executives met with an aide to FCC Chairman Brendan Carr on the company’s proposal “to enable 5G-based 3D Positioning, Navigation, and Timing in the Lower 900 MHz band,” said a filing posted Tuesday in docket 25-110. NextNav officials “described the public interest benefits and technical and economic analyses supporting” the proposal and urged the commission “to promptly issue” an NPRM, the filing said. It also included a slide presentation making the case for the proposal.
The FCC Office of Engineering and Technology on Tuesday approved a waiver sought by Lumi United Technology for an ultra-wideband (UWB) door lock system that would operate in the 6-10 GHz frequency range (see 2504110043). “We find nothing in the record to indicate that Lumi’s devices would differ from other UWB devices such that they would pose an increased risk of causing harmful interference to authorized radio services,” OET said in docket 25-102.
AT&T said Tuesday that its five-year, $14 billion contract with Ericsson to build an open radio access network (see 2312050049) is already paying off. AT&T is “leveraging Ericsson’s advanced technologies to build a high-performing, energy-efficient, and sustainable network to meet growing data demands and enhance the customer experience,” the company said. “Key components” include multiband radios, ORAN technology and advanced software, “each contributing to greater agility, efficiency, and energy optimization.”
For the third straight year, the demand for wireless data grew by roughly 35%, “a pace that would nearly double the amount of data used every two years,” CTIA said in its annual survey, released Monday. Americans used 132 trillion megabytes of mobile data in 2024, up from 100 trillion in 2023, it said. U.S. consumers “are using more and more 5G data at home, on the road, and to drive innovation across industries, from healthcare to transportation, manufacturing and beyond.”
The Radio Technical Commission for Maritime Services backed a proposal from ShipCom and Global HF Net to offer their public coast station system for greater use by land-based parties (see 2508190030), as long as the use is temporary. The proposed use shouldn't “impede future maritime requirements for the spectrum in accordance with its allocated purpose.” It also shouldn’t be expanded into HF maritime mobile spectrum reallocated to automatic connection system and international navigational data system use, the group added.
The FCC Office of Engineering and Technology started proceedings Monday aimed at withdrawing recognition from seven test labs owned or controlled by the Chinese government. “The recognition of four other such labs [has] expired since the adoption of our rules and will not be renewed,” a news release said. The FCC has focused on blocking labs with ties to nations that present a security risk to the U.S. from testing devices that will be used here (see 2505220056).
The FCC Wireless Bureau is seeking comment by Sept. 17 on Viaero's requested waiver of citizens broadband radio service rules, said a Friday notice in docket 25-274. The company hopes to buy 10 priority access licenses from Citizens Band License Co. in seven counties in Colorado. FCC rules allow a company to own only four such licenses in a market, but with the purchase Viaero would have six in three of the counties and five in the others, the notice said.
T-Mobile had zero interest in the 3.45 GHz spectrum AT&T is buying from EchoStar as part of a $23 billion deal (see 2508260005), T-Mobile executives told attendees at financial conferences Thursday, echoing the sentiments of Verizon (see 2509030027). AT&T plans to quickly deploy the spectrum (see 2509050024).
A broad group of tech and auto industry associations urged the Trump administration to forgo imposing rules for connected vehicles that are different from those set by the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security (see 2508290051). The FCC is examining whether to change its rules for its “covered list” of unsecure companies to take into account connected vehicles. The groups addressed their letter, posted Friday in docket 18-89, to Jeffrey Kessler, Commerce undersecretary for industry and security, and FCC Chairman Brendan Carr.