The FCC Office of Engineering and Technology extended through March 31 a waiver of the push notification requirements for TV white spaces devices. The waiver dates to a 2015 order updating Part 15 rules (see 1508060025). Several parties filed petitions for reconsideration on the push notification requirements, OET said Wednesday. “Given the complexity of the issues, ... there was good cause to grant a waiver of the requirements" and the waiver will remain in effect for 180 days or until the Commission takes final action on the petitions for reconsideration, OET said: “Because the petitions for reconsideration remain under active consideration, the reasons supporting the original waiver remain valid and a further time extension is warranted. This action is being taken without prejudice relative to the merits of these petitions.”

The FCC should act on the changes sought by CTIA and the Wireless Infrastructure Association to wireless siting rules (see 1909130062), Seth Cooper, Free State Foundation director-policy studies, blogged Wednesday. “Despite the requirements set forth in Section 6409(a) [of the Spectrum Act of 2012] and in the FCC's rules, some local governments have tried to put up resistance to even minor modifications of existing cell sites,” Cooper said: “According to wireless infrastructure providers, some local governments have used what amount to bureaucratic delay tactics. ... The effect of those tactics is the obstruction of non-substantial modifications to existing towers and base stations without formal denials that would trigger rights and remedies for wireless infrastructure providers under federal law.”

NCTA asked the FCC to act on examining rules for the 5.9 GHz band and sharing with unlicensed. “In recent letters, supporters of Intelligent Transportation Systems urge the Commission to block access to the 5.9 GHz band for all other uses, and instead, to double down on a failed technology-specific approach to spectrum policy,” NCTA said Wednesday in docket 13-49: “This is nothing more than a renewed attempt to delay FCC action and preserve an unwarranted and underutilized government subsidy.” The Association of Global Automakers, meanwhile, reported on a meeting with aides to Commissioners Mike O’Rielly, Brendan Carr and Jessica Rosenworcel urging an NPRM that emphasizes continuing deploying “life-saving” vehicle-to-everything (V2X) services. “The representatives emphasized the importance of modernizing the 5.9 GHz as a flexible-use band to support increased innovation; prioritizing deployment of 2 million V2X radios within five years; and expediting deployment of a number of V2X radios equivalent to 75 percent of new light vehicles sold in the U.S. within ten years,” the group said in a filing posted Tuesday. Representatives of the International Association of Fire Chiefs, the International Association of Chiefs of Police, the National Sheriffs’ Association and National Association of State EMS Officials told the FCC the band should be reserved “exclusively for transportation safety.” The groups, in a meeting with Public Safety Bureau staff, “highlighted the life-saving potential of transportation communication systems to both the public and members of the emergency services.”

The FCC cleared a wireless emergency alert (WEA) test next month in San Francisco. In a Tuesday order in docket 15-91, the Public Safety Bureau granted a waiver of WEA rules to permit commercial mobile service providers to participate in an end-to-end WEA test by the San Francisco Department of Emergency Management Oct. 17 between 5:15 and 5:45 p.m. PDT, with a backup test possible Oct. 24 between 3 and 3:30 p.m. PDT. “In light of San Francisco’s assessment regarding the potential for a 6.7 magnitude or higher earthquake to occur at any time, and the opportunity to promote earthquake safety and preparedness in connection with the anniversary of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake and the annual statewide ShakeOut exercise, we find good cause to permit San Francisco to test the feasibility of using WEA to warn the public of such destructive events,” the bureau said. The bureau conditioned the waiver on appropriate public outreach.

FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr appears to have big concerns on the T-Mobile/Sprint deal, which involves the sale of assets to Dish Network, New Street’s Blair Levin said in a note to investors. Levin noted nine ex parte filings have been posted on T-Mobile/Sprint meetings with staff for Carr, since Chairman Ajit Pai circulated an order approving the deal. It's possible Carr's seeking a new condition, Levin said in the weekend note to investors. Carr may also be trying to “fix the item related to DISH,” he wrote. Another possibility is Carr's “seeking to fix the item to protect the reputation of the FCC who supported the merger in May while helping the companies at trial,” Levin said: “We think the fundamental problem is that the FCC majority verbally approved a deal that the DOJ and states representing a majority of the population have characterized as illegal under the Clayton Act. In that light, the FCC order has to thread the needle of justifying the views of the majority while also helping the companies at trial.” Carr didn’t comment. Levin reported Tuesday on a call with Constantine Cannon's Matthew Cantor, “one of the few lawyers who has ever tried an antitrust case before Judge Victor Marrero … who will preside over and decide the states’ challenge” to T-Mobile/Sprint. “The Judge has little experience with antitrust cases and the prior case was a jury case, which presents a different situation,” Cantor said. Marrero's also “unlikely to be active in driving a settlement” or “to be active in directing testimony,” Cantor indicated. Marrero, of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, is also “unlikely to let politics influence his decision,” Cantor said.

Local government groups asked the FCC to delay the comment deadlines on CTIA and Wireless Infrastructure Association petitions seeking further changes to wireless siting rules (see 1909130062). The National Association of Counties, National League of Cities, U.S. Conference of Mayors and NATOA asked for more time Tuesday in docket 19-250. Initial comments are now due Oct. 15, replies Oct. 30. The groups asked for new deadlines of Nov. 14 for initial comments, Dec. 16 for replies. “The noticed comment schedule does not provide enough time to address the number and complexity of issues raised in the Petitions and effectively precludes local agencies from participating -- including those named and unnamed communities alleged to be ‘bad actors’ by the industry,” the groups said.

Automotive tech supplier Aptiv and Hyundai agreed to form a 50/50 joint venture valued at $4 billion to speed the design, development and commercialization of autonomous vehicles, said the companies Monday. The JV will begin testing “fully driverless” systems next year, and commercialize vehicles with Levels 4 and 5 autonomy starting in 2022, they said. Targeted markets will include “robotaxi” providers, fleet operators and automotive manufacturers, they said. The transaction is expected to close early in Q2 2020. The JV will be headquartered in Boston under the direction of Aptiv Autonomous Mobility President Karl Iagnemma, they said.

A “common verification methodology” is needed in autonomous-driving development, blogged Strategy Analytics Monday. Current technologies are “barely” meeting the challenge, it said. “Technical model methods provide an effective paradigm for validation since they can provide a mathematical model as a guarantee of correctness,” it said. But that “could be totally different when one is trying to verify a whole autonomous driving platform including sensor fusion, data fusion, sensor calibration and autonomous driving scenario simulation verification,” it said. The announcement from Israeli startup Foretellix opening its “measurable scenario description language” verification protocol to the autonomous-driving “ecosystem” and promoting it as a global standard was a positive step, said SA. The initiatives will help top-tier automakers “use a common, human readable, high level language to simplify the capture, reuse and sharing of scenarios,” it said. It also will enable them to “easily specify any mix of scenarios and operating conditions to identify previously unknown hazardous edge cases,” it said.

Engineering company Robert Bosch asked the FCC for a waiver of part of its rules to allow use of a parking lot occupancy sensor system, which uses the 2.4 GHz band. The available bandwidth under FCC rules for intentional radiator field disturbance sensors is 30 MHz and the system requires 80 MHz, though at low power levels, Bosch said. Sensors in each parking space communicate with a gateway, Bosch said, with an app directing drivers “to the nearest open and available parking spaces as they approach the parking lot.”

The FCC Office of Engineering and Technology Monday approved a waiver sought by Sensible Medical Innovations for a system that uses ultra-wideband medical imaging to obtain lung fluid measurements for congestive heart failure patients in a noninvasive way (see 1802090040). OET said the company addressed concerns raised by the GPS Innovation Alliance, which opposed a waiver (see 1803130030). The system “promises to deliver strong public interest benefits,” OET said in docket 18-39. “It is designed to provide accurate lung fluid measurements for congestive heart failure patients in a non-invasive way. Sensible has indicated that pulmonary congestion is the most common cause of worsening heart failure leading to patient hospitalization, and that hospital readmissions could be reduced through monitoring and early detection. It describes how accurate monitoring of lung fluid volume can assist in guiding the optimal treatment of patients.”