T-Mobile said Thursday it expanded the footprint of its 5G Home Internet service across parts of Illinois, Michigan and Wisconsin. More than 6 million homes throughout those states, and more than 40 million nationwide, are now eligible for the service, T-Mobile said.

China Tech Threat urged the FCC to be more aggressive in clamping down on companies that are a risk to U.S. security, and to expand the number of companies on the agency’s “covered list.” Apart from “the proposed complete ban on Huawei and ZTE, the FCC has devised major exemptions for Hytera Communications Corporation, Hangzhou Hikvision Digital Technology Company, and Dahua Technology Company,” the group said in a filing posted Thursday in docket 21-232: “These exemptions are so broad that they effectively negate the security benefits proposed by the Covered List.” China Tech Threat said the list “should include hundreds, if not, thousands, of entities capable of enabling [Chinese] government intrusion.” The FCC should consider adding “products and services which use radio spectrum” including computers, streaming TVs, drones, memory chips and applications, the group said. The group examines problems posed by technology produced by China with an eye on policy. Experts affiliated with the group include Wiley’s Nazak Nikakhtar and Strand Consult’s Roslyn Layton.

Apple and Qualcomm representatives met with FCC Office of Engineering and Technology staff to discuss “the parameters that underlie probability analyses assessing” radio local access network and fixed service “interactions” in the 6 GHz band. The discussion noted “the importance of including parameters accounting for far-field loss, different bandwidths, different power-levels, instantaneously transmitting devices, propagation loss, RLAN and FS height, transmit power control, antenna patterns, polarization mismatch, feeder loss, and FS noise,” said a filing posted Thursday in docket 18-295. The companies cited “differences in the probability analyses already on the record,” including analyses by RKF, the EU and CableLabs, the filing said.

Apple's Emergency SOS service via satellite for its iPhone 14 will be available for U.S. and Canada customers starting later this month, Apple said Thursday. Helping enable the service is a $450 million investment from its Advanced Manufacturing Fund, with most of that funding going to Globalstar, it said. The money will be used for enhancements to Globalstar's L- and S-band low earth orbit satellite network and ground stations, it said. Globalstar CEO Jay Monroe said the company used the Apple funding to grow, construct, expand and upgrade its ground stations. Apple said iPhone users can text with emergency services, launch their Find My app and share their location via satellite when no cellular or Wi-Fi connection is available.

The Wireless Infrastructure Association said Wednesday the Department of Labor approved it to offer a broadband technician apprenticeship through WIA's Telecommunications Industry Registered Apprenticeship Program. “WIA can now assist employers in developing high-quality apprenticeship programs for Broadband Technicians,” the group said: “DOL approval of the Broadband Technician occupation expands on WIA’s ability to offer support and guidance for companies to develop quality training programs to recruit and train broadband workers.” The new program will be WIA's 15th registered apprenticeship program.

Southern Co. urged continuing caution as the FCC considers approving automated frequency coordination providers in the 6 GHz band. The agency issued a public notice last week (see 2211030066). Some proposed AFC providers expect required tests to be completed by early next year (see 2211040055). Southern officials met with aides to Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel and Commissioner Geoffrey Starks, said a filing posted Wednesday in docket 18-295. Southern asked the FCC to require broader tests using Wi-Fi 6E systems available at the University of Michigan. “Southern noted the particular value of collecting data on current Wi-Fi operations to the successful development and implementation” of AFC, the company said. Southern “remains very concerned about the potential for harmful interference to licensed 6 GHz systems that support critical electric utility and public safety operations and the potential consequences of any disruptions in public safety communications or in utilities’ ability to monitor and control the electric grid,” the filing said: “Southern appreciates the urgency of making additional unlicensed spectrum available for use but urged the Commission not to rush and to take the time needed to ensure the effectiveness of AFC in supporting unlicensed use and protecting incumbent operations in the band.” The Wi-Fi Alliance in a call with an aide to Rosenworcel urged action. The FCC should finalize “procedures for obtaining certification for 6 GHz standard power devices” and issue “as soon as possible, the further Public Notices contemplated by the AFC Conditional Approval Public Notice that will provide additional details on AFC testing protocols,” the alliance said.

