T-Mobile should drop its “Don’t you worry ‘bout speed” claim in commercials on its home internet service, the Better Business Bureau's National Advertising Division said in response to complaints filed by Comcast and Charter Communications (see here and here). The claim “conveys a message that consumers can get the speed they need to do whatever they want on the internet without limitation,” NAD said: The claim “conveys the message that internet speeds are sufficient to provide worry-free internet service that will allow users to perform nearly all typical activities on the internet, including intensive uses like gaming or streaming on multiple devices at any time of day.” T-Mobile responded it “will comply with NAD’s recommendations, but strongly disagrees with NAD’s determination that the challenged commercial communicates an unsubstantiated message.”

Broadcom representatives pressed for FCC action certifying automated frequency coordination providers in the 6 GHz band and approving use of very-low power (VLP) devices without coordination, meeting with an aide to Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel and top officials at the Office of Engineering and Technology. “In addressing those issues, we pointed to the submission of two large-scale probability analyses and a detailed technical response to filings by FirstEnergy and Evergy, and we explained that the Commission now has a full and robust record and can move ahead on items in the pending” Further NPRM, said a filing posted Tuesday in docket 18-295.

NTIA plans a public information session May 4 on the Public Wireless Supply Chain Innovation Fund’s first notice of funding opportunity, says a notice for Wednesday’s Federal Register. “The event will provide an opportunity for the program team to discuss the technical aspects of the NOFO, as well as best practices for applicants navigating the federal awards process,” NTIA said. The meeting will be in-person from 9 a.m. to noon EDT at the Department of Interior's Yates Auditorium. The $1.5 billion federal fund, part of the Chips and Science Act, is intended to spur the growth of open radio access networks (see 2303240054). Applications are due June 2.

T-Mobile told the FCC it reviewed applications from five companies found to have a complete application to become contraband interdiction system (CIS) operators to help address contraband phones in correctional facilities. The applications were in response to a March Wireless Bureau notice (see 2303240043). Only CTIA also weighed in (see 2304240061) in docket 13-111. “T-Mobile supports the Commission’s certification of a range of CIS operations designed to meet different needs, including both fixed and mobile CIS” and “encourages CIS operators to design their systems to support operations using the latest technologies -- in particular, 4G LTE and standalone 5G,” said a filing posted Monday in docket 13-111. “As providers like T-Mobile continue to ensure that networks feature the latest generations of wireless technologies, it is vital that CIS operates with the same capabilities as these networks evolve,” T-Mobile said.

Two former top FirstNet officials Monday urged the FCC to preserve use of the 4.9 GHz band for public safety to the extent possible, and reverse course to award a single overlay license, during a webinar by the Public Safety Broadband Technology Association. Both support the Public Safety Spectrum Alliance’s recent comments (see 2304130047) on the FCC’s January Further NPRM, which called for issuing a single nationwide overlay license in the band “to an appropriately identified entity that has the expertise necessary to deliver robust services to first responders.” PSSA has long supported a national license (see 2009160067). Public safety “has had this spectrum since 2002,” said Sue Swenson, former FirstNet chair. “Thousands of agencies today have been using it since that time, in a variety of ways.” Public safety recognizes that the band is “underutilized,” but agencies that do use it should be protected, she said. Swanson said. Swanson said she appreciates the FCC’s work to revise how the band is assigned, with a nationwide band manager (see 2301180062). “Several of the details as proposed, if implemented in the manner suggested, won’t necessarily accomplish the commission’s goals,” she said. A nationwide overlay license is “really critical,” she said. PSSA also called for a nationwide band manager to work in conjunction with the nationwide licensee, which is “a little different approach than what the commission has put out there,” she said. Swanson also advocates a mechanism to give public safety traffic automatic preemption over other traffic. “I don’t think public safety can wait for people to do manual intervention and do it reactively,” she said. The rules must also protect existing point-to-point and geographic licenses, she said. The FCC needs a “nationwide approach” on 4.9 GHz, “not going back to this broken-up model” from before FirstNet was launched, said Jeff Johnson, CEO of the Western Fire Chiefs Association and former FirstNet vice chair. A nationwide license “leverages a proven successful model” in FirstNet, which has almost 5 million connections in only six years, Johnson said. FirstNet isn't “perfect: but “five million public safety responders can’t be that wrong,” he said. Replies to the FNPRM are due May 1.

The National Academies of Sciences report issued in September (see 2209090032) adds to the weight of evidence necessitating that the FCC's 2020 Ligado approval be stayed and ultimately set aside, weather and aviation interests said Monday in letters to Congressional leaders and the White House. The NAS report confirms that Ligado’s proposed terrestrial operations would interfere with a variety of incumbent L-band services and is "the exact type of previously unavailable information that the FCC’s rules dictate must be addressed on reconsideration," they said "We therefore urge you to work with the FCC to address the harm from Ligado’s proposed terrestrial network ... by staying the Order, addressing the previously unavailable information contained in the NAS Report, and resolving the pending petitions for reconsideration," they said. The FCC didn't comment. Signatories include AccuWeather, the Aerospace Industries Association, the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association, Airlines for America, the American Meteorological Society, the American Weather and Climate Industry Association, Iridium, Lockheed Martin and the National Weather Association. Many of the same signatories had urged similarly one year ago (see 2204250057).

CTIA weighed in on applications from five companies found to have a complete application to serve as contraband interdiction system (CIS) operators to help address contraband phones in correctional facilities, in response to a March Wireless Bureau notice (see 2303240043). The group urged the FCC to focus on whether applicants offer managed access systems (MAS) or MASEvolved systems, which “work with cellular networks to block calls from contraband devices while minimizing the risk of disabling legitimate (i.e., non-contraband) devices.” Systems that don’t coordinate with cellular networks “have a reduced ability to validate whether a device near a correctional facility is contraband or not, and they therefore entail a greater risk of false positive contraband identifications,” CTIA said. The group didn’t offer more specific comment on the applications by CellBlox Acquisitions, ShawnTech Communications, Tecore Networks, SOC and OmniProphis.

Comments are due at the Federal Railroad Administration May 11 on a Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) request to amend its positive train control system. “On MBTA’s North Side, the PTC System in the area is being reconfigured and must be taken out of service during the recommissioning of Automatic Train Control and the subsequent recommissioning of MBTA’s Advanced Civil Speed Enforcement System II,” said a notice in Friday’s Federal Register. The docket is FRA–2010–0030.

The FirstNet Authority Board and its committees will meet May 3, 8:30 a.m., said a notice in Friday’s Federal Digest. The meeting takes place in Broomfield, Colorado. The board didn’t release an agenda.

The FCC’s policy statement on receivers, approved 4-0 Thursday (see 2304200040), saw relatively few changes from the draft statement, based on a side-by-side comparison. The FCC released the final statement Friday. One change is a clarifying line that RF energy is ubiquitous, “whether caused by RF device emissions or natural noise sources,” not in the draft. The draft says the agency “intends to consider the immunity of out-of-band receivers and their ability to reject unintended signals.” The focus shifts in the approved version to “the immunity of receivers and their ability to reject undesired and unwanted signals.” Because of the “variability in receiver resiliency, some receivers in use may be more robust than others to changes in the RF environment,” the draft says. That’s changed to now recognize “the variability in receiver vulnerability.” Similarly, the draft says the commenters “recommend Commission guidance to promote efficient spectrum use by clarifying the need for receivers to stay resilient from new sources of spectrally proximate emissions.” The final version cites instead “the need for receiver interference immunity.” Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel and Commissioner Nathan Simington filed statements attached to the item.