Wal-Mart.com agreed to pay the federal government $120,000 to end an investigation of whether the Wal-Mart subsidiary had violated FCC rules on the sale of wireless mics. “In response to the Commission’s investigation, Wal-Mart.com USA acknowledged that it had not previously included on its website the required consumer alert and that a supplier had not obtained an equipment authorization for one wireless microphone model until after it was offered for sale,” said a notice from the FCC Enforcement Bureau (http://bit.ly/1mr66Dy). “The company agreed to implement a robust three-year plan to ensure future compliance with these requirements."

BlackBerry is targeting breaking even on its hardware business by fiscal 2016 starting in March 2015 as it “focuses on making money” on sales, BlackBerry CEO John Chen said Friday on an earnings call. The company, which for years lost money on hardware, signed new manufacturing agreements with Foxconn and Wistron last year, replacing Jabil Circuit as its primary supplier. The first fruits of the new pact with Wistron are expected to arrive this spring with shipments of a new version of the Bold smartphone based on the BlackBerry-7 operating system, Chen said. The Bold, which will retail in international markets for about $200, will ship first in Indonesia, he said. Releasing a new Bold underscores continuing demand for BlackBerry’s original operating system, which remains a strong seller in emerging markets due to a lower price than BlackBerry-10 based models. Most of BlackBerry’s fiscal Q4 shipments were BlackBerry-7-based models. BlackBerry sold 3.4 million smartphones to consumers in fiscal Q4, 2.3 million of which had BlackBerry-7 software, the company said. The new Bold is expected the lead the way for BlackBerry’s lower priced models, which will include the Z3 and Q20, the latter being dubbed the “classic” for its featuring a QWERTY keyboard and track pad.

The Government Accountability Office found a mixed reception to the FCC’s use and enforcement of wireless spectrum buildout requirements, it said in a 70-page report released Friday (http://1.usa.gov/O6w1UW). “Stakeholders GAO interviewed generally said that buildout requirements are effective in meeting two of four goals commonly cited in FCC documents and statute -- encouraging [spectrum] licensees to provide services in a timely manner and preventing the warehousing of spectrum,” GAO said. “Stakeholders had mixed views on the effectiveness of buildout requirements in meeting two other goals -- promoting innovative services and promoting services to rural areas -- largely because they believed that other tools could better address these goals.” Stakeholders had mentioned tools such as including “greater use of spectrum licenses that allow a wider array of uses and providing licensees with subsidies to serve rural areas.” The report found that licensees and industry back the requirements. GAO said it consulted with the FCC in putting together the report. GAO did not make recommendations. GAO found that “infrequent” FCC delays in processing filings occasionally caused trouble for licensees and cited 19 filings, needing either agency approval or dismissal, that were filed four or more years ago. Some stakeholders suggested there be more clarity in buildout requirements, with some telling GAO there should be “greater detail about what could constitute substantial service or about the engineering parameters licensees should use in their required notifications.”

The FCC Wireless Bureau formally sought comment on a request by designated entity (DE) Grain for clarity on whether the attributable material relationship rule applies to spectrum deals in the secondary market (CD March 6 p14). Grain was part of a multiparty spectrum deal also involving AT&T and Verizon Wireless last year. Grain asked for clarity on how a sale of the spectrum it obtained would affect its status as a DE. Comments are due April 25, replies May 9 (http://bit.ly/1jasgtx).

NTIA’s Commerce Spectrum Management Advisory Committee’s working group on enforcement identified a series of key questions that should be asked as CSMAC takes a deeper dive on enforcement issues. NTIA posted a report from the group prior to CSMAC’s meeting Friday (http://1.usa.gov/1o53e3I). “What proof would a potential victim system have to supply in making an interference complaint?” the group asked. “How would (harmful?) interference be defined and who would specify the measurement process? ... How would the cost of detecting and mitigating the interference be distributed?” Enforcement issues loom large as the administration pushes spectrum sharing, CSMAC officials said at the group’s December meeting (CD Dec 12 p2).

