The National Institute of Standards and Technology’s National Cybersecurity Center of Excellence (NCCoE) released Tuesday the executive summary for its guidance publication "5G Cybersecurity." NCCoE asked for comment by April 16.
NATE, which represents infrastructure builders, released Tuesday its “Work Zone Safety Guidelines.” The new guide “provides a high-level overview of work zone safety, addressing select critical topics that aim to reduce accidents and improve operational efficiency,” the group said. “While the document offers valuable insights, it is not intended to cover the full scope of work zone safety, allowing employers the flexibility to tailor their own safety plans to meet unique needs and specific circumstances.”
EchoStar's deployed 5G sites are updated to the 3rd Generation Partnership Project Release 17 standard, as it committed to as part of its 2024 construction milestone request, the company told the FCC Tuesday (docket 22-212). It said it had to meet the 3GPP upgrade commitment by June 14.
T-Mobile provided additional answers to the FCC in response to questions posed in December about the carrier's buy of wireless assets from UScellular (see 2412270031). The companies announced in May an agreement where T-Mobile would purchase “substantially all” of the smaller carrier’s wireless operations, including some of its spectrum, in a deal valued at about $4.4 billion, including $2 billion in assumed debt (see 2405280047).
Verizon representatives met with FCC Wireless Bureau staff to discuss the spectral dynamics of the citizens broadband radio service band. While higher allowed equivalent isotropically radiated power (EIRP) levels create “larger cells, which offer more coverage area, propagation losses are identical, regardless of power level,” said a filing posted Monday in docket 17-258. “The propagation ‘slope’ dictates the ratio of cell edge (cell size area) to interfered area. … This ratio (interference area/cell area) is the same regardless of cell size or allowed EIRP.”
Field Radio Systems asked the FCC to certify it as a commercial operator license examination manager. The company “specializes in off-grid and field communication solutions, providing both equipment and educational training for amateur radio operators, communities, and industry professionals,” said an undocketed filing posted Monday: “We operate a robust Learning Management System for administering technical training and certification courses.”
A lawyer for the International Bridge, Tunnel & Turnpike Association spoke with an aide to FCC Chairman Brendan Carr to ask about adding a question to the commission's draft notice of inquiry on alternatives to GPS for positioning, navigation and timing (PNT). Commissioners are slated to vote on the NOI on March 27 (see 2503060061). NextNav’s proposal for PNT in the 900 MHz band has long been controversial. The NOI should ask about “interference implications for incumbent spectrum users associated with any of the PNT solutions discussed in this NOI,” the association said in a filing posted Monday in docket 25-110. “The addition of this question will produce a more complete record to support Commission decision-making.”
Starry representatives provided an update on the company’s operations and the importance of the 37 GHz band in a meeting with an aide to FCC Chairman Brendan Carr. The band is critical “for serving a variety of use cases, especially the band’s unique capacity to enable robust broadband services, including gigabit fixed broadband,” said a filing posted Monday in docket 24-243. Starry “encouraged the Commission to continue its efforts to make spectrum available for innovative wireless services by finalizing the sharing rules for the Lower 37 GHz Band in the near term.” The 37 GHz band was the topic of a DOD study completed last year as part of the Joe Biden administration’s national spectrum strategy (see 2412030057). In August, the FCC released a public notice about the band's future (see 2408090034).
The FCC Wireless Bureau sought comment Friday on a proposed leasing agreement between AT&T and FTC Management Group. The companies proposed the agreement in July, said a notice in docket 25-138. AT&T and FTC would lease 40 MHz of 3.45 GHz spectrum to each other in the Florence and Sumter, South Carolina, partial economic areas. FTC would also lease AWS-1 and AWS-3 spectrum to AT&T in the Florence market. The swap would mean both companies would exceed the FCC’s “aggregation limit” of up to 40 MHz of spectrum in the 3.45 GHz band in various markets, the bureau said. Comments are due March 28, replies April 11.
The FCC Wireless Bureau officially signed off Friday on Summit Ridge’s closing of the 3.45 GHz relocation reimbursement clearinghouse (see 2503110014). “The 3.45 GHz band transition is complete with both incumbent operators, NBCUniversal and Nexstar Broadcasting, having relocated to the 2.9-3.0 GHz band and been reimbursed for their costs of relocation,” the bureau said in docket 19-348.