Representatives of T-Mobile and Grain said they met with FCC Wireless Bureau staff to discuss their pending low-band transaction. Grain Management agreed to buy T-Mobile's 800 MHz spectrum in exchange for cash and Grain's 600 MHz spectrum portfolio (see 2503210033). Grain plans to work with utilities and others to deploy services using the 800 MHz spectrum.
Small carrier SI Wireless on Friday asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit to compel the FCC to address its claims over blocked payments under the agency's Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Reimbursement Program.
T-Mobile defended the FCC's bureau-level order approving the company’s buy of spectrum and other wireless assets from UScellular. Along with Array Digital Infrastructure, the new name for UScellular, T-Mobile asked the FCC to reject an application for review filed by the Rural Wireless Association, the Open Technology Institute at New America, the Benton Institute for Broadband & Society and the Communications Workers of America (see 2507310041).
CTIA wants to move to a revised volume control standard for hearing-aid compatible (HAC) devices as quickly as possible and agrees with comments filed by HAC advocates that the interim solution “should not ‘becom[e] a long-term substitute rather than a shortterm stopgap,’” said a filing posted Friday in docket 23-388. But steps remain “beyond mere adoption by standard-setting bodies, which warrant extension of the existing waiver,” CTIA said.
The Telecommunication Terminal Industry Forum Association (TAF) on Thursday broadly questioned proposed rules in a May NPRM that was part of the FCC’s focus on “bad labs” (see 2505220056 and 2508120011). “The large-scale revocation of laboratory authorizations based on security concerns lacks both technical and practical justification, which will increase the burden on U.S. consumers and cause significant disruption to the global ICT industry,” TAF said in a filing in docket 24-136.
The GPS Innovation Alliance told the FCC it needs more information before weighing on a request by Geophysical Survey Systems Inc. (GSSI) for a waiver of commission rules for ultra-wideband ground-penetrating radar devices to allow the certification and marketing of a new device it's developing. The device would assist autonomous vehicles in staying in their lane. In May, GSSI asked for action on its 2019 waiver request (see 2505280052).
Federated Wireless, a longtime proponent of the 3.55-3.7 GHz citizens broadband radio service band, urged policymakers to look instead at 4 GHz as they seek to put together a spectrum pipeline for the future. The revised budget reconciliation package, which was signed into law in July, exempts the 3.1-3.45 and 7.4-8.4 GHz bands from reallocation, but not CBRS (see 2507070045).
Certification engineer W. Zhang urged the FCC to adopt “a binding requirement” that testing labs and certification bodies under the agency's equipment authorization program must “be managed by separate, independent leadership.” Zhang filed early comments Tuesday in response to a May NPRM that was part of the agency’s focus on “bad labs” (see 2505220056 and 2508120011).
UScellular parent TDS is “excited” to start a “new chapter” in the company’s history with the sale of spectrum and other wireless assets to T-Mobile for $4.3 billion (see 2508010012), CEO Walter Carlson told analysts Monday. TDS expects the sale of other licenses to AT&T to close this year, while a deal with Verizon should close in 2026, Carlson added.
The TCB Council urged the FCC to proceed with caution on new rules for telecommunications certification bodies (TCBs) in response to a May NPRM that was part of the agency’s focus on “bad labs” (see 2505220056). Initial comments are due Sept. 3 in docket 24-136, but some parties are filing early.