Backtrack on ending secondary status for amateur operators in the 3.3-3.5 GHz band, since only CTIA filed an opposition to ARRL's November petition for reconsideration (see 2011100049), the amateur group told the FCC. “The Commission did not substantively explain with the requisite ‘rational connection between the facts found and the choice made’ why it chose in this case to clear the spectrum at one fell swoop well before it may be utilized by any new licensee,” said a filing posted Tuesday in docket 19-348.

Localities and NATOA are seeking “reconsideration and rescission” of the FCC’s wireless infrastructure order, approved 3-2 in October (see 2010270043). The order addresses equipment compound expansions as part of collocations, clarifying that an infrastructure modification doesn’t cause a “substantial change” if it entails excavation or deployments up to 30 feet outside macro tower compound boundaries. “No data or analysis is presented that applications falling outside of the prior … rules face significant delays or denial,” said the petition posted Tuesday in docket 19-250. “Nor is there any economic evidence to substantiate that the proposed change will speed deployment,” it said: “In contrast, communities have provided hundreds of pages of exhibits, including economic studies detailing the minor role local government fees and processes play" in "retarding wireless infrastructure deployment.” Boston; Portland, Oregon; Lincoln, Nebraska; Howard County, Maryland; and Clarke County, Nevada, were among signers, as were Michigan and Texas groups.

CEO Ganesh Pattabiraman and others from NextNav spoke with an aide to FCC Commissioner Geoffrey Starks on the company’s “continued progress” in building a vertical location network, said a filing posted Friday in docket 07-114. It was part of a series of calls with FCC officials (see 2012230039).

Dell CEO Michael Dell spoke with FCC Commissioner Nathan Simington about the importance of the 12 GHz band, and open radio access networks in general, for 5G. “Open, interoperable systems would create more opportunities for innovation and allow new entrants into the market than earlier-generation systems,” said a filing posted Friday in RM-11768. Dell “also emphasized the critical need for dependable and resilient communications networks to bridge the digital divide.” FCC Chairman Ajit Pai has circulated a neutral NPRM on the 12 GHz band (see 2012290032).

FirstNet said it had some service problems due to the Dec. 25 bombing in Nashville, which partially destroyed an AT&T central office (see 2012280048). “FirstNet network infrastructure was not directly impacted by the explosion, and service continued operating on temporary battery power in the hours immediately following the event,” said a Friday news release. “Because the bomb destroyed two local water mains, backup power generators were flooded and inoperable, and there was insufficient time to reroute all services before backup batteries were exhausted.” The FirstNet Authority launched “an in-depth review of how the network performed.”

NextNav Holdings sought special temporary authority from the FCC to complete an internal reorganization while its application for the pro forma transfer of control of its wholly owned subsidiary Progeny is pending. Under the reorganization, NextNav Intermediate HoldCo would be created between NextNav and Progeny as NextNav seeks control of 226 licenses in the 900 MHz multilateration location and monitoring service band now held by Progeny, said a filing posted Thursday by the FCC. “Approval of this STA would serve the public interest because it would assist NextNav and Progeny in completing the construction of their highly accurate wireless vertical location network to serve the needs of public safety,” the filing said: “The proposed restructuring would have no adverse effects on the public interest because Progeny’s ultimate controlling parties would not change.”

The FCC Office of Engineering and Technology sought comment Thursday on a Brose North America waiver request for a radar that detects infants and children “inadvertently left in an automobile.” Brose asked to use higher power levels than are allowed for short-range interactive motion sensors operating in the 57-64 GHz band, OET said. Comments are due Feb. 1, replies Feb. 16, in docket 20-434. Comments are due on the same dates, in docket 20-435, for a similar device by IEE Sensing, which also needs to use higher power levels in the 60-64 GHz band.

T-Mobile CEO Mike Sievert blogged Thursday he was surprised by how long the COVID-19 pandemic has changed people’s lives. The crisis has changed how people will work in the future, he predicted. “It was a massive effort at the beginning of the pandemic to transition all our back office to working from home, to move over 12,000 care experts out of our call centers and into their homes in less than a month, to train and equip our sales teams to safely support customers in retail, and to keep our technical teams safe and healthy as they work in the field to continue deploying our mission-critical 5G network,” Sievert said. “We thought it was for a few months,” he said: “We thought wrong. And we weren’t alone.”

The FCC Office of Economics and Analytics found a mobile digital divide and urged further study, in a white paper in Thursday’s Daily Digest. Rural areas tend to be more reliant on non-Wi-Fi mobile technology and get slower connections, the paper said. “Counties with higher minority populations are more likely to use older mobile technologies and experience slower speeds,” it said: “Counties with older populations are more likely to use mobile technologies and are more likely to have slower speeds. Counties with larger households are more likely to use WiFi and also have faster WiFi.”

Allamakee County, Iowa, uses 4.9 GHz for all law enforcement, fire and emergency medical service communications and opposes actions by the FCC that would harm its use of the band, the county said in a filing posted Thursday in docket 07-100. Public safety groups urged the FCC to rethink an order changing how the band is allocated (see 2012300047). “If any of the proposed rulemaking would seek to or have the effect of unduly interfering with Allamakee County’s ability to utilize the 4.9 GHz channel, we would strongly object to the proposal,” the county said: “The number one concern here is being able to continue to operate as we have been with our existing microwaves and licensed frequency.”