NTCA explained in a meeting with aides to FCC Chairman Ajit Pai its proposed alternative rules for the Mobility Fund Phase II challenge process. In April, NTCA made its initial proposal, saying other processes wouldn’t work as well (see 1704270011). NTCA’s proposed process “would be data driven and consistent with the underlying requirement that ties the analysis of competition to specific geographic areas, and thus produce the most accurate results,” said a Friday filing in docket 10-90. “It is also timely and efficient since the Commission would have the information necessary to make a determination within 90 days of its publication of a MF II ineligibility/eligibility list based on the 477 data.”

Only 10 percent of U.S. consumers with smart home devices use a personal assistant device or app to control their smart home, said a Parks Associates report Thursday. With the infrastructure for the consumer IoT in place for networked products that connect to the cloud, “companies now need to identify and deploy the best strategies and innovations to engage consumers in the IoT,” said Parks analyst Brad Russell. Additional findings, said Parks: Between 40 and 50 percent of consumers are willing to share data if presented with a variety of nonmonetary incentives and roughly 1.5 million consumers subscribe to a Wi-Fi-first mobile service.

The Rural Wireless Association asked the FCC to reconsider a June order by the Wireless Bureau granting a waiver to the Alaska Wireless Network of both the interim and final geographic coverage requirements for a single license. The 700 MHz A Block license serves the Anchorage market. The FCC should ask at least two questions about the license, RWA said in an application for review filed Thursday in docket 16-402. “What would be the impact on the public if the waiver were not granted?" RWA said, and “would enforcement of the buildout requirements make it more likely or less likely that service will be made available to the more than 90 percent of the license territory that will remain unserved at the end of the license term? While the Bureau gives lip service to the criteria used to grant rule waivers, there is no factual or analytical support for the Bureau’s assertions that a waiver is needed to expand service to rural areas or that enforcement of the Commission’s buildout policy would delay service to rural areas.”

The Enterprise Wireless Alliance supported Bristol-Myers Squibb application to operate an industrial-business communications system using airport terminal use (ATU) frequencies in New Jersey and Connecticut (see 1705170065). But communications in this spectrum “must be interference-free to ensure the safety of those operations,” EWA said in comments filed in DA 17-479. But EWA said it’s “confident that ATU communications will not be compromised by the Bristol-Myers Squibb Company’s proposed use, which is limited to defined plant facilities and would be secondary to any ATU operations in the area in which waiver relief is required.”

Microsoft urged the FCC to not allow an expanded class of wireless mic users to block unlicensed use in the TV white spaces. The proposal is part of the draft order on reconsideration and Further NPRM before commissioners for a vote at next week’s FCC meeting, Microsoft said. The company met with aides to all three commissioners, it said in a filing in docket 14-166. “Licensed wireless microphone users now have access to almost 160 MHz of additional spectrum that the Commission made available less than two years ago -- more than the entire new 84 MHz of spectrum for LTE in the 600 MHz band and the necessary 18 MHz of White Spaces channels combined,” Microsoft said. “These new frequencies can accommodate expanded classes of wireless microphone licensees without the need to displace wider consumer broadband access by the public in the White Spaces.” Mic companies disagreed. “In a last-ditch effort to obtain more white space spectrum for its unique purposes, after failing to achieve that during earlier proceedings, Microsoft incorrectly portrays wireless microphone technologies as antiquated and professional wireless microphone users -- entities that include the Ford’s Theater and the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra -- as untrustworthy,” emailed Joe Ciaudelli, director-spectrum affairs for mic-maker Sennheiser. “Microsoft completely misunderstands wireless microphone technology and the Commission’s licensing processes.” CP Communications, which sells mics and related equipment, fired back in a filing at the FCC Wednesday. “Microsoft attempts to paint a picture whereby the Commission is opening up new spectrum that will fully accommodate the needs of wireless microphone users of all sizes, but it neglects to mention how much television spectrum that is now used and relied on by wireless microphones is being taken away by reallocation of Channels 38-51 away from TV broadcasting,” the company said.

