The FCC Office of Engineering and Technology is seeking comment on a request by Bluewind Medical for a waiver to permit its implantable medical device system operating at 6.78 MHz to exceed FCC emission limits. The company “states its tibial neuromodulation system is intended to be used to treat patients diagnosed with overactive bladder (OAB) and related symptoms,” OET said Thursday: “The implant uses electrical pulses to stimulate nerves innervating the bladder, urinary sphincter, and pelvic floor. The implant receives power and data … through near-field inductive coupling via pulse modulation of a 6.78 MHz carrier signal, at a rate of up to 30 Hz.” BlueWind is seeking a waiver to permit its system to be certified and marketed with external control unit emissions not to exceed 108.8 microvolts per meter field strength, which is above the 100 microvolts limit. Comments are due Feb. 21, replies March 8, in docket 23-27.

The FCC Wireless Bureau exempted American Electric Power from quarterly inspections of its communications tower lighting systems after the utility added “self-diagnostic features sufficient to make the quarterly inspections unnecessary,” said a Thursday order. Annual inspections are now required. “Our action today should encourage other tower owners to invest in state-of-the-art technologies so that they, too, will become capable of continuous monitoring of both their lighting systems and control devices,” the bureau said.

Tennessee became the first state to integrate FirstNet with AT&T’s emergency services IP networks for all 911 call centers statewide, AT&T said Wednesday. “This is a major step forward for public safety as Tennessee leads the way to become the first state in the nation to implement full wireless backup through FirstNet … to all 9-1-1 call centers statewide,” the carrier said: “Wireless backup means that even during the toughest strains and worst-case scenarios, network connectivity will be available so that every Tennessean can know that 9-1-1 telecommunicators will answer their call.”

FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel was right to urge Congress to approve more funding for a program to replace unsecure gear in telecom networks, said Competitive Carriers Association President Tim Donovan. Rosenworcel addressed the issue during a speech Tuesday at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (see 2301170068). “The funding shortfall has left affected carriers unable to fully replace covered equipment with secure alternatives, putting millions of consumers at risk of losing critical wireless services while leaving a security mandate unmet,” Donovan emailed.

The FCC proposed a notice of apparent liability of $62 million against Q Link Wireless for alleged violations of rules for the emergency broadband benefit program. Q Link claimed “support for hundreds of thousands of computer tablets” and “apparently obtained at least $20,792,800 in improper disbursements from the EBB Program during the period under review,” said a notice in Wednesday’s Daily Digest. Q Link didn’t comment. “We find that, by claiming reimbursements for EBB connected devices at a rate apparently substantially exceeding their market value, Q Link apparently willfully and repeatedly violated the sections of the [2021 Consolidated Appropriations Act] and the Commission’s rules prescribing these requirements applicable to service providers in the EBB Program,” the notice said. Commissioners approved the notice last week.

Nebraska’s Metropolitan Community College, CTIA and iFixOmaha Tuesday announced the launch of what they say is the first postsecondary education mobile device repair certification program, set to launch in the spring quarter at the school's Fort Omaha campus. The program offers a one-week boot camp and eight-week internship. “About 50 million mobile device screens are damaged each year, and the noncredit program will provide an at-cost resource to the greater Omaha community,” said a news release.

T-Mobile was the fastest wireless carrier in the U.S. in Q4, with a median download speed of 151.37 Mbps on modern chipsets, up from 116.14 Mbps in Q3 2022, Ookla said Tuesday. Verizon Wireless (69.01 Mbps) and AT&T (65.57) were “distant runners up.” T-Mobile also had the fastest upload speed at 12.53 Mbps, topping Verizon (9.33) and AT&T (7.98). “T-Mobile had the highest Consistency in the U.S. during Q4 2022, with 86.8% of results showing at least 5 Mbps download and 1 Mbps upload speeds,” the report said: “Verizon Wireless and AT&T followed at 82.4% and 81.1%, respectively.” On the percentage of time 5G-capable devices spend on a 5G network, T-Mobile (69.2%) and AT&T (64.5%) bested Verizon (34.3%). The states with the fastest median download speeds were Minnesota, Illinois and New Jersey. Mississippi finished last. “In addition to topping national rankings, T-Mobile’s network proved fastest in 45 states and the District of Columbia as well as in 86 of the 100 most populous U.S. cities,” T-Mobile said Tuesday.

Smith Bagley asked the FCC for a three-month extension of the waivers of its Lifeline recertification and reverification for customers in tribal areas. The waivers otherwise expire Jan. 31, said a Tuesday filing in docket 11-42. "Historic inequalities caused Tribal communities to shudder more than the rest of the country during COVID-19 pandemic, and conditions in the communities have yet to recover as new public health challenges arise," the carrier said: "The day-to-day difficulties associated with contacting and obtaining responsive documents from remote Tribal customers have not improved."

Federated Wireless said Tuesday it’s working with low-cost carrier Mobi to provide spectrum access system and environmental sensing capability services so the carrier can “bring its Citizens Broadband Radio Service network online throughout the Hawaiian Islands.” Through the use of CBRS, “high-speed broadband services will be available in hard-to-reach regions of the islands and will enable Mobi to triple channel utilization and enhance network performance,” Federated said. Mobi “will be able to leverage their [priority access] licenses and the lower 100 MHz of the CBRS band to bring reliable, high-speed broadband services throughout the Hawaiian Islands,” said Chris Swan, Federated chief commercial officer: “The extension of our ESC network into Hawaii rounds out the expansion of our CBRS operations across the United States.”

Comments are due Feb. 16, replies March 20, on an FCC NPRM on proposed rules to more precisely route wireless 911 calls and texts to public safety answering points through location-based routing, said a Tuesday Federal Register notice. Commissioners approved the NPRM in December (see 2212210047).