ClearSky Technologies is working with the Competitive Carriers Association to offer application-to-person (A2P) messaging services to association members, CCA said Tuesday. A2P messaging includes short and long codes, and multimedia messaging “has become a part of everyday life for consumers,” CCA said: “A2P messaging includes two-factor authentication, one-time passwords, shipment updates, banking information, social media engagement, political advertising and more.” ClearSky “has been a long-standing member of CCA” and will “bring this necessary messaging component to all carriers,” said CCA President Steve Berry.

Reports T-Mobile is seeking partners for a fiber joint venture aren’t new or surprising, but doing so likely makes long-term strategic sense for the carrier, New Street’s Jonathan Chaplin told investors Tuesday. Reports suggest T-Mobile could invest up to $4 billion in the venture, he said. Last year, T-Mobile quietly launched a “very limited” fiber internet pilot in New York City to supplement fixed wireless coverage (see 2108110056), covering buildings in Manhattan. “We have argued for some time that in the long-run T-Mobile (and others) will need a terrestrial network,” Chaplin said. “First, the product market for fixed and mobile is converging. T-Mobile is accelerating the convergence with the tremendous success they have had with FWB [fixed wireless broadband]. FWB is capacity limited, and so they will need terrestrial broadband offering at some point,” he said. “Second, the industry will burn through spectrum below 6 GHz over the next 5-10 years and will need to start using millimeter wave spectrum. Deploying this spectrum without a terrestrial network will be extremely costly, leaving T-Mobile at a disadvantage to carriers with a terrestrial network.”

Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts granted Dish Network designated entities Northstar Wireless and SNR Wireless until Dec. 16 to file a cert petition, per a notation Monday in SCOTUS docket 22A401. Northstar counsel Paul Clement of Clement & Murphy requested the extension to better familiarize himself with the case. Northstar and SNR are challenging the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit's upholding the FCC's denial of AWS-3 auction bidding credits for the DEs (see 2206210065). "It is difficult to imagine a regime less consistent with due process or basic principles of administrative law," said Clement in the filing. "Yet the D.C. Circuit saw nothing wrong with the FCC’s behavior, or with the fact that Northstar is now on the hook for nine-figure penalties for failing to comply with amorphous standards that have survived scrutiny thus far only because the agency has always worked with applicants to cure any shortcomings between the applicants’ front-end guess of what the agency wants and the agency’s back-end, totality-of-the-circumstance determination."

Former FCC Chairman Ajit Pai said getting the U.S. on track on 5G required a willingness to rock the boat and overcome inertia. In an interview posted Monday with American Enterprise Institute's Shane Tews, Pai also defended his regime’s work opening the C band despite airline industry opposition. “It’s always easier for the chairman or chairwoman not to rock the boat, not to push a certain spectrum band because another agency or company will get upset,” Pai said. “I told my team from day one, I was determined to spend every last ounce of my political capital. I was going to make sure that the U.S. had a leading position in spectrum policy and wireless infrastructure,” he said. “We broke a lot of eggs -- no doubt about it.” Because of the FCC’s “boat-rocking, you have 5G deployed widely across the United States,” Pai said: “Phones are coming out that are 5G enabled. New services are coming out. New business models are emerging on the basis of 5G.” Pai joked that in the face of all the problems air travelers faced, the FAA decided to zero in on 5G, noting radar altimeters, the source of safety concerns, operate 200 MHz away from the C band. As the FCC explored opening the band, it invited input from NTIA. “We invited the FAA and the airline industry to also tell us if they think there’s going to be interference with these altimeters. We asked them to let us know, but they never did.” The FCC “addressed the issues, pressed onward, and held the auction,” he said: “If you want to beat China and all these other countries on 5G, then you’ve got to put the building blocks -- including spectrum -- in place.” Pai expressed some skepticism of the current federal spending programs on infrastructure. “The good side is that the amount of money that’s being allocated through these various programs you mentioned is substantial,” he said. “In my current role as an investor, it’s fundamentally changed the unit economics for serving some of these rural areas where otherwise you would never have a business case for building broadband.” Among the problems is trying to coordinate multiple federal programs among different federal programs, he said: “Let’s say the U.S. Department of Agriculture awarded a grant to some company to deploy in a particular area. Well, what if they haven’t deployed? What if they’ll never deploy? Should the Department of Commerce then come in and fund somebody else to do it? Making all these kids play in the sandbox, so to speak, is exceptionally complex.”