The FCC Wireless Bureau gave Mobile Relay Associates part of what it asked for in its request for waiver of rules to allow MRA to operate on frequency pairs 451/456.0000, 451/456.00625 and 451/456.0125 MHz at locations in California, Florida and Nevada. The bureau noted that while the request was pending, other entities submitted waiver requests for use of one or more of the same frequency pairs or frequency pair 451/456.009375 MHz in various areas. The bureau approved a waiver “with respect to frequency pairs 451/456.00625 MHz, 451/456.009375 MHz, and 451/456.0125 MHz, but not with respect to frequency pair 451/456.0000 MHz,” said an order released Tuesday (http://bit.ly/1oBBxjN). The frequencies are located on the band edges between Broadcast Auxiliary Service spectrum and Industrial/Business Pool spectrum. The bureau said that since frequency pair 451/456.0000 MHz “would overlap BAS low power auxiliary station spectrum we conclude that the purpose of the rules would not be served by assigning that channel” to private land mobile radio use as requested by MRA.
A new Texas Instruments “Internet-on-a-chip” family of devices will allow manufacturers to “easily add embedded Wi-Fi and Internet to a wide range” of consumer electronics and industrial products, the company said Monday. Its SimpleLink CC3100 and CC3200 platforms for Internet of Things (IoT) applications feature the industry’s lowest power consumption for battery-operated devices with a low-power radio and advanced low-power modes, TI said in a news release (http://bit.ly/1p9aUjZ). The CC3100 can be flexibly meshed with any available microcontroller, while the CC3200 has an integrated, programmable microcontroller, allowing manufacturers to add their own code, it said. The chipsets offer “easy development for the IoT with quick connection, cloud support and on-chip Wi-Fi, Internet and robust security protocols, requiring no prior Wi-Fi experience to get a product connected,” it said.
Unlicensed spectrum and the devices that use it generate $62 billion a year for the U.S. economy, CEA said in a report Monday (http://bit.ly/1sigLXQ). “Unlicensed spectrum is the fuel that powers innovation in our increasingly digitized, interconnected and untethered world,” CEA President Gary Shapiro said. The report estimated that the devices that rely most heavily on unlicensed spectrum will grow cumulatively by 30 percent per year through 2016. Consumer demand for products like these in turn is driving the need for even more unlicensed spectrum, CEA said. Ownership of “spectrum-enabled devices” such as smartphones and tablets “is at an all-time high,” it said. It estimated that two-thirds of U.S. homes own a smartphone while tablet penetration is 45 percent. Both categories increased their penetration rates by six percentage points in just the past year, it said. “We're seeing an explosion of connected devices that rely almost exclusively on unlicensed spectrum -- the Internet of Things -- proof of the skyrocketing value of unlicensed spectrum,” said Shapiro. “As we continue to use more smart, connected devices, we need enough unlicensed spectrum for them to communicate with their surroundings and one other. With this tool, innovators can harness the power of the network to give devices more utility than they could ever have in isolation.” Typifying its strong advocacy for more commercial spectrum, CEA last week came out in support of the Wireless Innovation Act introduced by Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla. (CD June 16 p14).
American Tower agreed to buy Brazilian tower company BR Towers for the equivalent of $978 million. BR Towers owns 2,530 towers and has exclusive use rights on an additional 2,110, American Tower said in a news release Sunday. The additional towers gained through the deal will generate the equivalent of $131 million in annual revenue, American Tower said. The deal is set to close in Q4, following regulatory reviews (http://bit.ly/1qXcogp). In October, American Tower bought MIP Tower Holdings, parent of Global Tower Partners (CD Oct 3 p8).
The FCC should permanently exempt temporary wireless towers from the 30-day public notice requirement and otherwise streamline approval of wireless facilities, CTIA representatives said in meetings at the FCC. “In addition to bringing more spectrum to market, expediting the wireless siting process is essential to satisfying the demand for wireless broadband services,” CTIA said in an ex parte filing it posted Monday in docket 13-238 (http://bit.ly/1jufkfs). CTIA also sought a shortened shot clock for addressing collocation requests. CTIA met with officials including Wireless Bureau Chief Roger Sherman and aides to commissioners Ajit Pai and Mike O'Rielly.
