Alcatel-Lucent and the Wireless Internet Service Providers Association (WISPA) back a nine-month extension of a June 2 U-NII-3 equipment compliance deadline. As suggested by Intel and Netgear, nine months after an order on reconsideration "would be appropriate given the need for chip makers and equipment manufacturers to design compliant U-NII-3 products and distribute them through the supply chain to broadband providers, utilities and consumers," said Alcatel-Lucent, WISPA and others in a filing posted Wednesday in docket 13-49; in that docket, the FCC said U-NII-3 is for operation in the 5725-5850 MHz band. The agency should adopt the group's out-of-band emission proposal, which also would provide "sufficient certainty and time for the marketplace to implement and test equipment, and sufficient time for the FCC to approve these devices before the deadline," said the filing signers, which also included Cambium Networks, Mimosa Networks, Ubiquiti Networks and Zebra Technologies. Earlier this year, the commission delayed by five months a U-NII-3 deadline for certifying broadband gear (see 1507010044). The group also wants that deadline again delayed, emailed communications lawyer Stephen Coran of Lerman Senter, who made the recent filing. The Dec. 2 deadline, which is the one the FCC had already delayed, is when U-NII-3 devices can no longer be certified under the “old” out-of-band emission rules, he said. The June 2 deadline is when those devices can no longer be marketed or deployed, noted Coran.

The Office of Management and Budget OK'd revised information collection requirements in FCC rules for the 3.5 GHz shared spectrum band, which the commission sees as being used for a forthcoming Citizens Broadband Radio Service (see 1504210061). OMB's Nov. 9 approval means the changes are effective Dec. 16, the commission said in Wednesday's Federal Register.

Cellular South asked the FCC for a text telephony (TTY) waiver to use IP-enabled wireless services for the deaf and hard of hearing, just like the ones given previously to AT&T and Verizon (see 1510060026 and 1511130050). In a petition filed Monday in docket 15-178, Cellular South asked the commission to waive certain rules and any other TTY accessibility requirements for VoIP networks, "subject to the same customer notification, progress reporting, and duration conditions applied to AT&T and Verizon." Cellular South said it didn't believe such a waiver was necessary but was seeking it "out of an abundance of caution in light of the recent TTY Waiver Orders." If the waiver is granted, Cellular South pledged, consistent with the Verizon and AT&T orders, to submit a preliminary report describing its initial plans to meet a "commitment to develop and deploy [real-time text] or an alternative text-based solution that is accessible, interoperable other carriers' accessibility solutions, and backward compatible with TTY technology."

Since the inception of the 911 emergency call system in the 1960s, new technology, such as wireless and VoIP, has been accommodated, but the service is not where it needs to be, said David Furth, FCC deputy bureau chief-Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau, during the Diane Rehm Show on NPR Tuesday. Steve Souder, Fairfax County, Virginia, director-Department of 911, agreed, saying 911 has been solid as a rock, but infrastructure improvements are needed to accommodate the technology that is available to everyone in America with a smartphone -- photos, text messages, video. The biggest concern public safety officials have when someone calls is finding the caller if the call drops or the caller wasn't able to give an address, said Eddie Reyes, Alexandria, Virginia, police deputy chief. Because 98 percent of Americans think their location is easily determined on their wireless devices, they don’t think about Reyes’ concern. But the GPS can take a long time to kick in on someone’s cellphone and when a call is coming from inside a building the elevation is just as important as the address, Furth said. To upgrade the location services in mobile phones, the federal government is going to have to shoulder very little cost, said Richard Bennett, visiting fellow at the American Enterprise Institute Center for Internet Communications and Technology Policy. Instead, most of the cost will fall to the manufacturers and carriers, he said.

NTelos shareholders OK'd its proposed sale to Shenandoah Personal Communications and the associated license deal with SprintCom, nTelos and Shenandoah told the FCC in a letter posted Friday in docket 15-262. They said the Rural Utilities Service approved nTelos' request to assign its Broadband Initiatives Program grant to Shenandoah Telecommunications Co., Shenandoah PC's parent. The Department of Justice previously gave the proposed nTelos transaction antitrust clearance, and all state regulatory approvals have been received, said the companies. FCC approval of nTelos communications license transfers to Shenandoah PC and SprintCom is the only remaining federal or state action needed, they said. FCC approval isn't expected to be problematic and Shentel said in August it expects the deal to close by early 2016 (see 1508110067).

