Dish Wireless filed an amended petition at the FCC seeking eligible telecom carrier status in the federal default states of Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Maine, New Hampshire and North Carolina and in the District of Columbia (see 2302020030). “Designation of DISH Wireless as an ETC will make wireless broadband services more robust and more affordable to low-income consumers,” said a filing posted Monday in docket 09-197. Granting the petition would also “promote the public interest in broadband deployment in underserved areas by better positioning the Company to pursue broadband infrastructure funding under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and other programs,” Dish said.
The FCC asked for comments, due June 10, on the burden of complying with an information collection regime required under the FCC wireless emergency alerts rules, said a notice for Tuesday’s Federal Register. “This modification to an existing collection will require all … providers to file their election regarding participation in the WEA system by submitting the information to an FCC-created and maintained WEA database,” the notice said: “This will refresh … provider WEA-elections that were last required over a decade ago and provide a single source of information on WEA availability.”
Beeper CEO Eric Migicovsky met with an aide to FCC Commissioner Nathan Simington on the subject of the FCC investigating Apple for blocking messaging app Beeper Mini (see 2402280076). The meeting “was to inform the Commission about how Beeper Mini works, and to discuss the legal implications of Apple’s blocking it that are relevant to the Commission’s authority,” said a filing posted Friday in docket 08-7. Beeper cited “interconnection requirements under Title II of the Communications Act and possible implications with regard to the 21st Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act.” Public Knowledge and Reset.tech representatives also attended the meeting.
The FCC gave Westchester County, New York, until Dec. 31, 2025, to build out four 700 MHz trunked public safety stations. In 2019, the county received an extension through Nov. 30, 2023. “The County contends that it undertook the conversion of its T-Band stations to relocate those stations to frequencies in the 700 MHz band in response” to T-band legislation from Congress, which was later repealed (see 2012290046), the Public Safety Bureau said Friday. “The County contends that, while the T-band relocation mandate is no longer required, the work it completed to convert and relocate its system should be recognized.”
APCO supported comments from the Edison Electric Institute and other groups representing incumbent 6 GHz users that the FCC should revisit how interference is addressed as automated frequency coordination systems open (see 2403260046). “APCO agrees with other representatives of incumbent 6 GHz users that, absent input from incumbents and oversight from the Commission, this resource for mitigating interference will fail to provide what’s needed for critical communications,” said a filing Thursday in docket 21-352: “APCO urges the Commission to adopt clearer guidelines, enhance transparency, and facilitate a more inclusive approach to the development and modification of AFC systems and procedures that impact critical communications.”
The launch of the FirstNet network has meant thousands of new jobs and has generated $5.6 billion in salaries so far, the FirstNet Authority said in a report released Thursday. Consulting firm Fors Marsh, which conducted the study, estimated that network development “created an average of 13,877 jobs per year over a seven-year period,” the authority said.
The Ultra Wide Band Alliance supports an FCC proposal expanding parts of the 6 GHz band where new very-low power (VLP) devices can operate without coordination and allowing client-to-client operations (see 2403280038), said a filing posted Thursday in docket 18-295. But the alliance opposed increasing VLP power above current levels. “UWB has been operating in the frequency range of 3.1 GHz to 10.6 GHz on an unlicensed basis for over 20 years,” the group said: It's often “misstated” that a 2020 order “opened the 6 GHz band for unlicensed operation” when “the band had been in use on an unlicensed basis for two decades at that time.”
The Maryland Department of Information Technology called on the FCC to require that FirstNet participate in the agency’s disaster information reporting system and network outage reporting system, an issue raised in a January Further NPRM (see 2401250064). The department noted that in 2013, FirstNet opposed reporting real time data to the FCC. “In the ten plus years since that initial opposition, everyone in the public safety broadband space has learned much from actual use in events requiring first responders,” said a filing posted Wednesday in docket 21-346: “FirstNet has migrated from a new system reaching out to public safety for subscribers to a mature tool vital to many first responders.”
The Wireless ISP Association met with an aide to FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez on an NPRM proposing a ban on bulk billing arrangements in apartments, condos, public housing and other multi-unit buildings (see 2403050069). “Bulk billing agreements with a competitive carrier can provide a valuable consumer benefit by offering broadband service at up to 60% off retail rates to all multi-tenant environment residents, especially in low-income or public housing developments,” said a filing posted Wednesday in docket 17-142: “Competitive providers, especially small providers, benefit from securing a stable and steady customer base in an MTE at a significant reduction in transactional costs.”
T-Mobile answered three series of questions that FCC staff posed about the company’s proposed acquisition of Mint Mobile (see 2303150032), a low-cost prepaid wireless brand, and other assets from Ka’ena. Among the questions: “What are your top 3 risks? Who owns those risks? Who owns the risk management process?” and how will T-Mobile protect customer data as the assets are integrated? The answers were almost completely redacted in a filing posted Wednesday in docket 23-171.