The FCC Enforcement Bureau proposed a $20,000 fine Monday against Puerto Rico’s Osnet Wireless for allegedly modifying network equipment to operate in restricted parts of the wireless communications service band where a license is required. Reacting to a carrier complaint, FCC investigators found in December that two transmitters operated by Osnet were using 2307-2327 MHz because they hadn’t been properly configured to reflect U.S. restrictions, the bureau said. The company then retuned the devices “so that both operated with a center frequency of 2457 MHz with a bandwidth of 20 MHz, which is permitted for unlicensed operations.” The bureau found Osnet "has apparently willfully violated section 301 of the [Communications] Act and has also apparently violated sections 15.1(b) and 15.205 of the Commission’s rules” and proposed the fine. The company didn’t comment.

Apple intentionally embedded iOS version 13 last year with a “consuming code” for “its own undisclosed purposes and its own benefit,” causing iPhone users to deplete their monthly data allowances without their knowledge and face “exorbitant” overage fees from their carriers, alleged a complaint (in Pacer) Saturday in U.S. District Court in San Jose that seeks class-action status. “Apple has the ability to correctly identify and account for all mobile data usage by its numerous operating system features,” said the complaint. The iPhone maker instead “tried to hide the massive data usage” by “miscategorizing it in a way that many users would not discern,” it said, in violation of California consumer protection and unfair competition laws. “Apple knew what it was doing, and it tried to keep users from discovering the amount of money Apple was costing them. Apple also deliberately withheld from users the ability to control the costs.” The suit identifies the potential class as all who installed iOS 13 on their iPhones before Apple released version 13.6 in June, eliminating the consuming code. Apple didn’t comment Monday.

The FCC Wireless Bureau approved license modifications that Southern California Regional Rail Authority (SCRRA) needed to implement positive train control. Amtrak, BNSF Railway and Union Pacific Railroad use part of the tracks and will also benefit, said a Friday order. “We have reviewed the License Modification Application, Engineering Report, Interference Mitigation Plan, Waiver Request, and all other filings in the record before us, and we find that the public interest in facilitating rail safety will be served by granting SCRRA permanent authority to operate 17 PTC wireless radio base stations, 546 PTC wireless radio wayside stations, and related PTC wireless radio mobile (locomotive) stations,” the bureau said.

The FCC issued the first 2.5 GHz licenses through the agency’s rural tribal priority application window to tribal entities across the U.S. The Wireless Bureau granted 154 applications allowing use of up to 117.5 MHz of spectrum. The window to apply closed Sept. 2 (see 2007310066). “Few communities face the digital connectivity challenges faced by rural Tribes,” Chairman Ajit Pai said Friday: “By prioritizing Tribal access to this mid-band spectrum, we are ensuring that Tribes can quickly access spectrum to connect their schools, homes, hospitals, and businesses.”

The worldwide trend is to use the 5.9 GHz band for intelligent transportation systems, and allocating 45 MHz in the U.S. for Wi-Fi would make the U.S. an outlier, Continental Automotive Systems said in a call with an aide to FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr. “Brazil has now announced that it is also allocating 75 MHz of spectrum in the 5.9 GHz band for ITS, joining a large number of countries that have allocated substantially more than 30 MHz for ITS in the 5.9 GHz band,” said a filing posted Thursday in docket 19-138.

FCC Chairman Ajit Pai condemned T-Mobile’s June 15 outage as a “failure,” with the carrier not following “several established network reliability best practices that could have either prevented the outage or at least mitigated its impact.” The outage, caused by equipment failure and made worse by misconfigured network routing, lasted more than 12 hours, disrupting calling and texting, including to 911, and data in some areas, the FCC said Thursday, releasing a staff report. The Public Safety Bureau estimated at least 41% of calls failed during the outage, including 23,621 to 911. The bureau plans to release a public notice to remind companies of best practices, and will contact major transport providers to discuss network practices and help smaller providers, the agency said. T-Mobile apologized after the outage (see 2006180064). "Immediately following this incident back in June we took the necessary steps to address the issues that created the service interruption and remain committed to continual improvement," the carrier's spokesperson said Thursday.

CTA opposes any DOD move to launch a nationalized 5G network, the association told the agency. “CTA respectfully urges the Department not to substitute the tried-and-true market-based model that has worked for decades with an untested top-down framework that would place America’s 5G leadership at risk,” said comments this week in response to a controversial DOD request for information (see 2010200055). “CTA’s members and other commercial actors are best situated to invest capital and innovate to meet communications needs, and to ensure that our networks remain secure and resilient. If allowed to do so, they will maintain America’s wireless leadership in the 5G era and beyond.” Institute for Policy Innovation research fellow Bartlett Cleland blogged Thursday that a government network isn’t the key to U.S. leadership on 5G. “DoD seems to be shockingly unaware of the extent of technological innovation and progress in this country and how it came to be,” he said: “The internet, broadband, wireless, online commerce, and innovation in general have made great progress, but not because of government ‘leadership,’ military or otherwise.” FCC Commissioners Brendan Carr and Geoffrey Starks were critical of a DOD-nationalized 5G network during Technology Policy Institute's virtual conference Thursday (see 2010220055). Carr said the idea seems to reflect beliefs several years out of date that the U.S. is falling behind China in 5G. In the past three years, "we have turned things around," he said.

Comments on a Further NPRM clearing the 3.45-3.55 GHz band for 5G are due Nov. 20, replies Dec. 7 in docket 19-348, said Wednesday's Federal Register. FCC commissioners approved the FNPRM 5-0 in September (see 2009300034).

Verizon could be the big winner in the upcoming C-band auction, with bids in the $16 billion range, MoffettNathanson’s Craig Moffett told investors Wednesday: “Who is going to bid against them? AT&T doesn’t have any money. T-Mobile doesn’t need more spectrum (although perhaps they’ll bid anyway).” Moffett said the importance of midband spectrum is increasingly clear. “That’s a big part of why we’ve been so bullish about T-Mobile,” he said. “Their 2.5 GHz spectrum gives them a huge head start. But the stars may be aligning for Verizon to at least be a close second.”

Crown Castle urged the FCC to approve the draft compound expansions order, set for a commissioner vote Tuesday (see 2010060060). “Amending the FCC’s rules to allow streamlined processing under Section 6409(a) of the Spectrum Act for requests that include ground excavation or deployment up to 30 feet outside the existing site boundaries will dramatically speed up the application process for these siting expansions,” said a filing posted Tuesday in docket 19-250. The impact will be felt immediately, the company said. NATOA earlier raised concerns (see 2010200034) with an aide to Commissioner Brendan Carr.