Given the risk of air-to-ground (ATG) interference, the FCC should make cellular operators work out mitigation agreements or coordinate with adjacent channel licensees before starting operations at higher power levels using any power spectral density (PSD) models, Gogo said in an ex parte filing posted Friday in docket 12-40. Cellular operators also should be required to adopt stronger out-of-band-emission (OOBE) limits on cellular operations near 800 MHz ATG base stations, Gogo said. AT&T has been pushing for use of PSD models in complying with the FCC's radiated power limits for 800 MHz cellular operations in parts of Missouri (see 1504130031). That idea also has Verizon support (see 1508120057). While the 800 MHz band should be used, operations there based around PSD models also raise the risk of OOBE interference to the adjacent 800 MHz ATG band, which could affect in-flight broadband services, Gogo said.

From more ubiquitous Wi-Fi to "smart everything," 2016 will bring with it several technological advances, the Wi-Fi Alliance said in a news release Thursday. The group's predictions for the year include progress on a test regimen for LTE-U/Wi-Fi coexistence, resulting in an industry-agreed-upon test plan; increased use of Wi-Fi location capabilities in new applications; an updated Wi-Fi Certified ac, which is based on IEEE 802.11ac certification and will bring with it new features such as multiple-input and multiple-output technologies for wireless communication; and the launch of the WiGig certification for wireless devices working at multigigabit speeds. With the number of connected devices expected to hit 38.5 billion by 2020, the Wi-Fi Alliance said more companies will look to its Implementer membership category, which makes Wi-Fi certification accessible to more companies that don't specialize directly in connectivity technology development. And it said municipal Wi-Fi deployments will increase, as will Wi-Fi networks in such locations as sports stadiums, and Wi-Fi connectivity will become a standard feature in new cars.

The number of complaints electric cooperatives received when they stopped making service-related calls, a practice they adopted under threat of litigation under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA), highlights the importance of these communications, said the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA) in an FCC ex parte letter posted Thursday in docket 02-278. The proceeding, originally filed by the American Gas Association and Edison Electric Institute, asks the FCC to declare that providing a number to an energy utility constitutes prior express consent under the TCPA. NRECA said getting express written consent for service-related calls and texts from all customers who want to receive them is impractical and most people don't reply.

Arguments by AT&T that Dish, SNR Wireless and Northstar Wireless should be penalized in the incentive auction as “defaulters” are “regulatory gamesmanship” and should be rejected, Dish, Northstar and SNR said in a joint response posted in docket 12-268 Friday. AT&T's arguments are “nothing more than a transparent effort by an established wireless operator to create obstacles to limit participation in the upcoming auction for low-band spectrum that is critical for new wireless market entry,” the joint filing said. The issues connected with the AWS-3 auction raised by AT&T have already been decided by the Wireless Bureau, and AT&T can't raise them again, the joint filing said. “Styling the requested relief as a petition for declaratory ruling, which AT&T supports, does not change that fact,” the filing said.

Ericsson said it’s partnering with Verizon to develop low-power wide-area (LPWA) networks for IoT applications. Verizon is going to use Ericsson’s Networks Software 17A software to scale its LTE network for expanded IoT use, which “will enable us to expand our coverage of low-cost IoT devices while supporting years of battery life,” Verizon Vice President-Network Technology and Planning Adam Koeppe said in a Thursday Ericsson news release. “Verizon's nationwide LTE network provides an ideal platform for the acceleration of IoT applications that benefit consumers, industry and cities. We're committed to simplifying IoT and have introduced a developer platform -- ThingSpace -- and new network advancements that do just that.” Joint Ericsson-Verizon IoT use case trials that began in 2014 are now set to continue through the end of 2016, Ericsson said.

AT&T executives shared the carrier's 5G "vision, key issues and architectural concepts" in a Tuesday meeting with front office and other FCC staff from three bureaus and offices, the company said in a filing posted the next day in docket 14-177. It said those issues were discussed in this presentation. "Key" emerging trends for the fifth-generation networks include "extremely high speed mobile broadband, and low speed IoT," it said. "Simultaneous connections to multiple technologies" could include LTE-A and unlicensed, with a "flexible" radio access technology (RAT) design, AT&T said. Adding new sub-6 GHz RAT optimized for IoT could occur, a slide said, next to "(~2020)," while new millimeter-wave RAT for speed and capacity was next to "(~2022)." The 5G RAT could be designed to allow for "massive connectivity," the company said. It also eyed virtualized specifications. Executives at carriers have cited the benefits of using software to automate network functions (see 1506030021) and said 5G could start to hit the U.S. next decade.

Ericsson and AT&T Drive launched an automotive solution to provide consumers with "an easy way to manage Wi-Fi connectivity within their vehicles," Ericsson said in a news release Tuesday. It allows consumers to access a free Wi-Fi hot spot trial, buy a data session for their cars and manage Wi-Fi accounts within their connected vehicles, it said.

OnStar, owned by General Motors, and Synchronoss Technologies partnered to allow Synchronoss' Integrated Life mobile platform to "facilitate merchant transactions and cloud intelligence to expand the features, and contextual relevance" of OnStar's commerce and marketing platform, Synchronoss said in a news release Monday. The Integrated Life platform provided by Synchronoss will be the "interaction hub" for merchants providing "value propositions" to OnStar customers, said the release.

Cricket is offering a tough new cellphone for $79.99, the Kyocera Hydro View, the low-cost AT&T subsidiary said Monday. The handset is exclusive to Cricket, the carrier said. “Engineered to stand up to everyday ‘oops’ as well as more extreme work or play activities, the Kyocera Hydro VIEW is equally perfect for a mom on the go or a tradesman out in the field,” Cricket said in a news release. “It can be wiped off with water to get rid of sticky messes or submerged in up to 3 feet of water for 30 minutes and still perform beautifully.”

If manufacturers don't start producing hearing aid compatible phones costing less than $100, it's likely cost would exclude some Lifeline recipients from using the wireless option, said the Arctic Slope Telephone Association Cooperative in a letter to the FCC in docket 15-285. ASTAC is the incumbent LEC serving the North Slope region of Alaska. Mandating a 100 percent HAC requirement on small carriers that lack the ability to influence manufacturers will decrease the choice for ASTAC members who are nonhearing impaired, removing five popular wireless phones from the lineup, the co-op said. Reducing the choice for those consumers makes the small carrier less able to compete on a variety versus "latest and greatest" basis, ASTAC said. The ILEC suggests the FCC change the de minimis exception for providers from a metric of two or fewer devices offered to a more realistic metric of total revenue from sales of wireless phones.