Verizon certified at the FCC that it’s in compliance with the agency’s vertical-location accuracy requirements and has deployed z-axis location technology “on a nationwide basis at accuracy within 3 meters above or below (plus or minus 3 meters) the handset” for 80% of wireless 911 calls made from z-axis-capable devices. Verizon is also delivering z-axis data to 911 call centers in height-above-ellipsoid format and “has complied with the test bed and live call data provisions in the rules,” said a filing Monday in docket 17-78.
Federated Wireless executives discussed the need for changes to the citizens broadband radio service rules in a meeting with staff from the FCC Wireless Bureau and Office of Engineering and Technology, said a filing posted Monday in docket 17-258. Federated officials discussed “several practical, near-term improvements that can be readily implemented” in the band.
Amateur radio operator Hunter Reed asked the FCC to launch a rulemaking on expanding agency rules from 40 years ago, which require local governments to reasonably accommodate amateur radio installations, to clarify that they apply to homeowners associations (HOAs). The current rules don’t “extend to private land-use restrictions enforced by HOAs,” said the petition posted Monday in docket 25-133. “In an era where a significant portion of residential housing is governed by HOAs, this omission critically hampers the ability of many licensed operators to install antennas and fulfill their public service and emergency communication roles.”
The FCC announced Monday a 30-day extension of the June 9 deadline for current 4.9 GHz licensees to provide the agency with granular licensing data or face cancellation of their licenses. The new deadline is July 9.
CTIA representatives urged the FCC to move quickly to launch the AWS-3 reauction during a meeting with staff from the Office of Economics and Analytics and the Wireless Bureau. They “discussed the strong consensus in the record supporting the use of the Clock-1 auction format and reiterated that changes to geographic licensing are outside the scope of the authority delegated by the Commission to OEA and [the Wireless Bureau] for purposes of the Auction 113 Public Notice,” said a filing posted Monday in docket 25-70.
Comments are due June 16, replies June 23, on the transfer of Arkwest Communications from Spectracom to Fiber Acquisitions, said the FCC Wireline Bureau in a public notice Monday. Arkwest provides phone and broadband service in three Arkansas counties.
Microsoft representatives spoke with an aide to FCC Chairman Brendan Carr on submarine cable rules, according to a filing posted Monday (docket 24-523). The company explained "the importance of avoiding a reduction in the term of submarine cable landing licenses, noted that third-party [submarine line terminal equipment] does not constitute cable ownership or control and ought not be licensed as such, and described the challenges of imposing license and reporting requirements on third party vendors like datacenter owners and those holding [indefeasible rights of use] and other submarine cable capacity leases.”
EchoStar’s decision Friday not to make a $326 million cash interest payment due that day on corporate debt that matures in 2029 (see 2505300001) could give the company more leverage to negotiate over spectrum with the FCC, New Street’s Blair Levin told investors Monday. New Street believes FCC Chairman Brendan Carr’s strategy “is to put a cloud over the value of [EchoStar’s] assets while using procedural maneuvers to keep [EchoStar] from challenging those actions in the Court of Appeals,” Levin wrote. The company also told the SEC on Monday that it wasn't making an $183 million interest payment due that day on notes that mature in 2026, 2028 and 2029.
Airlines for America (A4A) and Aviation Spectrum Resources Inc. (ASRI) jointly urged caution if the FCC moves forward on an auction of upper C-band spectrum. But CTIA and wireless interests called for the agency to take the next steps toward an auction, building on the record-setting C-band auction, which ended in early 2021 (see 2102180041) and reshaped carriers’ midband portfolios. Replies were due last week in docket 25-59 on a notice of inquiry approved by commissioners 4-0 in February (see 2502270042).
NASHVILLE -- The federal government is warehousing or squatting on much of its spectrum holdings, Senate Commerce Committee ranking member Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., said Monday at the Fiber Broadband Association’s Fiber Connect 2025 trade show and conference. Also at the event, states and providers complained about BEAD uncertainty (see 2506020047).