The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit, relying in part on an advisory opinion from the FCC, said Thursday a lower court erred in granting a credit agency summary relief in a case that looked at whether it violated the Telephone Consumer Protection Act by repeatedly autodialing the mobile phone of the son-in-law of an electric utility's deceased customer after he failed to pay an electric bill. The court remanded the case, Albert A. Nigro v. Mercantile Adjustment Bureau, for further review (http://bit.ly/1qDKgxx). National Grid hired MAB to collect an outstanding balance of $67 allegedly owed by Nigro's deceased mother-in-law, the court said. MAB transmitted an autodialed message to Nigro 72 times over nine months. “Since Nigro did not consent to the calls, they were prohibited by the TCPA, and the district court erred in granting summary judgment to MAB,” the court said. The court said it specifically was not ruling on what the outcome would be “if a consumer were to open an account with a creditor and initially provide only his home phone number, but later in the course of the relationship provide a wireless number.” In a July advisory opinion, the FCC Office of General Counsel said MAB’s actions violated the TCPA (http://bit.ly/1vsEoZT).

PCIA President Jonathan Adelstein urged improved access to federal lands for companies that build wireless infrastructure, in a speech to a federal lands workshop at the HetNet Expo Thursday. Adelstein said progress has been slow and the workshop is intended to “jumpstart” the process, in prepared remarks. More than 30 percent of America’s landmass is owned, or controlled, by the federal government, he said. “These are some of the hardest lands to site wireless infrastructure,” he said. “Yet they are also some of the most remote, where broadband is especially critical for public safety and economic development. If our industry confronts heavy obstacles to deployment in areas where the business case is already most difficult, the result is that investment goes elsewhere.” The federal government wins if rules for facility deployment are relaxed, he said. More broadband means military families on remote bases have the same Internet access “they would expect off-base so that they can remain connected to their loved ones,” he said. War fighters gain access “to training opportunities on the most advanced technologies,” he said. Public safety agencies also need better access to broadband, he said: “Our executive agencies throughout the federal government, like the Bureau of Land Management, the U.S. Forest Service, and the National Park Service, need broadband to more efficiently meet their missions and protect their personnel.”

FCC Commissioner Ajit Pai said he knows firsthand the importance of wireless ISPs, since he grew up in a small town in Kansas where a WISP was the only source for high-speed Internet, speaking Wednesday at WISPAPALOOZA, an annual meeting for WISPs. “I believe the FCC should be on the side of entrepreneurs like WISPs, and that means in part being in favor of unlicensed spectrum,” he said. Pai said he was looking closely at concerns raised by WISPA about restrictions the FCC places on out-of-band emissions in the 5725-5850 MHz band (see 1408250034). “I take those concerns seriously,” Pai said (http://bit.ly/11wleKQ). “And I hope the FCC will work with WISPA and develop an engineering solution and implementation schedule that will satisfy everyone’s concerns.” Pai said he's also pushing to open bands for unlicensed use. “Gigabit wireless throughput is at our doorstep,” he said. Pai said his parents still rely on Wave Wireless for service, a WISP with more than 23,000 customers in southeast Kansas. Wave’s story “isn’t unusual,” he said. “At last count, about 2,000 WISPs in the United States serve approximately 2 million consumers.”

Correction: The place Chad Weller died in March, after falling 180 feet off a tower, was Pasadena, Maryland 1410140094.

Labor Secretary Thomas Perez and FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler pledged to work together to curb fatalities among communications tower workers, the subject Tuesday of a workshop at the FCC 1410140083. The tower industry may be small, with 10,000-15,000 employees, “but it's quickly proving to be one of the most dangerous,” the two said in a Wednesday blog post (http://fcc.us/1oaTaag). “And if we don't do something now, the number of fatalities will grow as fast as the industry does.” Industry and the government must work together, they said: “We each have a role to play in stopping these senseless tragedies.”

FCC Commissioner Mike O’Rielly urged the FCC to act to curtail the number of calls to 911 from cellphones that are no longer in service, but under agency rules must still be capable of calling 911. The FCC raised the issue in a 2013 notice of inquiry (http://bit.ly/1nmd1CE), five years after public safety groups asked the FCC to change its rules, citing the huge number of fraudulent calls to 911 from users who can’t be traced. In a Tuesday blog post (http://fcc.us/1sSQZbA), O’Rielly said public safety groups asked that the phones no longer be allowed to call 911, when they responded to the NOI. But the FCC has taken no further action, he said. O’Rielly said public safety officials have repeatedly brought the issue to his attention. “Public safety officials have told me that some consumers are inadvertently dialing 911, while others are intentionally prank calling 911,” he wrote. “Whether inadvertent or intentional, the Commission needs to review its existing rules to ensure that they do not enable unwanted 911 calls to emergency personnel.” Pocket or “butt-dialing” 911 has also emerged as a big issue, O’Rielly said. “While the full scope of the problem is not known, my visits to the New York City and Anchorage Public Service Answering Points suggest that roughly 70 percent of 911 calls are made by wireless devices and 50 percent or more are the result of pocket dialing,” he said.

Google filed an application at the FCC to do tests in the 3.5 GHz band in Mountain View, California, and in suburban Washington, D.C., consulting engineer Steve Crowley said in a blog post (http://bit.ly/1wB4X0H). “Google’s testing in the 3.5 GHz band isn’t a surprise, given its general support for the FCC’s proposed rules allowing commercial operation in the 3.550-3.650 GHz band,” Crowley said. Google also filed a second application to do tests in the 5.8, 24, 72, and 82 GHz bands in Mountain View and San Mateo County, California, Crowley said. Google requested confidential treatment of both applications.

Correction: Where Tamara Preiss is a vice president is at Verizon 1410140004.

The American Bankers Association asked the FCC to exempt certain time-sensitive informational calls, which are placed with no charge to the called parties, from the Telephone Consumer Protection Act’s restrictions on automated calls to mobile devices. The request came in a petition filed at the agency (http://bit.ly/1r4244b) Tuesday. ABA sought the exemption for calls about: “(1) transactions and events that suggest a risk of fraud or identity theft; (2) possible breaches of the security of customers’ personal information; (3) steps consumers can take to prevent or remedy harm caused by data security breaches; and (4) actions needed to arrange for receipt of pending money transfers,” said the petition. ABA President Frank Keating said the exemptions would ensure banks can protect consumers. “Effective fraud prevention requires the earliest possible contact with the customer,” Keating said.

The FCC Wireless Bureau sought comment on a waiver request by RECCO to permit equipment authorization and licensing of RECCO’s avalanche rescue system, which uses spectrum at 902.85 MHz. The system uses a handheld detector and passive reflectors integrated into apparel, helmets, protection gear or boots, the bureau said Tuesday (http://bit.ly/11kjowyhttp://bit.ly/11kjowy). “The signal from the reflector is received by the detector and enables search and rescue personnel to home in on the location of skiers, snowboarders, and others buried in avalanches.” But a waiver is needed because FCC rules don't permit nonvehicular location services in the 902-904 MHz band, the bureau said. Comments are due Nov. 13, replies Nov. 28. RECCO says on its website the system is used by more than 700 rescue organizations worldwide to find buried avalanche victims (http://bit.ly/11kjowy).