Midland Radio asked the FCC to launch an NPRM on allowing general mobile radio service devices to operate “with improved range, reliability, and safety for end users.” Midland said a July order (see 2307240048) granting the company a waiver directed it to file the petition “so that the waivers granted to Midland will be available to all GMRS users through amendments to the Commission’s rules.”
Cadence Design Systems said Wednesday it’s buying Intrinsix, a provider of design engineering solutions focused on the U.S. aerospace and defense industry, from CEVA. “The purchase will bring Cadence a highly skilled engineering team that has expertise in advanced nodes, radio frequency, mixed-signal and security algorithms,” said a news release. Terms weren’t announced.
Total by Verizon, the carrier’s new prepaid wireless brand, is having rapid growth and will hit 50 locations in Greater Los Angeles by the end of the month, Verizon said Wednesday. “Total by Verizon celebrates one year since it first launched to consumers, bringing no-contract wireless on the Verizon network to value-conscious consumers,” Verizon said. The brand “has launched in more than 50,000 national retail locations and has opened hundreds of Total by Verizon exclusive stores throughout the country, with hundreds more planned for the remainder of the year," the company said.
Samsung Electronics America, which met earlier this month with FCC staff on the company’s request for waiver for a 5G base station radio that works across citizens broadband radio service and C-band spectrum (see [Ref:2309130041), provided additional information to the FCC requested by the Wireless Bureau. Samsung redacted all the data from the filing, posted Wednesday in docket 23-93, and sought confidential treatment. “The information in the presentation is proprietary commercial and trade secret information that Samsung does not in the normal course of business reveal to the public or its competitors,” the filing said.
The FCC told spectrum access system administrators Tuesday they're now permitted to allow longer citizens broadband radio service device (CBSD) reauthorization periods than those previously permitted under FCC rules for some operations. The directions follow a letter to the FCC from NTIA. Previously, all devices had to be reauthorized at least once every five minutes to ensure compliance with FCC rules. “We agree that extending this reauthorization period from 300 seconds to 24 hours in geographic areas and portions of the spectrum band that are outside of the scope of current federal operations will help to provide a more stable and predictable spectrum environment for Citizens Broadband Radio Service users while ensuring an interference-free environment for critical federal operations,” NTIA said in the Monday letter to the chiefs of the Wireless Bureau and Office of Engineering and Technology. NTIA said it’s comfortable with the longer periods for devices outside of dynamic protection areas (DPAs) and for devices using the 3.65-3.7 GHz part of the band. The shorter time frame continues for devices using 3.55-3.65 GHz inside DPAs. The CBRS rules were designed to protect primarily naval radars that use the band. The FCC adopted the changes. “We agree with NTIA that allowing SAS administrators to modify their implementation of the CBSD reauthorization period under these circumstances will create a more stable, predictable spectrum environment for all 3.5 GHz band users without jeopardizing the protection of critical federal operations from harmful interference,” the FCC said.
Private network provider Betacom and UScellular announced a partnership Tuesday that they say will offer “the industry’s first private/public hybrid 5G networks.” The offering “provides security and control over business data, both on-premises and while roaming among company facilities” and allows businesses “with multiple sites across numerous locations to maintain connectivity between locations,” the companies said.
RS Access CEO Noah Campbell met with aides to the four FCC commissioners on the agency’s Further NPRM on the lower 12 GHz band, said a filing posted Tuesday in docket 20-442. The company is among those urging a rule change allowing use of the multichannel video and data distribution service band for fixed-wireless (see 2309110061). The company “advocated for modernized rules in the MVDDS Band, including high-powered, fixed point-to-multipoint services,” the filing said: “We further discussed RS Access’s support for voluntarily relinquishing up to 100 MHz of MVDDS spectrum on Tribal lands to provide capacity for high-powered, fixed two-way services for Tribes and Tribally affiliated organizations.”
