FCC commissioners voted to exempt 700 MHz low-power vehicular repeater systems from its trunking requirement. The FCC sought comment on making the change in September 2016 (see 1609260068). “Based on the record, we amend Section 90.537 of the rules to exempt 700 MHz VRS systems from the trunking requirement,” said Monday's FCC order. “All commenters that addressed the trunking issue support exempting VRS systems from the trunking rule because doing so would provide public safety with needed flexibility to meet operational needs and because of the technical challenges associated with trunking VRS systems.” Commenters “acknowledge the spectrum efficiency benefits of trunking” but also say that under the VRS system it isn’t technically feasible, the agency said. It requires all 700 MHz narrowband mobile and portable public safety radios, “as supplied to the ultimate user, must be capable of operating on all of the narrowband nationwide interoperability channels without addition of hardware, firmware, or software, and must be interoperable across vendors and operate in conformance with P25 standards.”

Letter of credit (LOC) requirements for carriers bidding in the Mobility Fund II auction could be difficult for small carriers, Rural Wireless Association members said in meetings with FCC staff. The RWA members said they appreciate efforts by the FCC to make the LOCs easier to obtain and the commission’s plan to permit a MF-II recipient to “reduce the value of an LOC to 60 percent of the total support already disbursed plus the amount of support that will be disbursed in the coming year once it has been verified that the MF-II recipient has met the 80 percent service milestone for the area(s) covered by the LOC.” Commissioners are to address tweaks to rules for the fund at their Feb. 22 meeting (see 1802010042). Challenges remain, the association said in docket 10-208. “Despite these changes … RWA and its members remain concerned that obtaining the necessary LOCs will be a burdensome and costly process for small and rural carriers, and will tie up funds for 3-7 years,” RWA said. “These are funds that could be put toward additional wireless broadband deployment.”

The FCC Office of Engineering and Technology sought comment on a waiver request by Sensible Medical Innovations for a system that uses ultra-wideband (UWB) medical imaging to obtain lung fluid measurements for congestive heart failure patients in a noninvasive way. Rules restrict such systems to operations between 3100 MHz and 10,600 MHz, OET said. Sensible said its system "must operate in the range of 1005 MHz to 1709 MHz, because accurate lung fluid detection requires frequencies that can penetrate the body, which it claims is not technologically possible” with the higher frequencies, OET said. The company also sought a waiver of testing procedures and of a requirement that users of UWB imaging devices coordinate deployment with NTIA through the FCC. Comments are due at the FCC March 12, replies March 27, in docket 18-39.

Representatives of the American Hospital Association and its American Society for Healthcare Engineering met with an aide to FCC Chairman Ajit Pai, plus the four other commissioners, on wireless medical telemetry service issues, said a filing in docket 14-165. Topics covered included “the need to ensure WMTS services are able to operate free from interference from TV White Space devices” and the “need and opportunity for new spectrum in the 1.4 GHz band,” the groups said. The groups discussed AHA comments in the rural healthcare proceeding.

Sprint CEO Marcelo Claure and others from the carrier said they met with FCC Chairman Ajit Pai Tuesday on roadblocks to wireless infrastructure and other issues. “Sprint addressed the barriers that face Sprint and the wireless industry in our efforts to deploy 4G and 5G services and that the Commission should quickly address the regulatory obstacles that make the densification of wireless networks so difficult,” said a filing posted Friday in docket 17-79. “Sprint noted the significant costs and delays Sprint faces in deployment of both macro cells and small cells that are essential to providing more coverage and capacity to America’s mobile broadband customers.” On the ongoing 800 MHz rebanding, Claure stressed “the need for continued Commission involvement with its counterparts in Mexico to bring this critical project to conclusion as rapidly as possible.”

