Ericsson urged FCC approval of a Samsung waiver for a 5G base station radio that works across citizens broadband radio service and C-band spectrum (see [Ref:2309130041). Approval would mean radios using less energy with a “much smaller cell site footprint, thereby facilitating faster zoning review and easier siting,” Ericsson said in a filing posted Wednesday in docket 23-93. Ericsson noted it has filed a similar waiver request.
Axon sought waivers of FCC rules for a small surveillance drone, a surveillance robot and a camera that can either be fixed or pole-mounted, that use the 5725-5850 MHz band. All three would be sold strictly to law enforcement agencies, the company said. Axon hopes to use higher power levels than allowed under FCC rules. The devices also slightly exceed the out-of-band emission limits at the band's upper and lower edges, Axon added. “None of the three devices will begin to transmit video signals in the 5725-5850 MHz band absent an affirmative command by the user,” Axon said: “The command-and-control link is maintained using an FCC-approved 900 MHz handheld controller that complies with Part 15 of Commission’s rules and, therefore, is not addressed further in this request.” The undocketed filing was posted Wednesday.
Rural Wireless Association and NTCA representatives jointly met with FCC Wireline Bureau staff on problems small carriers face in the agency’s Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Reimbursement Program. The Competitive Carriers Association recently raised similar concerns (see 2312040015). Locking "the entire application when a modification request is filed has significantly delayed program participants’ ability to efficiently complete the replacement, removal, and disposal process and timely pay their respective vendors,” said a filing posted Tuesday in docket 18-89. When the fund administrator issues requests for information “for very small discrepancies in dollar amounts (less than $1), it is creating hundreds, if not thousands of dollars in costs for the program participants who must then consult with their respective vendors, consultants and/or attorneys to respond appropriately,” they said.
CTIA raised concerns about the FCC's draft robotexting order during a series of meetings with commissioner aides. The order is set for a vote Dec. 13. “CTIA expressed significant concern that key aspects of the Draft Second Robotext Order reflect an effort to import solutions from the robocall playbook which, while developed to meet the needs of voice services, are ill-suited and unnecessary to address robotexts,” said a filing posted Tuesday in docket 02-278: “CTIA explained that the problems, policy landscape, and available tools are different -- as are the solutions.” The outreach was consistent with the group's past comments (see 2309200067). “Unlike in the robocalls context, where clear guidance and direction from the FCC was necessary to clarify voice service providers’ authority to block illegal robocalls and now requires that they do so, wireless providers and their messaging partners do not need such direction because text messaging is an information service and wireless providers leverage that flexibility to the benefit of consumers,” CTIA said. CTIA representatives met with aides to Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel and Commissioners Brendan Carr and Geoffrey Starks.
The citizens broadband radio service is in its early days, but in 20 years or so it will be as mature as Wi-Fi is today, with a similar ecosystem, Jim Jacobellis, senior vice president at private network company Alef, said Monday during a Dense Networks webinar. “You’re going to see CBRS networks in most any city or county that has some level of communications capability,” he said. That will happen in the next five-10 years. "It’s just a matter of when and how they get there," Jacobellis said. The question is where both Wi-Fi and cellular are “not good enough,” he said: “That’s where private LTE and private cellular can come in and save the day thanks to the recent availability of the CBRS band.” In the U.S., CBRS is “the innovation band,” said Jamaal Smith, vice president-sales at managed-service provider Kajeet. “It allows municipalities, universities, to do things that they might not have been able to do with traditional cellular or with Wi-Fi,” he said. Added Eric Toenjes, national market manager-wireless solution at Graybar, CBRS is “in the early stages of adoption,” though some players “are going all in.” Graybar is a distributor of communications and other solutions. Some users are working with companies like Kajeet while others are developing networks on their own, he said.
