Wireless industry groups on Friday supported a CTIA petition asking the FCC to extend a temporary waiver that allows use of the interim volume control testing method for hearing-aid compatibility (HAC) compliance (see 2507020051). Comments were due Friday in dockets 23-388 and 20-3. Without further agency action, the current waiver would expire Sept. 29.
The FCC and DOJ last week asked the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to rehear en banc an order that tossed the FCC's $57 million fine imposed on AT&T because the agency's in-house adjudication was unconstitutional (see 2504180001). The 5th Circuit is widely viewed as the most right-leaning of the circuits and is a favored location by industry for challenging federal regulation.
A letter signed by 44 operators of tolled highway, bridge and tunnel facilities, located in 22 states, urged the FCC to oppose NextNav’s proposal to reconfigure the 902-928 MHz band to allow a “terrestrial complement” to GPS for positioning, navigation and timing services. Tolling interests have led oppositions to NextNav’s proposal (see 2505300044). “The Lower 900 MHz band provides the connectivity between toll collection gantries and over 100 million in-vehicle transponders across the United States,” said the posted Wednesday in docket 24-240 and filed by E-ZPass Group and the International Bridge, Tunnel & Turnpike Association. “Electronic toll collection keeps Americans and commercial goods traveling at highway speeds, reduces congestion, improves transportation efficiencies, and enhances road safety.”
The FCC Wireless Bureau approved GCI Communications’ updated performance plan for mobile services under the agency's Alaska Plan order (see 2507020032). The bureau approved wireless providers’ initial performance plans in 2016, but “throughout the duration of the ten-year Alaska Plan,” it may “require the filing of revised commitments at other times if justified by developments that occur after the approval of the initial performance commitments,” the bureau said in a notice in Thursday’s Daily Digest.
AST SpaceMobile still hasn't made the case for why it should be allowed to not make public information about its proposed supplemental coverage from space operations in the 700 and 800 MHz bands, T-Mobile said (docket 25-201) in a posting Thursday. It said AST is trying to create false equivalencies between its owns SCS plans and disclosures and those of SpaceX. AST criticized T-Mobile for demanding AST coverage map information that it said T-Mobile SCS partner SpaceX did not provide (see 2507080022). T-Mobile said the burden is on AST to show no harmful interference will occur, and that missing information needs to be provided before any FCC action. The docket has seen hundreds of express comments filed this week from people representing amateur radio interests raising concerns about interference from AST's already-approved use of 430-440 MHz.
Representatives of public interest and tribal groups met with an aide to FCC Commissioner Olivia Trusty to ask that the FCC change course and create a tribal window prior to the AWS-3 reauction (see 2507140042). Commissioners are to vote July 24 on auction rules (see 2507030049). Attending the meeting were representatives of Public Knowledge, X-Lab, the Navajo Nation and the Southern California Tribal Chairmen’s Association.
AT&T’s 5G reduced capability (RedCap) coverage (see 2412240026) is now nationwide, serving more than 200 million points of presence, the carrier said Wednesday. AT&T noted it tested its first RedCap data call on a 5G stand-alone network just two years ago. “AT&T’s nationwide RedCap network brings 5G to the next generation of devices that have less battery consumption, lower costs and lower bandwidth requirements,” AT&T said. The network will serve devices including wearables and extended reality glasses, to “a broad range” of IoT products “for healthcare, asset tracking, industrial sensors, fleet management and other mid-speed computing devices,” AT&T said.
The FCC Office of Engineering and Technology sought comment Wednesday on a waiver sought by Hitachi Rail for a train control system that would operate in the 3.8-4.2 MHz band. Comments are due Aug. 15, replies Sept. 2, in docket 25-225. The system is “intended to provide high-resolution train location determination; continuous, high-capacity, bi-directional train-to-wayside data communications; and a network of processors installed on board trains,” OET said. Hitachi plans to upgrade the Bay Area Rapid Transit District system in the San Francisco area with the new system.
Public Knowledge and New America’s Open Technology Institute urged the FCC to move to a modern spectrum-sharing framework, with an automated, third-party database, to manage the lower 37 GHz band. The groups this week filed joint comments in docket 24-243 on an April Further NPRM from the FCC (see 2507150060).
CTIA President Ajit Pai met with new FCC Commissioner Olivia Trusty to discuss spectrum issues, particularly the upcoming AWS-3 reauction and a proposed auction of the upper C-band. CTIA made similar arguments in a recent meeting with an aide to FCC Chairman Brendan Carr (see 2507110023). The FCC has regained auction authority following enactment of the reconciliation package (see 2507070045).