AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon filed certifications at the FCC saying they're in compliance with a requirement they provide vertical-location information on wireless calls to 911, as required by a June 2021 consent decree (see 2106030086). The filings were due at the FCC Thursday and posted in docket 17-78 (see here, here and here). The National Emergency Number Association, meanwhile, applauded a CTIA report saying nationwide wireless carriers, working with Apple and Google, can provide accurate vertical location information on wireless calls to 911 (see 2206020068). “NENA is pleased that the 9-1-1 Location Technologies Test Bed … filing reported that device-based hybrid (DBH) z-axis location solutions were successful in improving location accuracy consistent with” FCC requirements, emailed President Brian Fontes: “NENA continues to support aligning commercial research and development for location services with the needs of improved location accuracy used for public safety purposes.”

T-Mobile said Friday it turned on 5G voice-over-new-radio (VoNR) service in parts of Portland, Oregon, and Salt Lake City, with plans to expand to “many more areas” this year. “Standalone 5G is the future of wireless, and because it isn’t anchored to LTE, it will be capable of delivering a new level of performance with incredibly fast speeds, real-time responsiveness and massive connectivity,” said a news release: “Now that Standalone 5G is beginning to carry voice traffic with the launch of VoNR, all services are possible on 5G.” Initially the service works only for customers with Samsung Galaxy S21 5G smartphones.

T-Mobile submitted to the FCC its first required annual report on its progress following the completion of its buy of Sprint in 2020, posted Friday in docket 22-211. But key numbers were redacted. Among the data points redacted are 5G sites deployed nationwide, the total MHz of low-band and mid-band 5G spectrum averaged over all the sites deployed and the numbers on T-Mobile’s rural build. T-Mobile also redacted the number of households to which it marketed its in-home broadband service. “As of May 2021, T-Mobile has the first and largest nationwide 5G network, covering over 88 percent of Americans in more than 9,100 cities and towns across 1.6 million square miles (with 1.45 million of that coverage in small town America) -- more than twice the 5G coverage area of Verizon or AT&T. T-Mobile’s 5G network now covers over 295 million people and we are on track for it to blanket over 300 million people by the end of 2021,” the report said. T-Mobile closed the buy April 1, 2020 (see 2004010069).

The Wireless Infrastructure Association said Thursday Executive Vice President Tim House will be interim president-CEO following the departure of Jonathan Adelstein, as the board searches for a new president. House has been at WIA since 2007, joining the group, then called Personal Communications Industry Association, as director-marketing and sales. He spent nearly eight years before that in marketing at Discovery Communications. As executive vice president he led WIA’s workforce development, meetings and events and membership initiatives and oversaw day-to-day operations directing the finance and administration team.

The FCC Enforcement Bureau reached a settlement with Liberty Mobile USVI for failing to report in a timely manner to the commission an outage it experienced on its wireless network May 10, 2021, in St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands, the bureau said Thursday. Liberty agreed to pay $48,000 and implement a three-year compliance plan. “The Commission’s outage reporting rules require communications providers to report certain disruptions to their networks to the Commission, providing the Commission with the means to analyze trends in network disruptions, collaborate with providers to address network vulnerabilities, and formulate policies to improve network resilience,” the bureau said.

AT&T is testing the use of drones as flying cells on wheels, with the initial launch at a field in rural Missouri, it said Thursday. “We had [an] intermittent, weak LTE signal at the flight location before we launched the 5G Flying COW,” said Ethan Hunt, AT&T unmanned aircraft systems principal program manager. “We flew the drone up to about 300 feet, turned on the signal and it began transmitting strong 5G coverage to approximately 10 square miles,” he said. AT&T is considering using drones that could stay in the air for months using solar power.

The Alliance for Automotive Innovation supports a waiver allowing immediate cellular-vehicle-to-everything use of the 5.9 GHz band, sought by automakers and others in December (see 2112140070), representatives told an aide to FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel. The waiver “is important for auto industry stakeholders to have immediate access to the Upper 5.9 GHz Band to address pent up demand to begin deployment,” said a filing posted Thursday in docket 19-138. The group also urged FCC action on rules for the 60 GHz band: “The use of this band for automotive safety applications, such as technologies to detect unattended children in the backseat, remains a priority for automakers and equipment manufacturers.”

The FCC wants comment by June 17, replies June 27, on an April petition by AT&T seeking further clarity on rules for the C-band clearinghouse. The 20-day deadline for filing a notice of objection with the clearinghouse “should be tolled until a disputing party knows, or through reasonable diligence should know, of the basis for its objection,” AT&T said. AT&T said it doesn’t “advocate eliminating the 20-day deadline, as long as it is applied in a manner that avoids depriving 3.7 GHz Service licensees of due process rights where the basis for an objection is not, and cannot reasonably be, known at the time the relevant invoice is issued.” The deadlines are in a notice for Thursday’s Federal Register.

Comments are due July 1, replies Aug. 1, on an FCC Further NPRM on rules for how often narrowband white spaces devices must check a database to operate, approved by commissioners in January (see 2201270034), said a Wednesday Federal Register notice. The FNPRM seeks to resolve a contentious issue between Microsoft and NAB on how often check-ins should be required and the impact on licensed wireless mics that use the spectrum (see 2201210069).

Verizon went on the attack against T-Mobile Wednesday, accusing its competitor of being less than straightforward in its pricing plans. Verizon said T-Mobile announced in 2017 it was rolling taxes and fees into plans, then started to attach them to bills a little more than a year later. In June, T-Mobile’s “assisted support and upgrade support cost jumps to $35,” Verizon said: “So your plan price may not change, but your admin fee has gone up and it now costs $35 for support? Seems like just another name for a fee.” Verizon noted T-Mobile is now promising to keep prices flat, but that's also one of the commitments it made to get approval of its buy of Sprint. Verizon’s message to T-Mobile: “Sometimes the truth hurts, big time. And Verizon will not sit on the sidelines and watch as the Un-carrier continues to hoodwink consumers by dazzling them with one catchy announcement after another, only to Un-ravel and Un-do them just as soon as people forget.” A day earlier T-Mobile cited Verizon and AT&T for raising prices: “AT&T and Verizon are once again increasing costs for longtime customers who thought their phone bills were the last thing they had to worry about in a world where prices are rising from the gas pumps to the grocery store. Not cool, bro.” T-Mobile didn’t comment Wednesday on the Verizon release.