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 28 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.
American Airlines will offer complimentary in-flight Wi-Fi in January using Viasat and Intelsat satellite connectivity, the airline said Tuesday. Free Wi-Fi will be available to AAdvantage loyalty program members, and roughly 90% of its fleet is equipped with the connectivity. The airline is on pace to outfit more than 500 regional aircraft with Wi-Fi by year's end, it said. Retaining American Airlines as a customer is a big win for Viasat, the world's largest provider of in-flight connectivity, William Blair's Louie DiPalma wrote investors Tuesday. Viasat likely faced significant competition from SpaceX’s Starlink, which has won Wi-Fi deals with United Airlines, Air France, Qatar Airways, WestJet and SAS, he said.
Critics of T-Mobile’s proposed buy of wireless assets from UScellular spoke with an aide to FCC Chairman Brendan Carr to elaborate on their concerns. The groups at the meeting were the Rural Wireless Association, Communications Workers of America, Public Knowledge, New America’s Open Technology Institute and the Benton Institute for Broadband & Society. Joined by EchoStar, the same groups also met with aides to Commissioner Anna Gomez.
Since November, the Open Radio Access Network Alliance work and focus groups have published 67 technical documents, “bringing the total to 130 titles in [the] current version and 770 documents overall,” the group said last week. “O-RAN specifications lay the groundwork for open, intelligent, virtualized, and interoperable" RANs, it said: “By building on existing RAN standards, they enable innovation and support the growth of a global, competitive O-RAN ecosystem that delivers advanced products and services for network operators and beyond.”
Federated Wireless urged the FCC to consider the success of spectrum sharing in the citizens broadband radio access service and 6 GHz as it moves forward on the 4.9 GHz public safety band. The CBRS spectrum access system (SAS) and 6 GHz automated frequency coordination (AFC) system “enable widespread commercial access to spectrum while protecting existing and evolving incumbent use,” said a filing posted Monday in docket 07-100. As the FCC considers “the requirements and responsibilities” of the 4.9 GHz band manager, it should consider leveraging “proven spectrum management tools and capabilities” such as the SAS and AFC “to ensure efficient and intense utilization of the 4.9 GHz Band in support of public safety missions nationwide,” said Federated, whose representatives met with staff from the Wireless and Public Safety bureaus.
Tesla asked the FCC to act on its request for a waiver of agency rules to allow authorization for an ultra-wideband (UWB) positioning system operating in the 7.5-8.5 GHz frequency range, which would “facilitate wireless charging” of electric vehicles (EVs). The FCC sought comment in February, and Tesla noted that there has been no opposition (see 2502250037). “Grant of the requested waiver is necessary so the UWB sensors can be used to assist in the alignment of the EV with the outdoor pad in order to optimize usage of limited parking space, assist in alignment of the EV with an automated underbody conductive charger, or maximize coupling in applications such as wireless charging of the EV, and thereby provide efficient battery charging,” Tesla said in a filing posted Monday in docket 25-101.
AT&T notified customers that the carrier’s email-to-text and text-to-email services will be phased out June 17. “This means you won’t be able to use email to send or receive texts,” AT&T said. “Others who have AT&T Wireless won’t be able to email to send you a text or use text to send you an email.” An AT&T spokesperson confirmed the change in an email Friday: “This technology has become outdated and contributes to a high volume of unwanted text messages. We believe our customers are better served with more trusted and reliable messaging services."