Work is “underway” on a revised ANSI/TIA-5050 standard for hearing aid compatible devices, the Telecommunications Industry Association said in reply comments on an ATIS petition seeking a limited waiver of FCC hearing aid-compatibility rules (see 2303230046). The first meeting of a working group on the standard was Jan. 24 “and the group has continued to meet regularly -- as of this filing the group has met 8 times and continues a regular cadence of meeting every two weeks,” said a filing posted Friday in docket 20-3. “Membership is currently composed of a diverse spectrum of stakeholders, including many of the largest mobile phone and audio equipment manufacturers, audio testing organizations, advocacy groups, and associations,” TIA said.

Verizon CEO Hans Vestberg agreed to meet with wireless tower technicians who formed a Tower Climbers Union under the Communications Workers of America, CWA said. Workers rallied outside Verizon’s shareholder meeting in Salt Lake City Thursday (see 2305090079). Inside the meeting, when Vestberg took questions, “Tommy Schuch, a tower climber of 12 years, raised his safety concerns on the job” and Vestberg, “agreed to a meeting … to discuss the urgent need for improved safety standards,” CWA said. "Workplace safety is a top concern for Verizon," a Verizon spokesperson emailed: "We will follow up to ensure that the appropriate people meet to address the safety concerns expressed."

Lobbying continued up to the sunshine notice period on the FCC’s proposed draft on the lower and upper 12 GHz bands, set for an FCC commissioner vote Thursday (see 2304270077). Representatives of Intelsat, SES Americom and New Skies Satellites met with staff for all four commissioners seeking revisions. The satellite operators asked for language in the NPRM “to more accurately reflect current and immediately deployable potential future satellite use of the 12.7-13.25 GHz band.” They warned “continued erosion of access to spectrum for satellite services -- particularly when demand is increasing rapidly -- will impede the United States competitiveness in the global space economy,” said a filing posted Friday in docket 20-443. CTIA representatives met with an aide to Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel, also on the upper part of the band. CTIA supports “proposals to allocate flexible, exclusive-use licenses in the 13 GHz band, and enable providers to transmit at high power levels, which would be key to unlocking the benefits of the … band,” the group said. Doing so is important to a spectrum pipeline, CTIA said. CTIA also expressed support for requiring broadcast auxiliary service licensees “to certify the accuracy of their licenses and confirm whether their facilities are operating as authorized, and suggested extending this requirement to Cable Television Relay Service licensees in order to further efforts to free up the band for more efficient and intensive use.” Go Long Wireless President Tim Meyer spoke with aides to the four commissioners about “the promise of fixed wireless in the 12.2-.12.7 GHz Band.” Go Long “has been working for some time on deployment options, including the development of proprietary, two-way radio equipment” and “appreciates and looks forward to the opportunity to comment on the issues posed in the Further Notice portion,” the company said. The Dynamic Spectrum Alliance asked for tweaks, including “crisper” language on unlicensed use of the spectrum “to make it consistent” with the commission’s 2020 6 GHz order.

CTIA explained its stance on an FCC proposal that carriers more precisely route wireless 911 calls and texts to public safety answering points through location-based routing (LBR), during a call with FCC Public Safety Bureau staff. Commissioners approved an NPRM in December (see 2212210047) and CTIA raised concerns in comments (see 2302170044). The "record confirms" that “the focus should be on promoting location-based capabilities for next generation text services, with wireless providers having the flexibility to implement LBR for text-to-911 in ways that are consistent with their unique network and handset configurations” and smaller carriers “should have more time to deploy LBR within their networks than proposed in the NPRM,” said a filing posted Friday in docket 18-64.

The Industry Council for Emergency Response Technologies told the FCC it agreed with comments that the primary goal of the 4.9 GHz band proceeding should be to “protect local public safety operations.” Replies are due next week in docket 07-100. “iCERT agrees that other uses are appropriate if they do not cause harmful interference to local public safety operations and do not limit the expansion of public safety uses in the future,” said a filing posted Thursday: “As iCERT previously noted, this kind of mutual coexistence is most likely achieved between public safety uses and critical infrastructure uses of 4.9 GHz.” Commenters agree (see 2304140040) “there is significant compatibility between public safety and critical infrastructure uses at 4.9 GHz,” the group said.

Progeny asked for an amendment to its request for a limited waiver and extension of time as it completes the buildout of its 900 MHz multilateration location and monitoring service licenses. Progeny asked to move two licenses in Portland, Maine, from a list of licenses due to be completed last month to a list of those due April 3, 2025. Two licenses in Iowa and Illinois would be moved from the 2025 list to the completed list. The request was posted Thursday in docket 12-202.

The FCC extended to Dec. 31 the construction completion deadline for 67 T-band licenses being deployed by the County of Los Angeles as part of the L.A. Regional Interoperable Communications System. The old deadline was the end of last year. The county attributes delays to “ongoing interference” from a TV station in Tijuana, Mexico, the Public Safety Bureau said in a Thursday order: “The County claims that this interference has forced the County to redesign its entire system to attempt to minimize (to the greatest extent possible) the substantial interference being experienced, significantly delaying construction across several portions” of the system. “We find that the County has demonstrated reasonable diligence in attempting to construct its system in a timely fashion,” the bureau said. Strict enforcement of the deadlines “would be both inequitable and contrary to the public interest in that it would result in a waste of tax and federal grant dollars, strand investment in facilities already under construction, and, most importantly, deprive the citizens and first responders in the greater Los Angeles area of a critically needed, interoperable public safety communications system,” the bureau said.

Dish Network, a leading proponent on 5G in the 12 GHz band, said it met with aides to FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel and Commissioners Geoffrey Starks and Nathan Simington about the draft 12 GHz item set for an FCC commissioner vote May 18 (see 2304270077). “DISH highlighted ways to expand the use of both the 12.2-12.7 and 12.7-13.25 GHz bands to support terrestrial operations, consistent with the goals laid out in the draft item,” said a filing posted Thursday in docket 20-443. Dish Chairman Charlie Ergen said this week he was disappointed by the thrust of the item (see 2305080055). Tribal Ready, an advocacy group for tribal interests, said final rules should include a set aside to “accelerate” fixed-wireless broadband in Indian country. “The Commission has previously recognized the value of Tribal set asides in promoting deployment as recently as the 2.5 GHz band,” Tribal Ready said: “The 12 GHz band can and should also be an option to help Native Americans close the digital divide.”

The FCC Wireless Bureau and Office of Engineering and Technology approved Federated Wireless’s application to be an environmental sensing capability provider for the citizens broadband radio service band in two dynamic protection areas in Alaska. The FCC said Wednesday approval follows consultation with NTIA and DOD.

APCO supported a waiver request by the Virginia Department of State Police to permit the increase of the existing limit on Part 22 transmitter output power for its mobile transmitters from 60 watts to 100 watts. Reply comments were posted Wednesday in docket 20-241. APCO noted that absent a waiver, the agency “will be unable to fully transition its public safety system to P25 Phase 2 TDMA technology, meaning first responders would face unbalanced coverage and potentially ‘critical failure’ in which messages from mobile radios are not being received at dispatch.” The Virginia agency also asked for approval, noting the lack of opposition in initial comments.