The FCC Office of Engineering and Technology dismissed “without prejudice” a request by Ricoh for a waiver allowing it to sell an advanced binocular in the U.S. The devices exceed emission limits for the operation of a Class B digital devices, requiring a waiver, OET said. “Ricoh states that the Enhanced Binocular Kit NV-10A (NV-10A), which consists of a binocular and battery charger for its lithium-ion battery, uses image stabilization to enable the user to accurately view distant targets under dangerous conditions such as dense fog, rain, snow, smoke, dust storms and nearly pure darkness,” the order said. “Ricoh has failed to provide sufficient information to demonstrate that requiring strict compliance with the rule is inconsistent with the public interest in this case.”

Communications Sales and Leasing completed its Tower Cloud takeover, CS&L said in a news release Wednesday. A $230 million cash-and-stock deal, expanding CS&L’s backhaul network and entry into small-cell and dark-fiber businesses, was announced in June (see 1606200052). Uniti Fiber will be the brand name of the combined fiber infrastructure group that also includes PEG Bandwidth, and it will be led by Tower Cloud founder Ron Mudry, said CS&L CEO Kenny Gunderman.

Much work remains as industry deals with a possible earthquake early warning system (EEWS), the Alliance for Telecommunications Industry Solutions said in a letter responding to questions from the FCC Public Safety Bureau. For example, the bureau asked if earthquake warnings could be given special priority. “ATIS believes any discussion on prioritization in the EEWS is premature until the architecture is defined,” the letter said. “The industry continues to work with stakeholders, including state agencies, the U.S. Geological Survey, and academic institutions, to identify and define the architecture that can satisfy EEWS-specific requirements.” The wireless industry in general argued when the FCC sought comment (see 1605100054) that wireless emergency alerts aren’t suitable for earthquake warnings. The ATIS letter was posted in docket 16-32.

Regional carrier Bluegrass Cellular told the FCC it will be able to comply with any changes in rules for wireless emergency alerts (WEAs), but will need time to adjust. Bluegrass representatives met with officials from the Public Safety Bureau, said a filing in docket 15-91. “Expanding the scope of embedded references, adding Alert Classifications, and adding characters to Alert Messages presumes that Bluegrass Cellular's Alert Gateway provider delivers such capabilities,” the carrier said. “Geo-targeting Alert Messages is feasible if a solution is embedded within the handset produced by manufacturers.” The FCC proposed in November allowing longer WEA messages, inclusion of hyperlinks and narrower distribution of alerts (see 1511190053).

Sprint and Nokia demo'd three-channel carrier aggregation in Kansas City, Missouri, Wednesday before a baseball game between the Kansas City Royals and New York Yankees at Kauffman Stadium. The test saw speeds as high as 230 Mbps inside the stadium using the Samsung Note7, Galaxy S7, S7 edge, HTC 10 and LG G5, Sprint said in a news release. Sprint launched two-channel aggregation in 2015. “Sprint uses two-channel carrier aggregation to deliver peak speeds of more than 100 Mbps in 237 LTE Plus markets across the country using 40 MHz of 2.5 GHz spectrum on the company’s LTE Plus cell sites,” the carrier said. “With three-channel carrier aggregation Sprint will utilize 60 MHz of spectrum in the 2.5 GHz band to provide peak download speeds of more than 200 Mbps on compatible devices.” Sprint said 100 of its cell sites in Kansas City are slated to be ready for three-channel carrier aggregation by month's end. Sprint said it has more than 160 MHz of 2.5 GHz spectrum in the top 100 U.S. markets.

Netgear’s Orbi tri-band Wi-Fi router system incorporates Qualcomm’s tri-radio 802.11ac chipsets and Wi-Fi self-organizing network (SON) technologies, for improved Wi-Fi reliability large homes or challenging infrastructure, they said in a Wednesday news release. Qualcomm’s tri-band Wi-Fi chipset uses three Wi-Fi radios to create a dedicated wireless backhaul connection between the Orbi router and Orbi satellites, while SON software simplifies the Wi-Fi setup process and optimizes the network to eliminate congestion and dead zones, they said.

Cambridge Broadband Networks Limited (CBNL), which sells millimeter-wave licensed point-to-multipoint technology, said regional carrier Cellcom selected its 28 GHz VectaStar platform as a backhaul solution for its outdoor small cell deployments. “With an initial trial of VectaStar currently underway, Cellcom plans to utilize the technology to backhaul some of the company’s first LTE outdoor small cells as a densification strategy,” CBNL said in a news release. The FCC recently approved an order expected to lead to greater use of high-band spectrum for 5G (see 1607140052).

Not all is bad in forecasts from the research firm GfK that 2016 sales in the global consumer electronics sector will decline 5 percent to 814 billion euros (about $908 billion), Hans-Joachim Kamp, chairman of the supervisory board of CE trade-show IFA organizer gfu, told the opening IFA news conference in Berlin Wednesday. GfK 2016 forecasts, according to Kamp, that wearables of all types will grow 58 percent to 122 million, while smartphones rise 5 percent to 1.4 billion.

Representatives of CTIA met with staff from the FCC Public Safety Bureau on proposed changes to rules for wireless emergency alerts (WEAs). The agency proposed in November to allow longer WEA messages, inclusion of hyperlinks and narrower distribution of alerts (see 1511190053). CTIA addressed each of the changes, said the filing posted Wednesday in docket 15-91. “The WEA service represents a hugely successful Public-Private Partnership and wireless providers have diligently worked to develop and deploy the voluntary, four year old WEA service,” CTIA said. “Wireless providers have sought to ensure that alert originators and the ultimate beneficiaries, wireless subscribers, may respectively compose and receive meaningful emergency information in a timely manner.”

The FCC Enforcement Bureau proposed a fine of $23,000 against Daniel Delise for allegedly operating an unlicensed amateur radio station on 147.96 MHz from his residence in the Astoria section of Queens, New York. Delise also falsely transmitted an officer-in-distress call, the bureau said. “The Commission previously warned Mr. Delise that unlicensed operation of this station was illegal and that continued operation could result in further enforcement action,” the Wednesday notice of apparent liability said. In April, Delise was arrested for false radio transmissions over the New York City Police Department’s radio transmission system, the bureau said. Delise didn't comment.