Verizon Communications will sell tower company Vertical Bridge “exclusive rights” to lease, operate and manage 6,339 Verizon towers for approximately $3.3 billion, including an upfront payment of $2.8 billion, the companies said Monday. The towers are located in all 50 states and Washington, D.C. Verizon agreed to lease back capacity on the towers for 10 years, serving as the anchor tenant, with options for extending the lease term up to 50 years, the companies said: “Verizon will also have access to certain additional space on the towers for its future use, subject to certain restrictions.” Reports that Verizon was seeking to sell towers emerged in July (see 2407160026). In 2015, Verizon sold the rights to lease and operate 11,000 towers to American Tower for an upfront payment of $5 billion (see 1502050059). “This transaction builds on our existing relationship with Vertical Bridge while realizing substantial value for this unique set of assets and allows us to be agile in optimizing the network with one of the best operating partners,” said CEO Hans Vestberg. "We are pleased to have been selected by Verizon as the counterparty in the largest US tower transaction in almost a decade," said Ron Bizick, CEO of Vertical Bridge. In March, Vertical Bridge agreed to pay $310.3 million in cash to buy more than 200 towers from Shentel. Vestberg said during Verizon’s last earnings call in July that while he wouldn’t comment on rumors of a tower sale, the company was seeking additional cash flow. “The focus on cash flow is extremely important because it goes straight into our capital priorities,” he said.

SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell in a meeting with FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel urged that the agency authorize commercial operations of its direct-to-device service, according to a posting Monday in docket 23-135. The agency's Space Bureau signed off late last year on SpaceX conducting limited supplemental coverage from space operations for testing purposes (see 2312050029).

The Alliance for Telecommunications Industry Solutions updated the FCC on the status of a new volume control standard for handset makers to use to certify that handsets are hearing aid compatible. ATIS noted that the FCC required the update, which was provided by the Telecommunications Industry Association. TIA’s Volume Control Task Group (VCTG) has made “significant progress” in addressing concerns of the HAC Task Force, said a filing posted Monday in docket 20-3. The VCTG “expects the approval process to happen using only the minimum time required for approval of this standard by the American National Standards Institute and suggests that the Commission can provisionally incorporate the draft standard into its rules while the standard is pending ANSI approval,” ATIS said.

PTC-220 asked the FCC for special temporary authority to operate positive train control radio base stations using automated maritime telecommunications system (AMTS) spectrum covering Region 4, which takes in an area from the upper Midwest to the Gulf Coast. “Consistent with prior STA applications to operate on AMTS spectrum,” grant of PTC-220’s request “would permit the immediate deployment” of PTC, it said. PTC-220 represents the nation’s major freight railroads and wants to add 1,240 planned locations to the 12,853 locations previously authorized. “Since January 2020, PTC-220 has successfully conducted PTC and non-PTC rail safety operations in AMTS Region 4 and has received no reports of harmful interference from broadcasters,” said a filing posted Friday: “Importantly, whether operating under STA or permanent authority, PTC-220 will cure any instances of harmful interference caused by its transmissions.”

The Alliance for Automotive Innovation emailed FCC commissioners' staff, except that of Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel, laying out its positions on an order finalizing rules for cellular vehicle-to-everything use of the 5.9 GHz band. Rosenworcel circulated the order in July (see 2404180050). “Finalization” of the order “will help address the ongoing regulatory uncertainty that has delayed the widespread deployment of this important technology,” said a filing Friday in docket 19-158. “C-V2X technologies and the use cases enabled by the technology continue to evolve and the technical rules” established “should be flexible enough to support that continued evolution,” the alliance said. The group also stressed the importance of protecting C-V2X from “harmful interference from unlicensed operations in the U-NII-4 band.”

The FCC Wireless Bureau on Friday extended comment and reply deadlines by 30 days on an August NPRM that asks about further rules changes for the citizens broadband radio service band (see 2408160031). The new deadlines are Nov. 6 for initial comments, Dec. 5 for replies, in docket 17-258. The bureau took the step following a request by the Wireless Innovation Forum, the OnGo Alliance and the Wireless ISP Association (see 2409200015). “We find that Joint Petitioners have established that additional time is necessary to enable commenters to adequately assess highly technical data and to produce studies in response to the complex technical, legal, and policy issues presented in the NPRM,” the bureau said: “Given the importance of receiving robust input from all of [the groups’] respective members on the questions raised in the NPRM, along with the Commission’s stated desire for detailed technical analyses, we find there is good cause to extend the deadlines.”

The FCC Public Safety Bureau extended by 10 days the application deadline for CTIA and TUV Rheinland of North America to become cybersecurity labeling administrators (CLAs) or lead administrator under the FCC’s voluntary cyber-trust mark program (see 2409240063). The new deadline is Oct. 11. “The Bureau finds that the Parties’ request for an extension of time is warranted to ensure applicants have sufficient time to prepare full and informed responses,” said an order in Friday’s Daily Digest.

In the wake of Hurricane Helene, the FCC Wireless Bureau on Thursday approved a waiver for Google of rules that require environmental sensing capability systems to protect federal incumbents in Florida in the citizens broadband radio service band from harmful interference. The bureau on Wednesday approved a similar waiver for Federated Wireless (see 2409250048).

CTIA representatives spoke with an aide to FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez about the group’s 2019 petition seeking clarity of pole attachment rules under Section 224 of the Communications Act. “The requested clarification will serve the Commission’s goal of speeding broadband deployment,” said a Wednesday filing in docket 17-84: “The record on the Petition is thorough, and many commenters supported CTIA’s request.” CTIA also reported on meetings with aides to Commissioners Geoffrey Starks and Nathan Simington. The group previously spoke with aides to FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel and Commissioner Brendan Carr (see 2409180013).

SpaceX representatives met with aides to FCC Commissioners Geoffrey Starks and Brendan Carr on concerns about interference from high-power terrestrial operations in the lower or upper 12 GHz band. “Although SpaceX had hoped to find a way to have its next generation broadband service coexist with such a high-power terrestrial service, its prior filings and its study demonstrate that it cannot,” Space X said in a filing posted Thursday in docket 22-352 on the Carr meeting. The company raised the same concerns with Wireless Bureau and Office of Engineering and Technology staff (see 2409190022). EchoStar disputes those arguments (see 2409050040).