Aeronet representatives met with aides to all FCC commissioners except Commissioner Anna Gomez seeking technical changes to the draft 70 and 80 GHz band order revising rules for the spectrum, set for a vote at the FCC’s Jan. 25 meeting (see 2401040064). The company is among the biggest supporters of rules changes (see 2311080055). Aeronet expressed “appreciation for the significant efforts of the FCC staff as well as staff at the federal agencies involved in evaluating the technical issues raised by Aeronet’s proposed use of the 70/80 GHz bands to provide high-speed, ‘in-home’ equivalent broadband experiences to consumers in planes and on ships,” said a filing posted Friday in docket 20-133. Aeronet sought tweaks to provisions on proposed elevation angles for aviation ground and maritime stations and on coordination requirements, among other parts of the draft.

Nearly 50,000 commercial maritime vessels had cellular capabilities as of the end of 2023, owing to the growing use of cellular technology at sea as vessels that relied on satellite connectivity are increasingly opting for multimodal connectivity, Valour Consultancy said Thursday in a report. The inability of cellular coverage to extend far distances at sea keeps it from being the primary connectivity in the commercial maritime market, Valour said. The growing popularity of low earth orbit very small aperture terminals and medium earth orbit services has slowed demand for cell services in some markets and regions, it added. Cellular is particularly dominant with commercial leisure vessels, it said. Valour said 5G should lead to new use capabilities, especially in shipping ports and terminals.

Wi-Fi Alliance Services representatives urged FCC Office of Engineering and Technology staff to let the company launch operations as an automated frequency coordination system provider in the 6 GHz band. They noted the company “has taken all the steps specified by the Commission to be recognized as a provider of 6 GHz AFC services, including submitting its Report on the public trial it conducted,” a filing posted Thursday in docket 21-352 said.

FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel asked auto manufacturers and wireless service providers to help protect domestic abuse survivors "from the misuse of connected car tools by abusers." In letters Thursday, Rosenworcel wrote, "Having access to a car is also a critical lifeline," adding: "No survivor of domestic violence and abuse should have to choose between giving up their car and allowing themselves to be stalked and harmed by those who can access its data and connectivity." Rosenworcel contacted Ford, General Motors, Honda, Hyundai, Mercedes-Benz, Nissan, Stellantis, Tesla and Toyota asking for "details about the connected car systems they offer, any existing plans to support survivors in their efforts to disconnect from abusers, and how these companies handle consumers’ geolocation data." In addition, AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile received letters. Rosenworcel asked the providers for information about "existing connected car services, treatment of geolocation data from these services, current compliance with the Safe Connections Act of 2022, and how/if the companies provide connected car services to consumers who are not subscribers to their wireless services otherwise."

5G Americas released a white paper Wednesday highlighting the importance of the 3rd Generation Partnership Project's recent work and 5G release 18, with its focus on 5G-advanced. The release delves into such “cutting-edge" areas as the metaverse and use of AI and machine learning in networks, the paper said. “The evolution from 5G to 5G-Advanced promises groundbreaking improvements, including reduced latency and enhanced reliability,” 5G Americas said: “Milestones in Rel-17, such as MIMO [multiple-input and multiple-output] and Non-Terrestrial Networks, set the stage for comprehensive 5G development.”

Smith Bagley Chairman Kevin Frawley and others from the provider discussed the rules for a proposed 5G auction with aides to Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel and Commissioners Brendan Carr and Geoffrey Starks, said a filing posted Wednesday in docket 20-32. Auction mechanisms “must treat remote Tribal lands as a special case to ensure that these highest-cost areas are not excluded from receiving support as a result of an auction process,” the company said. Smith Bagley said it has nearly 100,000 subscribers, many of whom didn’t previously have a phone. It estimated that about 400 of its towers must be upgraded and another 400 constructed to cover its tribal lands with 5G at 35/3 Mbps speeds.

Dish Wireless, which is building a stand-alone 5G open radio access network, received a $50 million grant from NTIA to establish the Open RAN Center for Integration & Deployment (ORCID), EchoStar said Wednesday. Echostar said the grant was the largest so far under the Public Wireless Supply Chain Innovation Fund. ORCHID “will serve a critical role in strengthening the global Open RAN ecosystem and building the next generation of wireless networks," said Charlie Ergen, EchoStar chairman: The center "will be uniquely positioned to test and evaluate Open RAN interoperability, performance and security from domestic and international vendors.” The center combines field and lab testing and will use Dish’s spectrum, the company said: Multi-tenant lab and field testing will happen in Dish’s Cheyenne, Wyoming facility. NTIA also announced five other grants under the program Wednesday, including $21.7 million to fund a Viavi testing lab. The company “aims to create a fully automated, cooperative, open and impartial testing-as-a-service offering that's dedicated to Open RAN interoperability, performance and security,” NTIA said. The agency awarded $2 million to Virginia Tech to explore ORAN cybersecurity. Cirrus360 gets nearly $2 million “to develop a new test method that uses a digital twin of integrated RAN components to model their implementation,” NTIA said. Northeastern University and Rice University also got funding. “The new facilities we fund with this round of grants will help move open technologies from the lab to the field,” said NTIA Administrator Alan Davidson.

The FCC Public Safety Bureau Tuesday approved a waiver request by Alert SouthBay allowing wireless carriers to participate in a wireless emergency alert test in Los Angeles County's South Bay region. The test was scheduled to start at 11:20 a.m. PSD that day. “We are persuaded it is in the public interest to allow ... Alert SouthBay to test WEA’s performance over the County’s variety of geographic and demographic conditions, especially considering recent land movement and landslides, as well as the prevalent high fire risk,” the bureau said in post in docket 15-91. Alert SouthBay later confirmed the test took place.

T-Mobile users see 2.5 times faster download speeds than AT&T customers and triple the speeds of Verizon customers, Opensignal said in its January report: T-Mobile won both overall speed awards, retaining “Download Speed Experience” with a score of 113.1 Mbps and “Upload Speed Experience” at 12.1 Mbps, the report said. Verizon took top honors for all three 5G experiential awards it won in the previous report, “5G Video Experience, 5G Live Video Experience and 5G Games Experience,” Opensignal said. AT&T won on availability, with a score of 99.5%, the report said. AT&T beat Verizon’s by 0.2 percentage points, while T-Mobile was third with a score of 98.5%

Representatives of major trade associations stressed to the FCC that a cyber trust mark program for smart devices (see 2311130034) must remain voluntary. “The Trade Associations highlighted several factors that will be necessary in order to make the FCC’s proposed Labeling Program a success,” the reps told Public Safety Bureau Chief Debra Jordan and others from the bureau, said a filing posted Tuesday in docket 22-239 from by CTA, the Connectivity Standards Alliance, CTIA, the National Electrical Manufacturers Association and USTelecom. The program should “leverage” the work of the National Institute of Standards and Technology and industry standards and “allow for self-attestation,” the groups said. “Preemption and safe harbors are critical to the Labeling Program’s success,” they said: The program “should be launched at the device level but should allow for expansion to the product level in the future.”