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).

GCI counsel spoke with an aide to FCC Chairman Brendan Carr to explain the carrier’s request for clarification on the agency’s Alaska Connect Fund (ACF) order (see 2501310053). GCI urged the FCC to adopt the adjustments it proposes "to ensure that the ACF continues to improve and expand mobile coverage in Alaska’s rural communities,” said a filing posted Tuesday in docket 23-328.

The proposed 18-month deadline for nationwide providers to implement 988 text georouting might be sufficient, but the FCC Wireline Bureau needs to be able to waive or stay such deadlines, CTIA said. In docket 18-336 Tuesday, CTIA said the agency also should direct the bureau, as part of its consultations with the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline and the Department of Health and Human Services, to remain apprised of the development and implementation of text-to-988 georouting solutions and standards. July's FCC meeting will see the commissioners voting on a text-to-988 georouting requirement (see 2507030049).

5G Americas described the benefits of 5G-advanced, as a transition to 6G, in a paper published Tuesday. “Network technology is entering a new era of intelligence, efficiency, and reach,” the paper said. “At the heart is AI-native optimization, infusing artificial intelligence into the [radio access network] and core infrastructure to enable zero-touch automation. Networks can now self-manage through predictive maintenance and dynamic slicing, fundamentally transforming how they adapt to demand.” 5G-advanced builds on “foundational” 5G stand-alone architecture, integrating AI, machine learning, extended reality applications, improved energy efficiency and ultra-reliable low-latency communications, the paper said.

Members of the Connected Devices for America Coalition, in a meeting with FCC staff, opposed NextNav’s proposal that the agency reconfigure the 902-928 MHz band to enable a “high-quality, terrestrial complement” to GPS for positioning, navigation and timing services (see 2503030023). The proposal “would upend a successful light-touch regulatory regime for the enrichment of a single company,” said a filing posted Tuesday in docket 25-110. NextNav doesn’t “propose to use the licenses it bought with the service conditions mandated by the FCC but instead seeks to upend the reasonable investment-backed expectations of other users of the band,” the coalition said. “In contrast to the approach NextNav has taken for the last 30 years, many others have seized the opportunity in the Lower 900 MHz Band and turned it into a workhorse band for American unlicensed innovation.”