Longtime regulatory lawyer and founder of Harris Wiltshire Scott Harris joined NTIA Monday as senior spectrum advisor, the agency confirmed. Harris was also the first chief of the FCC International Bureau and chaired the FCC’s World Radiocommunication Conference Advisory Committee before the 2015 conference. He was seen at one time as a front-runner to head the agency (see 2105120065). “We are thrilled for this opportunity for Scott and for our national spectrum policy,” said John Nakahata, Harris Wiltshire chairman: “He is an imaginative leader, with deep experience in spectrum use and sharing, and the skills needed to bring all stakeholders together.”

FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel welcomed the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit’s decision upholding the agency’s 2020 5.9 GHz order (see 2208120035). “In the more than two decades since the FCC allocated the 5.9 GHz band to support automobile safety, autonomous and connected vehicles have largely moved beyond dedicated, short-range communications technologies to newer, market-driven alternatives,” Rosenworcel said Friday: The decision "recognizes that by allowing this spectrum to evolve we can advance newer safety technologies and grow our wireless economy.” Michael Calabrese, director of the Wireless Future Program at New America, noted the court reached a similar decision on the 6 GHz band. “Unsurprisingly, the D.C. Circuit reinforced its similar decision last December that the FCC has wide discretion to authorize unlicensed sharing of underutilized spectrum or even, in this case, to reallocate a portion of a lightly-used band to provide more bandwidth for next generation Wi-Fi,” Calabrese emailed: “Since Chairwoman Rosenworcel was a driving force behind the FCC’s unanimous 5-0 votes to authorize unlicensed use of both the 5.9 and 6 GHz bands, consumer advocates expect she will now move quickly to complete both proceedings and maintain the U.S. position as the global leader in Wi-Fi technologies.”

FCC information collection requirements for TV white space database rules, approved by commissioners 5-0 in 2019 (see 1903200059), are effective Friday, said a notice for that day’s Federal Register.

The Rural Wireless Association asked the FCC to request equipment manufacturers share their signal-to-interference-and-noise ratio (SINR) information with smaller carriers, allowing them to comply with the agency’s broadband data collection requirements. Some equipment makers have to disclose the SINR information but say it’s “highly confidential, even after executing Nondisclosure Agreements with the carriers and/or their engineering consultants,” RWA said, in a filing posted Thursday in docket 19-195: “At the same time, these equipment manufacturers have apparently disclosed this SINR information to the larger carriers.” RWA also noted some of its members have Huawei and ZTE gear in their networks and are unable to get the information from the two Chinese companies, which are exiting the U.S. market. RWA members also have concerns with the broadband service location fabric data, the group said. “According to filers, there [are] a lot of missing locations due to outdated and inaccurate addresses.”

The FCC Wireless Bureau approved Amtrak’s application to offer positive train control on a line from Poughkeepsie to Schenectady, New York, using automated maritime telecommunications system spectrum, subject to protection for broadcasters. Amtrak has operated the 13 base stations since 2018 under a grant of special temporary authority and now has permanent authority, the bureau said Thursday.

Comments are due Sept. 12, replies Oct. 11, on waiver requests by the Transportation departments in Florida and Georgia and the Maryland State Highway Administration to operate roadside units using cellular vehicle-to-everything technology in the upper 30 MHz of the 5.9 GHz band, said a notice for Friday’s Federal Register. An earlier waiver request by C-V2X proponents got general support when the commission took comments this summer (see 2207290032). The University of Michigan and the Hawaii Department of Transportation also asked for waivers, both posted Thursday in docket 19-138.

Nex-Tech Wireless told the FCC it will soon be able to offer real-time text (RTT) to its customers. The provider “expects to complete implementation of RTT to 911 within the next 30-60 days based upon the latest information provided to Nex-Tech Wireless by its RTT vendor,” said a filing posted Wednesday in docket 16-145. The company is one of a group of smaller carriers that struggled to implement RTT (see 2012220031).

The C-band relocation payment clearinghouse has an Aug. 22 deadline for responding to a Mongoose Works appeal of clearinghouse decision, said an FCC Wireless Bureau public notice Wednesday. Mongoose's reply deadline is Aug. 29, it said.

The National Spectrum Management Association urged the FCC to incorporate Universal Licensing System data into the national broadband map. “Maps outlining existing, licensed and proposed fixed wireless deployments provide highly detailed information about planned and deployed systems that are broadband capable for backhaul and last mile,” said a filing posted Wednesday in docket 11-10: “NSMA suggests harnessing this data for the nation’s broadband map, including by allowing coordinators and licensees to submit it into the broadband mapping system.”

The National Science Foundation asked for protection for various radioastronomy sites if the FCC approves a waiver request by ContiTech to use radars in 76-81 GHz spectrum for mining, milling and tunneling operations. Comments were due on the waiver request Monday in docket 22-260 (see 2207080050). NSF asked that the company be prohibited from using the bands, “unless coordinated,” within 25 kilometers of 10 National Radio Astronomy Observatory very long baseline array sites and within 150 km of six observatories. NTIA submitted the comments to the FCC.