UScellular on Friday updated the FCC on its proposal to relinquish its eligible telecommunications carrier designations in various states (see 2505210029). The carrier listed the status of requests in 15 states, with most filed in March or April. UScellular has yet to file in Oklahoma. The Missouri Public Service Commission approved the relinquishment May 14, the filing said (docket 09-197).
NextNav representatives met with FCC staff about a recent engineering report on interference issues raised by the company’s proposal that the FCC reconfigure the 902-928 MHz band “to enable a high-quality, terrestrial complement” to GPS for positioning, navigation and timing services (see 2503030023). Company officials discussed the real-world conditions and scenarios it modeled to support the study’s conclusions,” said a filing posted Friday in docket 24-240. NextNav said its technical assumptions “were based on well-accepted international industry standards wherever possible, including [3rd Generation Partnership Project] specifications and ITU recommendations, as well as information provided by Part 15 commenters.”
The FCC Public Safety Bureau sought comment Friday on a waiver request by Tiverton, Rhode Island, which wants to add a base station in the 470-512 MHz T band to its public safety radio system. A waiver is needed because of an adjacent TV station located in Boston, about 50 miles away, the bureau said. Tiverton says it’s “in dire need of improved coverage and building penetration in its historical downtown business district,” the bureau said. Comments are due June 12, replies June 23, in universal licensing system file 0010645349.
The Rural Wireless Association urged the FCC in comments posted Friday to look at AT&T’s proposed buy of 700 MHz and 3.45 GHz licenses from UScellular in the broader context of the U.S. wireless market. The sale of the licenses is tied to a larger deal with T-Mobile that's also still before the FCC (see 2504150046). Replies to oppositions were due at the FCC on Thursday in docket 25-150.
USTelecom submitted a letter to the FCC Enforcement Bureau asking for the continuing designation of its Industry Traceback Group as the registered robocall traceback consortium. Letters of intent to serve in the role were due at the FCC on Friday.
The FCC Wireline Bureau on Friday approved the transfer of control of Megawatt Communications from Jack Cathey to RSTN Communications (docket 25-146). The bureau noted that no one filed an opposition. Megawatt serves parts of Tennessee and is designated as an eligible telecommunications carrier there.
Senate Communications Subcommittee ranking member Ben Ray Lujan, D-N.M., on Thursday night criticized spectrum language included in the House-passed One Big Beautiful Bill Act (HR-1). The House cleared HR-1 Thursday 215-214 with provisions that would restore the FCC’s lapsed spectrum auction authority through Sept. 30, 2034, and mandate that the federal government reallocate at least 600 MHz of airwaves for commercial licensed use (see 2505220064). “There is strong bipartisan concern about handing over this spectrum,” Lujan said. “Yet House Republicans are moving ahead at President [Donald] Trump’s directive, prioritizing billionaires over the urgent need to invest in broadband access.”
SpaceX's efforts to access the 2 GHz band -- where EchoStar enjoys sole use -- are key to its direct-to-device ambitions, but they're also creating a major spectrum fight between the two companies, spectrum and satellite experts told us. Some see SpaceX eyeing the spectrum to enhance its D2D service and to block EchoStar's and are asking if SpaceX anticipates competing directly with wireless carriers.
A U.S. Supreme Court opinion late Thursday preventing fired independent commissioners from resuming their work is a strong indication that the high court will allow President Donald Trump to remove FCC and FTC commissioners from the minority party, academics and attorneys said in interviews Friday.
FCC Commissioner Geoffrey Starks will leave the agency before its June 26 meeting; replacement plans are unclear (see 2505220043) ... European business communications provider Dstny Group names Yann Le Helloco, ex-InfoVista, as chief product and technology officer … Telecommunications customer experience firm TechSee names Lawrence Askowitz, the Bank Street Group, to its telecom advisory board.