CTIA officials met with Erin McGrath, aide to Commissioner Mike O’Rielly, and staff at the Wireless and Wireline bureaus on proposed changes to infrastructure siting rules. “CTIA highlighted the importance of modernized siting policies at the federal, state, and local levels and their key role helping to ensure the U.S.’s 5G leadership,” said a filing in docket 17-79. “CTIA stressed that timely action across all levels of government will be essential to building out the nation’s next-generation wireless networks. ... CTIA urged the Commission to update its policies to reflect the limited size and impact of small wireless facilities used in 4G LTE and 5G networks.” New Wireless Bureau Chief Donald Stockdale was among the FCC officials at the meetings.

Regional carriers ATN and Blue Wireless said the FCC should have a Mobility Fund Phase II auction as soon as possible, in a meeting with aides to Chairman Ajit Pai. “The phase-down of legacy support has been paused since June 30, 2014, and the legacy system is distributing over $48 million per month in support that ‘does not efficiently serve the nation,’” the companies said in a filing in docket 10-208. “That funding is not going to expand service to unserved areas that desperately need mobile broadband for public safety and economic development.” FCC commissioners approved an MF-II order at their Feb. 23 meeting (see 1702230042), which projects an MF-II auction next year.

The FCC's ultra-wideband (UWB) regulations adopted in 2002 remain necessary for preventing interference to GPS, and shouldn't be touched as part of a Regulatory Flexibility Act review of rules adopted between 2001 and 2004 (see 1612280030), the GPS Innovation Alliance (GPSIA) said in a docket 16-251 filing posted Monday. GPSIA said the UWB proceeding, while controversial, "appropriately balanced" UWB and incumbent service interests, plus those of federal and nonfederal spectrum users and domestic and international technical considerations. Electronics manufacturer Robert Bosch in comments in May had pushed for the FCC to revisit its UWB technical rules "in order to allow new, useful, innovative and spectrum-efficient UWB products to be brought to the United States marketplace," saying one of the biggest problems is that all UWB devices need waivers in order to get grants of equipment authorization, causing delays, legal and engineering expenses, and uncertain outcomes. Bosch also suggested a variety of changes to eliminate what it called "regulation by waiver," including adding definitions of UWB minimum bandwidth and broadening the definitions of "imaging system" and surveillance system to permit additional UWB applications. GPSIA said Bosch's push for a broad revisiting of UWB rules is outside the narrower scope of the FCC proceeding and called Bosch's suggested changes "ill-advised, incomplete and unsupported." Bosch didn't comment.

Verizon said Friday its LTE network carried for the first time a live over-the-air LTE Category M1 voice-over-LTE call, “laying the foundation for the next generation of IoT connectivity.” By proving Cat M1 VoLTE technology “works on a production network, Verizon, along with Ericsson and Qualcomm … demonstrated that the reach of Cat M1 can extend across Verizon's U.S. LTE network, fostering growth opportunities for IoT companies and developers, whether they are focused on data-only or voice-enabled products,” Verizon said in a news release. Cat M1 offers improved efficiency, extended coverage and better security than previously available technology, the carrier said. “Cat M1 is designed for devices that require extended battery life, which enables a variety of applications from water meters to wearables to asset trackers and consumer electronics. This technology also allows signals to better penetrate walls and floors to reach devices located in remote locations.”

CTIA’s 9-1-1 Location Technologies Test Bed invited vendors of location accuracy technologies to participate in a new round of testing. “Stages 1 and 2 of the Test Bed focused on verifying the indoor performance of existing or commercially available 9-1-1 location technologies,” the group said in a Friday news release. “The new round, Stage 2a, will enable wireless industry and public safety community stakeholders to evaluate how new and evolving technologies can continue to enhance the capabilities of our nation’s 9-1-1 system.” Stage 2a testing is to start in the San Francisco and Atlanta areas later this year. The FCC approved an order in January 2015 requiring carriers to improve their performance in identifying the location of wireless calls to 911 (see 1501290066).