The FCC Wireless Bureau on Wednesday granted a single license in the 900 MHz broadband segment to PDV Spectrum. The license covers Marshall County, Alabama. The FCC approved an order in 2020 reallocating a 6 MHz swath in the band for broadband, while maintaining 4 MHz for narrowband operations (see 2005130057).

Ericsson increased by about 300 million its projections for 5G subscribers in 2029, to 5.6 billion, based in part on a revised outlook for Africa. “We continue to see a robust uptake of 5G subscriptions worldwide, anticipating the addition of nearly 600 million new 5G subscriptions in 2024,” the report said. But Ericsson warned of the need for continued deployments of 5G stand-alone networks, beyond deployments by about 50 providers so far, and “additional densification of mid-band sites.” The report said mid-band so far has been driven by “extensive deployments” in India and North America. “Although 5G population coverage is growing, 5G mid-band is only deployed in around 25 percent of all sites globally outside of mainland China,” the report said: 5G mid-band offers “a sweet spot between both coverage and capacity, while improving user experience.”

The Coalition for Emergency Response and Critical Infrastructure (CERCI) this week launched another attack against giving FirstNet effective control of the 4.9 GHz band. AT&T disputed CERCI’s arguments. At the FCC, CERCI filed a recent Commerce Department Office of Inspector General report, which it said found “FirstNet failed in its oversight of AT&T’s compliance with device connection targets for public safety users.” The report said the FirstNet Authority “does not have reasonable assurance that the data AT&T is reporting is accurate and reliable to support the primary program objectives of public safety adoption and use of the network.” That claim points to “a serious failure of FirstNet to meet one of its fundamental responsibilities,” a Tuesday filing in docket 07-100 said. Jim Bugel, AT&T president-FirstNet, said in a statement, “Audits and reviews like these are a routine part of government oversight designed to provide independent perspective on federal entities’ operations.” He added, “No other wireless network is subject to this robust level of scrutiny and accountability, and no other wireless network has delivered more for public safety.” AT&T welcomes the oversight, Bugel said.

Verizon agreed to pay a fine of just more than $1 million and implement a compliance plan following a December 2022 outage that affected 911 voice-over-LTE calls in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee. The outage lasted one hour and 44 minutes and prevented "hundreds of 911 calls" from being completed through Verizon Wireless’ network, the FCC said Tuesday. Verizon experienced a similar outage in October 2022, the agency said. Verizon agreed to a consent decree with the Enforcement Bureau. “When you call 911 in an emergency, it’s critical that your call goes through,” FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel said. The December outage “was the result of the reapplication of a known flawed security policy update file by a Verizon Wireless employee,” the bureau said: “Verizon Wireless was aware that the version of the security policy update file that caused the outage was related to the root cause of the outage that occurred in October. Due to insufficient naming convention protocols and a failure to follow then-current implementation protocols, the flawed security policy update file was reintroduced into the Verizon Wireless network.”

CTIA and other organizations encouraged the FCC to collaborate as it seeks protection for survivors of domestic violence from abusers who may misuse connected car services. Reply comments were posted Tuesday in docket 22-238 (see 2405240067). The record "demonstrates a shared commitment among commenters to work with the commission to better protect survivors," CTIA said. "An approach that widens the scope of the proceeding" would force the commission to focus on "legal authority questions that ultimately divert from the shared and vital goal of helping survivors," the group said. The Alliance for Automotive Innovation warned that the Safe Connections Act doesn't allow the FCC to regulate original equipment manufacturers' privacy and data collection practices. The alliance warned that new regulations would "create compliance challenges while fomenting consumer confusion." The group also cited statutory and logistical hurdles to accommodating line separation requests for connected car services, noting they use only one phone number. The FCC should "promote access and utility of supportive services to survivors," said Electronic Privacy Information Center, Clinic to End Tech Abuse, National Network to End Domestic Violence and Public Knowledge in joint comments. The groups urged the FCC to continue working with stakeholders to "develop an anti-abusable framework for connected devices."

Apple representatives met with an aide to FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel on the company’s support for a geofenced variable power (GVP) device class in the 6 GHz band (see 2404290035). Apple noted its agreement with commenters “who explained how flexible power levels enabled by adoption of the GVP proposal will greatly improve reliability, performance, and consumer benefits of portable unlicensed devices without creating a significant risk of harmful interference to incumbent licensees,” a filing posted Tuesday in docket 18-295 said. Apple representatives also joined with executives from Broadcom, Google, Meta Platforms and Qualcomm in a meeting with staff from the FCC Office of Engineering and Technology. They discussed the strong momentum behind Wi-Fi deployment in the 6 GHz band. In 2024, manufacturers expect to ship 147.2 million Wi-Fi 6E access points, 23.12 million Wi-Fi 7 APs, 576.2 million Wi-Fi 6E devices and 231.4 million Wi-Fi 7 devices, the companies said. Both Wi-Fi standards use 6 GHz spectrum. “The Commission has fostered a robust Wi-Fi ecosystem that steadily grows year after year -- as evidenced by the strong demand for Wi-Fi access points,” they said.

The FCC Wireless Bureau Monday approved utility company Evergy's request for a waiver of the agency’s 2018 900 MHz licensing freeze, thus providing it with access to additional spectrum (see 1809130064). The bureau noted that when it sought comment on the request last year, there were no filings in support or opposition (see 2309120047). “Grant of a waiver is in the public interest, as Evergy has demonstrated a long-standing need to upgrade and expand a complex multi-state communications system that is critical to its extensive utility operations and the safety of its personnel, and thereby replace significantly older, no longer supported network equipment,” the bureau said. Evergy has headquarters in Topeka, Kansas, and in Kansas City, Missouri.

A representative of the Open Technology Institute (OTI) at New America discussed the future of the 12 and 42 GHz bands in a meeting with an aide to FCC Commissioner Geoffrey Starks, a filing posted Monday in docket 20-443 said. In the 12 GHz band, OTI supports a tribal set-aside and a “use it or share it” condition, the filing said. OTI noted that the FCC sought comment on the 42 GHz band last year (see 2310020041): Comments “demonstrate a general consensus that a sharing framework premised on open access, non-exclusive licensing by rule, and automated database coordination will best serve the public interest.”

Dover became the latest city to urge the FCC not to grant the FirstNet Authority effective control of the 4.9 GHz band (see 2406210045). The FCC’s current 4.9 GHz rules “allow effective communications by public-safety agencies and their partners in Dover, and throughout Delaware,” a filing last week in docket 07-100 said.

The FirstNet Authority board approved on Monday a $684 million budget package for FY 2025. The budget includes $100.2 million for operations and $534 million to fund network enhancements. “We are committed to investing in the future of FirstNet and public safety communications through innovation and expanding coverage,” FirstNet Authority CEO Joe Wassel said: “This is a top priority.” The authority noted it has made several investments to expand the network, including enhancing in-building coverage through small-cell technologies and expanding the fleet of deployable assets. The authority has also invested in “initial generational upgrades to the network core for 5G capabilities and beyond.”