The FCC Enforcement Bureau cited privately held SCMS for marketing in the U.S. uncertified external RF power amplifiers and low-power FM transmitters that can operate on frequencies below 144 MHz. “SCMS should cease marketing these devices and take immediate steps to come into compliance with the Communications Act,” the bureau said in a Tuesday citation/order. “If SCMS fails to comply with these laws, it may be liable for significant fines.” The bureau noted the agency could issue fines of $16,000 per violation per day or $122,500 for "any single act or failure to act." SCMS "will comment in depth at a later date,” President Bob Cauthen told us. “We disagree with the finding and will be making the appropriate response from both SCMS and the manufacturer BW Broadcast.”

The FCC must be aware of limitations faced by 911 call centers if it imposes a requirement that industry move from text telephone (TTY) to real-time text (RTT) technology, APCO said. The National Emergency Number Association backed a phased transition when the FCC took comments over the summer (see 1607270022). APCO said in a filing in docket 16-145 that its representatives and representatives of the National Association of State 9-1-1 Administrators met with FCC officials to discuss concerns. “RTT has the potential to enable faster, more robust text communications with 9-1-1 than TTY or SMS, but its support for implementation of RTT is contingent upon compatibility with TTY and existing IP-based solutions, to the extent Public Safety Answering Points have adopted them,” APCO said. “APCO also re-emphasized the need to ensure interoperability to avoid the challenge of integrating different solutions and interfaces.”

Comments are due Oct. 26, replies Nov. 10, on an Aug. 22 Further NPRM on proposed changes to the 700 MHz public safety narrowband service rules, the FCC said in a Monday notice in the Federal Register. The agency is seeking comment on trunking on vehicular repeater systems (VRS). "We seek comment on the costs and benefits of trunking as applied to VRS,” said the NPRM in docket 13-87. “Do VRS units on the market today have the capability to support trunking? If not, would there be any potential benefits to requiring them to do so? For example, is there a spectrum efficiency advantage to trunking VRS units?” The FCC also asks whether it should require certain radio features as essential for interoperability.

Shure representatives met with FCC Office of Engineering and Technology staff to discuss the wireless mic maker’s pursuit of changes to rules for unlicensed use of the TV bands after the incentive auction. Shure cited its December petition asking the FCC to clarify that antenna connector limitations don't apply to unlicensed wireless mics, said a filing in docket 14-165. “We also discussed Shure’s position with respect to existing and proposed requirements relevant to the use of conducted or radiated power measurements as applied to wireless microphones.”

The FCC approach on wireless emergency alerts should be built on collaboration with industry, CTIA officials said in a meeting with Jessica Almond, aide to Chairman Tom Wheeler. "The hallmark of WEA has been the voluntary nature of the service that accounts for the unique aspects of cell broadcast technology, which was specifically developed to enable clear and succinct mass notifications to protect wireless subscribers while minimizing congestion and adverse impacts to wireless providers’ networks,” CTIA said in a filing in docket 15-91. The wireless association raised particular concern about any mandate that WEAs be able to transmit embedded URLs. Any decision on embedded active links should come only after “a substantial effort among all stakeholders … to develop and implement standards, agree on approaches to mitigate customer confusion and safeguard against adverse impacts to wireless networks,” CTIA said. Commissioners are scheduled to vote on updated WEA rules Thursday (see 1609220008). Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., backed WEA enhancements (see 1609260042).

Andrea Electronics is seeking an exclusion order banning imports of Apple and Samsung products that it says infringe its patents for "audio processing hardware, software, and products containing the same," in a Tariff Act Section 337 complaint filed with the International Trade Commission Tuesday. Andrea said Apple and Samsung computers, smartphones, watches and other products are equipped with "certain audio processing capabilities" that allegedly infringe its patents. Andrea seeks a limited exclusion order and cease and desist order banning import and sale of infringing products. The ITC seeks comment, it said in Friday's Federal Register. Apple and Samsung didn't comment Friday.