The Small Business Administration’s Office of Advocacy warned against provisions in FCC draft robotexting rules, set for a Dec. 13 commissioner vote, clamping down on the lead generator loophole (see 2311220047). “The FCC’s proposal to require sellers to obtain consent to call or text from one consumer at a time could increase costs significantly for small businesses that both buy and sell sales leads,” said a filing Friday in docket 21-402. “Many small businesses, such as the small credit unions and small insurance companies that Advocacy has spoken with, rely on purchasing sales leads from lead generators as their primary marketing method,” the agency said: “These businesses lack the advantages of larger firms that can afford targeted advertising but offer important competitive alternatives that benefit consumers.” But public interest and consumer groups in a series of meetings at the FCC applauded the restrictions, said a filing posted Monday. “Final adoption of the proposed language on prior express written consent will accomplish just what the Commission expects,” the groups said: “It will ‘prohibit abuse of consumer consent by’ lead generator websites and most importantly will radically reduce the number of unwanted telemarketing calls and texts.” The groups noted that the restrictions will protect the wireless phones used by small businesses as well as individual consumers. Groups on the filing were the National Consumer Law Center, Consumer Action, the Consumer Federation of America, the Electronic Privacy Information Center, NASUCA, Public Knowledge and the U.S. Public Interest Research Group.
Competitive Carriers Association representatives met with FCC Wireline Bureau staff on delays small carriers face in receiving reimbursement through the FCC’s Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Reimbursement Program (see 2311160063). CCA members noted that “circumstances, technology, and pricing have changed since their original Reimbursement Program applications were filed,” said a filing Friday in docket 18-89: “Programmatic delays are causing significant financial and business hardships. Participants are being forced to refrain from scheduling more project work pending reimbursements, diverting resources from other projects while waiting for reimbursements, withholding or staggering modification requests in an inefficient way to allow some reimbursements to be completed, and incurring significant non-reimbursable financing costs while waiting for reimbursements.”
The FCC received only three comments as of Friday in response to its August notice asking about spectrum access in tribal and native Hawaiian areas. Comments were due Thursday in docket 23-265 (see 2308040039). During a recent webinar, FCC officials expressed hope for comments that would help in other proceedings (see 2311160057). The United South and Eastern Tribes Sovereignty Protection Fund (USET) urged the FCC to create a tribal window, similar to that before the 2.5 GHz auction (see 2009030012), for other bands. “Since the late 1990s, the federal government has attempted to subsidize telecommunications deployment in Indian Country, but these efforts have not kept pace with ever-changing and advancing technologies, especially in the areas of spectrum management and use,” USET said. USET cited the $22.4 billion 3.45 GHz auction as an example of the challenges tribes face: “The extremely high price point for obtaining spectrum licenses creates an insurmountable barrier to entry for Tribal Nations, especially since federal funds or credit offsets are non-existent or do not adequately provide the financial support required to participate in these auctions.” The Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe said tribes need spectrum in areas where local providers have failed to offer service. “This failure is largely due to the lack of a rate of investment as tribal lands generally are less populated and have large numbers of low-income households steering local internet service providers away from tribal communities,” the tribe said. Make the renewal process easier for tribes through “an automatic renewal process for received/granted FCC licenses,” the Makah Indian Tribe said. “Tribes have historically faced a high employee turnover rate that has caused issues in license renewals in which the granted FCC license has lapsed due to the current process guidelines,” the tribe said.
LendingTree slammed provisions in a draft robotexting order set for an FCC commissioner vote Dec. 13 (see 2311220047). The draft proposes “a so-called ‘One-to-One Consent’ requirement that makes online comparison shopping more difficult, threatening the benefits that consumers receive from the sites,” said a filing posted Friday in docket 21-402: “The Commission does so without citing to any of the evidence LendingTree submitted in comments and replies in this proceeding. And, although the Public Draft acknowledges that comparison shopping sites ‘benefit consumers,’ it does not even cite to the record evidence demonstrating the substantial monetary benefits to consumers, let alone acknowledge that its ‘One-to-One Consent’ requirement threatens those very benefits.”
The Rural Wireless Association discussed concerns about supplemental coverage from space rules in meetings with the FCC Wireless and Space bureaus, said a filing posted Friday in docket 23-65. RWA discussed “members’ concern that some of the proposed SCS operations could create harmful interference with their licensed terrestrial operations,” the filing said: “While RWA admits that there are a multitude of public benefits that SCS could provide, there is a widespread lack of clarity on how the different proposed SCS operations will impact existing terrestrial operations. … Further education on how this technology would coexist with existing terrestrial operations is necessary before the future of our 5G rural networks is put at stake.”