NCTA urged the FCC to refrain from imposing wireless emergency alert requirements on mobile virtual network operators. “Absent ownership or control of the underlying mobile wireless networks that support the transmission of WEA messages MVNOs lack the ability to provide information about the WEA capabilities of those networks,” said a filing Friday in docket 15-91. “Requiring MVNOs to elect whether to participate in WEA or to otherwise disclose the WEA capabilities of the networks on which they offer mobile wireless service on a resale basis would therefore create the false impression for consumers that MVNOs have access to such information from network owners and/or control over networks owners’ participation in WEA,” NCTA said: Any requirement to submit information about the WEA capabilities of MVNOs would also “create a redundant regulatory burden with no public interest benefit.”
The FCC mandated a May 1 compliance date for all carriers, regardless of size, for new mandatory disaster response initiative (MDRI) requirements approved by commissioners last year (see 2207060070). The order responds to an October petition by CTIA and the Competitive Carriers Association (see 2211010056) and was posted in Monday’s Daily Digest. The two groups got broad industry support for their petition (see 2301110036). The order contemplated deadlines of March 30 for larger carriers, June 30 for smaller. In imposing a single deadline, the FCC resolves “Petitioners’ request to amend or clarify the definitions of ‘small’ or ‘non-small’ providers utilized by the Report and Order,” the FCC said. “We also decline to shift the obligations from providers to the Commission to publish and maintain a list of providers subject to the MDRI, and further decline to implement direct, individual contact by the Commission to providers when the MDRI is activated, relying instead on the routine public notices that the Commission may otherwise release.” But in a win for the groups, the FCC said roaming-under-disaster arrangements by providers will be treated as confidential when filed. In imposing a single deadline the agency extends “reasonable relief to providers, while preserving the benefits of the underlying rules for consumers relying on Petitioners’ networks for connectivity and emergency communications access during disasters in advance of the 2024 hurricane and wildfire seasons,” the order said.
Extreme Networks got support from some groups and other Wi-Fi advocates for its petition for a waiver of FCC rules for low-power indoor devices for 6 GHz access points (APs), to be installed exclusively in indoor-only sports venues. The company wants to protect the APs with a waterproof enclosure “to protect the devices from beverage spills and during venue washing,” said a July waiver request (see 2308010074). The Utilities Technology Council, the Edison Electric Institute, the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association, APCO and the Enterprise Wireless Alliance opposed the waiver (see 2309080045). “Extreme Networks has clearly demonstrated ‘good cause’ and that the public interest will be served by waiving what we believe is the least important of the multiple form factor requirements that govern the authorization of low-power, indoor-only access points,” Public Knowledge and the Open Technology Institute at New America said in a filing posted Monday in docket 23-282. “The waiver is necessary for sports fans to benefit from the full capacity, low latency and higher quality that next generation Wi-Fi 7 makes possible, as well as for lower costs, greater spectrum efficiency, and more competition in the market for indoor venue connectivity solutions. Extreme Networks’ proposal also eliminates the risk that granting the waiver would result in its devices being used outdoors,” the public interest groups said. The Commission was clear that the prohibition on weatherized indoor access point devices is a means to an end -- ensuring that devices remain indoors -- not an end itself,” the Wi-Fi Alliance said. “This limited waiver is necessary to avoid frustrating the enormous public interest benefits that access to next generation Wi-Fi 7 across the full 1,200 MHz of the band can bring to the fan experience at indoor arenas,” the Dynamic Spectrum Alliance said. “Without a waiver, venue operators would have to limit deployment of Indoor Access Points to areas where spills are unlikely, severely diminishing coverage when data demands are increasing,” NCTA said: “Extreme has shown that special circumstances exist that warrant a deviation from the general rule, as the Extreme Waiver Request clearly delineates the measures it will take to ensure that the Sports Venue Indoor Access Points will operate indoors without causing risk of harmful interference.” Cisco Systems has “partnerships” with numerous sports venue customers where it has also deployed its Wi-Fi networking equipment, the company said. “Permitting the certification and sale of 6 GHz-capable low-power indoor access points using a waterproof enclosure, subject to the conditions outlined in Extreme’s waiver request, will serve the public interest by expanding the availability of 6 GHz Wi-Fi connectivity and encouraging development of the 6 GHz ecosystem, while protecting against harmful interference to incumbent operations,” Cisco said.