IEEE launched a task group to examine efficient spectrum sharing in the TV white spaces, the 5 GHz license-exempt and 3.5 GHz shared access bands. “With a growing demand to mitigate co-channel interference among wireless networks and devices, including both IEEE 802 and non-IEEE 802 systems operating under general authorization, the IEEE P802.19.1a Task Group aims to define the network-based coexistence information exchange among devices in order to enable comprehensive network-based coexistence management,” IEEE said in a Tuesday news release.

AT&T will be the first carrier to sell the Kyocera DuraForce XD, a 5.7-inch phablet with military-grade durability and the first phablet in AT&T’s lineup of rugged devices, the carrier said in a news release. DuraForce XD supports enhanced push-to-talk and was designed to withstand dust, water and drops of less than 4 feet, the carrier said Monday.

The FCC Enforcement Bureau reached a $620,500 settlement with General Communication Inc. (GCI) for failing to register cell towers, said a Tuesday news release from the FCC. GCI is the parent company of The Alaska Wireless Network. Before building, the company didn't register 118 cellular communications facilities and failed to properly light three of them to comply with flight safety rules, the release said. The FCC Antenna Structure Registration system works with Federal Aviation Administration regulations to make sure towers aren't a concern for air navigation, the FCC said. GCI also agreed to review its tower inventory to ensure all of its towers are compliant with tower registration and lighting rules, the release said. GCI didn't comment.

Wireless carriers will need to make better use of high-frequency spectrum as they try to keep up with spiraling consumer demand for data, CTIA representatives told Jessica Almond, aide to FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler, in a meeting last week, said a filing posted Tuesday in docket 14-177. The FCC is to vote on an NPRM on more use of spectrum bands above 24 MHz at its meeting Thursday (see 1510190067). Spectrum bands above 24 GHz "may yield extensive amounts of contiguous spectrum blocks (gigahertz rather than megahertz available in lower spectrum bands), potentially allowing the provision of extensive throughput and capacity improvements as compared to other spectrum bands available for mobile services,” CTIA said. “However, CTIA noted that such capabilities may be limited to portions of densely populated areas of the country due to the inherent propagation limits associated with spectrum above 24 GHz. CTIA also emphasized the need for very small cells, reduced barriers to small cell siting, and the need for fiber backhaul to enable these deployments.”

AT&T’s buy of 700 MHz spectrum licenses from small carrier Bluegrass will significantly add to its ability to deploy 10 x 10 MHz LTE licenses in the areas covered, AT&T said in a response to a series of questions from the FCC Wireless Bureau. The carriers earlier said AT&T proposed to buy 11 licenses covering parts of Indiana, Kentucky and Tennessee (see 1510050065). A single 10 x 10 deployment is “more spectrally efficient” than a deployment of two noncontiguous 5 x 5 MHz blocks, AT&T said. Much of the information submitted by AT&T was redacted from the filing. AT&T elaborated on its overall LTE deployment strategy. “Where AT&T holds Lower 700 MHz B or C Block spectrum, AT&T will launch LTE service initially using that spectrum,” it said. “AT&T typically will launch LTE in a 5 x 5 MHz configuration where only a single 12 MHz block of Lower 700 MHz B or C Block spectrum is available, and will launch LTE in a 10 x 10 MHz configuration in areas where both the Lower 700 MHz B and C Blocks are available. Where Lower 700 MHz spectrum is available and has been deployed for LTE, AT&T will deploy AWS-1 spectrum to provide additional LTE capacity. AT&T also has deployed LTE on cellular and PCS spectrum in a few places.”