The outdoor small-cell market is expected to experience a 43 percent compound annual growth rate (CAGR) through 2020, while the beginning of "meaningful deployments" of small cells will occur in 2015, said an ABI Research report released Monday. Vendors and infrastructure owners, such as Alcatel-Lucent, American Tower, Crown Castle and Ericsson, are overcoming the challenges of backhaul and tower permitting and siting by utilizing small cells as a service, the report said. ABI said several infrastructure providers have reported strong quarter-over-quarter small cell-related growth. The report said 4G small cells have been the fastest-growing small-cell type in 2015 due in part to dense urban deployment, and that the number of LTE small cells is projected to double in 2015 and by a "similar factor" each following year. The value of LTE small cells in 2020 will be more than 85 percent of the small cell equipment market, ABI said.

Iowa Wireless opposed an AT&T Mobility bid for interim FCC relief in a roaming dispute, pending commission resolution of a related AT&T complaint. “The Motion mistakes the applicable facts and law and seeks relief that is directly contrary to the well-considered Commission policy governing interim service arrangements pending the resolution of a roaming dispute,” said Iowa Wireless in its opposition posted Monday in docket 15-259. It said, “iWireless has proffered an interim rate to AT&T which meets the commercial reasonableness standard, and will not discontinue service to AT&T as long as the sums due are paid on a timely basis. As a result, the Motion is moot.” AT&T on Oct. 20 said it filed its motion to establish interim rates for iWireless’s roaming services, subject to a true-up, because of reasons it explained to the FCC but could not reveal publicly and which were redacted from its motion. After Iowa Wireless asked that AT&T’s associated complaint be dismissed for allegedly violating protection of confidential information, drawing AT&T opposition, the Enforcement Bureau sent a letter to both companies that suspended some of the scheduled proceedings but directed (1) Iowa Wireless to file its opposition to AT&T’s motion, and (2) the parties to exchange and file Best and Final Offers for a roaming agreement going forward, and to attempt to resolve some of their procedural differences over mediation and arbitration. AT&T didn't comment.

North County Communications (NCC) and Sprint disagree whether the FCC has jurisdiction to adjudicate Sprint's 2014 complaint about wrongful interstate access charges. In a joint status report posted Friday in docket 14-223 on the Enforcement Bureau complaint and parallel proceedings in the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Sprint said the U.S. District Court final judgment in September should have ended the FCC proceeding. But it said if the agency doesn't dismiss the formal complaint, it should grant Sprint's first three counts but dismiss four and five as moot, once it determines NCC didn't provide service to Sprint. NCC, meanwhile, said the FCC should stay the case for now "instead of requiring the parties and the Commission to spend valuable time and other resources prosecuting and defending the referral issues." U.S. District Court in San Diego ruled in September against NCC and its claim of contract breach by Sprint, saying it was NCC that had breached the agreement; the court also said Sprint's contract damages fell outside the two-year statute of limitations. The joint filing said NCC had filed a notice of appeal with the 9th Circuit Oct. 28, with Sprint filing a cross appeal Nov. 9. NCC plans to argue the District Court was wrong in deciding it wasn't a telecom carrier when delivering calls to HFT, a chat-line service; Sprint said its appeal would argue its breach of contract damages weren't barred by statute of limitations. Oral argument hasn't been scheduled, the joint status report said.

Comments on FCC hearing aid compatibility (HAC) proposals are due Jan. 14, replies Jan. 29, said the text of a report and order and NPRM in docket 15-285. The item was adopted unanimously Thursday and aims to give people with hearing loss access to more wireless handsets and functionality (see 1511190032). The order expanded the scope of HAC rules to cover IP-based services, such as Wi-Fi Calling and Voice-over-LTE, while the NPRM sought comment on proposals for further actions. They included a consensus proposal by industry and hearing-loss groups to establish a path to achieving 100 percent HAC-compatible handsets within eight years, if technically feasible. The items were released Friday and included in Monday's Daily Digest.

One of the most important infrastructure investments the U.S. can make is in its 911 system, said NG9-1-1 Institute Executive Director Patrick Halley Monday in reaction to an op-ed in that day's New York Times by FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler. Only Congress can provide what state and local authorities require to get next-generation 911 fully functional, Wheeler wrote. That includes the need for one-time funding assistance to 911 jurisdictions to help get them through the transition to next-gen, he said. “Done right, smart federal investment will actually lower costs by shortening the transition period and enabling 911 authorities to retire costly legacy facilities more quickly.” The NG9-1-1 Institute applauded Wheeler’s recognition that the NG-911 system needs addition funding to be able to get off the ground, Halley said. “As technology advances, so too must our emergency communications networks, and sufficient funding is a critical element of that evolution.”