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.”
TruConnect urged the FCC to also freeze benefit transfers for affordable connectivity program subscribers when the new enrollment freeze begins Feb. 8 (see 2401110072. The company made its argument during meetings with aides to Commissioners Brendan Carr, Nathan Simington and Geoffrey Starks. TruConnect also met with Wireline Bureau staff, said an ex parte filing posted Monday in docket 21-450. "An enrollment transfer freeze may provide additional time for Congress to renew ACP program appropriations by enabling the program funds to last longer than the projected late April expiration of funds," the company said.
The FCC’s 70/80/90 GHz order, approved by commissioners ahead of last week’s open meeting (see 2401240077), saw a noteworthy change with the agency now seeking comment in a Further NPRM on the potential inclusion of ship-to-aerostat transmissions as part of maritime operations. The FNPRM also seeks comment on including fixed satellite service (FSS) earth stations in the light-licensing regime for the 70/80 GHz bands, though that was in the draft. The order was posted in Monday’s Daily Digest.
The FCC Enforcement Bureau should change tactics to avoid the risk of targets making an end run around its processes by taking advantage of recent U.S. Supreme Court decisions to drag the agency into litigation, said former FCC General Counsel Tom Johnson in a white paper sponsored by CTIA and published Monday by Wiley, where he's a partner.
The FCC has made “significant progress” in its handling of the affordable connectivity program during 2022, but “improvements were needed” in measuring and providing public transparency on grant recipients’ spending of program money, the Office of Inspector General said in a Jan. 22 memo to Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel and other commissioners that publicly circulated Tuesday. Some congressional Republican leaders have raised concerns about the FCC’s handling of ACP amid a push to provide the program stopgap funding to keep it running through the end of this year. The Wireline Bureau said earlier this month it would freeze new enrollments Feb. 8 as part of the program's wind-down process.
Before authorizing any supplemental coverage from space (SCS) operation, the FCC must ensure incumbents operating in the same bands won't suffer harmful interference, EchoStar representatives urged during meetings with leaders of the Space and Wireless bureaus. In a Space Bureau filing Friday recapping a meeting with Bureau Chief Julie Kearney and Wireless Bureau Chief Joel Taubenblatt, EchoStar said interference protection also must extend to adjacent bands and other geographies. No SCS technical rules can be finalized before studies showing these technical requirements will address co-channel, adjacent channel and adjacent geography interference, it said. Alternately, SCS applications could be required to submit evidence subject to public comment showing that there wouldn't be harmful interference, EchoStar said. SCS use of terrestrial spectrum in the U.S. should require consent from, and appropriate lease agreements with, the terrestrial licensee as well as the licensee with a meaningful role in managing interference, it said.
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.
FCC commissioners announce staff changes: Sanford Williams moves from special adviser to deputy chief of staff in Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel’s office; Arpan Sura, from Wireless Bureau, becomes legal adviser to Commissioner Brendan Carr; Milla Anderson, from office of Rep. Ann McLane Kuster, D-N.H., named policy adviser to Commissioner Geoffrey Starks; and acting staffers in Commissioner Anna Gomez’s office taking permanent spots are Deena Shetler as chief of staff-legal adviser for media and international, Edyael Casaperalt as legal adviser for wireless, public safety and consumer protection, Hayley Steffen as legal adviser for wireline and space, Harsha Mudaliar as policy adviser for media and tech and Anna Holland, as executive assistant.
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.
The FCC Wireless Bureau on Thursday reminded 700 MHz guard band licensees and 220 MHz band managers that they must file annual reports on or before March 1. “Licensees must provide information about the manner in which the spectrum in each of their markets is being utilized,” the bureau said: It should “accurately convey the current level of service being offered in each licensed area, including information regarding coverage provided by Licensees’ operations and any spectrum lease agreements.”