USCellular urged revisions to the FCC’s proposed approach to a 5G Fund during a series of meetings at the FCC. The agency should “reconsider its proposal to begin the phase down of legacy support with the auction winners’ public notice, and instead begin the phase down when the public notice announcing the commencement of 5G Fund support is released,” said a filing posted Wednesday in docket 20-32. The FCC is considering rules for launching the long-awaited fund (see 2311220060). USCellular representatives spoke with staff from Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel's, Commissioners Brendan Carr's and Geoffrey Starks' offices, the Wireless Bureau and the Office of Economics and Analytics.

CTA representatives met with FCC Public Safety Bureau staff on the agency’s proposed cyber trust mark program for smart devices (see 2311130034). CTA updated the agency on “the progress in its working groups” working “to help operationalize” National Institute of Standards and Technology guidance and on a registry of devices “that have achieved the U.S. Cyber Trust Mark as contemplated” in an FCC NPRM, said the filing posted Wednesday in docket 23-239.

CTIA defended the FCC’s disaster information reporting system as working, as the agency looks at mandatory reporting rules, set for a vote Jan. 25 (see 2401040064). “Based on information provided by wireless providers, DIRS reports provide a daily snapshot of the status of network services, including the number of cell site outages, the cause of such outages (i.e., due to damage, loss of transport, or loss of power), and the number of cell sites operating on backup power,” CTIA said in a filing posted Wednesday in docket 21-346 (see 2401040064). While cellsite outage reporting doesn’t account for overlapping coverage “that increasingly maintains coverage even where a site is down, overall DIRS reports provide critical information regarding each disaster event, including efforts to overcome power or transport issues to restore service to impacted areas,” CTIA said.

The FCC should treat as confidential some of the information submitted by providers as part of proposed reporting requirements in a draft location-based routing (LBR) order set for a commissioner vote Jan. 25 (see 2401040064), CTIA said. The FCC “has established a presumption of confidentiality from disclosure of detailed network information such as that required” by the draft order, said a filing posted Wednesday in docket 18-64. The commission “should allow providers to submit their certifications of compliance in the public docket … while separately allowing providers to submit the required network information and live call data directly to Commission staff consistent with existing reporting and confidentiality procedures,” CTIA said.

The California Office of Emergency Services opposed a proposal by the Public Safety Spectrum Alliance urging the FCC to effectively give control of the 4.9 GHz band to FirstNet for its national public safety network (see 2401020050). Awarding the license to FirstNet “will promote commercial influence over the band by AT&T and creates potential for interference with existing and planned uses by the state and local public safety community,” said a filing posted Wednesday in docket 07-100: Such action “would undermine the Commission’s goal for the band.”

T-Mobile led its peers on download and upload speeds in Q4, said a Speedtest Intelligence report released Tuesday. T-Mobile’s median download speed was 188.96 Mbps on modern chipsets, up from 163.59 Mbps in Q3. Verizon Wireless came in at 91.62 Mbps, AT&T at 90.82, the report said. T-Mobile also led on upload speeds, at 12.19 Mbps, compared with 9.98 for Verizon and 8.06 for AT&T.

The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials urged the FCC to adopt a plan for the 4.9 GHz band based on a “decentralized structure,” with the four public safety coordinators serving as band manager. AASHTO representatives relayed this view in a conversation with an aide to Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel and Commissioner Nathan Simington. Opposition to a proposal by the Public Safety Spectrum Alliance to give FirstNet control “is driven partly by a reaction to [the Public Safety Spectrum Alliance] and FirstNet, but also by nervousness about a centralized, powerful band manager,” AASHTO said in a filing last week in docket 07-100. That’s a similar reaction to concerns about an earlier approach where “individual states were deemed to have too much power over the band,” AASHTO said. The FCC overrode that proposal. AASHTO is concerned that an appointed band manager “will have its own business interests and agenda, and these interests would not necessarily align with the multitude of public safety interests,” the group said.

The FCC accepted long-form applications for filing from three bidders in the 2022 2.5 GHz auction, according to a Tuesday notice by the Wireless Bureau and Office of Economics and Analytics. The three are Northern Valley Communications, Paladin Wireless and SkyPacket Networks. The agency asked for petitions to deny not later than Jan. 26, oppositions Feb. 2 and replies to oppositions Feb. 9. Under the 5G Spectrum Authority Licensing Enforcement Act, enacted in December, the FCC can issue licenses despite the expiration in March of its spectrum auction authority (see 2312200061).

The FCC Wireless Bureau sought comment on Trace-Tek’s application to provide contraband interdiction system services in correctional facilities. The bureau said Friday it reviewed the application and found it complete. Comments are due Feb. 12 in docket 13-111. In July 2021, the FCC established a two-phase process for authorizing the systems and a “rule-based process” for disabling contraband devices (see 2107130029).

The FCC Wireless Bureau sought comment Friday on a request from Garmin International (see 2310060031) for a waiver of rules concerning certification of the hand-held general mobile radio service (GMRS) devices it manufactures. Comments are due Feb. 12, replies Feb. 27, in docket 24-7. “Garmin alleges that its request builds on, but is narrower than, the recent waiver granted by the Mobility Division to Midland Radio,” the bureau said: Garmin claims “a waiver would serve the public interest by guaranteeing ‘that critical communications and location information are automatically available with sufficient time and information to’ locate individuals both in emergency and non-emergency situations.”