T-Mobile turned on the first part of its 600 MHz LTE network, using spectrum acquired in the TV incentive auction, it said Wednesday in a news release. The initial deployment is in Cheyenne, Wyoming, and uses Nokia equipment, T-Mobile said. “Starting in rural America and other markets where the spectrum is clear of broadcasting today, T-Mobile plans to deploy the new super-spectrum at record-shattering pace -- compressing what would normally be a two-year process from auction to consumer availability into a short six months.” The carrier said it plans to deploy service in the spectrum in Wyoming, northwest Oregon, West Texas, southwest Kansas, the Oklahoma panhandle, western North Dakota, Maine, coastal North Carolina, central Pennsylvania, central Virginia and eastern Washington. It expects to make handsets available for the holiday buying season with 600 MHz chips that can use the new band, a spokesman said. The carrier was the high bidder in the auction, winning 1,525 licenses for $8 billion (see 1704130056).

The Competitive Carriers Association asked the FCC to extend the deadline on new requirements for wireless emergency alerts by at least a year. The FCC approved revised rules and sought comment on future changes in September (see 1609290060). The order increases the maximum length of WEA messages from 90 to 360 characters for 4G LTE and future networks and requires participating wireless providers to support inclusion of embedded phone numbers and URLs in all WEA alerts. CCA asked that the deadline be extended from Nov. 1 this year to May 1, 2019. As an alternative, the CCA said in a footnote to the petition in docket 15-91, it's seeking a 12-month extension. “Many of CCA’s members, especially those serving rural and remote areas, are still transitioning from 2G and 3G networks to newer technologies,” CCA said. “Applicable standards for new WEA requirements are still under development … and the record demonstrates that compliance with certain requirements cannot be achieved until these standards are defined and publicly available.”

PDVWireless executives said Wednesday they're hopeful the FCC, under Chairman Ajit Pai, will act on their long-stalled request for a private enterprise broadband allocation in the 900 MHz band. PDV and the Enterprise Wireless Alliance asked the FCC to launch an NPRM on the plan in 2014. In 2015, the FCC sought comment on the petition and several critical infrastructure industry commenters raised concerns (see 1506300047). On Aug. 4, the agency released a notice of inquiry seeking comment on ways to increase access to spectrum and improve flexibility and efficiency of the 900 MHz band (see 1708070043). PDV is the largest incumbent in the 900 MHz band. Other proposals to convert spectrum to wireless broadband have stalled at the FCC, but the agency has a new focus under Pai, said PDV Vice Chairman Morgan O’Brien in an interview. The current commission is “very much attuned to moving things along rapidly and assisting in the introduction of new technology,” he said. In the years since the petition was filed, “there is much greater appreciation in industry of what the benefits of broadband are and the economics of broadband,” he said. “The FCC always is attuned to where is the technology going … and it’s going broadband.” PDV is preparing comments to file on the NOI, and beefing up staff, O’Brien said. Originally, the 900 MHz spectrum was part of Nextel’s spectrum portfolio, then sold to PDV in 2014, he said. O’Brien was the founder of Nextel, which later combined with Sprint. Nextel bought the spectrum over a 15-year period, he said: “It’s really sort of the afterlife of auctioned spectrum in a new technology environment.” The FCC didn't comment. PDV is proposing that the 10 MHz channel it owns be reallocated into a 3x3 MHz and 2x2 MHz channel, CEO John Pescatore said. Other incumbents can be re-tuned to avoid interference, he said. “We can literally use the same systems that are out there and retune those radios.” PDV said Wednesday it hired utility industry veteran Kevin Malloy (see 1708150022).

The FCC released a small entity compliance guide Tuesday explaining its December order on a common standard for the transition from text technology to real-time text (see 1612150048). “RTT messages are immediately conveyed to and received by recipients as the messages are composed, as compared to all other text-based messaging services, which require parties to press a key to transmit messages,” the guide said. “RTT allows text to be sent at the same time as voice communications, permitting a more conversation-friendly service. In addition, by not requiring users to hit ‘send,’ 911 call center personnel will be able to receive incomplete messages from people who are in danger.”

The Lifeline Connects Coalition (LCC) asked for reconsideration of an "alarming decision" by the Universal Service Administrative Co. "to reverse course and not provide a service provider application programming interface (API)" to an FCC-mandated national eligibility verifier for the low-income USF support program. The commission and USAC planned the API "so that applicants can seamlessly enroll in Lifeline and access the National Verifier for an eligibility determination," said an LCC filing posted Tuesday in FCC docket 11-42 on a meeting with Wireline Bureau staffers. Providing a service provider API is required by a 2016 Lifeline overhaul order, and "was decided early in the process and included in the Final National Verifier Plan, will reduce opportunities for waste, fraud and abuse and will make the National Verifier more efficient and cost-effective," the group said. The LCC also addressed "subscriber proof of eligibility" migration timing issues, its reconsideration petition on upcoming minimum service standards increases, and a recent GAO call to make Lifeline enforcement and processing improvements (see 1708150023). TracFone Wireless met with Chairman Ajit Pai to discuss Lifeline matters, including its advocacy of commission-adopted "reforms to prevent waste, fraud and abuse." The provider cited its recommendations for further actions, including to prohibit in-person handset distribution and incentive-based compensation for third-party agents. It also discussed implementation of the national verifier, concerns about minimum broadband standards and its various businesses, said a filing Monday. An attached presentation said the company has 25 million U.S. customers and is the largest U.S. prepaid no-contract provider.

