The FCC Enforcement Bureau removed K20 Wireless and its CEO, Krandon Wenger, from the commission's list of providers participating in the affordable connectivity program. In addition, it barred them from participating in any successor program. On Tuesday, the bureau denied K20 and Wenger's request to stay its removal order following a May order claiming they "engaged in serious, willful misconduct in violation of multiple ACP rules." In an investigation, the bureau found K20 "changed the non-tribal residential addresses associated with subscribers to false addresses on tribal lands when it transferred the subscribers to its ACP service." Providers receive a greater subsidy when tribal households are offered the benefit. A proposed $8 million fine was not imposed in the removal order (see 2405100032).

The FCC Office of Engineering and Technology sought comment on a waiver request by Norway's Kontur for ultra-wideband (UWB) devices, a public notice said Wednesday. Kontur requested the commission waive sections 15.503(d), 15.31(c), and 15.521(d), letting Kontur certify and market a UWB device that would operate as a stepped-frequency, continuous-wave-modulated ground penetrating radar (GPR) transmitter. The device “would improve the quality and quantity of information used by a variety of industries,” Kontur said. However, it does not meet the FCC’s definition of a UWB because it's frequency hopping. Comments are due Aug. 9, replies Sept. 10, in docket 24-209.

NCTA weighed in at the FCC against giving FirstNet and AT&T control of the 4.9 GHz band. As the FCC and others recognize, “spectrum resources are finite, and 'greenfield' opportunities have been exhausted,” a filing posted Wednesday in docket 07-100 said. “AT&T already holds vast swaths of licensed spectrum,” NCTA said: “Under these circumstances, AT&T -- like any other commercial provider -- should be required to compete in an open and competitive assignment process rather than being designated a band manager with residual rights to utilize the 4.9 GHz band for commercial purposes.” The Edison Electric Institute also opposed FirstNet control of the band. Allowing commercial communications service providers to use the 4.9 GHz band "will diminish its reliability, which would in turn discourage further investment by public safety and utilities, effectively displacing incumbents from the band,” EEI said.

Electric vehicle (EV) company Tesla sought a waiver of FCC ultra-wideband rules in support of a vehicle positioning system. “Grant of the waiver would help unleash innovation for applications such as EV charging, providing consumers with additional charging options, and would advance United States leadership and interests in the clean energy transition,” an undocketed filing posted Wednesday said. Tesla said the waiver is consistent with the commission’s hand-held UWB rules “because the proposed Tesla operations will not communicate any data other than for the positioning of the vehicle and the transmissions are only for the short duration necessary to align an EV.”

NextNav said Monday it won a $1.9 million award from the Department of Transportation to conduct real-world field tests of its 3D positioning, navigation and timing technologies. In April, NextNav asked the FCC to reconfigure the 902-928 MHz band “to enable a high-quality, terrestrial complement” to GPS for PNT services (see 2404160043). “We realize the importance of a terrestrial PNT complement and backup to support our nation’s critical infrastructure, and we look forward to working with the U.S. DOT to demonstrate our PNT capabilities,” NextNav CEO Mariam Sorond said.

NTCA urged that the FCC adopt additional safeguards as part of a draft order and Further NPRM that lets schools and libraries use E-rate support for off-premises Wi-Fi hot spots and wireless internet services. Commissioners are set to vote on the measure July 18 (see 2406270068). “The most effective use of E-rate funds would be to ensure that funded Wi-Fi hotspots are not made available where service is already available as reflected in the National Broadband Map,” a filing posted Tuesday in docket 21-31 said. The FCC shouldn’t fund a hot spot “at any location that is currently connected leveraging the use of high-cost USF support,” NTCA said. NTCA met with aides to FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel and Commissioner Nathan Simington.

Funding Wi-Fi on school buses through the E-rate program (see 2312200040) will advance students’ education, according to a Monday brief supporting an FCC declaratory ruling before the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The Schools, Health & Libraries Broadband Coalition filed the brief (docket 23-60641). Petitioners Maurine and Matthew Molak challenged expanding the program, contending it will increase the federal universal service charge they pay as a line-item on their monthly phone bill (see 2406040024). SBLB said when the Telecommunications Act of 1996 was enacted, teachers worked with chalkboards and handouts and students carried their textbooks home at night to do their homework. Today, “students are instructed to access reading assignments on web-based learning platforms, to watch online video presentations, and to complete and submit interactive homework assignments online,” SBLB said. The shift to remote learning during the COVID-19 pandemic “greatly accelerated the use of Internet-based education,” the group said: “School-bus Internet access serves an important educational purpose because Internet access is essential to modern learning.” The Molaks, whose son was a cyberbullied suicide victim, have also argued that the ruling will give children and teenagers unsupervised social media access.

Samsung Electronics America representatives met with an aide to FCC Commissioner Geoffrey Starks about the company’s request for a waiver on a 5G base station radio that works across citizens broadband radio service and C-band spectrum (see 2309130041). “Samsung has no incentive to cause harmful interference to its own devices in any band,” a filing posted Monday in docket 23-93 said. The radio would enable carriers “to deploy mid-band spectrum more efficiently and effectively relative to two standalone radios,” Samsung said.

The FCC Office of Engineering and Technology on Monday sought comments, due July 29, on a C3Spectra proposal to join the list of companies operating an automated frequency coordination (AFC) system to manage access to the 6 GHz band. OET conditionally approved C3Spectra’s application, subject to a testing process, “which may begin immediately.” In February, OET approved AFC operations by seven companies and sought initial comments on C3Spectra’s proposal, in docket 21-352 (see 2402230050).

The Metropolitan Fire Chiefs Association told the FCC the FirstNet Authority can best utilize the 4.9 GHz band. The 4.9 GHz band is “mid-band spectrum that can be used to support FirstNet 5G services while protecting incumbent uses in the band,” the chiefs said in a filing posted Monday in docket 07-100: “For the fire and emergency service," the band "presents an opportunity to develop technology to track firefighters in buildings; support Unmanned Aerial Systems and robots; and improve the data available to an incident commander on the scene in a major incident.”