New GPR CEO Moran David and others from the company discussed its “innovative ground penetrating radar technology” in a meeting with staff from the FCC Office of Engineering and Technology and the Wireless Bureau, said a filing posted Wednesday in docket 19-241. The company, formerly known as WaveSense, offers “assisted driving and autonomous capabilities” using the technology. Among topics discussed were “GPR’s ability to deploy its technology in Europe,” GPR said: The GPR representatives “emphasized that the record reflects a negligible risk of harmful interference” from the technology “to incumbents, even in worst-case scenarios.” In 2019, the FCC sought comment on a waiver request for use of the technology, which operates at 103-403 MHz, for automotive safety (see 1908280009).

An order on the FCC’s equipment authorization program is mostly the same as the draft proposed by Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel (see 2302230059), based on a side-by-side comparison. None of the commissioners released statements. The order, approved earlier this week (see 2303130049), updates FCC rules to incorporate “four new and updated standards that are integral to equipment testing,” all from ANSI or the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC). The FCC added new text in the section on the implications for smaller companies. “The Commission cannot, at present, definitively quantify the cost of compliance and cannot determine whether small entities will have to hire attorneys, engineers, consultants, or other professionals when using the standards adopted in the Report and Order to comply with the Commission’s rules,” the order says. It notes some commenters, including Public Resource Org. and iFixit, “have requested free and unrestricted access” to relevant materials used in evaluations: “Such an approach, if implemented, would pose a burden to test laboratories, manufacturers and other businesses that could possibly qualify as small entities because the inability to continue to use the incorporation by reference process could jeopardize our ability to recognize state-of-the-art technical standards that have been adopted and are frequently updated through the consensus-driven standards development process.”

T-Mobile announced plans to buy Ka’ena, best known for Mint Mobile, a low-cost prepaid wireless brand partly owned by actor Ryan Reynolds, for $1.35 billion in cash and stock. T-Mobile also gets Ultra Mobile, which offers international calling options and wholesaler Plum. Clearance by the FCC and DOJ likely won’t be a problem, New Street’s Jonathan Chaplin told investors. Mint runs on T-Mobile’s network. “T-Mobile is acquiring the brands' sales, marketing, digital, and service operations, and plans to use its supplier relationships and distribution scale to help the brands to grow and offer competitive pricing and greater device inventory to more U.S. consumers seeking value offerings,” the carrier said Wednesday: “The Un-carrier will also be able to leverage Mint’s industry-leading digital [direct-to-customer] marketing expertise as part of its broader portfolio to reach new customer segments and geographies.” Mint founders David Glickman and Rizwan Kassim are expected to manage the brands, “which will generally operate as a separate business unit,” T-Mobile said. Reynolds “will continue on in his creative role on behalf of Mint.” Reynolds and T-Mobile CEO Mike Sievert appeared together in an announcement on Twitter. “T-Mobile has assured me that our incredibly improvised and borderline reckless messaging strategy will also remain untouched,” Reynolds says in the posting. “I don’t remember the word reckless, Ryan,” Sievert deadpans. Reynolds assured the CEO he had added the word to the contract in crayon.

New Competitive Carriers Association President Tim Donovan met with officials from the FCC Wireless Bureau and Office of Engineering and Technology, including on the “recent lapse” of the FCC’s auction authority and the need of CCA members for certainty on the Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Reimbursement Program “before the July 15 deadline for participants to submit their first reimbursement requests.” The future of the affordable connectivity program is “front of mind for many of CCA’s carrier members,” CCA said in a filing posted Wednesday in 18-89 and other dockets. CCA continues to work with the commission and Congress to develop a “strong” spectrum pipeline and “3.1-3.45 GHz offers a chance for valuable mid-band spectrum,” the filing said. CCA also discussed the C band, citizens broadband radio service band and 12 GHz.

T-Mobile CEO Mike Sievert signed an “amended and restated employment agreement” that extends his tenure at the company by five years, said an SEC filing last week. Sievert took over from former CEO John Legere, who largely engineered T-Mobile’s turnaround, three years ago (see 2004010069). Sievert’s annual base salary is $1.75 million, with annual long-term incentive awards of at least $18.5 million, to be awarded through stock.

Acconeer, which asked the FCC to revise rules for short-range radars in the 60 GHz band (see 2202090064), updated the FCC in a filing posted Tuesday in docket 21-48. The band was the topic of a 2021 NPRM (see 2107130066). This was the company's first filing in the docket since last summer. Acconeer noted it’s “the only company involved in the proceeding that is developing a 60 GHz pulse radar device for the U.S. market.”

RF safety proponents made scores of filings in recent days, more than 100 in the past two days, in 22-69, the digital discrimination proceeding. The mostly one-paragraph filings raise concerns about cell towers, 5G phones, Wi-Fi, smart meters and other wireless deployments for those with electromagnetic sensitivity. “Forcing exposure -- even as part of a genuine effort to afford broadband access -- is itself a form of discrimination as a matter of law,” said Amy Harlib, who offered no other identifying information, in a typical filing: “More importantly, it is fundamentally inequitable because it leads to great harm: people with severe symptoms are functionally excluded from public participation since almost all public spaces are flooded with RF, and those with wireless facilities nearby cannot even take refuge in their homes.” Harlib, like many of the commenters, cited or echoed Children's Health Defense objections.

Tech companies met with an aide to FCC Commissioner Nathan Simington on a Monte Carlo analysis of the risk of very-low-power (VLP) operations in the 6 GHz band to fixed service incumbents, said a filing posted Tuesday in docket 18-295. The analysis was done in San Francisco. Companies at the meeting were Apple, Google, Meta Platforms, Microsoft and Qualcomm. They have been making the rounds at the FCC and previously spoke with other commissioner aides (see 2302280076).

The FCC Wireline Bureau reminded all recipients in the Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Reimbursement Program they must file their latest status updates April 11. Updates are due every 90 days, said the Monday notice.

The FCC appears unlikely to allow terrestrial mobile use of the lower 12 GHz band in the immediate future (see 2301300043), New Street’s Blair Levin said in a Monday note to investors. “While we think the engineering analysis will be decisive, we have also thought that if one puts that aside the for the moment, the political and policy forces tend to favor approval of the coalition proposal,” Levin wrote: “The coalition has the right membership to appeal to a Democratic majority, including the most respected public interest spectrum advocates and smaller new entrants.” He warned action may have to wait for a third Democratic commissioner to be approved for the FCC. Levin said there's increased focus on fixed wireless use, but that may require further study and more data. The growing sense is that Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel and the Office of Engineering and Technology are focused on an approach that takes into account both the lower 12 GHz and the upper parts of the band, Levin said. A leading advocate of using the lower 12 GHz for 5G said no decision has been made. “RS Access is not aware of any definitive guidance issued by the Commission regarding the open 12 GHz NPRM,” emailed RS Access CEO Noah Campbell: “We are confident that the broad coalition of advocates who support unleashing the 12 GHz band's full potential will be successful.”