The FCC's 988 call georouting rule has a compliance deadline of Jan. 13 for nationwide commercial mobile radio service providers and Dec. 14, 2026, for non-nationwide providers (see 2411080002).
Nokia anticipates President-elect Donald Trump will make his tech priorities clear early in the new administration, Brian Hendricks, Nokia’s chief policy and government affairs officer, said in a statement on Monday. “It is critical that programs like rip-and-replace and the Affordable Connectivity Program, which require new funding, be part of the early focus,” Hendricks said: “Failure to address these programs will risk expanding the digital divide, particularly in rural parts of the country. Aggressive action to restore spectrum auction authority to the [FCC] and to prioritize critical bands for future wireless deployments will provide the needed opportunity to fund and stabilize these programs via auction proceeds.” Hendricks called on the administration to work with Congress.
ANAHEIM, Calif. -- An executive from a phone number warehouse defended his company’s practices Tuesday during the NARUC conference. However, the executive, NumberBarn Chief Technology Officer Brian Scott, seemed to heighten concerns for state officials and telecom attorneys who attended the panel. North American Numbering Council Chair Karen Charles, also a Massachusetts commissioner, said she planned to mention warehouse issues at a future NANC meeting.
ANAHEIM, Calif. -- The NARUC Telecom Committee on Monday cleared draft resolutions on phone number conservation, the Universal Service Fund and utility coordination on broadband deployment. A USF panel that day described how reform could happen with Republicans controlling the FCC and Congress next year. Also, the affordable connectivity program (ACP) could return in 2025 despite Washington’s partisan climate, said Sanford Williams, deputy chief of staff for FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel, during a collocated National Association of State Utility Consumer Advocates (NASUCA) meeting. State utility regulators are holding their annual meeting here this week.
Eutelsat Group CEO Eva Berneke argued against the proposed absolute increase in unavailability limit for non-geostationary orbit systems in a meeting with FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez. In a docket 21-456 filing posted Friday recapping the meeting, Eutelsat representatives said the unavailability limit in the draft NGSO fixed satellite service spectrum sharing rules on circulation (see 2410040025) would end the ability of NGSO FSS operators to meet high-availability requirements that come with public safety, government and enterprise applications. It said too-lax protection metrics could undermine the desire to invest in the U.S. and make foreign systems avoid coordination with U.S. systems.
The National Consumer Law Center and a diverse group, including associations representing banks and credit unions, are asking the FCC to move forward on a draft order on robotexts and robocalls that Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel pulled from the agenda for the September open meeting (see 2409240068). The groups reported on meetings with aides to Commissioners Geoffrey Starks and Anna Gomez. “The Organizations joined together on these meetings because they are united in their commitment to combating criminals who attempt to defraud consumers by impersonating legitimate businesses through illegally spoofed calls and text messages,” said a filing Friday in docket 17-59. “The Organizations affirmed their support for the draft Report and Order.” Groups at the meeting included the American Bankers Association, ACA International, America’s Credit Unions, the Bank Policy Institute and the Mortgage Bankers Association. “Texts that impersonate legitimate businesses harm consumers and undermine those businesses’ ability to communicate with their customers,” they said.
Aviation Spectrum Resources, Inc. (ASRI) told the FCC it doesn’t object to Piper Networks' request for a waiver of rules allowing use of its enhanced transit location system, which operates in the 4243-4743 MHz band, in the metropolitan Boston area. Piper has a similar system in the greater New York City and Harris County, Texas, areas. The FCC Office of Engineering and Technology recently sought comment, due Thursday in docket 19-246. ASRI filed the lone comment, posted Friday. “ASRI has conducted a preliminary review … in consultation with other stakeholders in the aviation industry, which considered recent data on altimeter performance developed in connection with other Commission proceedings,” the company said: “ASRI has not received any objections raised by aviation industry stakeholders at this time to Piper’s request.”
