The RAIN, LoRa, Wi-Fi, WiSUN and Z-Wave alliances asked the FCC to force NextNav to pause a field test of its 900 MHz 5G positioning, navigation and timing (PNT) network in Santa Clara County, California (see 2512110060). The commission should also amend NextNav’s experimental license to require it to provide additional information on interference and to submit periodic reports, said a filing Monday in docket 25-110.
USTelecom and other industry groups urged the FCC to move forward on proposals in its notice of inquiry about streamlining wireline infrastructure rules. Reply comments on the NOI, which commissioners approved 3-0 in September (see 2509300063), were due last week in docket 25-253. State and local government groups largely opposed changes that could take power away from their members (see 2511180033), but the industry groups said there's a consensus that change is needed.
Industry officials continue weighing the net effect of Friday night's presidential memo on spectrum for full-power licensed use, though its overall importance appears to remain unclear. Federal agencies have already started lining up funding to do various band studies, as directed by the reconciliation package's goal of finding 800 MHz of midband spectrum for 6G, industry and federal officials said. The studies must gain approval as part of the spectrum relocation fund process by a technical panel made up of OMB, the FCC and NTIA.
A top regulatory issue for VoIP providers remains federal preemption of state rules and what that means in states like California, said Brendan Kasper, data protection officer at telecom provider 8x8, during a webcast with former FCC Commissioner Mike O’Rielly, part of a series for the Free State Foundation. Kasper, the former president of the Voice on the Net Coalition and a former Vonage executive, noted that the FCC has yet to respond to California actions.
Bidding in the long-awaited reauction of AWS-3 spectrum will start June 2, the FCC Office of Economics and Analytics and Wireless Bureau announced Thursday. That means it would likely occur about a year ahead of the much bigger auction for the upper C band. The AWS-3 auction will be the FCC’s first for full-power licensed use since 2022. The first auction of AWS-3 spectrum was in 2014.
The FCC approved 3-0 Thursday, with few changes, an order and further NPRM on expanding the commission’s VoIP numbering authorization rules (see 2512170039). Also at the meeting, commissioners addressed low-power TV and translator stations in a second item approved unanimously and, for the sixth consecutive month, adopted a direct final rule (DFR) to expunge a set of what the agency said are obsolete and unnecessary rules.
Few changes are expected to an FCC order and further NPRM to expand the commission’s VoIP numbering authorization rules, which commissioners will vote on Thursday. One of the biggest points of contention has been whether to change language citing a $4.5 million robocall-related fine against Telnyx. There were only three ex parte filings on the item in docket 13-97, and two addressed the Telnyx issue, including a filing by the company (see 2512040005).
The FCC Wireline Bureau released Wednesday the final eligible services list for FY 2026 for the schools and libraries universal service support mechanism program. The bureau declined to make several changes sought by commenters in response to a bureau notice about the list, including those on the treatment of managed internal broadband services (MIBS), a top focus of the Schools, Health & Libraries Broadband Coalition and other groups (see 2511140019).
Network automation takes a long time to get right, but it's necessary in order to meet the needs of customers today, said Swisscom’s Francesco Pellegrini during a TelecomTV webinar Tuesday. Providers need to embrace change and not just move to updated technology, he added.
Neology, which provides a platform for tolling services that uses the 900 MHz band, filed a technical study at the FCC this week challenging arguments by NextNav in support of its proposal to use the spectrum for a “terrestrial complement” to GPS for positioning, navigation and timing (PNT).