The Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials supported creation of an independent public safety message classification as part of updated wireless emergency alert (WEA) rules. Comments were due Thursday on a Further NPRM on WEAs that commissioners approved 4-0 in February (see 2502270042). APCO acknowledged concerns that expanding the types of alerts “could contribute to alert fatigue.” But a new public safety message classification is “unlikely to result in a surge of alerts that would lead the public to opt out.”
NTIA supports the FCC's proposals to change its rules for the 24.45-24.65 GHz band that would provide more spectrum for drones, the agency said in comments posted Thursday in docket 24-629. Other comments also supported the changes proposed in a January NPRM (see 2504160017). NTIA, which filed on behalf of the administration, said it's still developing comments on the other bands being studied to provide spectrum for uncrewed aircraft systems (UAS).
U.S. Magistrate Judge Moxila Upadhyaya is recommending granting the federal government's request to drop its suit against Dish Network and designated entities (DEs) Northstar Wireless and SNR Wireless (see 2403040052). In a 38-page report and recommendation submitted to the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia (docket 15-cv-728), Upadhyaya said that even if Vermont National Telephone arguments against dismissal are credible, they don't outweigh the reasonable arguments the government put forward about why the litigation should be dropped. The U.S. and relator VTel sued, alleging fraud by Dish and the DEs in the FCC's 2015 AWS-3 auction. The U.S. now argues that there's not enough evidence to support VTel's claims, it's unclear VTel can provide damages since Dish and the DEs never received any bidding credits in the auction, and continuing the 10-year-old suit would be a drain on government resources.
Starry executives spoke with staff from the Wireless Bureau and Office of Engineering and Technology on the company’s support for a draft order on the 37 GHz band proposed for a vote at the April 27 FCC meeting (see 2504070054). Starry is making the rounds at the FCC and earlier spoke with an aide to Commissioner Geoffrey Starks (see 2504150044).
Representatives of New America’s Open Technology Institute and Public Knowledge spoke with aides to Commissioners Geoffrey Starks and Anna Gomez about calls for a tribal licensing window as part of the AWS-3 reauction (see 2504150040). “We emphasized that a TLW here is fully consistent with the Commission’s adoption of a TLW as part of the recent 2.5 GHz auction,” said a filing Wednesday in docket 25-70: “We also noted that the Tribal coalition’s reply comments … describe how the Commission has previously rejected CTIA’s argument that the Communications Act does not permit a TLW, first in the context of broadcast services, and subsequently in the 2.5 GHz band auction order.”
The decision to construct its network using open radio access network technology has allowed EchoStar to adapt quickly as it builds out its Boost Mobile network, Boost Chief Technology Officer Eben Albertyn said Wednesday. ORAN has kept Boost from being overcharged for network components, he said: “We were not going to be price-gouged and have a gun held to our head,” he said during a keynote at a Competitive Carriers Association conference in Denver.
The FCC Wireless Bureau approved two applications to assign 600 MHz spectrum from Channel 51 to T-Mobile. The licenses cover the Chicago and New Orleans markets. “We find that the proposed license assignments have a low likelihood of competitive harm and would serve the public interest, convenience, and necessity,” said an order in Wednesday’s Daily Digest. EchoStar opposed the transfers, but repeated arguments “that we have addressed in prior orders consenting to multiple similar license assignment transactions,” the bureau said.
TelAlaska Cellular asked the FCC for a six-month extension, from May 21 to Nov. 21, to rip and replace unsecure equipment in its network. The provider warned that it had to dial back service as a result of funding issues. TelAlaska “is a small rural provider tasked with replacing covered equipment at 28 geographically dispersed sites across thousands of miles, many of which are subject to extreme logistical, accessibility, and weather-related challenges,” said a filing Tuesday in docket 18-89. The carrier said it has completed removal and replacement activities at all 28 sites, using the 40% reimbursement allocation it has received so far. Temporary tower solutions were deployed at five locations, the carrier said: “As a result, our Company is currently serving a smaller geographic coverage area than it previously served.”
Starry CEO Alex Moulle-Berteaux and other company executives met with an aide to FCC Commissioner Geoffrey Starks about the importance of the lower 37 GHz band. The company supports a draft order on the band proposed for a vote at the April 27 FCC meeting (see 2504070054), said a filing posted Tuesday in docket 24-243. “As Starry has explained on the record many times over the years, this band represents a unique opportunity for the Commission to create a sharing structure that envisions co-equal sharing between commercial users and federal users on equal footing,” the filing said. The band provides “a unique opportunity for innovative use cases to operate in licensed millimeter wave spectrum, enabling the use of higher power deployments to help overcome the atmospheric attenuation in these high frequencies."
The FCC on Tuesday approved an experimental special temporary authorization for AST SpaceMobile to conduct testing with FirstNet of its direct-to-device satellite connectivity in the 758-768 MHz and 788-79 MHz bands. AST said it will test off-the-shelf cellular handsets acting as mobile earth stations inside FirstNet's Band 14.