The North Shore Emergency Association asked the FCC to extend by two months the deadlines on an FCC Wireless Bureau notice seeking comment on a request from Garmin International (see 2310060031) for a waiver of rules concerning certification of the hand-held general mobile radio service (GMRS) devices it manufactures. Comments are now due Feb. 12, replies Feb. 27 (see 2401120031). “This is not a normal or routine matter,” the group said in a filing posted Monday in docket 24-7. The waiver request “seeks to overlay completely incompatible digital emissions” on both the GMRS and family radio service (FRS) channels, North Shore said: “The practical consequence would be to make totally obsolete every piece of existing GMRS and FRS equipment on these channels, thus effectively deleting them from the very few frequencies currently available in GMRS and FRS.”
The FirstNet Authority's board Monday agreed to a resolution directing management “to take all necessary actions to enable FirstNet’s evolution for network subscribers.” During the specially-called meeting, the board increased the authority’s investment budget for FY 2024 to $547 million. In August, the board agreed to invest $261 million in the network in FY 2024 (see 2308230052). “We are accelerating the evolution of FirstNet’s 5G capabilities and making sure the network continues to deliver the innovation and reliability that first responders need, now and in the future,” said Joe Wassel, authority CEO. “With the initial buildout now complete, we are focused on continuing the growth and evolution of the network, based on public safety’s evolving needs,” said board Chair Richard Carrizzo. FirstNet now serves 27,500 public safety agencies, with more than 5.5 million connections, AT&T said last week (see 2401240067).
Oppositions are due Feb. 13 on a CTIA petition seeking a 12-month extension (see 2401090026) to the FCC's current six-month deadline for carriers to implement rules protecting consumers from SIM swapping and port-out fraud. Commissioners approved the rules unanimously in November (see 2311150042). The deadline was set in a notice for Monday’s Federal Register.
Comments are due Feb. 28, replies March 14, on an NPRM seeking a rules alignment for the 24 GHz band with decisions made at the World Radiocommunication Conference in 2019, said a notice for Monday’s Federal Register. Commissioners Brendan Carr and Nathan Simington dissented on the NPRM, approved 3-2 in December (see 2312260043). “These proposed rule changes would help to facilitate the protection of passive sensors used for weather forecasting and scientific research in the 23.6 GHz-24.0 GHz band, while continuing to promote flexible commercial use of the 24.25-24.45 GHz and 24.75-25.25 GHz bands,” the notice said.
Tech advocacy group OpenPolicy told FCC staff a robust attestation process is critical to a successful cyber trust mark program for smart devices (see 2311130034). “The success of the Mark, and achieving its goal to support consumers’ trust, requires scaled, automated compliance approaches that leverage advanced technologies and cyber monitoring, to ensure alignment of the product with the underlying regulatory controls, throughout the product life,” said a filing posted Thursday in docket 23-239. Group representatives met with aides to Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel and Commissioner Nathan Simington.
Verizon representatives presented the company's positions on a proposed 5G fund in calls with FCC Wireless Bureau and Office of Economics and Analytics staff, a filing posted Friday in docket 20-32 said. The FCC should maintain a $9 billion budget, as proposed in 2020 (see 2310240046), “but consider shifting part of the budget from the Phase I auction to the Phase II auction,” the filing said: Define eligible areas as those lacking unsubsidized outdoor stationary 7/1 Mbps 5G coverage “based on the broadband data collection map at the time of the auction,” and “adopt clear procedures for verifying funding recipients’ compliance with deployment obligations.” Providers should have a choice “to what extent” open radio access network technologies are part of their builds, Verizon said.
T-Mobile announced after the markets closed Thursday it had 934,000 postpaid phone net adds in Q4 and 3.1 million for the year, beating rivals AT&T and Verizon. In addition, T-Mobile said it added 541,000 home internet customers in Q4 and 2.1 million for the year. Postpaid phone churn was 0.96% in Q4, and 0.87% in 2023, T-Mobile said. The carrier also reported service revenue of $16 billion for the quarter and net income of $2 billion.
Qualcomm briefed the FCC Wireless Bureau staff about “the capabilities and need” for aircraft-to-everything (A2X) 3rd Generation Partnership Project standardized communications for safety-critical detect-and-avoid operations. In addition, company representatives also discussed the importance of dedicating a 20 MHz channel in the 5030 MHz band to A2X, said a filing posted Thursday in docket 22-232. Transforma projects that the number of small drones with cellular connections for commercial use “will increase from 106,000 in 2022 to 295,000 in 2026, then to 1 million by 2032,” Qualcomm said.
Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, House Commerce Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash.; NTIA Administrator Alan Davidson; Arati Prabhakar, director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy; and FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez are among those scheduled to speak at NTIA’s spectrum policy symposium on Feb. 1, NTIA said Thursday. Other speakers include DOD Chief Information Officer John Sherman and Anne Neuberger, deputy national security adviser-cyber and emerging technology. The symposium starts at 9 a.m. at the National Press Club, with livestream availability.
A December FCC order requiring wireless providers to block text messages from a particular number following notification from the commission is effective March 26, said a notice for Friday’s Federal Register. Rules requiring terminating providers to block texts from a particular number are effective 120 days after the effectiveness date (see 2312190032).