The FCC Wireless Bureau addressed waiver requests by Progeny Wednesday as Progeny works to meet construction deadlines for 82 of its 900 MHz multi-lateration location and monitoring service (M-LMS) licenses. Carriers are working with Progeny to use its service to locate emergency callers in buildings. Progeny asked to be able to meet the deadlines by serving two-thirds of buildings in excess of three stories in areas covered by the licenses. “We agree with Progeny that affording it the opportunity to meet its construction requirements by serving two-thirds of buildings in excess of three stories would better align its requirements with those of … providers,” the bureau said: “However, we find that in lieu of granting a waiver … Progeny may comply with its construction requirements by demonstrating that it is providing service consistent with the two-thirds tall buildings coverage approach, which would meet the substantial service requirement.” Using this metric will “promote beneficial use of the spectrum, especially in areas where it is needed most, and ensure that Progeny’s service remains an option for wireless carriers to improve location accuracy and satisfy the Commission’s location accuracy requirements,” the bureau said in docket 12-202.

AT&T questioned a study CableLabs did last year of power-level sensitivity in the 6 GHz band (see 2211290068), which argued that the rules for the band can be further liberalized (see 2303270037). “Fundamentally, parties to this proceeding -- and the [FCC] itself -- should have the opportunity to develop a complete understanding of CableLabs’ purported simulation if that work is to be relied upon to expand the rights of radio local area network devices in the 6 GHz band,” said a Tuesday filing in docket 18-295. AT&T said the results, as reported, can't be verified. CableLabs should have to “file the simulations in their entirety instead of merely providing curated, self-interested results,” AT&T said: “The refusal to file the simulations is even more alarming in the face of NCTA’s inability -- on behalf of CableLabs -- to satisfactorily explain troubling inconsistencies, assumptions, and results that fly in the face of common-sense engineering and real-world testing.”

A waiver request by Samsung Electronics America for a 5G base station radio that works across citizens broadband radio service and C-band spectrum (see 2303100019) got some support at the FCC, with no one filing in opposition. Comments were posted Tuesday in docket 23-93. The FCC recently approved a similar waiver for a multiband waiver for Ericsson, and Ericsson recently sought a second waiver that parallels the Samsung request (see 2303170044). The waiver addresses out-of-band emissions limits in the CBRS band. Verizon, which noted it has significant operations in both bands, said a single radio is easier to deploy than two. “The smaller size of the multiband device, compared to two separate devices, will ease the regulatory siting process itself, enabling faster deployments,” Verizon said. A single radio will also increase energy efficiency by as much as 45% compared with two stand-alone units, the carrier said. “Multiband 5G radios incorporate multiple spectrum bands in a single radio, reducing energy consumption and resulting in a much smaller cell site footprint, thereby facilitating faster zoning review and easier siting,” Ericsson said. The Samsung petition and its follow-up petition demonstrate that the waiver of the CBRS OOBE limits “will not negatively affect operations” in either band, the company said: “Strict application of the OOBE limits at issue would not serve the public interest. The alternative would be to manufacture and install two separate radios, which would increase the time, costs, and energy consumption of deploying 5G networks.”

NTIA is seeking “expressions of interest” by April 27 to fill an open slot on the FirstNet Authority board, said a Tuesday Federal Register notice. FirstNet Authority Chair Stephen Benjamin is leaving for a position in the Biden administration (see 2303010031). Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo will appoint someone for a term running through September 2024, said the notice.

Midland Radio officials spoke with FCC staff on the company’s request for waiver of FCC rules for general mobile radio service devices in the 462 MHz band (see 2110120061), said a Monday filing in docket 21-388. “Midland discussed proposed conditions to their pending waiver request, and the impact those conditions would have on the user experience of Midland’s products in rural and urban areas,” Midland said.

Sennheiser urged the FCC to adopt final rules in the wireless multichannel audio system (WMAS) proceeding, the subject of an April 2021 NPRM (see 2104220056) based on a 2018 request. Sennheiser has been previewing WMAS “to a number of potential customers, who have been universally enthusiastic about using this cutting-edge technology,” said a filing posted Tuesday in docket 21-115. Sennheiser said it’s starting prelaunch field trials in Europe, “which will allow prospective customers to trial the equipment and begin to realize the real world benefits WMAS has to offer.” The company said it would like to include U.S. customers in the field trials but can't do so until the FCC finalizes rules allowing WMAS use.

With the FCC slamming the brakes on issuing the licenses T-Mobile won in last year's 2.5 GHz auction, after the agency’s auction authority lapsed (see 2303220077), the carrier filed a request at the FCC to use the spectrum under special temporary authority, for 180 days. “Grant of this request will serve the public interest because it would permit T-Mobile to temporarily provide wireless broadband services to the public using spectrum in the 2.5 GHz band, including many rural and underserved areas,” the undocketed filing said. Section 309(f) of the Communications Act allows the commission to grant temporary authorization when it finds “there are extraordinary circumstances requiring temporary operations in the public interest and that delay in the institution of such temporary operations would seriously prejudice the public interest,” the filing said: “The extraordinary circumstances result from the lapse, for the first time ever, of the Commission’s general authority to conduct spectrum auctions to select among mutually exclusive applications.” The filing said T-Mobile continues to believe the FCC could issue in an already-concluded auction under Section 309(a) of the act “some at the Commission have expressed doubts about that conclusion,” the carrier said. “While T-Mobile expects that the Commission’s auction authority will be restored, the timing for when that will occur is unclear,” T-Mobile said.

Dish Network representatives spoke with acting Chief Ron Repasi and others from the FCC Office of Engineering and Technology about use of the lower 12 GHz band for 5G. OET has been examining studies of the potential interference risks (see 2301300043). “The 12 GHz band represents 500 megahertz of spectrum that is well-suited for terrestrial, two-way use cases, while still protecting satellite operations,” Dish said in a filing Friday in docket 20-443.

Cable representatives met via videoconference with FCC Office of Engineering and Technology staff to discuss a study CableLabs did last year of power-level sensitivity in the 6 GHz band (see 2211290068). “The simulation demonstrates that before a 6 GHz Low-Power Indoor (LPI) device causes any impact to a fixed link’s 99.999% reliability, the power spectral density (PSD) limit must be increased to significantly higher levels than what the Commission proposed in the 6 GHz FNPRM, and, even at those significantly increased PSD levels, 6 GHz LPI devices pose an extremely low risk of harmful interference to fixed link availability.” The cablers urged the FCC to wrap up work on an LPI proposal in the 6 GHz Further NPRM. At the meeting were Comcast, Charter Communications, Cox Enterprises, Quadra Partners and NCTA, said a filing posted Monday in docket 18-295.

Initial comments are due April 24, replies May 8, on a December report by its Hearing Aid Compatibility Task Force (see 2303230048).