Former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms resigned as chair of the FirstNet Authority board, NTIA said Friday, noting that will allow the next Commerce secretary to designate her successor. Bottoms became chair in October. Vice Chair Renee Gordon will temporarily lead the board, NTIA said.

FCC commissioners unanimously adopted an NPRM seeking comment on rules designed to provide more spectrum for uncrewed aircraft systems. Commissioner Anna Gomez recused herself from voting on the 450 MHz portion of the notice. The NPRM proposes changes in service rules for 650 kHz in the 450 MHz band. “In their current form, these site-based rules confine air-ground communications in the band to voice communications with aircraft traveling at high altitudes,” the NPRM said: “We propose to replace the current rigid framework with rules that embrace more flexible use of the band while minimizing the possibility for harmful interference by creating a single nationwide license.”

T-Mobile filed a fully redacted “response” at the FCC on Thursday in docket 24-286, examining its proposed buy of wireless assets from UScellular. The filing came the day before responses were due to a series of questions on the deal that the FCC Wireless Bureau and Office of Economics and Analytics posed (see 2412270031). T-Mobile didn't comment Thursday. UScellular representatives, meanwhile, met with FCC staff about the information request it received the same day as T-Mobile. “UScellular discussed its ongoing work to respond to the Information Request along with the relevant UScellular custodian(s) for each request,” said a filing on the meeting: “Commission staff also answered questions related to the Information Request’s instructions and definitions, as well as certain of the requests themselves.”

The FCC Office of Engineering and Technology approved Liberty Defense's waiver requests that will allow equipment certification for upgrades of its full-body security screening scanners deployed at U.S. airports. NTIA endorsed the waiver in June, saying that members of the Interdepartment Radio Advisory Committee had reviewed it and didn’t object (see 2406040063). OET sought comment in 2023 (see 2307200030). “Liberty’s new High-Definition Advanced Imaging Technology will be deployed via upgrade kits to Legacy Systems and will permit them to transmit across spectrum bands ranging from 10-40 GHz,” OET said Thursday in docket 23-245: “Liberty states that the new system will improve transportation security by enhancing threat detection capability and speeding up airline passenger screening.” While Liberty’s scanner “sweeps over a larger frequency band than the Legacy System, it employs a higher sweep rate, which reduces the potential for causing harmful interference,” OET said. “We agree that adding the upgrade kit to the Legacy System not only corresponds to a lower duty cycle seen by the victim receiver but also reduces the interference potential of these devices.”

The FCC Office of Engineering and Technology on Thursday approved a waiver sought by Norway's Kontur of rules for ultra-wideband (UWB) devices for a new ground-penetrating radar (GPR) device expected to be deployed in several industries. The UWB Alliance and the GPS Innovation Alliance supported the waiver last summer (see 2408150014) after OET sought comment (see 2407100057). The device is “a stepped frequency, continuous wave modulated GPR transmitter that closely resembles its previously approved GPR device,” OET said in docket 24-209: “Providing trained professionals with improved tools to detect potential flaws and safety risks, and providing increased information that lets the device operator focus on the job of locating subsurface problems and recommending solutions clearly benefits the public.” OET imposed technical restrictions similar to those imposed on other GPR UWB devices. The restrictions cover the operating frequency range, modulation type, dwell time on each frequency and measurement procedures.

In response to challenges brought by competitor AT&T, the Better Business Bureau's National Advertising Division issued decisions on Thursday asking T-Mobile to drop two different advertising claims. The first was that “Families Can Save 20% Every Month Versus AT&T and Verizon.” NAD said the ad doesn’t inform consumers “that the 20% savings claim is calculated by including the cost of third-party streaming services on top of the price of AT&T’s and Verizon’s monthly wireless plans.” The second claim was that with T-Mobile consumers “Save On Every Plan vs. The Other Big Guys.” Here too “T-Mobile included the cost of certain third-party streaming services, that are bundled with a T-Mobile plan, on top of the price of AT&T and Verizon wireless plans,” NAD said. In response, T-Mobile said while it disagrees with NAD, it will comply with the decisions.

The FCC Office of Engineering and Technology on Wednesday approved C3Spectra to operate an automated frequency coordination (AFC) system in the 6 GHz band (see 2408130030). “This action benefits American consumers and businesses by enabling an additional AFC system to provide service to standard power and fixed client devices further expanding spectrum access for new applications and services,” said an order in docket 21-352.

AT&T’s FirstNet will provide “unmatched network support for federal and local first responders” around the National Mall during Donald Trump's inauguration next week, a spokesperson emailed on Wednesday. “We are pre-positioning several deployable network assets from the dedicated FirstNet fleet around the National Mall and surrounding areas to provide enhanced network coverage for public safety on FirstNet should they need it,” the spokesperson said: “In a capability unique to FirstNet,” AT&T has also “cleared and locked” Band 14 spectrum on cellsites around the National Mall and surrounding areas “meaning first responders have their own ‘VIP lane’ and public safety communications is protected from spectators’ network congestion.”

UPM sought review this week in the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals of two orders by the FCC resolving complaints by the company against Digicel-Haiti for allegedly deactivating thousands of SIM cards UPM purchased through third-party contractors in Haiti and shipped to the U.S. to access a Digicel-Haiti discount roaming plan. UPM’s complaint at the FCC demonstrated that the Haitian wireless carrier “was providing foreign telecommunications services from the United States … and was therefore a telecommunications carrier within the Commission’s jurisdiction” and “certain Digicel-Haiti actions (cutting off UPM’s service) violated the Communications Act and longstanding Commission precedent,” UPM said. In two orders, the latest in December, the FCC found Digicel-Haiti didn’t fall under agency jurisdiction and that actions regarding UPM were lawful.

It is critical that more licensed spectrum becomes available for the wireless industry, Rhonda Johnson, AT&T executive vice president-federal regulatory relations, said Wednesday. “The U.S. has no supply of the licensed spectrum that fuels wireless services, and the FCC has no authority to auction the essential resource,” Johnson wrote in a blog post: “This spectrum drought has allowed other countries, including China, to surpass the U.S. in allocating key portions of spectrum.” Expanding AT&T’s network “requires expanding access to the licensed spectrum that powers it,” she said. AT&T arguably has been the most outspoken national wireless carrier in projecting positive things to come from Donald Trump's incoming administration (see 2412100069). Johnson also stressed the importance of regulators clearing a path for the provider to shutter inefficient copper networks (see 2405210059). “Outdated regulations force U.S. telecom companies to maintain inefficient copper networks, diverting investment from the resilient high-speed internet technologies of the future.”