CTIA released updates to messaging principles and best practices, first issued in 2017. “The updates clarify that organizations should obtain opt-in consent before sending text messages,” CTIA said Friday: Americans send 63,000 texts a second. Three percent of texts are considered spam.

The FCC Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau asked for comment by Aug. 17 in RM-11844 on a June filing by Robert Bosch, which said the FCC should launch an "early” and ”comprehensive” review of part 15, subpart F regulations on ultra-wideband devices and systems. The tech maker proposed (see 1906190032) modified rules for UWB operations designed to “facilitate the development and provision of new, innovative UWB products.”

Auto industry officials said it's important to preserve the full 5.9 GHz band for vehicle-to-everything safety services, in meetings with aides to FCC members. Discussion covered “recent buildout activity, including major deployments in New York, Colorado, and Utah,” said a filing posted Friday in docket 13-49. They "discussed the growth of the safety spectrum application ecosystem, including applications like truck platooning; vulnerable roadworker/cyclist/pedestrian protection; vehicle sensor sharing; and leveraging V2X to support higher levels of vehicle autonomy.” Among those represented were the Association of Global Automakers, Intelligent Transportation Society of America, Toyota, Volvo, National Safety Council, Navistar, American Trucking Association and American Highway Users Alliance. Securing America’s Future Energy, concerned about U.S. reliance on foreign oil, urged flexibility. “Connectivity is critical to solve this pressing national security challenge,” the group said: “Increasingly, it is pivotal in the adoption of electric and autonomous vehicle technologies.”

Crown Castle is seeing an uptick in tower leasing as 5G launches, with a 30 percent increase over last year, CEO Jay Brown said Thursday on a Q2 call. "Expansion of the uses of wireless networks will require ubiquitous, low latency, high speed connectivity, which we believe will extend demand for our towers for many years to come.” Brown warned that construction timelines have grown longer -- 18-36 months, compared with prior average of 18-24 months. “Elongated construction timelines” mean Crown Castle will likely deploy about 10,000 small cells in 2019, at the low end of the expected range of 10,000 to 15,000, he said. FCC orders last year helped speed construction only in some markets, he said. Brown said the company won’t be able to deploy all of the fiber needed for 5G: There will be “a number of players in this space, including the wireless carriers, who are going to build significant amounts of fiber and probably share that among themselves.”

The citizens broadband radio service band moved another step closer to opening. NTIA’s Institute for Telecommunication Sciences released final test reports to companies that participated in testing on sharing the 3.5 GHz band. “The completed tests will drive progress toward initial commercial deployments in the band, prized for its excellent mix of capacity and coverage capabilities,” blogged Keith Gremban, director of the Institute for Telecommunication Sciences. “With 4G LTE technology for the band available today, industry has already begun to develop specifications to support 5G deployments.” The FCC plans to use the reports to certify that the spectrum access systems are complying with its rules, Gremban said Friday. Commissioner Mike O’Rielly predicts the band will likely be the first mid-band spectrum to come online for 5G (see 1904300208).

Sprint's Boost Mobile’s new data-only plan has 50 GB for $50 monthly, compatible with any 4G LTE broadband device, said the carrier. It also bowed the $49 Coolpad Surf hot spot, said to support up to 10 Wi-Fi devices. Based on a Qualcomm MDM9207 processor, it has 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi connectivity.

Updated rules for fixed TV white spaces devices, approved by commissioners 5-0 in March (see 1903200059), take effect Aug. 19, says a notice for Friday's Federal Register. The revised rule “requires all fixed white space devices to incorporate a geo-location capability such as GPS and eliminates the option that permitted the geographic coordinates of a fixed device to be determined by a professional installer,” the FCC says: “The Commission also will allow the use of external geo-location sources by a fixed white space device when the device is used at a location where its internal geo-location capability does not function, such as deep inside a building.”

Carrier infrastructure investments as they prepare for a broader 5G rollout are “paying off in clear-cut quality improvement” in phone calls and streaming media and app use, reported J.D. Power Thursday. Verizon ranked highest, achieving the lowest network quality problems per 100 connections in call, messaging and data quality in each U.S. region. T-Mobile tied Verizon in Northeast data quality January-July. Another researcher gave Verizon high marks last week (see 1907150041). Tuesday, IHS Markit reported Verizon “maintained its edge” over competitors at all levels of testing, while all four carriers delivered faster speeds in the first half "with 5G rollouts on the horizon.” Other findings are all four major carriers improved speeds in U.S. metropolitan areas vs. second half 2018. AT&T made “impressive speed gains,” expanding the number of markets -- from six to 36 -- where it delivers median download speeds of at least 40 Mbps. Sprint made speed improvements, reaching median download speeds of 30 Mbps or faster in 34 metro markets, up from 10 in second-half 2018. Verizon’s fastest media download speed was 67.8 Mbps in Dayton, Ohio. Maintaining a robust LTE network will be critical in the 5G era because users won't experience 5G service 100 percent of the time, said IHS, "especially in the early phases of deployments.”

The FCC Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau sought comment Thursday on a petition by Paul Armbruster, a consumer in Phoenix who asserts subscribers should have the right to revoke consent from receiving unwanted text messages under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act. “The FCC record is clear,” Armbruster petitioned: “The ‘common carrier exemption’ is an exemption from the need for cell service providers to obtain prior express consent before sending certain text messages. That exemption does not affect a consumer’s right to ‘revoke consent at any time and through any reasonable means.’” Comments are due Aug. 19, replies Sept. 3 in docket 02-278.

Top officials at major energy associations asked Energy Secretary Rick Perry to hold a public meeting on the 6 GHz band and concerns it will be reallocated for unlicensed use. Last month, utilities brought their complaints to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (see 1907010064). Despite “recognition from DOE, the White House, Department of Defense, and Department of Homeland Security, the FCC is proposing a rule which, if adopted as currently drafted, would likely cause significant reliability concerns along the energy and water infrastructure in the U.S.,” the letter said. “Many of our individual members could be forced to rebuild parts of their infrastructure over a multi-year process because of the risk and uncertainty.” The American Public Power Association, American Water Works Association, Edison Electric Institute, the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association, Nuclear Energy Institute and Utilities Technology Council signed. DOE didn’t comment Thursday.