At least three parties are petitioning the FCC for changes to its revised rules for designated entity participation in auctions, approved in July by a divided FCC (see 1507160051). The Rural-26 DE Coalition asked the FCC to change its rules to allow a single attorney to be an authorized bidder for more than one applicant where the applicants share no common ownership and aren't qualified to bid for licenses in the same or overlapping markets. “Adoption of such a rule will continue to protect against collusion and anticompetitive behavior while also ensuring that rural service providers and small businesses will be able to continue to rely upon the long-established relationships they have with regulatory counsel upon whom they rely to serve as authorized bidders,” the coalition said. Rural carriers represented by the Blooston Law Firm raised similar objections in a recon petition. The “exclusive bidder” prohibition in the DE rules is “overly broad because it would prohibit an individual attorney from serving as an authorized bidder for multiple clients even when those applicants are not affiliated, share no common ownership, and are not qualified to bid for licenses in the same or overlapping geographic areas, therefore posing no threat of collusion or other anti-competitive harm,” Blooston said. The Multicultural Media,Telecom and Internet Council asked the FCC to tweak its rules to allow winning bidders more freedom to sell the licenses they buy on the secondary market after the auction is over. The FCC’s competitive bidding report and order” identified the need for secondary market incentives, but didn't approve any, MMTC said. It asked the FCC to “convene all stakeholders and flesh out incentives that will advance the Commission’s objectives of competition and diversity with minimal need for agency oversight.” The petitions are filed in docket 05-211.

Most Americans now use PINs or passwords to protect their smartphones, according to a survey by Harris Poll, paid for by CTIA. With the amount of personal data stored on phones increasing, Harris found that 61 percent of wireless consumers use PINs/passwords, up 20 percent from a survey in 2012. The survey also found that 40 percent installed anti-virus software on their smartphones, up 29 percent from the 2012 survey. The new survey also found that more than one-third of consumers installed locks and wipe apps, and 12 percent said they had lost devices in the past year. Almost 50 percent of those said they used a program to locate their phones and nearly 40 percent contacted their carriers. “These results demonstrate that the consumer education programs developed by the wireless industry and by individual companies are improving Americans’ cybersecurity behaviors,” said CTIA Vice President-Technology & Cybersecurity John Marinho. Harris did an online survey with more than 1,500 respondents.

New York state's Empire State Development's Division of Science, Technology and Innovation (NYSTAR) renewed funding of $4.45 million for the Center for Advanced Technology in Telecommunications and Distributed Information Systems (CATT), the NYU Tandon School of Engineering said in a Monday news release. The five-year funding commitment will be used for research and development in wireless technology, cybersecurity and data science, it said. CATT is part of the NYU Tandon School of Engineering, with researchers from New York University and Columbia University working to come up with new technology. CATT also partners with companies such as AT&T, Boeing, Google, IBM, Intel, Samsung and Verizon.

Citing “administrative oversight,” OnStar seeks FCC approval for transfer of control from General Motors' Treasury-controlled board to its current board, as well as special temporary authority to keep operating in the meantime, even though the Treasury hasn't had a stake in OnStar parent GM for two years. In a filing posted Monday in docket 15-246, OnStar said Treasury interest in GM's outstanding stock fell below 50 percent in 2010, and it sold its last shares in 2013, but the delay in seeking FCC approval for the transfer of control was due to its unfamiliarity with agency rules. While the commission authorizations at issue are "important to the company’s operations, administrative oversight of this type is not uncommon for companies with such authorizations," OnStar said, saying that as a publicly traded company, GM has a shareholder base that "is constantly changing" and thus it "may not know in advance if such changes could trigger the need for prior Commission approval." OnStar also said such issues are unlikely to come up again, given "the unique facts of this case" -- namely, the Treasury's having majority control of GM in 2009 and later selling that interest in the market.

The FCC should reject proposals by the Satellite Industry Association that would “unnecessarily limit” out-of-band emissions limits and power levels in the 3.5 GHz shared spectrum band, CTIA said in reply comments filed Monday. The agency should instead increase power limits “to allow for meaningful indoor and outdoor coverage,” CTIA said. It asked the FCC to revise its rules for the band and auction one less priority access license than applied for in a given census tract “to avoid systematically phasing out PALs with each subsequent auction” and also issue PALs in census tracts with a single applicant. The 3.5 GHz band “offers an important opportunity for innovative spectrum-based services,” CTIA said. “Establishing a licensing and regulatory framework that encourages providers to make the investments necessary to incorporate and deploy this spectrum into their networks will be key to unleashing this novel band’s potential.” The filing was in docket 12-354.