Both sides agreed to a briefing schedule in a case challenging the FCC’s order to give use of the 4.9 GHz band to the FirstNet Authority and, indirectly, AT&T (see 2410220027). The schedule was submitted last week to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, which will hear the case (24-1363).
The U.S. government urged the 2nd Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals not to look to the 5th Circuit decision overturning an AT&T data fine when it hears arguments Tuesday concerning a $46.9 million penalty the FCC levied against Verizon. The carrier hopes the 2nd Circuit will follow the 5th’s direction (see 2504180021). “The FCC forfeiture order AT&T challenged, which involved AT&T’s location-based-service program, is nearly identical to the order Verizon challenges here,” the carrier told the court. The government responded Friday in docket 24-1733.
Helium, which provides decentralized wireless communications, said Thursday that it has signed an agreement with AT&T, under which the carrier’s wireless subscribers will have access to Helium's network and sharing technology. AT&T will compensate Helium per gigabyte used. “AT&T is dedicated to continuously enhancing network efficiency and expanding connectivity options for our customers,” said Timothy Tweedle, AT&T Mobility's principal interconnection agreements manager.
Opponents of T-Mobile’s proposed buy of wireless assets from UScellular met with aides to FCC Commissioner Nathan Simington to elaborate on their concerns, said a filing posted Thursday in docket 24-286. The parties at the meeting were the Rural Wireless Association, EchoStar, Communications Workers of America, Public Knowledge and New America’s Open Technology Institute. They discussed many of the issues presented in other meetings at the FCC (see 2503210032).
T-Mobile led the big three wireless carriers once again this quarter with 495,000 postpaid phone net adds, the company announced Thursday. Unlike Verizon and AT&T (see 2504220033 and 2504230045), T-Mobile releases quarterly results following the market's close. T-Mobile also said it had 1.3 million postpaid net customer additions, its best Q1 result ever, and added 424,000 customers to its high-speed internet service. Among other numbers, service revenue of $16.9 billion was up 5% year over year, while net income of $3 billion rose 24%.
After decades of work by federal agencies dealing with Ligado and its predecessors, still nothing has been invested in its proposed terrestrial L-band network, said aviation organizations and allies that opposed the FCC's 2019 Ligado authorization. They sent letters this week to President Donald Trump and congressional leadership. "Move on [and] put the issue to rest" by getting the FCC to grant the pending petitions seeking reconsideration of Ligado's authorization (see 2005210043), they said. Ligado's authorization poses an interference threat to GPS, satellite communications and weather forecasting services, said nearly 100 groups and companies, including AccuWeather, Airlines for America, American Farm Bureau Federation and American Meteorological Society. Congressional recipients included Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Cruz, R-Texas. Ligado didn't comment Thursday.
A Fourth Amendment exemption for searches at the border should be overturned because it doesn't fit today's digital age, Stanford law professor Orin Kerr argued in a Tuesday keynote at IAPP Global Privacy Summit for privacy professionals.
The Wi-Fi Alliance on Wednesday marked the fifth anniversary of the FCC's controversial order opening the 6 GHz band for unlicensed use (see 2004230059). “The 6 GHz band has played a critical role in enabling next-generation Wi-Fi -- driving the global rollout of Wi-Fi 7 -- by relieving network congestion and expanding high-performance connectivity,” the alliance said: Since the FCC order was approved, “billions of 6 GHz Wi-Fi devices have entered the market, underscoring the rapid adoption and far-reaching benefits of forward-looking spectrum policy.”
The U.S. National Grid Institute urged the FCC to direct wireless carriers to change how they report the location of wireless calls to 911. They should “replace all references to civic (street) addresses and to latitude and longitude in reporting the horizontal component of incident locations with the term ‘U.S. National Grid geoaddress,’” said a filing posted Wednesday in docket 07-114. Such geoaddresses “provide an unambiguous way to describe locations in areas away from established road networks, or those involving a natural disaster where road signs have been destroyed,” the group said.
Former FCC Chairman Ajit Pai, now president of CTIA, met this week with his former aide, current Chairman Brendan Carr. Carr rose to general counsel and then commissioner under Pai. “Terrific meeting with @BrendanCarrFCC,” Pai said Tuesday night on X. “He’s been a leader on wireless issues since his earliest days as a Commissioner and has charted an ambitious course upon taking the reins as @FCC Chairman earlier this year. Excited to work with him and his team on extending U.S. leadership!”