The FCC Wireless and Public Safety bureaus are cutting the number of paper notices the FCC sends out as part of two licensing systems, effective immediately, said an agency notice in Friday's Federal Register. “If you’re a frequent flyer in the FCC’s Universal Licensing System (ULS) or Antenna Structure Registration (ASR) system, don’t panic if you notice a sudden drop-off in hard-copy letters from the FCC,” Fletcher Heald said in a blog post. “The FCC is moving both systems to a cloud-based platform and, in preparation, it’s cleaning house before packing up for the move.” The two systems together formerly sent out 33 different paper notices. That has been reduced to 15 for ULS, three for ASR, the FCC said. It said the change is part of its ongoing process reform.

AT&T agreed to pay $450,000 and put in place a compliance plan to settle an FCC investigation of whether it operated fixed wireless stations without authorization or without filing required license modification notices. The carrier found “minor discrepancies” between FCC records and the actual operating parameters of some recently acquired licenses, a company spokesman said. “AT&T voluntarily disclosed these discrepancies to the FCC and made corrective filings. None of them had any impact on consumers or other carriers.” The FCC said AT&T reported discrepancies on a “large number of fixed microwave licenses” that it acquired between 2009 and 2011. The Enforcement Bureau initially proposed a $640,000 fine.

After recent bombings in New York and New Jersey, “as well as the heightened risk of similar events occurring in the District,” the Washington, D.C., Homeland Security and Emergency Management Agency (HSEMA) is leaning on the FCC to move forward on changes to wireless emergency alert rules. Wireless alerts “should be capable of sending messages that include pictures, links, and telephone numbers” to more granular areas “using technology that already exists in each handset,” HSEMA said in a letter to the FCC in docket 15-91. HSEMA also said alerts should be available in multiple languages. New York City officials made similar arguments to the FCC; commissioners are slated to vote on updated rules Thursday (see 1609220008). New York City Police Commissioner James O'Neil also said the FCC should change the rules, in a letter citing the recent Chelsea bombing allegedly by Ahmad Khan Rahami, a subject of WEA alerts. The name and photograph of the alleged bomber “appeared on social media, news media, via e-mail, and text messages,” the letter said. “In contrast, the Wireless Emergency Alert message only contained his name and an instruction to ‘see media for pic,” O’Neil said. “With the technology available today the suspect's photograph should have immediately appeared on people's handsets. This is a major gap in the system.” O’Neil said alerts also must be sent in languages other than English: “There are more than 200 languages spoken in New York City alone, and [the New York Police Department] takes the issue of language access very seriously.” Others filing recently in the docket supporting WEA enhancements include Houston; Los Angeles; Nassau County, New York; San Francisco; and Seattle. CTIA also filed additional comments. The FCC should not use recent requests that device-based geo-targeting be included in the upcoming wireless emergency alert order to impose new rules, CTIA said in a filing. The agency needs to seek comment first, the group said. “The Commission should absolutely move forward with a technically feasible and appropriate proposal in a Further Notice, and should make clear that nothing in the upcoming Report and Order will preclude service providers from pursuing technically feasible device-based geo-targeting methods in the interim,” CTIA said. “These filings, however, raise additional technical questions that have not been resolved or fully vetted in the record before the Commission. Therefore, using them as a basis for new rules in the forthcoming Report and Order unnecessarily raises both technical and procedural issues.”

Retailers should investigate opportunities and threats posed by smartphone indoor location technologies “or run the risk of losing control of the mobile experience in their stores,” said an ABI Research report Thursday. Companies including Apple, Baidu and Google plan to release smartphone-based indoor location technologies to developers within the next year, while location deployments in retail stores have largely been focused on infrastructure-based technologies, it said. Retailers have largely ignored the opportunities offered by mobile devices and are “in danger of repeating the mistakes they made with eCommerce,” said analyst Patrick Connolly. “The days of loyalty cards and paper coupons are ending and retailers do not seem ready,” said Connolly, saying retailers need to “take control” of digitization in their stores and put technologies like indoor location to work. Handset-based indoor location technologies allow retailers to measure marketing campaign performance, streamline in-store processes, create new advertising revenue streams, remove shopping friction and create “shock and awe” moments,” he said. Indoor location technology also lets retailers engage with more customers, said ABI. Initiatives like Google Nearby eliminate the need for in-store apps, but as those tools become available to all developers, the market will “rapidly embrace” the technology, creating opportunities for third parties to deploy location technologies in any retail store, Connolly said. He envisioned a third-party shopping app with an accurate, detailed map of a shopping outlet that could direct store offers and ads to individual customers, something that could “become a reality very soon.”