Garmin International filed a petition for rulemaking at the FCC asking for a review of technical limitations on the frequency and duration of automated digital data transmissions by handheld general mobile radio service (GMRS) devices. Garmin noted in an undocketed filing that it was required to file the petition as a condition of a January waiver allowing Garmin to offer handheld GMRS devices that transmit digital data communications as often as every five seconds. Current rules allow one transmission during every 30-second period. The proposed modifications to Section 95.1787 of FCC rules “will allow manufacturers to market hand-held GMRS devices that increase public safety by enabling the automatic transmission of digital data, such as GPS data and text messages, utilizing a new protocol,” said the petition, filed Wednesday. “The existing protocol for data transmissions set forth in the Commission’s rules should be maintained as an alternative to Garmin’s proposed new protocol.”
T-Mobile’s SpaceX-enabled text messaging service, T-Mobile Starlink, is just the start of space-based communications the carrier plans to offer, CFO Peter Osvaldik said late Wednesday at a Morgan Stanley financial conference. Much of the discussion was about satellite communications and fiber, demonstrating T-Mobile’s evolving business plan.
The FCC Public Safety Bureau gave UL Solutions an additional 60 days to complete its initial work as lead administrator in the agency’s voluntary cyber trust mark program (see 2503040062). The extension gives UL until May 3, said an order in Wednesday’s Daily Digest. The request “is limited to only 60 days and will allow UL the additional time needed to ensure the recommendations are thoroughly considered and discussed among stakeholders,” the bureau said. “We find this reasonable given the highly technical and complex issues being considered, the industry coordination involved, and the benefit to the Commission from receiving complete and thorough recommendations.”
The Wireless ISP Association reported Wednesday on a meeting with an aide to FCC Chairman Brendan Carr about non-spectrum issues. The commission should “ensure that additional data collection and reporting burdens are not imposed on smaller providers” and “permanently eliminate the requirement that a licensed professional engineer” certify broadband data collection submissions, WISPA said in a filing in 10-90 and other dockets. WISPs urged the FCC not to adopt proposals in a Further NPRM on broadband consumer labels. “Existing requirements are sufficient to allow consumers to compare broadband options,” and proposals in the notice “would impose unnecessary burdens on broadband providers,” it said. The group also said all broadband providers “should have access to utility poles and public rights-of-way [at] neutral and non-discriminatory rates and terms on par with telecommunications and cable services.”
T-Mobile is going deep in the advertising space. The carrier completed its buy of digital-out-of-home ad company Vistar Media for $600 million (see 2501130044), T-Mobile said Wednesday. T-Mobile also announced the acquisition of advertising company Blis for about $175 million in cash. Vistar works with other companies to place ads on digital screens, including on billboards and at bus stops. “As one of the largest advertisers in the U.S., T-Mobile manages complex campaigns across multiple business units and products,” said Vinayak Hegde, T-Mobile's consumer chief marketing officer. “That means we need ad solutions that are both consumer-friendly and capable of delivering results at scale.”
The FCC received additional comments urging the agency to take its time finalizing rules for the Alaska Connect Fund (ACF) and provide flexibility where possible. The comments were posted Wednesday in docket 23-328. WTA agreed with comments "that it would be premature for the Commission to try to design a subsidy program for the Alaska Connect Fund in light of all ... the presently unknown conditions that will affect deployment." The broadband maps that are needed to better understand where support should flow also haven't been finalized, WTA said.
AT&T CEO John Stankey is optimistic that the FCC under new Chairman Brendan Carr will make more spectrum available for full-power, licensed use, though the business leader sounded a note of caution about the round of tariffs that President Donald Trump announced on Tuesday.
Airspan Networks announced Tuesday an agreement to acquire Jabil’s open radio access network radio portfolio and associated intellectual property rights. “The acquisition brings a range of single, dual, and triple band macro radios, designed to support global operators across multiple spectrum bands,” Airspan said. The portfolio “contributes to Airspan’s long-term product evolution and innovation in a rapidly growing market.” The buy includes Jabil’s radio research and development team.
GSMA pegged the investment in mobile internet connectivity infrastructure at $244 billion annually over the past five years, including spending on end-user devices. Mobile network operators make the biggest investment at $109 billion each year, said a report released at the Mobile World Congress. Consumers spend about $95 billion annually on smartphones and other devices. Without these investments, “we wouldn’t have access to services such as online banking, remote working platforms, and streaming services, just to name a few,” GSMA said: “Large online business models have evolved in a way that would not have been feasible without the investments into the connectivity infrastructure that enables them.”
UL Solutions, which the FCC picked in December to serve as lead administrator in the agency’s voluntary cyber trust mark program (see 2412040038), asked for an additional 60 days to complete its initial work. UL's deadline was Monday. “The stakeholder process is well underway,” said a filing posted Tuesday in docket 23-239. “As Lead, we have selected stakeholders to participate in three committees overseeing the workstreams needed to develop and provide the recommendations” required in an order the commissioners approved a year ago (see 2403140034). The committees oversee technical requirements, labeling and market surveillance/renewal. The technical requirements committee faces the heaviest workload, and its initial recommendations are only about one-third complete, the filing said. The committee “will require additional work ... to reach a document that provides a complete and thorough set of technical requirements for an initial class of IOT products and reflects the views, experience, and expertise of the stakeholders who have joined the process.”