If EchoStar is to attract a partnership in the telecommunications space for its mobile network plans, Verizon makes the most sense, mobile analyst Roger Entner said Monday on the Recon Analytics podcast. However, Verizon already has a stable of value brands, he noted. Entner said EchoStar's Boost is gaining customers, though it's not clear whether that marks an actual turnaround or a short-lived "dead cat bounce." The company's 5G stand-alone core is "genius" and "deserves more customers," but EchoStar hasn't successfully articulated the value of it to users. Entner pointed to a report that EchoStar is in discussions with Boost Mobile founder Peter Adderton about some kind of merger of EchoStar's Boost Mobile and Adderton's MobileX. Adderton would be valuable in marketing Boost needs and providing an innovative platform, Entner said, but he's doubtful that Adderton would want to take part.
Opponents of T-Mobile’s purchase of wireless assets from UScellular continue to raise questions following FCC Wireless Bureau approval of the deal (see 2507110045). In a meeting with an aide to Commissioner Olivia Trusty, the Rural Wireless Association, Communications Workers of America, Public Knowledge and New America’s Open Technology Institute said UScellular's transactions with T-Mobile, Verizon and AT&T should be looked at together, according to a filing posted Monday in 25-150 and other dockets.
The Safer Buildings Coalition urged the FCC to launch a rulemaking on guidelines for getting consent from licensees to install signal boosters. “Signal boosters are being installed without required frequency licensee consent and in areas where they are not needed, violating FCC Part 90 rules that require express permission and limit deployment to weak signal areas only,” said an undocketed petition posted Monday.
NextNav filed at the FCC a report by the Brattle Group arguing that the 900 MHz band can be used safely to provide positioning, navigation and timing (PNT) as a GPS alternative without harming other band incumbents. The new report, posted Friday in docket 24-240, counters a previous study -- written by Harold Furchtgott-Roth, an economist and former FCC commissioner, and filed by the International Bridge, Tunnel & Turnpike Association -- that raised interference concerns (see 2504300022).
The C-band Relocation Payment Clearinghouse has concluded its operations, with all reimbursement claims reviewed and every claim approval invoiced, it said Friday in its final quarterly status report (docket 18-122). The FCC Wireless Bureau in June approved the clearinghouse ceasing operations at the end of that month (see 2506040046). The new status report covers April 1 through Friday. Earth station operator Anuvu is appealing its reimbursement for relocation costs (see 2506180021).
Alliance for Automotive Innovation President John Bozzella and others from the group met with FCC Chairman Brendan Carr to discuss the commission’s “ongoing deregulatory efforts and termination of certain proceedings,” said a filing posted Friday in docket 25-133 and others. They also discussed the notice of inquiry on alternatives to GPS (see 2503270042) and an FCC proposal to update its “covered list” of unsecure companies to reflect a January finding by the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security on connected vehicles (see 2506300052), among other issues.
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.