NTIA urged that the FCC approve a five-year extension for Echodyne of a waiver of rules allowing ground-based use of its radar, which detects objects on the ground and in the air, using the 24.45-24.65 GHz band. The FCC Wireless Bureau sought comment on the request earlier this year (see 2402260041). The Department of Homeland Security holds 185 frequency assignments in the band for use through the U.S., NTIA said in a filing Friday in RM-11819. “DHS advises NTIA that these systems have proven invaluable in the detection and identification of small, unmanned aircraft systems used by drug-trafficking cartels and other nefarious actors intending to cause harm to United States infrastructure and residents,” the filing said: “These radar systems have been operating for over five years, with no reported cases of harmful interference to incumbent services in the band to the best of NTIA’s knowledge.”
The extended deadlines granted EchoStar's Dish Network for building out its 5G terrestrial network were "clearly justified," New America's Open Technology Institute and Public Knowledge said in an FCC docket 22-212 filing posted Friday. Vermont National Telephone (VTel) Wireless has a pending reconsideration petition (see 2410230004). "Building a nationwide mobile network from scratch is a high hill to climb, and EchoStar deserves every benefit of the doubt as it tries to overcome numerous obstacles," OTI and PK said. They said the extension includes "positive and unprecedented" public interest conditions. VTel Wireless said last week that the FCC Wireless Bureau lacked legal authority to grant the extension. The extension clearly harmed VTel, the company said, as it forestalls reauction of EchoStar's H-block and AWS-3 spectrum licenses. Acquiring those licenses would have more than doubled VTel's AWS spectrum holdings, it added.
The Wireless ISP Association told the FCC many of its members use CBRS spectrum for reaching subscribers, and it opposes higher power levels for priority access license holders as a threat to general authorized access use of the band. Comments were due last week on an August NPRM in docket 17-258 (see 2411070032). Increasing maximum power levels “would substantially increase mutual interference between GAA users and even between GAA and PAL users on different channels,” WISPA said. “WISPA members should not be required to replace existing, relatively new equipment and purchase and deploy expensive high-powered base stations such as those used by mobile carriers in order to maintain their service areas.” Lockheed Martin said the FCC must coordinate major changes with DOD. “The current power levels represent a material, established feature upon which CBRS is premised,” Lockheed said: “Despite the essential role of pre-coordinated and established power levels, the Commission appears to have proposed these changes independently, and it is unclear what inter-agency coordination has or will occur and whether, even, there is support for such action by federal stakeholders.” Researchers at the University of Notre Dame noted that the use of CBRS is accelerating, even in small markets such as South Bend, Indiana, where the university is based. The researchers called for more reporting of interference metrics as measured on the ground by users. “When spectrum is being shared among multiple different users deploying networks in different verticals, the more information that can be shared, the better the performance for all,” they said. The Notre Dame researchers opposed adding a third category of devices that transmit at higher power levels than currently authorized, saying it would “exacerbate the secondary coexistence problem.” But Ericsson said the FCC should at least examine use of higher power levels. “Higher power levels for both [devices] and user equipment improve the efficiency of coverage to serve rural and underserved areas and reduce the cost of deployment,” Ericsson said: “Power levels can constrain certain use cases, especially wide-area commercial and enterprise networks. Enterprises like mining, large-scale agriculture, and media and entertainment companies need to support large outdoor coverage areas, and higher power levels can have a dramatic impact on enabling efficient deployments.” Increasing transmit power levels “will improve coverage, especially in rural areas, increase network efficiency, and reduce equipment and network design and deployment costs” and “can be achieved without causing harmful interference to incumbents or other spectrum users,” Federated Wireless said. Federated noted transmit levels are much lower than in the adjacent 3.45 GHz and C-band. “This discrepancy creates a significant coverage imbalance between CBRS and these adjacent bands, which undermines CBRS’s competitive capability and restricts its potential for expanded service, particularly in rural and underserved areas.”