Tracfone Wireless on Friday unveiled service plans that offer discounts for customers who pay in advance for longer periods of service. The Verizon subsidiary is offering discounts for three-month, six-month and annual unlimited plans, available to current and new subscribers. “With Tracfone’s new Extended Service Plans, customers who buy more save more,” the company said: “Options for an annual plan with data start at $192, which is like paying $16 a month over the 12 months,” it said about a plan with 2 GB of data. That’s a 20% savings over a monthly plan, said Tracfone. While Verizon added postpaid subscribers in Q4, it reported 289,000 wireless retail prepaid net losses across its prepaid businesses (see 2401230071).

Representatives of LG Electronics USA said the FCC’s proposed cyber trust mark program should include self-attestation by participants and “maximize device manufacturer participation,” in a meeting with an aide to Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel. “The Commission should limit the scope of the program to IoT devices and other integrated components of the device, such as built-in software, over which the manufacturer can reasonably exert control; it should not expand the scope of the program to include a broader ‘product’ ecosystem that the IoT device manufacturer cannot control,” said a filing posted Friday in docket 23-239.

T-Mobile said Thursday it bested its previous record uplink speed, hitting 345 Mbps on its 5G stand-alone network, using a new technology -- uplink transmit (UL Tx) switching. That’s the fastest speed recorded in North America “using sub-6 GHz spectrum and it demonstrates the technology’s potential to revolutionize the way data is transmitted from mobile devices to the network,” T-Mobile said. The carrier describes UL Tx as “a groundbreaking technology that enables seamless switching and a combination of different frequencies, effectively creating more uplink capacity and higher uplink speed.” Its previous record was 275 Mbps.

The FCC Thursday launched its enhanced competition incentive program (ECIP), which commissioners approved 4-0 in July 2022 (see 2207140055). The order was approved in response to provisions in the Mobile Now Act, enacted in 2018 (see 2203310036). ECIP “incentivizes wireless licensees to make underutilized spectrum available to small carriers, Tribal Nations, and entities serving rural areas in furtherance of the Commission’s ‘100 percent broadband policy,’” said an FCC news release. The Wireless Bureau will now accept applications for the program, the commission said.

Wireless ISPs are interested in the lower 12 GHz band and need “additional spectrum for fixed point-to-point and point-to-multipoint services, especially in rural areas that may lack sufficient access to broadband,” WISPA told an aide to FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel. The association urged that the FCC make the band available, where possible, “on a secondary and opportunistic basis governed by automated frequency coordination” in areas where multichannel video distribution and data service spectrum is in use and to protect direct broadcast satellite operations, said a filing posted Thursday in docket 20-443. “Under this approach, incumbent MVDDS [providers] would be able to expand their operations in their licensed areas with the AFC ensuring interference protection from secondary users under standards adopted by industry stakeholders,” WISPA said. The group urged “a similar spectrum access model” for the adjacent 12.7-13.25 GHz band. DirecTV representatives, meanwhile, spoke with an aide to FCC Commissioner Nathan Simington to refute the latest Dish Network report on safe use of fixed wireless in the lower 12 GHz band (see 2312270045). The representatives discussed the band's importance “for delivery of video to millions of subscribers” nationwide, the company said.

The International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) is the latest public safety group urging that the FCC consider giving FirstNet control of the 4.9 GHz band (see 2402140037). The FirstNet network “has brought an entirely new nationwide approach to public safety communications where state and local agencies no longer have to finance, maintain, and synchronize thousands of disparate networks,” said a filing Wednesday in docket 07-100. Because of FirstNet, “public safety is provided priority, preemption, and local control accessed through a portal providing command and control on an incident basis,” IACP said.

Representatives of i-wireless and other small carriers spoke with staff for FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel asking for action on the request expanding eligible telecom carrier designations granted in 2012, especially given the freeze in affordable connectivity program enrollments. Without Wireline Bureau approval, “i-wireless is unable to offer Lifeline to eligible low-income Americans in significant portions of Florida, North Carolina and other states where its ETC designation has been granted by the Commission,” said a filing posted Thursday in docket 21-450: With affordable connectivity program “enrollments frozen and consumers needing to find affordable alternatives during the ACP wind-down period, we respectfully urged the Office of the Chairwoman to direct the Bureau to expeditiously complete its review.” Assist Wireless also spoke with Rosenworcel aides on the ETC petition. The Wireline Bureau “has restricted provider participation and impeded competition in the Lifeline program for a dozen years by failing to act on Assist Wireless’s Lifeline compliance plan and federal ETC petition,” Assist said. American Broadband reported a similar meeting. The bureau “has restricted provider participation and impeded competition in the Lifeline program for a dozen years by failing to act on American Broadband’s federal ETC petition (among others),” the provider said. Boomerang Wireless also reported on an ETC call with aides to the chairwoman.

Tribal broadband advocates discussed the potential significance of a proposal giving tribes access to lower 12 GHz spectrum in a call with FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr. Dish Network made the proposal (see 2309110061). The advocates noted the importance of conveying the licenses to tribal governments. “Because Tribal lands are held in trust, they cannot serve as collateral for loans,” said a filing posted Wednesday in docket 20-443. FCC licenses “are accepted by banks and other lending institutions as collateral,” the groups said: “Holding a license, not merely permission to use spectrum, is therefore not merely a matter of semantics or even a matter of Tribal sovereignty. Holding a license opens doors to needed capital to build the network.” Among those on the call were Public Knowledge, Tribal Broadband and the Open Technology Institute.

The Shortwave Modernization Coalition (SMC) filed a Roberson and Associates technical analysis at the FCC discussing the coalition’s proposal for amending the commission’s eligibility and technical rules for industrial/business pool licensees to authorize licensed use of frequencies above 2 MHz and below 25 MHz for fixed, long-distance, non-voice communications (see 2305010053). The proposal is controversial, especially among amateur operators (see 2308180033). The analysis shows the proposed use of this band “can be implemented without interfering with other users, and we look forward to engaging with federal stakeholders, other interested parties, and FCC staff to address any issues and move this matter forward,” said a filing posted Wednesday in RM-11953.

OMB approved various information collection requirements that are part of the FCC’s enhanced competition incentive program. Commissioners approved the program 4-0 in 2022 (see 2207140055). The requirements are now in effect, said a notice for Thursday’s Federal Register. Other parts of the rules took effect in October 2022 (see 2209190008).