Private equity firm Atlantic Street Capital said Tuesday it's selling A Wireless, a reseller of wireless voice and data communications services, to an affiliate of Lone Star Funds. A Wireless sells a full suite of products and services from more than 600 stores in 31 states, the firm said.

The FCC Wireless Bureau reminded owners and operators of certain fishing and passenger vessels Tuesday that a requirement that they upgrade to VHF radiotelephone equipment that includes digital selective calling (DSC) capability kicks in Wednesday. The requirement is for commercial vessels of 300 gross tons or more and small passenger vessels capable of transporting seven-12 passengers for hire in the open sea or any adjacent tidewater of the United States. Licensees needing additional time to meet the DSC requirement may file an application for an Exemption from Ship Station Requirements, most quickly through the FCC’s Universal Licensing System, the bureau said in a public notice.

The 3rd Generation Partnership Project’s (3GPP) Release 13 will include messaging support for terrestrial beacon system location technologies, compatible with NextNav’s metropolitan beacon system (MBS), said the company, which offers location accuracy technology, Tuesday in a news release. “NextNav has adopted MBS for its nationwide deployment, an innovative ‘terrestrial constellation’ bringing GNSS-like [Global Navigation Satellite System] positioning performance to indoor and urban environments where satellite-based positioning is either unavailable or significantly degraded,” NextNav said.

A cloud-centric 5G network architecture that enables user experiences "perceived as always sufficient for their current context" could be a "disruptive change" for next-generation wireless networks, the University of Surrey's 5G Innovation Centre said in a white paper released Tuesday. The proposed network would provide a "more connected experience over a dynamic and distributed cloud based architecture" that is "flatter" than LTE, and designed to "always make best use of the resources available at the time of each new communications request." Recent global connectivity statistics show wired broadband coverage is "largely driven by direct or indirect government influence" on the local telecom industry, so fixed broadband rates are "disparate across the globe, but do not correlate with mobile penetration," 5GIC said. Mobile penetration is "likely" to be higher than 100 percent in nearly all markets by 2020, with multiple devices per person, it said, while rates on mobile broadband are "potentially likely" to be higher than home broadband, and mobile broadband should "dominate" the market by 2020 "unless there are major changes in fixed broadband." More people now "prefer a nomadic and/or mobile approach where devices are concerned," 5GIC said, and "a network that enables true device mobility and supports the user of the device to be able to declare the context they are operating the device with, is what is required." The Flat Distributed Cloud 5G network proposed by 5GIC can add user profiles to the network architecture that can be operated by the users and the network to trade information selectively enabled by the users to inform the network of parts of their context that improve their experiences, the white paper said. 5GIC identified three "key tenets" that should be offered by a 5G network architecture -- the perception of infinite bandwidth, an always-connected capability and tailored context awareness -- and established a set of architecture requirements to support a "much flatter" distributed network.

Google and SpaceX are facing increased pushback to their experimental license proposals from opponents citing health worries tied to altitude-based microwave radiation-emitting projects. "Widely available fast Internet access is a goal that can be safely attained using various forms of cabled connectivity," Global Union Against Radiation Deployment from Space said in informal objections filed Friday (see here and here) with the FCC Office of Engineering and Technology. The GUARDS filing included a letter dated Jan. 12 that the group said it had submitted to the European Commission raising concerns about the growth of wireless networks and the "millions of people in the developed world [who] have already become functionally disabled due to the electromagnetically polluted environments produced by terrestrially based wireless communications infrastructures. With the deployment of Project Loon and other space-based wireless communications projects proposed or underway, and Google's widespread deployment of microwave radiation, such persons will have no place to go." GUARDS also filed similar Google and SpaceX objections directly to OET last year (see here and here). So far this month, SpaceX also has seen four informal objections from individuals raising similar health claims, while Google has received seven. The companies didn't comment Tuesday.

During consultation meetings in 2015, FirstNet received many accounts of how first responders throughout the country prepare for and respond to emergencies of all sizes to improve communications, coordination and situational awareness during emergency response operations, FirstNet said in a Tuesday blog post. Many consultation meeting participants provided case studies about how mobile broadband technology is assisting law enforcement and how a dedicated nationwide public safety broadband network would help them with timely and efficient responses to emergencies, it said. Over the past year and a half, FirstNet said it's engaged with the public safety community in 55 states and territories, giving the network in-person feedback from almost 4,000 public safety representatives. "Each state and territory is different, and we strive to be accessible, flexible, and adaptable to account for their unique characteristics and needs," the post said. "In addition to briefing law enforcement agency representatives directly, FirstNet increased its federal outreach and briefed the leadership of the Federal Law Enforcement Training Centers," which it said trains most U.S. federal agencies.

The FCC Wireless Bureau released filing instructions for FCC Form 175, which companies must file to bid in the TV incentive auction. Attachment 1 provides filing instructions “including how an applicant can assert its eligibility for a designated entity bidding credit, select the license area(s) on which it wishes to bid (including for reserved spectrum), disclose auction-related agreements, and provide information regarding its ownership structure,” the bureau said in a Tuesday notice. Applications are due Feb. 9, but the filing window opens Jan. 26. The bureau reminded potential bidders that the information they file will be made available to the public. “An applicant should take care not to include any unnecessary sensitive information, such as Taxpayer Identification Numbers or Social Security Numbers, in its application,” the bureau said. “An applicant may also request that information submitted not be made routinely available for public inspection.”

Coinciding with the release of its request for proposals Wednesday (see 1601130046), FirstNet held a public webinar Friday to review key elements of the RFP. The webinar reminded listeners they can comment or ask questions on the document until April 29, but the longer they wait, the longer the response will take. FirstNet officials asked that interested parties submit questions as soon as possible. Those invited to attend the webinar included officials from states, tribes and territories, public safety stakeholders and market participants.

The FCC asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit to reject James Chelmowski’s pursuit of documents from the agency under the Freedom of Information Act process; the documents are tied to Chelmowki’s complaint against AT&T in a porting dispute. “At the threshold, Chelmowski has not properly sought judicial review of the agency’s FOIA decisions in any court of competent jurisdiction,” the FCC said in the filing. “This Court lacks jurisdiction over petitioner’s motion seeking review of the FCC’s response to his FOIA request. Initial review of an agency’s response to a FOIA request lies in the district court.” In October, the FCC Enforcement Bureau turned down a petition for reconsideration by Chelmowski, who accused AT&T Mobility of failing to port his phone number to a new provider in 2011, in violation of agency rules (see 1510160045).

Cellular South must notify its customers it won't support text telephony technology for the deaf and hard of hearing to the extent it uses IP technologies like wireless VoIP at least 20 days before it makes changes to its network, the FCC said in a letter Friday to the carrier. The Consumer and Governmental Affairs, Public Safety and Homeland Security, Wireless and Wireline bureaus approved the waiver in December (see 1512210045) requiring the notification process to start by Sunday. Cellular South complained this makes no sense since it won’t even start IP-wireless calling before the summer. “Given that Cellular South will not begin deploying IP-based wireless calling until the summer of 2016, we agree that it would be more appropriate to disseminate the notice … closer to that time,” the bureaus said. But instead of 10 days before launch, as requested by Cellular South, they said 20 days is more appropriate. “We believe that a period of time greater than 10 days prior to the roll-out of such services is advisable to effectively notify the public about the impending lack of access to 911 services via TTY technology,” the letter said.