The Aerospace Industries Association asked the FCC to act on technical and operational rules for using the 5030-5091 MHz band for unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) controls, in a Friday petition. The FCC reallocated the band for that use last March as part of an order in docket 15-99 implementing changes from the 2012 World Radiocommunication Conference. “Regulators at the FCC and industry users of spectrum should support our recommendations and set forth a firm and empowering regulatory structure that will encourage development of the multitude of benefits that UAS offer and help our industry realize its great potential,” blogged David Silver, AIA vice president-civil aviation. Medium to large UAS offer huge potential for the commercial sector, Silver said. “Spectrum resources that allow the operator both to maintain control of the aircraft and to receive critical flight data -- known as ‘command and control’ (C2) -- are an absolute requirement for non-autonomous UAS to operate safely and efficiently in any airspace.” For UAS to use the band, the FCC must first establish rules, the petition said. Since drones will share the spectrum, the agency should approve a dynamic frequency assignment process “using one or more Frequency Assignment Managers (FAMs) designated by the Commission to ensure efficient spectrum access and reuse of the frequencies across multiple geographic areas,” the petition said. “Many details of the frequency assignment process system should be left to the discretion of the FAM(s) subject to certain basic guidelines and requirements.” The commission didn't comment. Meanwhile, organizers of the PyeongChang Winter Olympic Games deployed a record 1,218 drones during the opening ceremony Friday night Korea time. CTA is reviewing the request, a spokeswoman said Friday.

FCC Commissioner Mignon Clyburn said Chairman Ajit Pai should have followed custom and sought a vote on a Thursday Wireless Bureau order approving transfer of 39 GHz licenses from FiberTower to AT&T. Clyburn also criticized the competitive analysis (see 1802080055). An FCC spokeswoman disagreed. AT&T plans to use the spectrum as part of its 5G deployment. The longstanding custom is for bureaus is to provide items to commissioners 48 hours before scheduled release and hold a vote if any commissioner asks for one, Clyburn said. “I am disappointed that Chairman Pai did not honor my request to have the full Commission vote” on the AT&T/FiberTower order, she said. The bureau’s analysis is “lacking in its current form,” Clyburn said. “Our statutory obligations, under the Communications Act, requires us to do more than simply consider whether AT&T’s 39 GHz holdings, post-transaction, exceed 1850 megahertz of millimeter wave spectrum,” she said. “The Commission should also consider whether AT&T’s substantial holdings in other spectrum bands, including below 1-GHz, together with these 39 GHz licenses from FiberTower, could result in potential public interest harms.” AT&T didn’t comment. "Approval of this transaction was in the public interest because it will expedite the development and deployment of 5G services for the benefit of American consumers,” an FCC spokeswoman said: “It was entirely appropriate” for the bureau “to issue this decision because it was consistent with past precedent, most notably the Verizon-Straight Path transaction that was approved by the bureau just last month. Finally, it is critical to note that Commissioner Clyburn was unable to persuade any other commissioner to support her request." AT&T then closed its FiberTower buy, “giving it millimeter wave spectrum that will be put to work later this year to begin the rollout of mobile 5G services,” AT&T announced Friday. “AT&T paid $207 million to acquire FiberTower and will receive a significant footprint in the 39 GHz band, with average holdings of more than 375 MHz in the top 100 markets.”

Ericsson said Thursday it launched 5G radio access network commercial software based on the recently approved 3rd Generation Partnership Project new radio standard for 5G. “Operators who want to be early with 5G now have the essential pieces for launching 5G networks,” said Fredrik Jejdling, head-business area networks. Ericsson added a category of radio products for cities, saying: “These radios will be on building facades with a smaller footprint but the necessary strength to secure network efficiency and coverage.”

The FCC shouldn’t “lose sight of its primary purpose for conducting the Mobility Fund II challenge process,” to “help bring much-needed mobile broadband services to unserved and underserved areas,” said the Competitive Carriers Association. CCA also filed on the topic in docket 10-208. “Competitive carriers serve many of these rural areas still in need of mobile broadband services, and accurate, reliable data is absolutely essential to properly identify areas eligible for MF II support,” said President Steve Berry. “The challenge process is no doubt an important part of the MF II program, and I encourage the Commission to remain focused on the overarching goal.” Commissioners are to address seven petitions for reconsideration of rules for the fund at their Feb. 22 meeting (see 1802010042).

The National Trust for Historic Preservation has continuing concerns over FCC-proposed program comments on twilight towers approved by commissioners in December, said Elizabeth Merritt, deputy general counsel, in docket 17-79, on meeting with Wireless Bureau staff. The FCC is examining ways the towers could be made available for collocation of wireless facilities without additional historic review (see 1712140049). “The ‘uncertainty’ rationale for the proposed retroactive exemption was especially unpersuasive with respect to towers built between September 9, 2004 and March 7, 2005, because the FCC during that period had already formally adopted the final text of the Nationwide Programmatic Agreement, even though it had not yet become effective, so there was no excuse,” Merritt said. Lack of a reporting mechanism “would make it extremely difficult for the FCC to monitor and ensure compliance with the safeguards outlined in the proposed program comment,” she said.