Samsung will blame faulty batteries for the Galaxy Note7 fiasco that twice forced the company to recall the flagship smartphone and ultimately scrap it (see 1610130044), Reuters reported Sunday, quoting unnamed sources. Samsung is expected to release a comprehensive report about its investigation into the Note7 debacle Monday, the report said. The company is to release its year-end financial results a day later. Samsung Electronics America President Tim Baxter led his company’s CES news conference saying Samsung soon will release a root-cause report on the Note7, based on “intensive efforts internally and with third-party experts to understand what happened and to make sure it does not happen again" (see 1701040074). Samsung representatives didn’t comment Tuesday.

The FCC Wireless Bureau gave Progeny a waiver and more time to meet construction deadlines for its 228 900 MHz multi-lateration location and monitoring service (M-LMS) economic area licenses. The bureau said Tuesday the order will help Progeny provide service to wireless carriers so they can meet the enhanced 911 (E-911) location accuracy deadlines adopted by the commission. Progeny bought the licenses in a 1999 auction and had an initial five-year construction deadline of July 19, 2005, the bureau said. Further extending Progeny’s construction deadlines will offer carriers an option for improving location accuracy and “satisfy the Commission’s location accuracy rules identified as a critical public safety need,” the order said. “We agree with Progeny that granting conditional relief serves the public interest and will ‘preserve the continued availability of Progeny’s service for E911 emergency response.’ We also find that the existence of competing technologies spurs innovation and provides choice to consumers, thereby furthering the public interest.” A year ago, commissioners approved 5-0 rules requiring carriers to provide data to 911 call centers on wireless calls made indoors (see 1501290066).

The Federal Aviation Administration and SkyPan International agreed to settle allegations the drone-photography company operated unmanned aircraft systems in congested airspace over New York and Chicago between 2012 and 2014, said the FAA in a Tuesday news release. SkyPan will pay a $200,000 civil penalty and another $150,000 if it violates regulations over the next year and $150,000 more if it doesn't comply with the agreement. The agency said the agreement settles enforcement cases in which the agency sought a $1.9 million civil penalty, the largest proposed against a drone company. SkyPan conducted 65 unauthorized operations that were "illegal and not without risk," said the agency last year. "While neither admitting nor contesting the allegations that these commercial operations were contrary to FAA regulations, SkyPan wishes to resolve this matter without any further expense or delay of business," the company said in a statement. The company, which served the construction and real estate sectors for 28 years, said it "has never had an accident" nor "compromised citizens' privacy or security."

CTIA told the FCC that a new report it paid Accenture Strategy to do shows the huge 5G benefits -- “5G deployment will drive $500 billion of economic growth, create three million jobs, and produce $160 billion in benefits and savings from 5G-enabled Smart City solutions,” the association said. “These benefits will flow from the wireless industry’s projected $275 billion of investment to deploy this next-generation of wireless.” CTIA’s filing was posted Friday in docket 16-421.

ARRL, which represents amateur radio operators, asked the FCC to launch a rulemaking on a proposal to allocate 5351.5-5366.5 kHz to the Amateur Radio Service on a secondary basis. The 2015 World Radiocommunication Conference agreed to a change of the international table of allocations to reflect the use of the spectrum by amateur radio operators, said ARRL, which is formally known as the American Radio Relay League. “Implementing the result of WRC-15 and allocating the band 5351.5-5366.5 kHz to the Amateur Radio Service on a secondary basis; retaining the four discrete channels at 5 MHz that are outside the proposed contiguous allocation; authorizing all amateurs of General Class or above to use the contiguous band; and adopting the power limit now applicable to the five channels at 5 MHz for the contiguous band, are in the public interest, convenience, and necessity,” ARRL said in a petition to the FCC.

CTIA representatives discussed the importance of infrastructure, in a meeting with Brendan Carr, aide to Commissioner Ajit Pai. The FCC member is expected to chair the agency, at least as an interim in the early months of the Donald Trump presidency. “CTIA noted the importance of sound policies at the federal, state, and local levels to facilitate the rapid and efficient deployment of wireless infrastructure to support 4G LTE and next-generation 5G networks,” said a filing in docket 16-421. “CTIA encouraged the Commission to adopt the proposals in its recently-released Small Cell Public Notice that would streamline local review of wireless infrastructure applications, clarify actions that prohibit or have the effect of prohibiting wireless service, and ensure that compensation for use of public rights of way is cost-based, fair and reasonable.”

Competitive Carriers Association officials sought more information on FCC collection of 911 call data from nationwide and non-nationwide carriers, in a meeting with Public Safety Bureau staff. “CCA discussed the Commission’s expectations for organization of live 911 call data reports,” said a filing in docket 07-114. “CCA noted ongoing coordination with members to ensure information submitted in the February 2017 report is consistent with the Fourth Report & Order, to the best of its members’ abilities.” The association said it “reiterated its request that the Commission release a Public Notice with specific filing instructions for submitting live 911 call data reports prior to the February deadline.” The group said it and the officials "discussed the possibility that certain content may be excluded from the February 2017 reports, consistent with current industry understanding.”

The FCC set a pleading cycle on a proposed series of spectrum swaps between AT&T and T-Mobile. The licenses are in the AWS-1, AWS-3 and PCS bands and cover parts of Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah and Virginia, the FCC said. The carriers will swap only spectrum, not customers, said a Friday public notice in docket 17-20. “Applicants claim that the proposed assignments would allow the service providers to make more efficient use of their spectrum by providing materially larger blocks of contiguous spectrum in the PCS and AWS bands,” the FCC said. “In the other markets that are the subject of an inter-market exchange or an intra-market exchange where one service provider is acquiring more spectrum than it is assigning, the Applicants assert the assignments will augment the spectrum holdings of the assignees, expanding capacity and thereby benefiting consumers.” Petitions to deny are due Feb. 3, oppositions Feb. 10, replies Feb. 17.

The Wireless ISP Association sent President-elect Donald Trump a letter Friday asking him to not ignore the problems faced by its members. WISPA told Trump that modernizing the Communications Act “to better reflect 21st Century communications technologies and business realities” is important, as is “eliminating FCC regulations that disproportionately burden small broadband providers with compliance costs and enforcement risks, which chill investment, deter innovation, and raise costs to consumers.” WISPs also need more access to spectrum, their association said. “Given our cost-efficient technologies and business models, as well as our demonstrated ability to bring broadband to neglected markets without subsidies, we respectfully ask you to foster a policy environment that enables us to serve more American consumers in the most cost-effective manner possible.”

The FCC Wireless Bureau extended comment deadlines by a month on its wireless siting rulemaking that includes a petition by Mobilitie that seeks a ruling interpreting Communications Act Section 253(c) to preclude cities from charging carriers more than other providers for use of the right of way. Comments are now due March 8, replies April 7, the bureau said in an order Thursday in docket 16-421. NATOA and other local government groups sought the extension, citing “the complexity and breadth of the issues involved with this matter.” Localities are closely watching the FCC and state legislatures this year for actions that could remove local authority on wireless siting (see 1701090059).