The FCC Wireless Bureau is seeking comment by March 13 on an application by Hawks Ear Communications to serve as a contraband interdiction system (CIS) operator to help address contraband phones in correctional facilities. In a notice Monday in docket 13-111, the bureau noted a change to the usual protective order provisions being adopted for this proceeding. “Under this Protective Order, experts employed by wireless providers participating in the proceeding will be permitted to have access to Confidential Information,” while experts “employed by other commercial entities” won't.

T-Mobile disputed arguments by EchoStar, parent of Dish Wireless, that T-Mobile’s proposed buy of spectrum and other assets from UScellular is designed in part to keep other companies from adding to their 600 MHz holdings (see 2501290019). EchoStar is wrong that T-Mobile is pursuing “a foreclosure strategy” as part of the transaction, said a heavily redacted filing posted Monday in docket 24-286. The transaction would include T-Mobile gaining only a “put/call option” to use a small number of 600 MHz licenses, it said. “As EchoStar well knows, a put/call option is not a cognizable interest under well-established FCC precedent, nor a plausible foreclosure strategy given the very small amount of spectrum subject to the option.”

T-Mobile launched beta testing of its SpaceX-enabled text messaging service, T-Mobile Starlink. It said Sunday that the direct-to-device service -- which it also advertised in a TV spot during the Super Bowl -- allows text messaging for now, with data and voice calling "coming later." In addition, it said registered smartphones will automatically connect to the T-Mobile Starlink network when out of range of a cell tower. T-Mobile will also broadcast wireless emergency alerts nationwide via T-Mobile Starlink. The service is free until July and then will be included free in some plans and available as an add-on for $15 a month for others, the carrier said, adding that it's available free until July for AT&T and Verizon users, and then $20 a month afterward. "This is an incredible next step in our journey and with more than 451 Direct to Cell satellites in the constellation beta users can get text messaging capabilities in 500,000 square miles of the U.S. previously unreachable by any traditional network," T-Mobile President-Technology Ulf Ewaldsson wrote on LinkedIn.

NCTA, major cable companies and other groups met with an aide to FCC Chairman Brendan Carr to oppose proposed changes to rules for the citizens broadband radio service band, including higher power levels and relaxed emission limits. The lobbying reflects arguments a larger group of associations and companies made last week in a letter to Carr (see 2502060050). Those changes would “fundamentally alter the longstanding nature of CBRS, result in massive harmful interference to existing deployments" and "undermine existing and planned investments," said a filing posted Monday in docket 17-258. The changes could also "damage the trust in federal/commercial collaboration and sharing that has led to successful protection of national security operations while enabling innovative and competitive commercial use, and immediately halt America’s global momentum in private wireless networks,” it said. Others represented at the meeting included Spectrum for the Future, Hewlett Packard Enterprise and the Wireless ISP Association.

Wireless carriers and cable operators are waging a new war over spectrum. Wireless groups launched a coalition, Spectrum for Broadband Competition, that accuses cable operators of trying to starve carriers of the additional full-power licensed spectrum they need as network data demands soar. The fight appears centered, in part, on the wireless industry’s pursuit of lower 3 GHz spectrum, a band that DOD uses widely and the 7/8 GHz bands (see 2502050038).

The Public Safety Spectrum Alliance asked the FCC to reject a petition from the San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District requesting that the FCC stay a requirement that 4.9 GHz licensees provide the agency with granular licensing data by June 9 or face cancelation of its licenses (see 2501290032). The PSSA said the petition has no more merit than one from the National Sheriffs’ Association and the California State Sheriffs’ Association (see 2501300025). “Even if Petitioner’s substantive arguments had some merit, which they do not, it is not entitled to a stay because it does not come close to demonstrating that it will suffer irreparable harm absent a stay,” said a filing Thursday in docket 07-100. The transit system's “purported injury” is based on concerns that its license will prohibit expansion of its 4.9 GHz operations and that it would be costly for it to collect and present the data concerning its existing operations, PSSA said. “But the Commission’s express statement that it will entertain waiver requests from licensees seeking to expand operations renders any possible injury speculative -- and provides a path for a remedy, should such alleged injury occur.”

The Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials urged the FCC to make technical changes to rules for the 4.9 GHz band, including increasing the equivalent isotropically radiated power (EIRP) limits to make the band more attractive for 5G. “More work is left to be done, and time is of the essence,” APCO said in a filing last week in docket 07-100. “To achieve its intent to promote innovation in the 4.9 GHz band, the Commission should ensure that the technical rules for the 4.9 GHz band align with the standards in the global marketplace,” APCO said. The group requested, among other changes, a base station maximum EIRP in the 4.9 GHz band of 3,280 watts/MHz and raising the maximum conducted output power of emissions outside the licensee’s authorized bandwidth to -13 dBm/MHz. APCO said the FCC needs to move quickly, so that the rule changes can be incorporated into the 3rd Generation Partnership Project’s Release 19, which is expected in September. If not part of that release, “5G deployments may be significantly delayed, well into 2028, frustrating the Commission’s overarching goal of providing public safety users with access to innovative technologies in the near-term.”

Federated Wireless representatives met with aides to FCC Commissioner Nathan Simington to call for rules that would facilitate deploying AI “and other advanced tools” to make the citizens broadband radio service band more efficient for users. The representatives discussed Federated’s “support for codification of the processes that are being used to manage CBRS spectrum access” and “greater harmonization of the CBRS rules with adjacent bands,” said a filing posted Thursday in docket 17-258.

The Association of American Railroads told the FCC that its members remain on schedule to move off 900 MHz frequencies to new frequencies by the September deadline. AAR disputed claims made by The Federal Newswire and Rail Tech News that the railroads won’t meet the deadline. “Although each railroad is implementing its own transition plan, all will accomplish the task on schedule,” said a filing posted Thursday in docket 17-200: “Accordingly, there is no basis for parties -- especially those acting anonymously -- to question the railroads’ ability to do so.” Railroads have been using the 900 MHz frequencies since 1982 as part of a “single nationwide ribbon license,” AAR noted.

The Mobile Satellite Services Association and the 5G Automotive Association announced Thursday an alliance “to advance global collaboration in the integration of terrestrial and non-terrestrial networks.” The agreement “establishes a framework for cooperation in areas such as technological research and development, spectrum management, and the integration of satellite and cellular networks,” the groups said. 5GAA Director General Johannes Springer added: “By making non-terrestrial networks interworking with our cellular technology, we can create more resilient, scalable solutions that meet the growing demand for safer, more efficient transportation systems.”