Oppositions to the CTIA/Competitive Carriers Association petition for partial reconsideration and additional clarity of the FCC’s mandatory disaster response initiative order (see 2211010056) are due Dec. 19, with replies to the oppositions due Dec. 27, according to Friday's Federal Register. The petition seeks a list of potential facilities-based providers to which the MDRI may apply and asks for time to comply.

UScellular's talks with the FAA show the carrier's C-band deployment can proceed as planned, without any mitigation for its sites near the 188 airports the FAA listed as requiring C-band licensee coordination, the company said in docket 18-122 Friday. It said only a small number of the 188 fall within its footprint. Citing its deployment time frame and the location of its sites in the coordination zones, the company said the FAA confirmed its sites near those airports would be approved for full-power operation in a post-retrofit aircraft environment. It said the FCC's changing its C-band rules now would only delay deployment.

Citing feedback from the FCC, tech company Robert Bosch modified its suggestion for more flexible use of the 60 GHz band (see 2210030051). In a docket 21-264 post Thursday on a talk with an aide to Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel, Bosch representatives said the company is open to low-power regulation for all the channels. It said channel 3 might not be a suitable home for high-bandwidth augmented and ritual reality applications, so the FCC might want to consider a "look back" sometime after it adopts 60 GHz sharing rules to determine if AR and VR have been substantially deployed on channel 3.

Fifty-one long-form applications were accepted and 650 licenses issued for 2.5 GHz flexible-use, county-based overlay wireless licenses, the FCC Wireless Bureau said in a public notice Thursday. It said staff review is ongoing of another 17 auction long-form applications. Of the 51 grants,15 received small business bidding credits and 23 received rural service provider bidding credits, the notice said.

The FCC chair, secretary of the Interior and the Commerce Department's assistant secretary for communications and information will meet at least quarterly to plan policies and programs aimed at broadband and wireless services on tribal lands, per an MOU signed by the agencies. The MOU said the aim is better coordination among federal agencies on ways to help deploy and develop broadband and other wireless services on tribal lands, plus expanded access to spectrum over tribal lands and the Hawaiian homelands. Under the MOU, the agencies will also discuss initiatives aimed at encouraging tribes and the Native Hawaiian community to take part in existing programs such as Lifeline through outreach and promotion to eligible households on tribal lands. Interior said it also is establishing an Office of Indigenous Communications and Technology to help tribal nations and tribal entities manage and develop wireless services on tribal lands. Interior said OICT will try to facilitate work between tribes and the tech industry, review spectrum leasing opportunities as a route to advancing Tribal self-determination and help develop national tribal broadband policy guidance. The MOU was announced during a White House Tribal Nations Summit Wednesday. The MOU "is an important, concrete step to ensure that Tribal voices are at the table when decisions are being made on how best to promote deployment of broadband to their communities," Public Knowledge said. It also will ensure a coordinated effort by the FCC, Interior and NTIA to engage with tribal leaders and communities and help ensure they have necessary information for getting access to resources, such as E-rate and the tribal Broadband Connectivity Fund, PK said.

ExteNet Systems will partner with T-Mobile on deployment of digital wireless infrastructure in large sports, entertainment, hospitality and transportation venues and on decommissioning T-Mobile's network assets overlapping with those it picked up from its Sprint deal, ExteNet said Tuesday. The T-Mobile deal expands ExteNet's existing relationship with T-Mobile as a primary wireless carrier in its contracted venues, it said. ExteNet said it will deploy, own and operate the infrastructure for the venues. It said T-Mobile will be the first carrier to join the wireless network ExteNet is deploying in MGM Resorts properties nationwide under the agreement.

Citing a CableLabs analysis, NCTA said the power spectral density limit for 6 GHz low-power indoor access points floated in the 6 GHz Further NPRM isn't a big risk of causing harmful interference to incumbent fixed service links. It said in docket 18-295 Tuesday the analysis confirms its assertion that radio local area network power is only one factor affecting FS links, and not nearly as big a factor as link fading.

Public Knowledge urged the FCC to issue a declaratory ruling as part of its NPRM on limiting unwanted robotexts clarifying that prior express consent for calls and texts "can only be provided to one caller at a time," per a filing posted Monday in docket 21-402 (see 2211140030). The group also sought clarification that Telephone Consumer Protection Act exemption rules "specifically exclude scam calls and texts." There's "a clear relationship between the ebb and flow of illegal telephone calls and text messages," Public Knowledge said, adding the FCC should classify text messages as a Communications Act Title II service: It "may be necessary to address concerns raised in the record concerning discrimination in the existing voluntary authentication programs."

NTIA’s Commerce Spectrum Management Advisory Committee will meet virtually Dec. 9 at 10 a.m. EST. The meeting will include subcommittee updates on 6G wireless systems, electromagnetic compatibility improvements and ultra-wideband communications.

Representatives of the Rural Wireless Association spoke with an aide to FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel on implementation of a 5G Fund, in light of the release of initial broadband maps. “We discussed concerns with the framework adopted by the prior administration, and how it could undermine the vital role played by RWA members in delivering mobile service to rural customers that are not served by the nationwide providers,” said a filing posted Wednesday in docket 20-32. RWA said it’s likely some high-cost areas with 5/1 Mbps 4G service won’t get 5G without support. “The proposed budget is severely inadequate to meet the goals of ubiquitous nationwide 5G coverage for rural consumers and precision agriculture in rural areas,” RWA said: “A reverse auction without reserve prices is likely to provide excessive support in areas with few applicants.”