The FCC proposed a penalty of $10,000 against Trimont Land Co. for “apparently willfully and repeatedly” operating on channel 156.800 MHz, an international distress, safety and calling channel. The bureau said the channel functions like a maritime 911 channel. Commission action in this area is essential because the improper use of 156.800 MHz hinders the ability of the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) to monitor the channel for distress signals and to respond to vessels in distress, the bureau said. The FCC investigated after the Coast Guard reported an unknown operator was using the channel in the vicinity of Lake Tahoe, Nevada/California, “in a manner that impaired the USCG’s ability to monitor Lake Tahoe for distress signals,” the bureau said. An FCC agent traced the calls to Northstar Ski Resort and Mt. Pluto in California where an employee reported Trimont had installed a supervisory control and data acquisition system on a pump and water tank system at the summit of the mountain, the bureau said. Trimont didn't comment.

T-Mobile is extending and expanding its “summer travel bonus” program giving customers unlimited high-speed data throughout South America and in 19 European countries until 2017, it said Wednesday. The program starts Saturday, it said in a Wednesday news release.

Expanding beyond smartphones, Qualcomm introduced two Snapdragon processors Wednesday: one for embedded applications in markets including set-top boxes and IoT applications and the other for use cases including smart homes, digital media players and surveillance. It's the first time stand-alone Snapdragon processors are available through distributors, making them available to manufacturers "of all sizes for embedded computing and IoT products,” said an announcement.

Retailer demand for indoor-location technologies for use with mobile shopping apps continues to grow strongly with installations set to break 200,000 stores globally by the end of 2016, ABI Research said in a Wednesday report. However, though costs to deploy and manage an indoor-location solution in a store are low, retail has yet to see an app or deployment that exploits the available technology in a way that “captures the imagination of the public at grand scale,” said the research firm. It predicts “a shift away from traditional retail apps and proximity-based advertising will unlock the true capabilities of indoor-location technology in retail,” it said. “Retailers remain trapped between the need for an effective mobile strategy and a failure to drive app adoption,” said the firm, which estimates in-store app usage remains stuck at below 10 percent among the many shoppers with smartphones that enter the store. “App fatigue is a reality for many consumers,” it said. “The last thing they need is a separate, unhelpful app for every store they visit. As a result, some retailers are reconsidering the viability of mobile apps altogether.”

The World Customs Organization (WCO) and the GSM Association agreed to work together to prevent illegal trade in counterfeit mobile devices, the WCO said in a Wednesday news release. "The partnership will focus on the integration of the GSMA’s mobile device database with the WCO’s [Interface Public-Members] mobile platform that will give Customs officers global, real-time product information on devices enabling them to assess the authenticity of device shipments as they cross borders." The GSMA administers the "the world’s authoritative database of registered devices," and the WCO's platform allows customs officers "to verify authenticity of products online," it said.

The Fixed Wireless Communications Coalition (FWCC) supported a request by Mimosa Networks that the FCC add 80, 160 and 320 MHz channels to the 21.2-23.6 GHz band. FWCC said the FCC should go even further and add 100, 150, 200, 300 and 400 MHz channels as well. The group also said it was renewing a “long- standing request” for automated federal coordination and conditional authorization throughout the entire 23 GHz band. That band is critical to wireless backhaul, the FWCC said. Wider channels would “serve the public interest by allowing backhaul operators to handle more capacity and offer faster data rates. ... Allowing wider channels can also result in more efficient spectrum utilization,” FWCC said, quoting language from a 2012 FCC order on the 6 GHz and 11 GHz bands. “The same is true here,” the coalition said. The filing was in docket 10-153.

The FCC approved special temporary authority for Samsung to demo fixed wireless in the 27.525-28.325 GHz band at its Mountain View, California, headquarters. Samsung plans to demonstrate “various wireless systems to various clients,” the company said in its application. “We will be operating at low power over a limited area of operation.” The STA runs six months, from Saturday through April 1. The band is one of those approved for 5G by the FCC in its spectrum frontiers order (see 1607180063).

The FCC Wireless Bureau warned Union Pacific Railroad UP was found in violation of the National Environmental Policy Act and laws. The railroad built and operated a 120-foot tower in West Matoon Creek, Kansas, in a floodplain “without first performing the required environmental and historic preservation review,” the bureau said in the warning letter. The bureau said the railroad also had committed to allowing observers from the Osage Nation to observe construction because of the tribe’s concerns about impacts on tribal resources associated on two major trails: the Missouri River Trail and the Osage Trace. “UP committed to accommodate a monitor to address the Osage Nation’s concerns,” the bureau said. “Despite that commitment, construction proceeded without notice to the Osage Nation,” with no observer present, it said. “Based on our investigation, we find that UP violated the Commission’s regulations implementing NEPA and other environmental statutes … as well as related licensing requirements,” the bureau said. “Future violations may result in additional action, including the imposition of monetary penalties. … Furthermore, UP’s conduct at issue in this letter may provide grounds for an upward adjustment in the amount of a penalty.” The railroad didn't comment Wednesday.

The FCC Public Safety Bureau extended to Dec. 31, 2018, the construction deadline for 77 UHF T-Band licenses for the Los Angeles Regional Interoperable Communications System (LA-RICS). The commission granted the waiver request by Los Angeles County, it said in a letter released Wednesday in DA 16-1099. The FCC agreed the system is a large undertaking and said the extension wouldn’t harm potential new applicants. Enforcing the previous Dec. 21, 2016, deadline “would be inequitable and contrary to the public interest, as cancellation of the County’s licenses would strand investment of tax and federal grant dollars and would squander facilities already under construction,” it said.

A Phoenix Center study made an economic case for why carriers should have available zero-rated service offerings as a tool for reaching some customers. It said the “price-quality variations” of zero-rated programs “are economically sensible, if not necessary, to address the key barriers to adoption without attenuating investment incentives.” Zero-rated programs can address one of the key reasons people don’t subscribe to broadband, the report said. “On the supply side, the lack of access to broadband is mostly a financial issue driven by the high infrastructure costs of network deployment relative to the revenue potential,” the center argued. “On the demand side, research consistently points to the related concepts of awareness and digital literacy as well as affordability.” It cited Facebook’s Free Basics program, which helps people in 45 countries get online for free. “Nonetheless, questions are being asked about the propriety of the basic connectivity offered by such programs,” Phoenix Center said. FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler sent letters to AT&T, Comcast and T-Mobile in December asking about their zero-rated offerings (see 1512170030); a letter to Verizon followed in January after it announced a similar product (see 1601280056).