Apple representatives said they were called in by officials from the FCC Public Safety Bureau to discuss proposed updates to rules for wireless emergency alerts. “iPhones do not support device-based geo-targeting for WEA messages," so the commission should "carefully assess the feasibility of this approach,” said a filing in docket 15-91. “Using device-based geo-targeting would likely significantly increase the latency of users seeing WEA messages.” Apple expressed concerns about any requirement devices translate alerts into other languages. Apple’s operating system “does not include an on-device functionality that automatically translates WEA messages,” the company said. Meanwhile, public safety and emergency management officials from Texas raised an alarm on a December CTIA petition asking the agency to rethink some of the emergency alert system rules approved last year. Granting the relief “would do great harm by setting back the extraordinary progress that was made this past fall,” the Texas officials warned.

The next generation of Wi-Fi, 802.11ax, is coming. Broadcom announced Tuesday the launch of Max WiFi. The chips are “designed to kick-start an ecosystem of Wi-Fi routers, residential gateways, enterprise access points, and client devices that deliver next generation Wi-Fi,” said the chipmaker. “Reliance on Wi-Fi has increased tremendously as we stream live experiences over social media and upload pictures and files to the cloud while also connecting the many ‘things’ around our home,” said Greg Fischer, senior vice president-broadband carrier access. “Max WiFi, based on 802.11ax, is designed from the bottom up to address these evolving consumer needs. With the launch of the Max WiFi ecosystem, Broadcom has yet again pioneered the generational transition of Wi-Fi.”

Arizona Public Service Co. told the FCC there was broad support for most parts of its request for waiver to access 800 MHz channels for a new statewide trunked radio system (see 1708010070). The FCC has in place a licensing freeze along the Mexican border amid the 800 MHz transition. In initial comments in docket 17-168, there was no opposition to lifting the rebanding freeze on channels it seeks to use, the utility said. “Most noteworthy are the comments regarding and the overarching support, albeit in some cases indirect, of APSC’s immediate access to the Expansion Band Channels,” APSC said. “No caution need be exercised in granting [APSC’s] request for fear of disadvantaging future public safety waiver applicants,” the Enterprise Wireless Association said. “EWA again urges the FCC to proceed promptly in granting the waiver relief requested by the Company.” The Government Wireless Technology & Communications Association (GWTCA) said the FCC should lift the freeze in National Public Safety Planning Advisory Committee (NPSPAC) regions where the rebanding is complete. “At this time, approximately sixteen regions remain unreleased,” the group said in a filing in docket 02-55. “While GWTCA understands that those regions bordering Mexico are not yet ripe for release, GWTCA urges the Commission to release new 800 MHz NPSPAC frequencies in all of the other remaining areas where it appears that rebanding has been completed.”

The Supreme Court should rule that cell-site location information (CSLI) is fully protected by the Fourth Amendment, said technology companies, the Electronic Frontier Foundation and other civil society and attorneys groups in separate amicus filings in Carpenter v. U.S. They were among several amicus briefs filed Monday. The high court in June agreed to hear the case that could decide whether law enforcement agencies will be required to get a warrant to obtain historical cellphone location data of individuals (see 1706050006). Airbnb, Apple, Cisco, Dropbox, Evernote, Facebook, Alphabet's Google and Nest Labs, Microsoft, Mozilla, Snap, Twitter and Verizon and its subsidiary Oath said CSLI reveals a "wealth of detail about people's personal lives" and they should "reasonably expect to retain significant privacy." The coalition said firms may use and share such data to create or improve services. EFF's coalition said law enforcement is finding CSLI "increasingly useful" because they can "not only place suspects at specific crime scenes, but can also reconstruct almost anyone's movements for many months in the past." Both filings said the third-party doctrine, which says a user can't have a reasonable expectation of privacy when information is voluntarily given to a third party, is outdated. EFF described it as "ill-suited in the digital age" after a 6th U.S. Court of Appeals ruling last year that said CSLI isn't protected because it's a business record held by third-party providers. The coalition said just because data may have been "traditionally classified as 'non-content'" it shouldn't bar Fourth Amendment protection and courts, instead, should focus on the sensitivity of the data. The American Civil Liberties Union listed other filings from organizations including the Center for Democracy & Technology, Electronic Privacy Information Center with 36 tech and legal experts, and the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press and 19 media groups.

Competitive Carriers Association representatives stressed in a meeting with FCC staffers the importance of interoperability in the national public safety broadband network (NPSBN) being built by FirstNet and AT&T and possibly other providers in some states. "Ensure that the state opt-out review process is realistic and attainable, and that the NPSBN design facilitates interoperability to ensure first responders and consumers are connected throughout the nation,” CCA recommended in docket 16-269. “FirstNet is meant to be the antidote to public safety officials and first responders getting locked into an incompatible system or locked out of access to devices.” CCA said there are signs of trouble: AT&T is certifying devices for use on the FirstNet network that “will not interoperate with other 700 MHz Band licensees’ networks.” AT&T and FirstNet didn't comment.