The FCC Wireless Bureau granted 22 additional tribal applications in 10 states for licenses to use the 2.5 GHz band. The tribal window to apply for licenses closed Sept. 2 with more than 400 applications (see 2009030012). “Far too many Tribal communities are on the wrong side of the digital divide, and this Rural Tribal Priority Window is making a real difference in helping to bring digital opportunity to these communities,” said FCC Chairman Ajit Pai Wednesday.
Shure told the FCC it still supports a Sennheiser petition from two years ago seeking an NPRM on innovation and development of new wireless microphone technologies such as wireless multichannel audio systems (WMAS) technology (see 1812280053). “Proposed rules should be carefully structured to encourage material improvements in spectrum efficiency but sufficiently flexible and scalable to promote broad WMAS use,” Shure said in a filing posted Wednesday in RM-11821. Shure also recommended specific rule language. WMAS should be permitted in “all frequencies available to Part 74 microphones,” it said.
The FAA “missed the opportunity to adopt a flexible, technology-neutral approach” as it sought comment on remote ID rules for drones (see 2010070059), said the Small UAV Coalition. “Instead, the FAA is imposing a requirement only to use broadcast technology, which runs counter to an industry synonymous with innovation and progress,” the group said Monday in a news release. “The FAA itself acknowledges the limits of the rule, including that progress on establishing an unmanned traffic management system.” The FAA’s final rule on operating small unmanned aircraft systems over people “rightly authorizes operations at night, subject to equipage and training requirements,” but the risk methodology in the final rule “remains unduly restrictive,” the coalition said.
U.S. railroads have installed positive train control (PTC) technology on all 57,536 required freight and passenger route miles, the Federal Railroad Administration said Tuesday. Congress had set a Thursday deadline. Railroads report “interoperability has been achieved between each applicable host and tenant railroad that operates on PTC-governed main lines,” the agency said. “Achieving 100 percent PTC implementation is a tremendous accomplishment and reflects the Department’s top priorities -- safety, innovation, and infrastructure,” said Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao.
The FCC Enforcement Bureau issued citations Tuesday against Grainger, Pryme Radio and Speco Technologies for allegedly marketing unauthorized RF devices. Each was warned that they face “significant fines up to $20,489 per day for each unauthorized model marketed, as well as other sanctions” if they don’t comply. The companies didn't comment.
Vista Outdoor agreed to pay $55,000 and implement a compliance plan for marketing wireless hunting decoys under the Primos Hunting brand without the required FCC equipment authorization, the Enforcement Bureau said Monday. A “routine audit” by a telecommunication certification body last year noted the noncompliant decoy, the bureau said. Vista identified other models the FCC hadn't cleared and recalled all the decoys.
CTIA warned the FCC that assessing application processing fees on a "per-call sign basis" could result in fees “disproportionate to the Commission’s processing costs and may lead to unfair or inappropriate results in many cases.” CTIA representatives spoke with aides to all the commissioners except Nathan Simington, said a filing posted Thursday in docket 20-270. “The cost of processing a rule waiver request in an application does not significantly vary based on the number of call signs included in the application, and a per-application fee would be more appropriate,” CTIA said.
CEO Ganesh Pattabiraman and others from NextNav spoke with FCC Commissioner Nathan Simington and an aide to Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel on the company’s “continued progress” in building a vertical location network. “NextNav’s infrastructure has already been constructed and is active in 90 of the 105 cellular market areas that NextNav identified for its initial buildout effort,” said a filing posted Wednesday in docket 07-114.
Some 4.1 billion people, more than half the global population, will have access to 5G technology by 2025, said Bankr Tuesday. About 15% now have 5G coverage, rising to 25%, or 1.95 billion people, next year, it said. 5G’s peak download speeds of 20 Gbps can handle a wide range of IoT applications in healthcare, energy, education and transportation, Bankr noted. Coverage is being driven by select regions in Asia, the U.S. and Europe, while other regions are still building out 5G infrastructure. Asia leads in 5G after undergoing a "rapid migration" in mobile broadband networks and smartphones, Bankr said.
The FCC Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau granted UScellular a retroactive extension of a previous waiver for traditional text technology (TTY) accessibility support requirements. "We find good cause to grant US Cellular a retroactive extension of its TTY-support waiver through October 26, 2020, the date of US Cellular’s 'consumer launch' of its [real-time text] service," the Wednesday order said: "Its petition and reply comments demonstrate that US Cellular faced major, unexpected difficulties that prevented the timely completion of its deployment of an RTT solution in its network."