Opponents of T-Mobile’s purchase of wireless assets from UScellular, including spectrum, met with Arpan Sura, an aide to FCC Chairman Brendan Carr, about their application for review of the transaction (see 2507310041). Representatives of the Rural Wireless Association, the Benton Institute for Broadband & Society and the Communications Workers of America attended, according to a filing posted Thursday in docket 24-286. The transaction was approved by the Wireless Bureau and the Office of International Affairs without a commissioner vote.
NCTA and WISPA said the FCC should think twice before quickly agreeing to give Viaero a waiver of a rule that limits a single party to owning four citizens broadband radio service priority access licenses (PAL) in any market. Comments were due Wednesday to the Wireless Bureau on Viaero's proposal to buy 10 priority access licenses from Citizens Band License Co., which would result in it exceeding the limit in seven counties in Colorado (see 2509050021).
The FCC Public Safety Bureau approved a waiver Thursday for Aroostook County, Maine, allowing it to license a VHF channel from the industrial/business pool and use it for internal public safety and first responder communications. The bureau said the county contends that it plans to replace its aging system, but construction has been delayed for more than two years due to a “lack of available frequencies.”
Skepticism about Elon Musk's ambition that Starlink become a fully integrated global carrier delivering fixed broadband and direct-to-device service using its own licensed spectrum is short-sighted, space consultant Carlos Placido wrote Wednesday. Starlink becoming a mobile network operator "could fundamentally transform the mobile ecosystem." An obvious scenario is a bundling of Starlink residential fixed broadband with D2D, he said. But beyond that, "a particularly disruptive move" for SpaceX would be integrating small-cell base station capabilities onto Starlink broadband terminals and antennas, letting customers extend mobile coverage through Starlink's satellite backhaul, Placido said. "The result? A hybrid infrastructure that seamlessly integrates terrestrial and satellite networks into a next-generation mobile connectivity model."
FCC Commissioner Olivia Trusty assured Competitive Carriers Association members that the agency understands their need for faster buildouts and access to more spectrum. “We are working to create a regulatory environment that empowers you, the private sector, to build and innovate,” she said in written remarks for CCA's annual convention, posted Wednesday.
Most people are using AI over mobile platforms, which will mean even more data on carrier networks, CTIA President Ajit Pai said at a Politico event Tuesday (see 2509160040). As an example, he talked about a recent vacation with his family to Japan, where he made extensive use of an AI-based travel app. Pai tied AI to CTIA’s push to make more full-power licensed spectrum available for carriers and streamline wireless siting rules. “We’re starting to see more and more companies start to use AI and 5G to make their operations more efficient,” he added. “We’re just scratching the surface.”
The FCC sought comment Tuesday on a July petition by the Safer Buildings Coalition (SBC) urging the FCC to launch a rulemaking on guidelines for getting consent from licensees to install signal boosters (see 2507210025). Comments are due Oct. 16, replies Oct. 31, said a Public Safety Bureau notice in docket RM-12009.
VoIP-Pal "does not understand the claims it has tried to plead," wireless companies said in a reply filed Friday with the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia (case 1:24-cv-03051). The company is suing AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile for using their market dominance to withhold unbundled voice-over-Wi-Fi calling and texting from consumers (see 2410300004).
NextNav countered the arguments that RFID company Avery Dennison made in its challenge to NextNav’s proposal to offer a terrestrial complement to GPS using 900 MHz spectrum (see 2507280039). Avery Dennison said in a filing last month that NextNav’s proposal “presents a significant threat to the continued effective operation of the RFID ecosystem, which plays a vital role across multiple industries, including logistics, retail, airline, consumer goods, and healthcare.”
Federated Wireless Chief Technology Officer Kurt Schaubach touted the importance of the citizens broadband radio service (CBRS) band in a meeting with FCC Commissioner Olivia Trusty, according to a filing Monday in docket 17-258. Federated officials called for “critical” changes to rules for the band to further spur deployment.