The Society for American Archeology opposed a CTIA petition asking the FCC to launch a rulemaking (see 2503270059) to update its rules implementing the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). “The goal of the CTIA’s petition is for the FCC to structure its regulations in such a way that wireless geographic licenses would not be considered Major Federal Actions under” NEPA, said a filing posted Tuesday in RM-12003.
Balboa Geolocation urged the FCC to take a close look at its Pointer technology as an alternative to GPS for positioning, navigation and timing (PNT). FCC commissioners unanimously approved a notice of inquiry last month on alternatives to GPS (see 2503270042). Balboa's technology was developed at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory with federal funding, said a filing Tuesday in docket 25-110.
T-Mobile, which will report earnings Thursday, announced new pricing plans Tuesday. The Experience More plan “includes all the benefits” of the carrier’s Go5G Plus plan “and adds more hotspot data plus T-Satellite with Starlink included through end of year,” the company said, and “Experience Beyond includes all the benefits of Go5G Next in addition to more data and T-Satellite included, providing over $200 in added value for each line, every month.” The carrier also offered four new Metro by T-Mobile plans. All the new offerings come with a five-year price guarantee. Choosing a wireless plan has become “almost as complicated as a mortgage,” T-Mobile said. “People need easy-to-understand plans, the ability to compare options across providers and the chance to switch providers when they want, rather than being locked into long-term device contracts.”
SpaceX urged the FCC to tweak a draft order on the 37 GHz band to make clear that the coordination mechanism proposed for sharing the spectrum is based on the Part 101 rules for the 70/80/90 GHz band. Others also weighed in just ahead of the FCC’s sunshine notice Monday, cutting off further lobbying. Commissioners are to vote on the order Monday (see 2504070054).
Consumer and public interest groups raised concerns on the Edison Electric Institute's petition asking the FCC to clarify that utilities have “prior express consent” under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act to send “demand response calls and texts” to their customers (see 2503100047). Led by the National Consumer Law Center, the groups met with Consumer and Government Affairs Bureau staff, said a filing Friday in docket 02-278.
The FCC on Monday dismissed “as unnecessary” the remaining cellular-vehicle-to-everything (C-V2X) early transition waivers and confirmed that all applicants “may now seek a C-V2X authorization under the new rules.” The agency adopted long-anticipated final rules for the band in November after years of issuing waivers (see 2411210054). The acting chiefs of the Public Safety and Wireless bureaus and the Office of Engineering and Technology handed down the new order.
AT&T has launched 1,000 new cellsites with Band 14 spectrum, further expanding FirstNet connectivity, the carrier said Monday. The new sites "are part of our 10-year investment initiative with the FirstNet Authority to evolve America’s public safety network and expand its dedicated Band 14 spectrum to more public safety-centric locations.” The sites are across 46 states and the District of Columbia, “with more than two-thirds focused in rural and tribal areas,” AT&T said: “The vast majority enhance coverage for key public safety locations like fire stations, police departments, courthouses, and hospitals.”
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.