AT&T employees represented by the Communications Workers of America ratified a new mobility collective bargaining agreement, covering about 5,000 workers in the Southwest, AT&T said Friday. The employees work in retail, at call centers and as technicians in Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Kansas and Missouri. The new agreement expires Feb. 25, 2028. AT&T is “one of the largest employers of union-represented employees in the U.S., where more than 63,000 employees are unionized,” the carrier said. CWA hailed the agreement before it was ratified, noting it provides a 5% pay hike for employees this year and other benefits, including a $55 monthly stipend for remote employees.
Dish Network executives laid out the company’s positions on mostly wireless issues during a meeting Monday with FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez and staff, said a filing posted Thursday in 20-443 and other dockets. “An updated spectrum screen that is consistently enforced will promote competition, especially toward the goal of at least four nationwide wireless carriers,” Dish said (see 240104004), urging action on the lower 12 GHz band (see 2312270045). “Substantial evidence in the record shows that fixed 5G services can provide broadband to tens of millions of Americans, while fully protecting existing non-geostationary orbit Fixed-Satellite Service and Direct Broadcast Satellite customers,” Dish said. The company also touched on 5G Fund rules, addressed in an order circulated Wednesday by Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel (see 2403200071). “Give greater weight” to 5G Fund projects that use open radio access network technology, Dish urged: “By doing so, not only can the Commission ensure that federal funds are being used to close the digital divide, but it can facilitate deployments that will connect communities well into the future.”
Scott Harris, NTIA senior spectrum adviser and point person on the national spectrum strategy, has left the agency, he said on social media Thursday. The departure was expected (see 2403050048) and comes a week after NTIA released the strategy's implementation plan (see 2403120056). Harris posted photos from his farewell party, at which NTIA Administrator Alan Davidson and others wore socks emblazoned with an image of Harris’ face. Harris was the former chief of the FCC International Bureau and founder of the law firm now known as HWG.
Axon Enterprise fired back at critics of its December request for a waiver allowing it to market three investigation and surveillance devices to law enforcement agencies (see 2403080044). The devices can operate in the 5725-5850 MHz band “without causing harmful interference to other users of these frequencies,” said a filing posted Thursday in docket 24-40: “Despite this fact, the Wi-Fi industry makes wholly unjustified claims that the use of Axon’s devices by law enforcement during public safety emergencies ‘could create a perfect storm of disruption of longstanding consumer reliance on Wi-Fi.’” Axon noted that nearly all bands are “highly congested and involve often complex spectrum sharing arrangements with other users.” Critics also ignore “the critical importance of providing law enforcement with effective tools to conduct indoor investigation and surveillance missions during volatile and exceedingly dangerous situations,” Axon said.
The FCC confirmed Thursday it’s investigating Amazon and other online retailers for allegedly selling wireless signal jammers in violation of FCC rules. “We have several ongoing investigations into retailers, including Amazon, for potential violations of Commission rules related to the marketing and sale of equipment without proper FCC authorization,” an FCC spokesperson emailed. The FCC has long policed signal jammers. In one of the most high-profile cases, in 2016, the agency fined C.T.S. Technology of China $34.9 million for allegedly marketing 285 models of signal jamming devices to U.S. consumers (see 1605250071).
Competitive Carriers Association members are counting on “a strong and effective 5G Fund” to provide service in rural areas, said President Tim Donovan in an emailed statement. FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel circulated a 5G Fund order Wednesday (see 2403200071). “We look forward to understanding the details of the draft Order and working with the FCC to make sure that the 5G Fund is a success,” he said. “Details such as eligibility, accurate mobile map data with a robust challenge process, and the timing of a 5G Fund auction are key to avoiding harmful 5G gaps and ensuring the most rural customers are able to share in the benefits of 5G.”
Verizon said the FCC doesn’t need a usage rule for Wi-Fi hot spots that the E-rate program funds (see 2401300063). E-rate rules “will require schools and libraries to pay part of the cost of Wi-Fi hotspots, which will discourage" them "from subscribing to unused services,” the carrier told Wireline Bureau staff, said a filing posted Thursday in docket 21-31. The commission “has found it necessary to apply a usage rule only when the support amount covers the entire cost of a service” including services offered under the emergency connectivity fund, Lifeline and the affordable connectivity program, Verizon said: “If the Commission adopts a usage rule in this proceeding, the rule should be flexible and simple for schools and libraries to apply, and focus primarily on guarding against large-scale warehousing.”
The FCC Office of Engineering and Technology rejected petitions seeking changes to the commission’s 5.9 GHz rules filed by the Alliance for Automotive Innovation and the 5G Automotive Association. The alliance urged the FCC to reconsider its 2020 order opening 45 MHz of the band for Wi-Fi, while allocating 30 MHz for cellular vehicle-to-everything technologies. The 5GAA sought revised out-of-band emissions limits for unlicensed devices in the band. The response was mixed to both reconsideration petitions (see 2107230033). “In making the lower 45 megahertz available for more flexible unlicensed use, the Commission found that, when added to U-NII spectrum in the adjacent 5.725-5.850 GHz … band, the 45 megahertz of spectrum from the 5.850-5.895 GHz … band would provide for increased high-throughput broadband applications in spectrum that is a core component of today’s unlicensed ecosystem, thereby providing the American public with the most efficient and effective use of this valuable mid-band spectrum,” OET said in an order this week. In 2022, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit upheld the order (see 2208120035). OET noted the decision rejects alliance claims the agency “exceeded its legal authority” in issuing the order: “The court rejected the argument that the change in administration requires the Commission to revisit its decision.” 5GAA’s coexistence analysis “does not convince us to reconsider the OOBE limits decision for indoor unlicensed operations adopted” in the order, OET said. “We conclude that the indoor unlicensed device OOBE limits the Commission adopted … will sufficiently protect C-V2X communications in the upper 30 megahertz from harmful interference,” OET said.
J.P. Morgan cut estimates for AT&T's Q1 following last month's nationwide wireless outage (see 2402220058). "In Mobility, despite a 'quick recovery' following the company's network outage … we expect a slight subscriber impact from the outage and lower 1Q postpaid phone net adds to 300K," said analyst Sebastiano Petti. "We also lower 1Q postpaid phone [average revenue per user] to $55.59 to reflect the $5 per account bill credit for consumers affected by the outage."
Two retired senior military officials on Wednesday urged collaboration between the wireless industry and the DOD on opening the lower 3 GHz and 7/8 GHz bands for licensed use. While the U.S. “has been the established global leader in wireless, a new technology superpower -- China -- is emerging with astonishing speed,” said Mike Rogers, a retired U.S. Navy admiral and former director of the National Security Agency, and Bruce Crawford, retired lieutenant general and former Army chief information officer. “Both our military and commercial sectors need access to spectrum -- but today our national spectrum policies are struggling to keep up with critical needs,” they said in a Stars and Stripes essay. The lower 3 and 7/8 GHz bands align “with our allies around the globe and should be our priority,” they added. “We should explore all opportunities for full-power commercial access to these bands while ensuring that the needs of federal missions are fully met.” In addition, DOD needs clear direction and a schedule of auctions from the FCC, Rogers and Crawford wrote: “Too often our military is forced to respond to band-by-band spectrum access requests without any global view of the policy objective or insight into when or where the next request will be received. That is not how the military works.”