Sprint said Monday it will expand its 4G LTE Rural Roaming Preferred Program through agreements with 12 rural and regional carriers. The program, developed in conjunction with the Competitive Carriers Association, will now extend roaming coverage to areas of 23 states and a population of more than 34 million people, Sprint said. The 12 carriers are C Spire, Carolina West Wireless, Flat Wireless, Illinois Valley Cellular, Inland Cellular, James Valley Telecommunications, Nex-Tech Wireless, nTelos, Phoenix Wireless, SI Wireless, SouthernLINC Wireless and VTel Wireless, Sprint said. The agreements will increase competition by giving the carriers “low-cost access” to Sprint’s network, as well as accelerate Sprint’s 4G LTE deployment in areas where deployment and roaming costs may be “prohibitively expensive,” Sprint said. The agreements follow Sprint’s agreement in May with nTelos to extend their network alliance through 2022, giving Sprint customers access to nTelos’ 4G LTE network in rural portions of western Virginia and West Virginia, Sprint said (http://bit.ly/1juEXwG).
FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler will open Thursday’s workshop on the “Prevention of Mobile Device Theft,” the agency said in a public notice in Friday’s Daily Digest (http://fcc.us/1xUfRRE). Three panels are scheduled and the FCC will hear from carriers, equipment makers, local and federal law enforcement and other speakers. The session starts at 9 a.m, at FCC headquarters and is slated to wrap up after remarks at 2:15 p.m. by Dennis Roberson of the Illinois Institute of Technology and FCC Technological Advisory Council chairman. Among the goals of the session is to “explore ways that members of the mobile device community ... can improve collaboration with the law enforcement community in a collective effort to thwart mobile device theft,” the FCC said. It said the workshop will examine “ways in which more timely and accurate data about mobile device theft can be made available for both law enforcement entities and others, such as secondary market resellers.” The TAC is looking closely at the phone theft issue (CD June 11 p2).
Multiple operators behind a “massive mobile cramming scheme” will surrender more than $10 million in assets to settle FTC allegations they were placing unauthorized charges on phone bills, said the agency in a Friday news release (http://1.usa.gov/1p1P6Vq). The settlement also includes a total monetary judgment upward of $150 million for Lin Miao and companies he helped operate, the FTC said. The judgment was partially suspended due to an inability to pay after forfeiting all possible assets, including multiple luxury cars, several houses and a variety of Tiffany jewelry (http://1.usa.gov/1nBiJgW). The FTC alleged the scheme involved offering consumers text message services to receive “love tips,” “fun facts” or celebrity gossip news, then charging the consumers $9.99 a month without permission. Commissioners voted unanimously to approve the proposed stipulated order. The agency acted to shut down the operation in December (http://1.usa.gov/Jz71Em). Miao and his attorneys could not be reached for comment.
Credit Suisse believes the long-term prospects of American Tower are the best among the top three U.S. wireless tower companies “due to its lower wireless M&A risk, exposure to high growth international markets and a balanced history of accretive acquisitions and returning cash to shareholders,” said analyst Joseph Mastrogiovanni in a note to investors. American Tower, Crown Castle International and SBA Communications are all “attractive long-term investments” due to the tower sector’s overall strength, he said. Industry participants and observers have told us they believe the U.S. tower sector is likely to do very well over the next 12 months due to increasing network expansions and network quality improvements (CD June 2 p4).
Michael Calabrese of the New America Foundation indicated by email the group is taking a wait-and-see approach as the FCC moves forward on E-rate reform (CD June 12 p1 or WID June 12 p5). Support for internal connections, such as Wi-Fi, shouldn’t “come at the expense of needed investment in school-owned fiber and gigabit connectivity,” said Calabrese, a New America senior researcher. FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler “is correct that schools need resources for ubiquitous wireless connectivity, but schools also need resources and flexibility to make the upfront investments in gigabit capacity that makes Wi-Fi access meaningful,” he said. “Schools and libraries need to provision gigabit connectivity at least as much as they need the Wi-Fi routers to distribute it to users."