NTCH continued to urge the FCC Wireless Bureau to rescind Dish Network’s waiver extending the buildout of its terrestrial network and giving Dish flexibility in how it will operate its AWS-4 spectrum. In adopting service rules for the adjacent AWS-3 band, the FCC proposed to put the 2020-2025 MHz band to uplink/mobile broadband use, NTCH said in a supplement to its application for review (http://bit.ly/1teRwUf). Since that band isn’t subject to any statutory licensing deadlines, the FCC decided the public interest is best served by deferring action on that band, “without prejudice to the ultimate disposition of service rules for that band,” NTCH said. This 5 MHz of spectrum “must be put on ice pending Dish’s decision about how it wants to configure its adjacent band,” it said. Granting Dish’s waiver has directly delayed the allocation of 5 MHz of vacant broadband spectrum “for any use at all while Dish dithers about what to do with its adjacent spectrum,” NTCH said.

The FTC is seeking public comment on mobile security “with an eye towards a report,” it said in a Thursday release (http://1.usa.gov/1lcCF7m). The report idea springs from the FTC’s daylong forum last June on the issue, it said. The FTC is asking for comments on secure mobile platform design, secure distribution channels, secure development practices and the security lifecycle of a mobile device. The public can file comments online (http://bit.ly/RsNVUg) until May 30. Commenters must write “Mobile Security Project, Project No. P145408” on their comment, according to FTC guidelines for submissions (http://bit.ly/1r32vfA).

The FCC should stick with a three-tiered framework as proposed by the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology in developing rules for the 3550-3700 MHz band, Google representatives said in a meeting with Louis Peraertz, aide to Commissioner Mignon Clyburn. The FCC will take up a rulemaking on the shared use of the band at its April 23 open meting. Google said the rules should mandate “broad eligibility for the secondary (priority access) tier of users,” according to an ex parte filing (http://bit.ly/1hPMCcI). The rules should also specify “general authorized access wherever priority access reservations are not in use” and management through a spectrum access system (SAS), the company said. “In particular, we emphasized that an SAS can adequately protect both government incumbents and priority access users,” Google said. “We also stressed that the Commission should set baseline requirements for an SAS but allow SAS providers to innovate and differentiate among themselves in offering more sophisticated technologies that enable increased spectrum utilization.”

The FCC must stand firm on spectrum aggregation rules for the TV incentive auction, Carri Bennet, general counsel to the Rural Wireless Association, said in an email. On Wednesday, AT&T hinted it might not bid in the auction if the FCC imposes rules as proposed by agency staff (CD April 17 p1). “The FCC has a big task in front of it to ensure that the auction is a success,” Bennet said. “RWA believes that everyone will be unhappy about some aspects of the order. The important thing is to ensure that as many companies as possible are able to participate so that there is the potential for more competition in this spectrum band. By stamping its feet and threatening not to participate because it isn’t getting its way, [it] highlights AT&T as the 800-pound gorilla bent on perpetuating a mobile wireless duopoly. RWA trusts that the FCC will stand its ground.” NTCA made a similar comment. “It is unfortunate to see AT&T resort to a thinly veiled threat of not participating in the upcoming 600 MHz incentive auction to seek out policies favorable to its business plan,” NTCA said in a news release. “It’s important, however, that the Commission balance various competing concerns for the licensing of a limited public resource -- especially one that has as much value as this low-band spectrum that AT&T and many others clearly desire."

The government has a big job ahead of it in coordinating with nonfederal users both before and after the AWS-3 auction “to allow commercial use of the band as soon after the auction as possible,” said Steve Sharkey, senior director at T-Mobile, Thursday in a blog post (http://bit.ly/1pdJ4Fs). The AWS-3 spectrum, like the AWS-1 band, is government spectrum being repurposed for commercial use. “Much work still needs to be done to ensure potential bidders fully understand the scope of federal incumbency, relocation timelines, and the potential for temporary or indefinite sharing through geographic or temporal access to spectrum,” Sharkey wrote. “Without additional clarity about the impact of government operations in the band, wireless carriers’ bidding strategies will have to be made in a vacuum, potentially depressing auction participation and revenues.” Potential bidders also need to be able to “determine the realistic impact of incumbent federal users through the transition,” he said. Also important is “an understanding that realistic models will be used to coordinate between industry and government,” he said.

