The FCC Wireless Bureau sought comment Monday on an application from Watts Bar Maritime and Amateur Radio School (WBMARS) in Tennessee to serve as a commercial operator license examination manager. The bureau said 12 entities are certified to serve in that role. “WBMARS asserts that examinations will be offered upon request and administered on-site or remotely in almost all U.S. states, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands beginning within 10 days following approval,” the bureau said. Comments are due April 17, replies May 2, in docket 24-89.

Revenue for smartphone makers worldwide fell $36 billion over the previous two years, to $412 billion in 2023, Stocklytics said Monday. “The decline in 2023 marked the lowest full-year volume in a decade, primarily driven by macroeconomic challenges and elevated inventory early in the year,” said analyst Edith Reads of Stocklytics. “While the global smartphone market remains challenged, momentum is moving quickly toward recovery.” The report said the Apple iPhone last year overtook the Samsung Galaxy as the best-selling smartphone worldwide.

Representatives of the Alaska Remote Carrier Coalition met with Wireless Bureau staff to discuss the Alaska Connect Fund (ACF), a filing posted Monday in docket 10-208 said. They discussed “the need to mandate certain eligibility requirements for the wireless ACF in Alaska” and “impacts of transitioning from an Alaska Plan location-based platform to a hexagonal-based platform,” the coalition said.

New Street Monday noted unconfirmed reports that T-Mobile plans on investing in a fiber joint venture with Lumos Fiber for up to $1 billion. “Assuming it is correct, we aren’t surprised,” analyst Jonathan Chaplin told investors: “T-Mobile management has been hinting at more deals with fiber companies. Lumos strikes us as a strong partner, based on the success they have had in their existing operations.” Germany’s Handelsblatt first reported the development, citing unnamed sources at Deutsche Telekom, T-Mobile’s parent. T-Mobile already offers fiber service in select locations starting at $55/month. T-Mobile didn't comment.

The Industry Council for Emergency Response Technologies (iCERT) opposed a wave of filings by public safety groups urging that the FCC consider giving FirstNet control of the 4.9 GHz band (see 2402150058), as promoted by the Public Safety Spectrum Alliance (see 2401190067). “Many of these filings are form letters that were, presumably, encouraged by the PSSA, FirstNet, AT&T, and their supporters,” said a filing posted Friday in docket 07-100. FirstNet’s network is “fully owned by AT&T and integrated into its commercial network,” iCERT said. “AT&T’s contract with FirstNet requires it to provide priority access to the spectrum for public safety users but allows AT&T to use the band to serve commercial users as well.” Turning over the band to FirstNet would also be anticompetitive, iCERT contended: “AT&T competes with a variety of national, regional, and local wireless providers to serve both public safety and commercial users. A grant of the PSSA proposal is, effectively, a grant of free spectrum to AT&T.”

EchoStar notified the FCC that Dish Wireless met the drive test component of its 5G build-out requirements, certifying that the company offers speeds of 35 Mbps or greater to more than 70% of U.S. POPs. Meeting the drive test metric fulfills one of the commitments Dish Network made in 2019 when it asked the FCC to extend the construction deadlines for with its AWS-4, AWS H block and lower 700 MHz E block licenses and committed to an accelerated deployment of its 600 MHz licenses (see 2009110054), said a filing posted Thursday in docket 22-212.

The Wireless ISP Association threw its support behind the FCC's updated broadband speed standard of 100/20 Mbps that the commissioners approved Thursday (see 2403140050). “Though current average use falls below that number, especially on the upload side, it provides a sound standard to accord with actual growth in broadband demand for the foreseeable future,” said Louis Peraertz, WISPA vice president-policy. It “lays a consistent and achievable benchmark for government support pegged to that standard -- one which allows all types of ISPs to meaningfully access such programs where desired,” Peraertz said.

CTIA representatives “discussed the value of supporting broadband access, including through Wi-Fi hot spots and wireless internet services” in a meeting with FCC Wireline Bureau staff. The commission recently sought comment on a proposal to use E-rate to support hot spots (see 2311090028). “Consider lessons learned from the Emergency Connectivity Fund” and its approach to usage monitoring, said a filing posted Friday in docket 21-31. “CTIA agrees that requiring participants to take ‘reasonable actions’ to monitor the usage of supported equipment and services strikes a fair balance between the burdens to track usage and the need to avoid wasteful spending,” the group said: “As an applicant driven program, the obligation to monitor usage should rest with applicants, who are able to set usage expectations for students and patrons, periodically access and review usage, identify and understand usage trends, and communicate any necessary adjustments to service providers.”

Verizon joined other wireless carriers on how new services, especially network slicing, should be treated under proposed net neutrality rules (see 2403140026). T-Mobile has been especially outspoken on the issue (see 2402260058). Some commenters “have chosen to seek new restrictions specific to emerging network slicing technologies enabled by 5G networks,” said a filing posted Friday in docket 23-320. “Network slicing is a promising technology that will help drive exciting network innovation and enable new capabilities and services for the benefit of consumers in ways that previously were only possible over wireline networks,” Verizon said.

A May 13 effectiveness date for the January FCC order requiring that carriers implement location-based routing for calls and real-time texts to 911 (see 2403130028) means the implementation deadline for nationwide carriers is Nov. 13, the Public Safety Bureau clarified Thursday. The deadline for non-nationwide carriers is May 13, 2026. By that second date, all providers must deploy a technology that supports location-based routing for real-time text to 911 originating on their IP-based networks, the bureau said.