The FCC Wireless Bureau is on the right path in proposing to modernize and streamline the rules for cellular licenses in the 800 MHz band, said Jeanine Poltronieri, AT&T assistant vice president-federal regulatory, Thursday in a blog post. “We're pleased that the proposal currently before the Commission will streamline the 800 MHz rules and make the transition from site-by-site to geographic area licensing,” she said (http://bit.ly/1uH9LDl). “And while some vestiges of site-by-site licensing may still remain in the proposal, those are to be expected when moving from such a complex, 30-year-old licensing regime."

Various public interest groups, joined by Sprint and T-Mobile, asked the FCC to do a thorough review of various proposed AT&T spectrum purchases now before the agency. The Thursday letter, to all FCC members, cited proposed buys of low-band spectrum licenses from Club 42 and Plateau Communications. The letter said AT&T has been active in the secondary spectrum market. “Permitting AT&T, already the largest competitor in most of these markets, to purchase this low-band spectrum would deny competitors the opportunity to enter or expand services in the market and result in further concentration of market share in the affected geographic areas,” the letter said. Concerns are growing, it said. “As available low-band spectrum is highly concentrated, secondary market transactions will become an increasingly important avenue for competitive carriers to acquire low-band spectrum.” Among groups signing on were Comptel, the Computer & Communications Industry Association, Free Press, New America Foundation and Public Knowledge. “AT&T is confident that after a careful, enhanced factor review, the bureau will conclude that both of these small deals will cause no harm to competition and will result in significant public interest benefits,” AT&T said in response to the letter.

The FCC Public Safety Bureau gave Iowa an extra year to meet an interim “substantial service” requirement as it builds out a public safety network using 700 MHz spectrum. The FCC imposed the requirement to assure that spectrum dedicated to public safety after the 2009 DTV transition would be used as planned, the bureau said in a Wednesday order (http://bit.ly/1vOW6s6). The original deadline was June 13, but Iowa asked for an extension and the bureau agreed to give it one, until June 13, 2015. The order said the Iowa system is contingent on funding from the state legislature, which is not in session again until January. “Given Iowa’s efforts to realize its intention to make use of the state license, it would be premature to cancel Iowa’s state license at this time,” the bureau said.

The FCC should move forward on rules streamlining the approval process for wireless facilities, said PCIA President Jonathan Adelstein and others from the association in a meeting with FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler, said a filing posted Wednesday in docket 13-238. “Clear FCC rules in this proceeding will promote broadband deployment, encourage investment in upgraded wireless infrastructure, and improve service coverage, capacity, and quality for consumers,” the group said (http://bit.ly/1t3dYT7). PCIA also said there is a “historically high level of capital” being invested in broadband deployment.

U.S. wireless customers pay an average of more than 17 percent in combined federal, state and local taxes and fees on their cellphone bills, the Tax Foundation said Wednesday in a report. The federal tax rate is 5.82 percent, while the state tax rate averages about 11.23 percent, the Tax Foundation said. Washington state has the highest state tax rate on cellphone bills at 18.6 percent, while Oregon has the lowest at 1.76 percent. Baltimore, Chicago, New York and Omaha, Nebraska, all have effective tax rates of more than 25 percent on cellphone bills, the Tax Foundation said (http://bit.ly/1sckeFC).

There’s plenty of reason for the FCC to act on T-Mobile’s petition for changes to the May spectrum holdings order, T-Mobile said in reply comments. T-Mobile argued in an August reconsideration petition that the FCC went too far to accommodate AT&T and Verizon at the expense of challengers (http://bit.ly/1mFZ10O). T-Mobile also challenged the FCC’s decision to set aside spectrum for competitors only when the bids reach a still-to-be determined trigger amount, which guarantees the auction will fund FirstNet, pay the cost of relocating broadcasters and other expenses. “The Commission’s discussion regarding linking the spectrum reserve trigger to a MHz-POP price threshold is limited and mechanical, and not based on any record support,” said T-Mobile’s reply. “At a minimum, the Commission’s limited discussion of its decision to link the spectrum reserve trigger to the second MHz-POP-based reserve price falls far short of the requirement under well-settled principles of administrative law that the Commission ‘articulate a satisfactory explanation for’ its decision.” T-Mobile said events dictate the FCC reconsider the rules. No opponent of the recon petition “seriously contends that the Commission’s decision to warn against any transactions among the national carriers, or its decision to circulate an item preventing joint bidding among any of the national carriers, are events or circumstances that occurred before the public’s last opportunity to present arguments,” T-Mobile said.

With surveys showing that three out of four drivers believe hands-free technology is safe to use, “Americans may be surprised to learn that these popular new vehicle features may actually increase mental distraction,” the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety said Tuesday (http://bit.ly/1nc22fb). New research it commissioned suggests developers “can improve the safety of their products by making them less complicated, more accurate and generally easier to use,” it said. “While manufacturers continue their efforts to develop and refine systems that reduce distractions, AAA encourages drivers to minimize cognitive distraction by limiting the use of most voice-based technologies.” Using specialized equipment designed to measure reaction times, University of Utah researchers “evaluated and ranked common voice-activated interactions based on the level of cognitive distraction generated,” it said. The research team used a five-category rating system, similar to the scale used for ranking hurricanes’ strength, it said. It found the accuracy of voice recognition software “significantly influences the rate of distraction,” it said. Systems with low accuracy and reliability generated a high level (category 3) of distraction, it said. Composing text messages and emails using in-vehicle technologies (category 3) was more distracting than using these systems to listen to messages (category 2), it said. “The quality of the systems’ voice had no impact on distraction levels -- listening to a natural or synthetic voice both rated as a category 2 level of distraction."

The International Trade Commission voted to open an investigation into a complaint that Samsung smartphones and tablets and the Samsung and Qualcomm processors built into those devices infringe Nvidia patents, the ITC said Monday (http://1.usa.gov/ZPS8Wk). Nvidia filed the complaint Sept. 4, seeking an exclusion order and a cease and desist order, the commission said. The complaint named Samsung Electronics America and its Korean parent as respondents, along with Samsung Telecommunications America, of Richardson, Texas; Samsung Semiconductor, of San Jose; and Qualcomm. Samsung corporate declined comment Tuesday. The opening of the investigation “is just the next step in the ITC procedure,” Qualcomm spokeswoman Yelena Tebcherani said in a Tuesday email, without commenting on the merits of the Nvidia complaint.

All 800 MHz licensees that have not completed physical retuning should get started “expeditiously,” the 800 MHz Transition Administrator said in a quarterly report, posted by the FCC Friday (http://bit.ly/1Elv7KF). The administrator is overseeing the ongoing 800 MHz rebanding. “A delay in the completion of an implementation task by a licensee that has a downstream impact on other licensees ... can have a cascading effect and cause delays for other dependent licensees and, in some cases, for an entire region,” the TA said. The TA reported progress in the last area to start retuning, radios located in areas along the Mexican border. More than half of these licensees have a Frequency Reconfiguration Agreement and are getting started, the TA said. The report addresses the quarter ending June 30.

The FCC is right to penalize companies like Marriott International for intentionally interfering with Wi-Fi networks (http://fcc.us/1rRzKH2), said Scott Bergmann, CTIA vice president-regulatory affairs, Monday. “CTIA supports the FCC’s efforts to stop the illegal use of jammers,” he said. “We encourage the FCC to keep imposing high fines against those who market or use these illegal devices since they may cause significant issues for consumers, as well as for public safety and first responders.”