The FCC’s 2013 consumer signal booster rules are working as intended, improving customer coverage while protecting networks from harmful interference, Verizon said in comments filed at the FCC. There's no need for the FCC to change the rules now, Verizon said. Verizon filed its comments in response to a Feb. 29 public notice by the FCC Wireless Bureau asking about the state of play for boosters. “Under the rules adopted by the Commission, safe and effective consumer signal boosters are being manufactured, certified, and used by consumers on wireless networks,” Verizon said. Verizon has more than 10,000 registered consumer signal booster users on its network “and that number has more than doubled in the last year,” the carrier said. “Any customers that want to purchase a consumer signal booster to enhance coverage in rural or other areas may now choose from multiple booster models designed to work on their service provider’s network.” The comments were posted Wednesday in docket 10-4.

Refinements to system design and diversified applications and power ratings are driving the development of the wireless charging receiver market that’s forecast to pass 1 billion unit shipments by 2020, an IHS report said Tuesday. Integrated receivers went mainstream in 2015, as the wireless charging receiver market grew more than 160 percent last year to 144 million units, IHS said.​ The mobile phone market makes up most of wireless charging receiver shipments, led by Samsung Galaxy smartphones that come equipped with dual-mode Qi and PMA (Power Matters Alliance)-certified low-frequency charging, IHS said. It estimated 10 percent of smartphones shipped this year will be wireless charging-capable. The wearables category is the second-largest segment for wireless charging, led by Apple Watch and Samsung Gear S2, it said. The first high-frequency magnetic resonant receivers are expected to launch in laptop computers this year, spreading adoption of wireless charging to more device types, IHS said.

There's a "need for mission-critical networks to be physically diverse and independently powerable to ensure ongoing operations in the event of natural or man-made disruptions to a portion of the network,” said representatives of FiberTower in a series of bureau-level meetings at the FCC on concerns about the resiliency and security of 5G networks deployed using high-frequency spectrum, according to a filing in docket 14-177. “FiberTower also discussed the measures that can be taken to ensure that 5G communications are physically secure." High-band spectrum is seen by the FCC and carriers as a key part of 5G deployment (see 1603100012). FiberTower said "exclusive licensing” prohibiting use of certain frequencies by anyone other than the licensee and “unique device configurations that preclude access to the communications by devices outside the network” can help make networks more secure. Encryption is also important, the company said.

The FCC should refrain from adopting volume control regulations for wireless handsets, as it tackles revised hearing aid compatibility (HAC) rules, CTIA said in reply comments filed in docket 07-250. Volume controls regulations are “unnecessary in light of modern wireless handset capabilities and regulatory requirements,” the group said. “Volume control regulations would duplicate existing wireless handset capabilities and requirements.” CTIA also said it supports an FCC proposal to adopt a “streamlined process” enabling the industry to “utilize the latest ANSI [American National Standards Institute] standards for wireless handsets.” The commission should not adopt “additional consumer consultation requirements in the process to approve the use of specific standards,” CTIA said. “The Commission should also permit the wireless industry to use updated HAC standards adopted by ANSI-approved bodies prior to the Commission’s formal approval of those standards.” The Telecommunications Industry Association told the FCC it should drop a proposal to require standards development organizations to consult with consumers. “In the NPRM, the Commission acknowledged that the ANSI process meets its specified criteria of openness to all stakeholders and opportunity for comment and appeal before final standards are approved,” TIA said in reply comments. “This point is further supported by the majority of commenters that highlight ANSI processes and discuss the ways consumers have participated in HAC standards development, to date.” TIA also opposed the volume control proposal. The mandate would be “duplicative of existing features without providing enhanced consumer experience,” TIA said.

Google, as expected, filed at the FCC a report on new testing data on the FCC’s proposed vacant channel rule (see 1603250019). “The record demonstrates widespread support for the Commission’s vacant channel proposal as an important measure to advance broadband deployment, support innovation, and spur economic growth,” Google said in the filing posted Monday in docket 15-146.

NTIA is seeking applicants for a two-year term on the Commerce Spectrum Management Advisory Committee. “In particular, NTIA seeks applicants with strong technical and engineering knowledge and experience, familiarity with commercial or private wireless technologies and associated businesses, or expertise with specific applications of wireless technologies,” said a notice, to be published in the Federal Register Tuesday. Applications are due at NTIA May 13. The term starts in August.

The FCC Wireless Bureau approved AT&T’s buy of a single lower 700 MHz C-block license covering one local market area in Alabama from Farmers Telecommunications. The transaction received enhanced scrutiny because it gives AT&T more than one-third of low-band spectrum available in the market, the bureau said Monday. “After carefully evaluating the likely competitive effects of AT&T’s increased aggregation of below-1-GHz spectrum, we find that the ability of rival service providers to offer a competitive response to any anticompetitive behavior on the part of AT&T is unlikely to be materially lessened in Alabama 2 -- Jackson,” the order said. “Further, we find that the record provides general support for the Applicants’ claims of potential public interest benefits.”

FCC Commissioner Ajit Pai unveiled the agenda and panelists for the April 6 field hearing in Columbia, South Carolina, on inmates’ use of contraband cellphones. The event is to be hosted by South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley (R). It will be live streamed starting at 2 p.m. EDT. The “testimony will shed additional light on the public safety threats posed by inmates’ use of contraband cellphones, as well as the steps we can take to help law enforcement combat this problem,” Pai said in a Monday news release. Among the witnesses is Robert Johnson, a retired captain with the South Carolina Department of Corrections, who was shot six times in a hit ordered by an inmate using a contraband cellphone. Representatives of CTIA and vendors CellAntenna and CellBlox are also scheduled to testify.

The FCC Wireless Bureau scheduled its annual educational workshop on the environmental compliance and historic preservation review process for May 4, the bureau said Friday in a public notice. “This year’s workshop will include information relevant to the construction of all new communications towers and to the collocation of communications equipment on towers and other structures.” The session starts at 9 a.m. at FCC HQ.

The FCC Wireless Bureau and NATOA said Friday they plan a workshop May 3 on the deployment of distributed antenna systems and small cells. More details are to come. The workshop will offer a technical/engineering and business overview, city case studies and information on current deployment and uses, the bureau and NATOA said in a notice. The workshop starts at 9 a.m. at FCC HQ.