Comments are due Jan. 31 on Technological Advisory Council spectrum policy recommendations to the FCC in recent years, replies Feb. 15, the Office of Engineering and Technology said in a public notice in Monday's Daily Digest. Those recommendations from white papers include wider adoption of risk-informed interference assessment and statistical service rules and adoption of a variety of spectrum management principles.

The FCC extending the time frame for compliance with wireless emergency alert rules requiring participating commercial mobile services provide clickable embedded references in WEA messages from 12 months to 30 took effect Monday, said that day's Federal Register. It said the extension doesn't apply to AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile, Sprint and U.S. Cellular. It said the extension was in response to CTIA (see 1708170017) seeking reconsideration and Competitive Carrier Association similarly seeking more time (see 1708160063), which CCA didn't get for geo-targeting.

Fitbit and Xiaomi tied for first in worldwide wearables shipments with 3.6 million in Q3 but with very different trajectories, a Thursday IDC report showed. Fitbit’s shipment numbers were a 33 percent falloff from the year-ago quarter, while Xiaomi’s shipments slipped 3.3 percent, said IDC. Fitbit’s “notable decrease” in shipment volume came as the company launched its first smartwatch, the Ionic, which IDC called a “decidedly fitness-oriented device" that reflects the company's "rich fitness heritage.” The research firm said early Ionic responses and reviews have been “encouraging,” as Fitbit posted its fourth consecutive quarter of year-over-year decline. Third-place Apple’s watch shipments, meanwhile, jumped 52 percent, reflecting a trend away from basic trackers and toward smart wearables capable of running third-party apps, it said. Basic wearables from Fitbit, Xiaomi and Huawei launched the category, but consumer tastes and demands have transitioned to multipurpose devices putting vendors at a “crossroads,” said analyst Ramon Llamas.

The National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America filed a petition for reconsideration with the FCC over recent agency rule changes for RF device imports. The FCC's rule removed Form 740 filing requirements for RF device imports but retained compliance requirements and said customs brokers can be a "responsible party" for import compliance. "We urge the FCC to reconsider the rule to ensure that the responsible party is a person positioned to know important details about the product and its supply chain," the NCBFAA said. The NCBFAA previously noted its objections during the rulemaking process, but the FCC went forward with the regulations, including language seen by the association as onerous. "To the extent customs brokers are included in this rule, the responsibilities assigned to brokers should be reasonably proportionate to their function in the supply chain," the NCBFAA said.

The FCC sought input on Technological Advisory Council spectrum policy recommendations made through its chairman and white papers. Comments are due Jan. 31 and replies Feb. 15, said an Office of Engineering and Technology public notice Friday in docket 17-340. "Over the past several years, the TAC’s Spectrum and Receiver Performance Working Group has developed recommendations to address the increasing challenges of efficient and fair allocation of spectrum in congested RF environments, and in particular, the challenges of finding a balance between the rights and responsibilities of transmitters and receivers," the PN said. "More recently, the TAC has recommended that the Commission adopt a policy statement, setting forth spectrum management guidance and principles."

Some rules in an FCC 800 MHz cellular service order from March take effect Friday (the others already took effect), said a Wireless Bureau public notice Thursday in docket 12-40, noting the rules received Office of Management and Budget approval under the Paperwork Reduction Act. "Most notably," the PN said, as of Friday, licensees "may test and deploy Cellular facilities using a power spectral density (PSD) model, giving them substantially enhanced flexibility and efficiency in their system designs to offer consumers more advanced wireless services." They no longer will need to file a notification for a "cell site's permanent discontinuance, nor a minor modification application for coverage reduction in the licensee’s Cellular Geographic Service Area." AT&T and Verizon can begin testing PSD facilities in cooperation with local public safety agencies, which they voluntarily committed to do in order to address possible cellular interference with public safety systems, the PN said. The order was unanimously adopted March 24 (see 1703230062).

The FCC Public Safety Bureau granted waivers to Alaska and King County, Washington, in orders released Thursday. The Alaska order waived Section 90.20(c)(3) to operate a new VHF base station on four channels using nonstandard channel centers. The state said it needs the waiver to improve coverage of its land mobile radio system. For King County, the bureau waived 90.613 and 90.623(a) to operate on 11 800 MHz frequencies for mobile-only, on-scene, mutual aid communications in the conventional mode. The county said it plans to use the channels for public safety communications in underground and indoor locations where service from its 800 MHz trunked radio system isn’t adequate.

Verizon's 5G wireless residential broadband plans raised questions among analysts after top executives met them Wednesday, though there's some early optimism about a potentially sizeable market. The company isn't commenting. "Until they admit to the capex and opex costs associated with a serious deployment," New Street's Jonathan Chaplin wrote investors the night of the gathering, referring to capital and operating expenditures, "the market should be skeptical." The start (see 1711290045) of the 5G services in up to five markets next year and its forecast of a potential 30 million-household market left some attendees scratching their heads. "They left us with more questions than answers," Chaplin said. "Discussion on technology was thin. They seem to be making bold assumptions ... that seem very optimistic." To MoffettNathanson's Craig Moffett, "the way all this plays out is so murky as to be unforecastable." Many questions along the lines of whether the carrier targets more areas that are outside its wireline footprint and beyond its initial market of Sacramento, California, "are likely unanswerable," he wrote Thursday. The "meeting increased our conviction there is indeed a network plan -- which we believe has many more chapters," said Wells Fargo's Jennifer Fritzsche. Technical rollout in 5G trial markets appeared to exceed the telco's expectations, with 800 Mbps average when a site was 2,000 feet away, the analyst wrote in a note titled, "Yes, There Is A Plan! And It Is A Multi-Use Case (In Revenue & Costs)." Raymond James' Frank Louthan sees a potential "$5+ billion new high-margin revenue stream." Much fiber will be needed, analysts said. "Verizon will still need a lot more, which will be a combination of building themselves and leasing," Louthan wrote.

Don't make Mobility Fund II challenges overly challenging, small and competitive carriers said in replies Thursday in docket 10-90. The FCC should “be mindful of the burdens placed on challenging parties, particularly rural and regional providers” and “wary of requirements that could be cost-prohibitive and constrain already-limited resources,” the Competitive Carriers Association said. CCA said parts of the U.S., especially those likely to have unreliable mobile broadband, “are subject to extreme weather conditions and rugged terrain, and the FCC should be cognizant of the ripple effects caused by data collection in these areas.” U.S. Cellular said that “the challenge process should balance the need for coverage data accuracy against the burdens imposed on interested parties, particularly smaller rural carriers.” Certain proposals on speed testing by challengers, the challenge process timeline and use of grid cells and buffers could burden challengers, it said. Verizon replied the FCC should reject proposals “that would weaken the standards for a successful challenge, delay the start of the challenge process, or impose additional burdens on respondents.” The agency should "require challengers to report information about the server used for speed testing; clarify that respondents may submit technical data without using the proposed templates; and require challengers to conduct all speed tests using devices that are not subject to reduced speed under the terms of the challenger’s service plan,” the carrier said.

Worldwide Amazon app orders Cyber Monday increased more than 50 percent year on year, tracking with mobile trends (see 1711280055), it said Wednesday of the top shopping day (see 1711280061) at the retailer.