More than 65% of wireless tower workers have been on a tower site where someone has been injured, and 4% where someone has been killed, according to a new survey from the Communications Workers of America’s Tower Climbers Union. “Tower owners … allow or require work during dangerous weather (cited by nearly 73% of respondents) and at night (over 68%), installing equipment heavier than towers are designed to handle (over 47%), and forcing multiple crews to work on a tower at the same time (nearly 42%),” CWA said: Among other findings, more than 77% of respondents have experienced wireless carriers “imposing unrealistic deadlines for completing jobs” and a quarter said “safety incidents on the job were rarely or never investigated and, when they are investigated, ‘nothing happens’ as a result of the investigation.” CWA President Chris Shelton sent letters to major carrier and tower company CEOs urging more emphasis on safety. “Instead of taking responsibility for their working conditions, you have helped to create a network of contractors engaged in cutthroat competition that puts tower technicians at the bottom, their safety at risk, and far too often their very lives on the line,” Shelton said in the letters. CTIA and the National Association of Tower Erectors didn’t comment.

The Public Safety Spectrum Alliance is seeking signers on a petition urging the FCC to preserve the 4.9 GHz band for public safety use and assign the FirstNet Authority to develop a plan for the spectrum. By signing the petition, “you are taking a stand to keep the 4.9 GHz spectrum where it belongs, available for the sole use of first responders,” said Public Safety Broadband Technology Association Executive Director Martha Ellis. The FCC established a national band manager in January for the spectrum and sought comment on parts of the rules (see 2301180062).

Verizon representatives urged the FCC to move quickly to finalize Phase II certification of accelerated relocation procedures in the C-band, in a meeting with staff from Public Safety and Wireless bureaus and Office of General Counsel, said a filing posted Thursday in docket 18-122. The representatives also discussed “the ongoing operations and associated costs” of the C-band relocation payment clearinghouse, Verizon said.

The 3.45 GHz Clearinghouse Search Committee told the FCC it tentatively selected, by unanimous consent, Summit Ridge Group to be the 3.45 GHz relocation reimbursement clearinghouse. “The Summit Ridge Group response expressed its intention to enter into contracts with both incumbent and new, flexible-use licensee stakeholders prior to the finalization of the selection,” said a filing posted Wednesday in docket 19-348: “The Summit Ridge Group’s response disclosed that it does not have any actual or potential organization or personal conflicts of interest or appearance of such conflicts of interest of itself and its officers, directors, employees, and/or contractors.” The filing was signed by the Competitive Carriers Association, CTIA, NBCUniversal and Nexstar.

Representatives of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) asked the FCC to confirm that the agency’s priority remains “the interference-free coexistence” of the 4.9 GHz band. The representatives described the MTA’s communications based train control (CBTC) system for the New York City subway and said it’s being upgraded to 5G. “MTA explained that spectrum options suitable for public safety focused 5G applications are extremely limited in the New York City area” and the band “meets the requirements of the CBTC program with no clear alternative,” said a filing posted Wednesday in docket 07-100. They met with staff from the Public Safety and Wireless bureaus. The FCC in January established a national band manager for the spectrum and sought comment on parts of its rules (see 2301180062).

ATIS’ Next G Alliance released a new report Wednesday, a “6G Roadmap for Vertical Industries,” focused on potential users of 6G. “The target audience for this report is intentionally broad,” the report said: It “describes promising 6G opportunities, vertical industry needs, and technology dependencies at a general level.” Among the sectors addressed are agriculture, automotive, education, gaming, and entertainment, healthcare, mining, manufacturing and public safety. “The insights in this report are the result of research and interviews with sector experts to understand the long-term drivers of change in different verticals,” the report says. “Experts expressed their needs for future communications systems by talking less about technologies and more about vertical-specific use cases and enabling applications.” The group released its "Roadmap to 6G" last year (see 2202170049).

T-Mobile faced another data attack in late February and early March, the company confirmed Wednesday, saying it affected a few hundred customers. The company faced larger breaches in the past (see 2301200047). “We notified a small number of customers that our systems and processes worked to detect and stop a bad actor who was accessing accounts using stolen credentials. No personal financial account information or call records were included,” T-Mobile said in a statement. “We take these issues seriously and have taken steps to proactively protect the impacted customer accounts and to help prevent recurrence. We are continuing to expand the safeguards we have in place,” the carrier said. Bleeping Computer first reported the breach. “Compared to previous data breaches reported by T-Mobile, the latest of which impacted 37 million people, this incident affected only 836 customers,” the information security and tech news site said: “Still, the amount of exposed information is highly extensive and exposes affected individuals to identity theft and phishing attacks.”

Intel, Meta Platforms and Qualcomm flagged what they see as a problem in the draft 60 GHz order circulated for a commissioner vote May 18 (see 2304270077). The draft largely incorporates provisions in an industry consensus document, with one exception, said a filing posted Wednesday in docket 21-264. “The final rules in Appendix B to the draft … accurately reflect the Industry Consensus Agreement with one exception,” the companies said: “The -10 dBm conducted power limit is missing. As presently written, the rule would allow 10 dBm [equivalent isotropic radiated power] for [field disturbance sensor] devices throughout the entire 57-71 GHz band, undermining the carefully negotiated Industry Consensus Agreement.”

The Government Wireless Technology & Communications Association (GWTCA) urged the FCC to wrap up its proceeding on revised rules for the 4.9 GHz band, which commissioners approved 4-0 in January (see 2301180062). The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials asked the FCC to rethink parts of the rules (see 2303300060). “Further delays in the implementation of the new licensing regime (whatever it might be) by the Commission will cause additional harm to the ability of public safety agencies to build communications systems to address their needs,” GWTCA said, posted Tuesday in docket 07-100. “Act with urgency to complete this proceeding,” the group said: Adopt rules “immediately which are necessary to advance this proceeding toward the appointment of a selection committee and the ability of the Section Committee to proceed with the selection of a band manager, with technical rules that impact system design considered in a parallel FCC proceeding.” Monday was the initial deadline for replies, since revised to May 15.

Recon Analytics’ Roger Entner, the author of an industry report last year questioning the citizens broadband radio services model for sharing (see 2211140062), said Tuesday the numbers in a new NTIA report (see 2305010063) don’t impress him. “The absolute numbers of devices are still small,” Entner emailed: “In 21 months they have added 150,000 devices. [Wireless carriers] added in just a quarter more than 10 times that.” The 121% increase in CBRS devices during that period reflects the overall small numbers involved, he said.