Sprint warned the FCC of possible “interconnection and/or interoperability” issues between the two major text control center providers, as it and other carriers work on making it possible for subscribers to send emergency text messages. “In Sprint’s view, this could potentially represent an obstacle to wide-scale deployment and availability of text-to-911 service at public safety answering points nationwide and across the wireless industry,” Sprint said in a filing reporting on calls carrier representatives held with Public Safety Bureau officials (http://bit.ly/1hYGquZ). Sprint said it has to date received “approximately 20 requests to implement text-to-911 service” from various PSAPs.

The FCC proposed a fine of $29,250 against R & N Manufacturing of Houston for allegedly jamming cellphone signals at its manufacturing facility. “This illegal operation caused actual interference to cellular and Personal Communications Service (PCS) communications in the surrounding area, creating potential public safety risks,” the FCC said (http://bit.ly/1iBi6RT). Signal jammers “have been marketed with increasing frequency over the Internet” but “with limited exceptions inapplicable in this case, they have no lawful use in the United States,” the FCC said. While a relatively small fine, the FCC posted the notice prominently on its main website Wednesday.

Smaller 5 x 5 MHz licenses are far preferable to bigger licenses in the AWS-3 auction, said Michael Calabrese of the New America Foundation’s Open Technology Institute, in a meeting with various FCC offices, according to an ex parte filing (http://bit.ly/QchLvN). Most public interest groups “strongly oppose a band plan with block sizes premised on more than one 10 x 10 MHz license, particularly if both 10 x 10 MHz licenses use Economic Areas (EAs) as the geographic unit,” Calabrese said. “This would be a recipe for acquisition of 40 MHz by the two dominant national carriers, leaving one 5 x 5 license for all the rest of the industry to fight over.” Calabrese also supported Dish Network arguments that the FCC should extend the interoperability requirement in the AWS-3 band to cover the AWS-4 band at 2180-2200 MHz. “I asserted that it would damage the public interest if the AWS-4 band became ’stranded’ with respect to interoperability and access to the LTE devices otherwise available to carriers operating on 2110-2180 MHz post-auction,” said Calabrese.

US Cellular filed a petition Tuesday asking the FCC to issue a declaratory ruling that unclaimed Mobility Fund Phase I support should go to next-in-line bidders. The FCC should also say the Wireless Bureau can take this step “on an expedited basis” acting on delegated authority, said the carrier. “More than a year after completion of Auction 901, more than $68 million of the $300 million originally made available for funding mobile broadband investments in unserved areas remains unclaimed due to winning bidders defaulting on their bids,” US Cellular said. “These defaulted amounts can and should be awarded to the next-in-line bidders who remain ready, willing, and able, to meet the goals of the program and expand the reach of mobile broadband into areas that remain un-served and which were eligible for funding under the rules of Auction 901.” The auction was Sept. 27, 2012. Thirty-three winning bidders were awarded just under $300 million total (http://fcc.us/1hWi19B).

CTIA, NTCA and the Rural Wireless Association are pressing the FCC to move forward on a long-standing proposal to convert the licensing model for the cellular band from a site-based to a geographic-based model. “We have had constructive discussions with FCC staff in developing our proposal and now urge the Commission to promptly issue an Order adopting and codifying the Joint Proposal,” the groups said in an ex parte filing (http://bit.ly/1hUCUC5). “The Joint Proposal will simplify Cellular licensing while balancing incumbent and new entrant rights.” The three groups reported on a meeting with Wireless Bureau staff to discuss the plan. AT&T, US Cellular and Verizon also were represented at the meeting. “The public interest benefits of the Joint Proposal are clear, and the Commission should promptly issue an Order rejecting the overlay auction approach and adopting cellular licensing rules consistent with the Joint Proposal,” the groups said. They noted that CTIA submitted the “core elements” of the proposal submitted to the FCC in September 2010 and the commission sought specific comment on the proposal in a 2012 NPRM (http://bit.ly/1fay8OG).