The Wireless ISP Association said Wednesday the FCC’s latest broadband maps (see 2305300050) show “the success story of the vibrant and growing ISP broadband industry.” WISPA noted the number of unserved locations is down from nearly 14 million to 8 million today. “WISPs have played an important and essential role in narrowing the gap, especially in rural, under-resourced and Tribal parts of America,” the group said.

The Wireless ISP Association told the NTIA its conclusions were on target in a May report that said dynamic sharing and the citizens broadband radio service are a model for the future of spectrum use (see 2305010063). Comments on the report were due Wednesday. WISPA’s members “have been at the forefront” of deployments and “are using CBRS to create and expand networks into rural areas and increase throughput as well as offering competition in the fixed broadband marketplace,” WISPA said. “The vast majority” of registered CBRS devices “are being used for fixed wireless access in rural areas,” the group said. WISPA members also said the CBRS equipment they use enabled fixed broadband speeds of 400/100 Mbps. WISPA fired back at CTIA and major wireless carriers, who have criticized CBRS as not living up to the hype (see 2211140062). Carriers allege “real-world studies show low utilization, low market demand, and a dearth of innovative use cases,” WISPA said: “Decoded, such criticisms really mean that the CBRS band was not handed over to the mobile wireless industry, and instead has been useful for a wide-variety of other use cases, including extensive fixed wireless broadband access in rural areas.”

The FCC Wireless Bureau granted four more licenses Wednesday in the 900 MHz broadband segment to PDV Spectrum. The licenses are all in Colorado. The FCC approved an order in 2020 reallocating a 6 MHz swath in the band for broadband, while maintaining 4 MHz for narrowband operations (see 2005130057).

Connex2X, a connected-vehicle startup, told the FCC it would accept the same conditions specified in a recent order approving waivers for a group of applicants if the FCC grants its cellular-vehicle-to-everything waiver request (see 2304240066). The company sought a waiver in April. Its latest filing was posted Wednesday in docket 19-138.

The FCC Wireless Bureau sought comment Wednesday on a request by TerreStar to use its 1.4 GHz licenses beyond the wireless medical telemetry services (WMTS). In 2020, in an order approving the WMTS deployments, the bureau said other use was possible if TerreStar can demonstrate it had “timely met its Final Deployment Obligation” for WMTS and could demonstrate that “additional use of the spectrum will not cause harmful interference to inband or adjacent-band” WMTS deployments (see 2004300055). Comments are due June 30, replies July 17, in docket 16-290.

Apple, Google and Meta told FCC Office of Engineering and Technology staff the results of recent field tests of the potential interference from 6 GHz very-low-power (VLP) transmitters on a fixed-service receiver. The companies are among those that want the FCC to authorize additional VLP operations in the band, as proposed in a 2020 Further NPRM (see 2211230034). “Using a drone to create an impracticable scenario, the FS receiver was only affected when the VLP device was very close to the FS beam centerline,” the companies said, posted Wednesday in docket 19-295. Tests were performed by researchers at the University of California, San Diego.

The Hawaii Department of Transportation asked the FCC to act on its waiver request to make early use of the 5.9 GHz band for cellular-vehicle-to-everything technology. The department said it would accept the same conditions specified in a recent order approving waivers for a group of applicants (see 2304240066). The state hopes to "immediately deploy C-V2X technology, so that consumers and travelers may begin to benefit from this state-of-the-art roadway and vehicle safety technology as soon as possible,” said a filing posted Tuesday in docket 19-138.

The FCC Enforcement Bureau proposed a fine of $25,000 against Jayme Leon, the owner of a CB radio station in Rockford, Illinois, for allegedly violating FCC rules. “Leon apparently violated the [Communications] Act and the Commission’s rules by using his CB station to make one-way transmissions and to send nonverbal, indecipherable sound effects over long periods, thereby voiding his operating authority,” said a Tuesday notice. Leon couldn’t be reached for comment. The bureau noted Leon had been fined in the past for CB rule violations.

Ericsson and MediaTek said they set a 5G upload speed record of 440 Mbps in low-band and mid-band spectrum using uplink carrier aggregation. The record was set in an Ericsson lab, using Ericsson’s Radio Access Network Compute Baseband 6648 and a mobile device using a MediaTek 5G smartphone chipset, said a Monday news release. “Uplink speed is becoming more crucial with the expected uptake of gaming, [extended reality] and video-based apps,” Ericsson said: As augmented reality devices “gain popularity with larger augmentation objects, rendering becomes more demanding. This increases the demand on networks to deliver higher throughput and lower latency.”

Electric utility representatives met virtually with staff from the FCC Office of Engineering and Technology about a recent Pacific Gas & Electric study on the interference threat from unlicensed operations in the 6 GHz band (see 2304260037). “Protecting existing 6 GHz networks remains a vital issue for electric companies because 6 GHz communications networks are particularly necessary for the safety of electric company personnel and to maintain the backbone of electric companies’ operations not only day-to-day, but also during emergencies and disasters such as hurricanes, tornadoes, and wildfires,” said a filing posted Tuesday in docket 18-295. Among those on the call were representatives of the Edison Electric Institute, the Utilities Technology Council and PG&E.