Essex Telcom agreed to pay a $28,800 civil penalty and install a compliance plan for operating a station on unauthorized frequencies in the 3.5 GHz band, the FCC Enforcement Bureau said. The FCC is moving to open the band for shared use, but it isn’t yet available for commercial use. In July, the bureau’s Spectrum Enforcement Division received a report from the Wireless Bureau that Essex was operating on frequencies in the 3550-3650 MHz band, said a Friday consent decree. ”The Division reviewed Commission records and found that Essex had recently acquired and held a license for the Station, which was authorized to operate in the 3650-3700 MHz band.” In late July, Jeff Kohler of JAB Wireless, Essex’s parent company, submitted a declaration saying that immediately upon speaking with FCC staff, “Essex began to migrate some customers and disconnect others and in less than 24 hours had ceased transmitting on the 3550-3650 MHz frequencies,” the bureau said. But in August, a bureau field officer found one Essex station was still using the spectrum. On Aug. 17, “the Field Agent informed Essex of this transmission and Essex stopped operations on the unauthorized frequencies on the same date,” the bureau said. Essex didn't comment Tuesday.

Despite some major advances in encrypted messaging platforms, the Electronic Frontier Foundation said some companies made "poor decisions" that could undermine cryptography in their apps. In a Thursday blog post, part of its 2016 year in review, EFF security engineer and technologist Bill Budington and researcher Gennie Gebhart said Facebook-owned WhatsApp introduced end-to-end encryption with a "well-regarded" security protocol for more than 1 billion monthly active users. But the service changed its privacy policy in August allowing expanded user account sharing with Facebook, which drew the ire of privacy advocates and European regulators (see 1608250027 and 1610280039). Some platforms like Facebook's Messenger and Google's Allo messaging app provided end-to-end encrypted options and labeled them "incognito," "private" or "secret," which could spur people to use the encryption "only when they are doing something shady or embarrassing" (see 1608010059 and 1610030038), they wrote. This could be a "red flag" for valuable and sensitive data, they said. But other messaging apps like Signal and Line strengthened their encryption by default offerings. EFF said Signal introduced the "disappearing messages" function that allows users to configure a specified amount of time after which messages sent and received can be deleted. Line introduced an icon that permits users to quickly see if a chat room is encrypted. Budington and Gebhart also noted China's WeChat messenger, which practices selective censorship of its 806 million monthly active users regarding content critical of the regime.

The FCC posted a petition by Wilson Electronics asking the agency to start a proceeding on eliminating the personal-use restriction on consumer cell-signal boosters, replacing it with a multiprovider registration requirement for wideband consumer signal boosters. Wilson officials earlier said they filed the petition in docket 10-4 for further rulemaking (see 1612200061). “The Commission has never entertained public comments on the fundamental question of whether wireless subscribers should be limited to operating consumer boosters for personal use,” the petition said. “More problematic, the personal-use restriction does not provide clear and adequate notice of what conduct it prohibits.”

The FCC Public Safety Bureau authorized the state of Virginia to proceed with relocating existing 700 MHz narrowband operations to state-licensed channels, and also granted a conditional waiver of the requirement the state coordinate operations on these channels with Kentucky. Virginia operates one of the systems that must be cleared from Band 14 (758-769/788-799 MHz) by mid-summer 2017 so it can be used by FirstNet (see 1510220032). “To facilitate Virginia’s relocation from FirstNet’s spectrum, we find good cause to permit Virginia to select 48 state channels for licensed use at the Virginia-Kentucky border and to exceed 40 dBuV/m field strength at the border with Kentucky on these channels when it retunes its system,” the bureau said in a Friday order. “Therefore, to ensure certainty and prompt action on the part of all parties involved, consistent with the Commission’s relocation determination and with the mandate of the Spectrum Act to facilitate the transition of the broadband spectrum to FirstNet, we waive the 40 dBuV/m field strength requirement along Virginia’s border with Kentucky because there are no state license operations to protect in Kentucky.”

The FCC Public Safety Bureau sought comment on a request by the state of North Dakota to use frequency 155.4750 MHz within 25 kilometers of the U.S.-Canada border for interagency coordination during emergencies. FCC rules reserve the frequency for use during police emergencies, said a Wednesday notice. “Therefore, North Dakota needs a waiver to expand use of the channel to communications during all types of emergencies rather than just police emergencies.” Comments are due Jan. 27, replies Feb. 13.

Western Farmers Electric Cooperative (WFEC) supported a realignment of the 900 MHz band, which it said could help its 21 member co-ops offer broadband in parts of Oklahoma and New Mexico. The FCC Wireless Bureau previously circulated on the eighth floor an order addressing a 2014 petition by Enterprise Wireless Alliance and Pacific DataVision seeking a realignment of the band (see 1507170037). “WFEC believes that the very favorable propagation characteristics of 900 MHz spectrum would enable it to deploy a broadband system in its largely rural area which is built to its specific requirements at a cost that would be supported by its members,” the co-op said in a filing in RM-11738.

The FCC Enforcement Bureau approved a consent decree with Precision Castparts (PCC), which allegedly operated private land mobile radio service (PLMRS) stations without FCC authority, failed to timely file for authority to continue operating the stations, and failed to obtain FCC consent before transferring control of PLMRS station authorizations. “The laws and regulations involved are intended to prevent unauthorized radio operations from potentially interfering with authorized radio communications and to facilitate the efficient administration of wireless radio spectrum,” the bureau said in an order. “To settle this matter, PCC admits that it operated and transferred licenses without appropriate authorizations, will implement a compliance plan, and will pay a $60,000 civil penalty.” PCC is a subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway that manufactures investment castings, forged components and specialty metals, the bureau said. PCC uses its radio licenses to monitor and support manufacturing operations, the bureau said. The company didn't comment.

Augusta County, Virginia, asked the FCC for additional time to “narrowband” its radios using the 150-174 MHz and 450-470 MHz bands, as required by the FCC. The county is operating the system on a waiver that expires Saturday and asked the FCC to extend it until Oct. 16. Augusta County cited unique problems caused by the “quiet zone” around the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO), parts of which are located in the county. NRAO required severe reductions in transmitted directional effective radiated power for radios directed toward the observatory, the county said in a filing in docket 99-87. “As a result, the County lost some communications coverage of its service area” that poses a threat to public safety communications, the county said. “So the County redesigned the radio system to add additional base stations and microwave backhaul capability to remedy the problem,” the filing said. “Integrating those new facilities into the County radio system has caused significant delays for reasons beyond the County's control.”

Though Samsung as a policy doesn’t comment on pending litigation, “we stand behind the safety of the millions of Samsung phones in the U.S.,” spokeswoman Danielle Meister Cohen emailed us Wednesday. Eight models of Samsung smartphones “pose a grave safety threat" to the American public, as the Galaxy Note7 did, but remain on the market unencumbered by recalls or other corrective actions, alleges a federal class-action complaint filed Friday in California (see 1612260003).

The FCC Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau circulated for commissioners a notice seeking comment on the 2010 review of hearing aid compatibility regulations, said a notice posted by the FCC last week. The FCC said in a 2011 document in docket 10-254 the agency had committed in 2008 to initiate a review of the hearing aid compatibility rules for digital wireless services and handset. “In this review, we will comprehensively evaluate the operation of the current hearing aid compatibility rules and their success in making a broad selection of wireless phones accessible to people who use hearing aids and cochlear implants, as well as in making information about those phones available to the public,” the FCC said at the time.