Viaero Wireless sought a six-month extension of a Nov. 18 deadline to remove unsecure Chinese gear from its network. The company said it has been “working diligently to install a replacement network” but lacks “the financial resources to complete the project.” The carrier noted the FCC has been able to provide only 40% of the funding required, in a Thursday filing in docket 18-89. Congress has been deciding whether to more fully fund the program, addressing the $3.08 billion Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Reimbursement Program funding shortfall (see 2308070001). Last month, the Rural Wireless Association asked for a six-month blanket extension of the removal requirements (see 2308100035).

The FCC Wireless Bureau denied a request by AT&T for reconsideration of procedures for the C-band relocation payment clearinghouse. “Specifically, we deny AT&T’s request to change the RPC’s 20-day deadline for the filing of notices of objection to Clearinghouse decisions, to reclassify … Docket 21-333 as permit-but-disclose, and to change the burden of proof standard for multi-party appeals,” the bureau said Friday.

CTIA representatives spoke with FCC Wireline Bureau staff about proposed requirements to implement the Safe Connections Act (SCA) (see 2304140057), said a filing posted Friday in docket 22-238. The act requires availability of safe access to communications services for survivors of domestic violence. “CTIA provided an update on its multi-year partnership with the National Domestic Violence Hotline to successfully implement the SCA and ensure that wireless providers’ employees can respond sensitively and effectively to the specific needs of survivors seeking Safety,” CTIA said. The group encouraged the commission “to adopt outcome-oriented rules that support the needs of survivors and the goals of the SCA while ensuring that providers have sufficient flexibility to successfully implement the necessary modifications across their diverse operations.”

Verizon unveiled “Mobile Onsite Network-as-a-Service” trailers, which offer a private network, multi-access edge computing, software-defined wide area networking and satellite connectivity. The first test deployment is at Lockheed Martin's Waterton, Colorado, campus, Verizon said Thursday.

Verizon has deployed 20-25% of its C-band spectrum, Verizon CEO Hans Vestberg said at a Goldman Sachs financial conference Thursday. “We still don't have the most spectrum, but we always have gotten the best performance out of it,” he said. Verizon has shown in markets where it has C band that “we have better step-ups” and lower churn and the carrier is attracting fixed-wireless customers, he said. Verizon’s fiber footprint is sometimes underappreciated, Vestberg said. The carrier has more than 60,000 route miles connecting its network nodes, he said. “You need fiber from the data center to the edge of the network in order to transport all the data,” he said. Vestberg said the wireless market is competitive, but he welcomes the competition. “We should fight every day for our customers,” he said. The economics favor providers that own their own facilities, he said: “I own my network. I own my fiber. I own my radios. I can do broadband. I can do fixed broadband. I can do fixed-wireless broadband. I can do wireless. Everything is owned by us.” The C band deployed so far has been in urban markets because that was the first to be cleared, and that’s where Verizon’s fixed-wireless offering has been selling the fastest, he said. The remainder of the spectrum is coming in two parts -- C band yet to be cleared in urban markets and covering suburban and rural areas, he said. “We have not even started with fixed-wireless access in many of those markets,” he said.

The Platforms for Advanced Wireless Research (PAWR) Project is launching a new testbed called ARA at Iowa State University in central Iowa, targeting research on rural wireless systems and applications, PAWR said Wednesday. The National Science Foundation-funded program is the fourth and final platform in the PAWR program, said a news release. The platform “offers a publicly available wireless living lab supporting rural-focused research, education and innovation,” said Hongwei Zhang, Iowa State engineering and computer science professor and director of the new platform, saying ARA "will not only help narrow the gap between rural and urban connectivity, but also advance the frontiers of 5G and 6G communications.”

Representatives of the ioXt Alliance supported a proposed voluntary cybersecurity labeling program for smart devices, the subject of an NPRM commissioners approved last month (see 2307180054), in a meeting with an aide to FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel. “ioXt’s mission is to build confidence in IoT products through multistakeholder, international, harmonized, and standardized security and privacy requirements, product compliance programs, and public transparency,” said a filing posted Wednesday in docket 23-239: “ioXt has been an active participant in developing the National Institute of Standards and Technology labeling criteria and is working closely with other stakeholders to develop recommendations to operationalize NIST’s criteria to support the program.”

The FCC Wireless Bureau said Wednesday the FCC’s universal licensing system will now accept applications for temporary fixed stations in parts of the 6 GHz band. The eventual launch was discussed in the FCC’s 2020 order opening the band for unlicensed use and comes as automated frequency coordination (AFC) systems start testing as they seek final approval (see 2308250061). “Certain licensees in the 6 GHz band must register their temporary fixed stations in ULS before commencing operations to enable” AFC systems “to account for these operations when providing channel information to 6 GHz unlicensed standard power-devices,” the bureau said in docket 18-295.

AT&T is making available a suite of MegaRange products through FirstNet, offering more powerful connections. "From hard-to-reach places such as underground areas and maritime environments to extremely rural, uninhabited locations, FirstNet MegaRange provides better signal in more places -- 6 times more powerful than standard devices,” AT&T said Wednesday. The products available are MegaFi Fixed for in-building coverage, MegaFi Mobile for vehicle use and MegaGo for remote locations.

The FCC continues to believe it can't award 2.5 GHz licenses to T-Mobile or any other winning bidder in last year’s 2.5 GHz auction until its auction authority is restored, Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel said in a letter to Senate Commerce Committee ranking member Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Communications Subcommittee ranking member John Thune, R-S.D., posted Monday by the FCC. The two complained last month in a letter to Rosenworcel (see 2308140073). “This lapse has delayed more than just the grant of remaining 2.5 GHz band licenses; it has slowed the ability of the United States to advance our historic leadership role on spectrum planning and development issues,” Rosenworcel said: “This is especially important right now, with the World Radiocommunication Conference 2023 scheduled to begin in less than three months.”