CTIA called on the FCC to update its rules to spur the deployment of unmanned aircraft systems (UAS). “Decades-old restrictions on airborne spectrum use in certain bands, which were put in place when only traditional aircraft existed, limit the ability to use modern communications networks to support UAS operations,” CTIA said in a filing posted Tuesday in docket 25-133. Current spectrum regulations “prohibit airborne operations in some bands due to restrictions in either the federal rules themselves or the Table of Frequency Allocations.” But these restrictions didn’t “contemplate the interference-mitigation capabilities of modern wireless network design, nor development of low-altitude air vehicles like drones. Such airborne use restrictions on flexible-use commercial wireless spectrum are outdated, burdensome, and impede innovation, making them ripe for Commission review.”
The Rural Wireless Association fired back at Verizon and UScellular arguments that the FCC should approve their proposed spectrum deal (see 2507230030). Replies were due Friday in docket 25-192. Last week, RWA and other groups filed a challenge to an FCC Wireless Bureau order approving T-Mobile’s buy of wireless assets from UScellular, which is exiting the business (see 2507110045).
Operators of tolling systems won't be affected by NextNav's proposal to reconfigure the 902-928 MHz band to allow a “terrestrial complement” to GPS for positioning, navigation and timing services, according to a study that the company filed at the FCC. It supplements a Brattle Group report that NextNav filed previously (see 2507180034).
The Wireless Innovation Forum released last week “Developments Towards a More Robust and Dynamic Spectrum Sharing Network,” a member-approved document that calls for improvements in sharing systems, including in the citizens broadband radio service (CBRS) and for 6 GHz automated frequency coordination (AFC). The document was written by a working group that WInnForum launched a year ago (see 2408220049).
The FCC Wireless Bureau on Friday approved a waiver of Section 96.39(g) of commission rules that allows the University of Utah to operate a research tool using an experimental license over a small area in Salt Lake City. The rule section covers security requirements for citizens broadband radio service devices. In 2022, commenters raised concerns about the proposed waiver (see 2207190047), needed for wireless research using the university’s platform for open wireless data-driven experimental research (POWDER).
Edison Electric Institute, which represents electric utilities, and financial associations met with an aide to Commissioner Anna Gomez about their request for changes to robotext rules approved by commissioners last year (see 2402160048), said a filing Friday in docket 02-278. “The Order requires a business that receives a text from a consumer (i.e., ‘stop’) in response to one type of message to stop receiving all future communications from that business by phone or text on unrelated matters -- even if that was not the consumer’s intent,” the filing said.
T-Mobile closed its purchase of spectrum, customers and other assets from UScellular, it announced Friday. The closing of the $4.3 billion deal was expected, though opponents filed an application for review just days before, asking the FCC to rescind the approval, which was done on delegated authority by the Wireless Bureau (see 2507310041). UScellular's brand "will transition in phases," T-Mobile said.
The National Spectrum Consortium on Thursday released a case study on Peraton Labs' dynamic spectrum management system, which was developed with $18 million in federal support and trialed by DOD. The operational spectrum comprehension, analytics and response (OSCAR) platform “was demonstrated successfully in nearly a dozen DoD field exercises and installed permanently at Fort Huachuca” in Arizona, the case study said. “It has reduced the time spent locating spectrum interference in training operations from hours or days to under ten minutes.”
CTIA representatives met with aides to the three FCC commissioners in support of a draft NPRM on agency enforcement of the National Environmental Policy Act, which is set for a vote at Thursday's commissioner meeting (see 2507170048). CTIA “strongly supports adoption of the Draft NPRM and expeditious action by the FCC on its proposals,” said a filing posted Thursday in docket 25-217. “As the Draft NPRM outlines, environmental reviews are only statutorily required for projects that a Federal agency determines are subject to substantial control by that agency, and review is not required where a statutory exclusion applies, such as for non-Federal actions with no or minimal Federal funding or involvement.”
Representatives of the 5G Automotive Association met with an aide to FCC Commissioner Olivia Trusty on the group’s concerns about interference caused by out-of-band emissions (OOBE) from very-low-power and potential new geofenced variable-power devices in the 6 GHz band to cellular-vehicle-to-everything (C-V2X) operations in the 5.9 GHz band.