Emilio Ferrara, a postdoctoral researcher at Indiana University’s Center for Complex Networks and Systems Research, is using cellphone calling data to help police fight crime, said a news release from the university. The technology has already helped police in Italy solve a number of crimes, the release said (http://bit.ly/1hKvwMr). “We're learning new insights about individuals by taking very specific physical events, let’s say like a string of robberies, and identifying huge spikes of activity during that same period of time,” Ferrara said. “We can then create what we call a dynamic spring layout -- a series of nodes that represent possible members of criminal networks -- and analyze how those members interact and shape their interconnections over time.” Even a very short phone call or hang-up can provide useful information in solving crimes like theft, Ferrara said. “You have these spikes of phone activity during the times of these robberies, and those might well be the lower rung of the network, but the system also can identify what would be non-intuitive calls of interest, maybe very short, that are extremely hard to capture,” he said. “But we capture these into the network as well."

Motorola Mobility representatives stressed, in a meeting with FCC staff, the importance of interoperability throughout the 3550-3700 MHz band, according to an ex parte filing at the FCC (http://bit.ly/1gB6Odb). “Interoperability would benefit consumers by improving choice and quality by enabling consumers to port their devices between service providers and enabling devices to roam on different networks,” the company said. “Motorola Mobility also reiterated its support for flexible technical rules that would facilitate LTE and Wi-Fi implementation throughout the 3550-3700 MHz band and promote international harmonization of wireless broadband spectrum allocations, which also would benefit consumers through economies of scale.” Motorola met with Louis Peraertz, aide to Commissioner Mignon Clyburn.

Members of two groups that illegally distributed copies of copyrighted Android mobile applications pleaded guilty to engaging in separate efforts to distribute more than 1 million app copies, the Department of Justice said Tuesday night. Thomas Pace, of Oregon City, Ore., pleaded guilty Tuesday to one count of conspiracy to commit criminal copyright infringement. He’s to be sentenced July 9. DOJ claimed Pace and fellow members of the Appbucket Group illegally reproduced and distributed more than 1 million copies of Android apps, worth more than $700,000, between August 2010 and August 2012. Thomas Nye and Appbucket Group leader Nicholas Narbone pleaded guilty to the same charge in March, DOJ said. Kody Jon Peterson, of Clermont, Fla., pleaded guilty Monday to one count of conspiracy to commit criminal copyright infringement. His sentencing date hasn’t been set. DOJ claimed Peterson and other members of the SnappzMarket Group illegally reproduced and distributed more than one million copies of Android apps, with a retail value of more than $1.7 million, between May 2011 and August 2012 (http://1.usa.gov/1eSiSWR). U.S. law enforcement authorities seized websites belonging to Appbucket and SnappzMarket, along with a third website, applanet.net, in August 2012.

The FCC Wireless Bureau rejected a request by booster maker ClearRF that it find its signal booster Model Number WRE2710 provides “equivalent protection” to the commission’s Network Protection Standard. “We note at the outset that the ClearRF Request lacks technical specificity regarding the proposed product,” the bureau said in a Wednesday order (http://bit.ly/1paIsAk). “For example, there is no indication of the bands of operation, air interface(s) supported, or types of Machine-to-Machine (M2M) devices which can be connected to the ClearRF booster. Likewise, ClearRF provides no technical analysis or test data to support its Request."

A second request for an extension by California’s Coachella Valley Water District to provide a cost estimate for the reconfiguration of its 800 MHz communications system to Sprint and the 800 MHz Transition Administrator was denied Wednesday by the FCC’s Public Safety Bureau. Coachella already had received an extension until March 31 and then wanted a second extension until Aug. 31, said Michael Wilhelm, deputy chief, Policy and Rules Division, in the order (http://bit.ly/1l3k8hZ). Coachella had said it needed more time because it had not signed its Planning Funding Agreement with Motorola Solutions until recently, the order said. Wilhelm wrote that the PFA was received in January and there was no reason why Coachella needs until August to comply.