NTIA said several federal facilities need to be protected in the upper 12 GHz band if the band is reallocated for commercial use. To “ensure in-band compatibility” with a NASA deep space network receiving ground station at Goldstone, California, and radioastronomy observatories operated by the National Science Foundation, “NTIA and the Commission should develop a coordination process to protect these important scientific endeavors while permitting more intensive use of the band,” NTIA said, posted Thursday in docket 22-352. “Since the radio astronomy observatories do not operate continuously, and are located in remote areas, successful coordination certainly should be possible,” NTIA said. To begin to address upper adjacent band compatibility, NTIA offered an analysis of “the interaction between a typical military airborne Doppler radar system and a mobile broadband base station with assumed parameters,” NTIA said: “This example is meant to be the first step in an iterative process to permit the Commission to develop rules that meet private sector needs while protecting federal missions.”

Distracted driving during the back-to-school period is on the upswing, Cambridge Mobile Telematics (CMT) warned Thursday. In 2020, drivers spent 1 minute and 52 seconds on their phones per driving hour from Aug. 1 through Labor Day -- by 2022, that increased to 2 minutes and 9 seconds, up 15%, the firm said. CMT’s data shows “every 10% rise in distracted driving increases the crash rate by 1.4%,” said a news release: “CMT estimates that the 15% increase in distracted driving during the back-to-school season was responsible for an additional 31,000 crashes, 80 fatalities, and over $740 million in economic damages in 2022. It’s something auto insurers are taking note of.”

Rural Wireless Association representatives urged a blanket six-month extension of the one-year completion deadline for removing unsecure gear from networks, in a meeting with an aide to FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel. Congress has been looking at whether to more fully fund the program, addressing the $3.08 billion Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Reimbursement Program funding shortfall (see 2308070001). “RWA discussed the dire need to obtain full funding from Congress and how it is now causing participants to seek extensions of the one-year completion deadline,” said a filing posted Thursday in docket 18-89: “RWA urged the FCC to continue to press Congress on this issue as it is becoming increasingly difficult for program participants to complete their removal, replacement, and destruction of covered equipment with only 40% of the funds required, especially as RWA members have no assurance that additional funds will ever come.”

The Nebraska Department of Transportation, which sought an FCC waiver last month allowing early cellular vehicle-to-everything deployments in the 5.9 GHz band (see 2307250022), said it's willing to abide with restrictions approved as part of a joint waiver order released in April (see 2304240066). The state filing was posted Wednesday in docket 19-138.

CTIA President Meredith Baker underscored the importance of identifying spectrum for licensed, full-power use as part of a national spectrum strategy, meeting with NTIA Administrator Alan Davidson Tuesday, said a letter Wednesday to Scott Harris, NTIA senior spectrum adviser. “CTIA has highlighted the need for the National Spectrum Strategy to identify 1,500 megahertz of federally controlled mid-band spectrum for repurposing for full-power licensed use, including the Lower 3 GHz, 4 GHz, and 7/8 GHz bands,” the letter said: “Given global trends and consumer demands, any plan that does not at least study these critical bands would needlessly risk our future global leadership.” CTIA said “unfortunately, the present trajectory for spectrum policy in the United States is not promising” and NTIA and the Commerce Department “are uniquely situated to address these challenges head on.” NTIA expects to release the strategy this year (see 2307180076).

Security and network resiliency are leading reasons companies consider moving to private networks, “fueling a market” forecast to reach $7.7 billion worldwide by 2027, Spirent Communications said Tuesday. The U.K.-based company said it surveyed 200 enterprises. “Increased security and network reliability are the top two business values enterprises are requiring to achieve from their private network,” the company said: “This is due to sensitivity requirements around data sovereignty and IP, security and reliability being viewed as ‘table-stakes’ to enable mission-critical user cases and the current costs and complexity of trying to implement security and reliability across ‘best-effort’ networks.”

The global smart building market is expected to hit $570 billion by 2030, with a compound annual growth rate of 26.8% from 2023 to 2030, said a Tuesday report by Research and Markets. “Governments worldwide are making significant investments in smart city initiatives, propelling the adoption of smart buildings in different regions,” the company said.

Alaska’s GCI representatives met with staff from the FCC’s Public Safety Bureau on an FCC proposal that carriers more precisely route wireless 911 calls and texts to public safety answering points through location-based routing (LBR) (see 2212210047). “GCI provided additional information at staff’s request regarding the current routing protocols for text messages on GCI’s network,” said a filing posted Tuesday in docket 18-64. “A preferable alternative would be to develop more effective standards-based protocols whereby handsets provide location in the initial message method (i.e., the message header) to effectively facilitate timely LBR,” the carrier said: “The message architecture and supporting network architecture do not currently operate this way, and additional standards development and industry agreement would be required.” Parts of the filing were redacted.

The boards of Telephone and Data Systems and UScellular are exploring the future of the carrier and “strategic alternatives," the companies said. “The TDS board believes that now is the right time for a comprehensive review of strategic alternatives for UScellular,” said TDS Chairman Walter Carlson, in a Friday news release. “We will pursue the pathway that is in the best interest of shareholders," he said. TDS owns about 83% of the carrier. TDS said it hired Citi as its financial adviser, but there’s no “deadline or definitive timetable set for completion of the strategic review.” The companies said they don’t plan further comment while the review is underway.

The Shortwave Modernization Coalition (SMC) asked the FCC for 15 more days to file reply comments on its petition asking the agency to launch a rulemaking to amend its eligibility and technical rules for industrial/business pool licensees to authorize licensed use of frequencies above 2 MHz and below 25 MHz for fixed, long-distance, non-voice communications. The petition has been controversial (see 2307270035). The group asked the FCC to delay the deadline to Sept. 1 from Aug. 17. “It has come to light that counsel for the SMC has a conflict of interest vis-à-vis a party that filed comments in opposition to the Petition, requiring the SMC to retain new counsel to respond to the pleading filed by that commenter,” said a filing posted Monday in RM-11953: “An extension of the reply deadline will give … counsel sufficient time to prepare a response to the pleading submitted by the commenter in question.”