Much more work remains to find the spectrum the wireless industry needs to meet growing demand, said Kara Romagnino, CTIA director-regulatory affairs, Friday in a blog post. CTIA is encouraged by the launch of the Broadband Opportunity Council, which looks at federal efforts to speed deployment of broadband, Romagnino said. “Federal agencies can -- among other things -- work to improve their spectrum usage in order to free up additional capacity for providing wireless broadband service; coordinate multi-agency activities and improve cross-agency processes; remove barriers to broadband deployment on federal and Tribal lands; and encourage growth of federal mobile wireless platforms, mobile health applications and mobile learning applications,” she said.

As the FCC takes up Lifeline reform, it mustn't ignore the important role played by wireless carriers in the USF program, CTIA President Meredith Baker said in a letter to the agency members posted Friday in docket 11-42. “Thirty years after its creation, Lifeline has evolved to reflect the increasing role of wireless as the primary means of communications for millions of low-income and diverse, underserved communities,” Baker wrote. “In the decade since wireless entered the Lifeline program, the telephone subscribership gap between low-income and all households was cut nearly in half, representing over 3 million low-income consumers.” CTIA is also committed to helping clean up the Lifeline program, further making it “more efficient, accountable, and effective,” she said. “Ensuring the fiscal integrity of the Lifeline program is a high priority because wireless carriers and their consumers make up over 44 percent of the contribution base of the Commission’s Universal Service programs.”

The FCC need take no additional steps to address the growth of LTE-unlicensed or licensed assisted access (LAA), CEA commented to the FCC. CTIA and Qualcomm had similarly encouraged a hands-off approach (see 1506110034). “The industry is progressing in its efforts to ensure that LTE-U and LAA can coexist in the unlicensed bands with other critical technologies,” CEA said. The association said its members “are highly dependent on the continued existence of unlicensed bands that are fully functional for a wide range of uses and users.” Unlicensed spectrum generates an estimated $62 billion per year just from incremental retail sales to end users of devices using unlicensed spectrum, the group said. “Near term unlicensed technologies, such as LTE-U/LAA and 802.11ax Wi-Fi, hold great promise for enhancing spectral efficiency,” CEA said. “LTE-U/LAA proponents contend that it allows for better overall use of a particular band and security by taking advantage of LTE’s robust security features.” The FCC mustn't place restrictions on services like LTE-U designed to protect Wi-Fi and other unlicensed technologies, T-Mobile said. “What may be the dominant technology and use of unlicensed spectrum today may not be the same tomorrow,” T-Mobile said. “The Commission should therefore continue its longstanding current approach of technology neutrality and ensure that bands designated for unlicensed operations support a broad range of technologies, products, and services.” But the Wi-Fi Alliance sounded a note of caution. The alliance remains hopeful “cross-industry cooperation” will lead to development of “appropriate sharing mechanisms” for LTE-U and LAA, it said. “If such consensus cannot be reached, or if there is inadequate collaboration, the Commission must be prepared to act so that the introduction of new Unlicensed LTE technologies does not impede the continued robust development of Wi-Fi and other existing technologies that are so critical to our nation’s economy and communications ecosystem.” Microsoft also expressed concerns about LTE-U and LAA, saying little is known, while Wi-Fi is critical to many Americans. “Although seemingly a highly technical matter, the question of how such coexistence is defined, implemented, and enforced in unlicensed spectrum bands is a critically important issue for literally billions of consumers globally who use voice, video, and data applications over wireless devices leveraging unlicensed spectrum,” Microsoft said. “We are concerned that any technology that makes use of a licensed control channel will use that channel to give it priority access to the medium, and in this case degrade the performance of services delivered over Wi-Fi and other technologies that rely exclusively on unlicensed spectrum.” The FCC posted comments Thursday and Friday in docket 15-105.

T-Mobile US CEO John Legere called Verizon and AT&T “dumb and dumber” and accused them of “swarming” all over the FCC trying to get the best rules for themselves in the TV incentive auction. “If you’re not pissed off, you’re not paying attention,” Legere said in a video blog. “Dumb and dumber have been treating customers like crap for decades.” Legere offered similar comments on the social media site Periscope, in one case blasted live from outside the FCC after top officials held meetings there. Verizon fired back in its own blog post, saying Legere should watch his language. “T-Mobile is more than welcome to participate in any auction the FCC holds,” Verizon said. “No company can prevent another from participating. The last time large swaths of low-band spectrum came to auction in 2007, for example, T-Mobile could have participated. It chose not to.”

The National Treasury Employees Union continues to have concerns about FCC plans to shutter Enforcement Bureau field offices, even after a compromise unveiled Tuesday that would keep most open (see 1506090059). The new agreement doesn't go far enough and still could prevent the agency from adequately protecting spectrum from interference, said Ana Curtis, president of NTEU Chapter 209 (FCC). “Keeping 15 offices open is still not enough,” Curtis said in a Wednesday news release. “The 24 offices each serve several states or large cities. They need to be modernized and fully staffed by compliance specialists and administrative assistants as well as engineers. Those who are served by these offices have testified to the value of the work of these field offices and the need to keep them open and fully staffed.”

CTIA supports FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler’s revised approach to belt tightening in the Enforcement Bureau, the group said in a statement from Scott Bergmann, vice president-regulatory affairs. The revised plan keeps most of the bureau’s field offices open (see 1506090059). “CTIA appreciates the attention of the Commission and the House Energy and Commerce Committee to the importance of interference protection in delivering mobile broadband services,” Bergmann said. “We are pleased that the Commission committed to keeping the majority of the field offices open and working with stakeholders on a mechanism for escalating and resolving interference complaints in a timely manner, which is of the utmost importance to our members and our wireless consumers.”

The Competitive Carriers Association supports Lifeline overhaul, teed up for a vote at next week’s FCC meeting (see 1505280037), but not at the expense of other USF programs, CCA officials said in a series of meetings at the agency. CCA members participate in the program, it said in an ex parte filing posted Wednesday in docket 11-42. “CCA and its members support efforts to restructure the Lifeline program to meet today’s most pressing communications needs, including providing low-income consumers affordable access to broadband, as long as the Commission does not abandon support for voice services -- especially in rural areas -- and these changes are not made at the expense of other USF programs.” Some CCA members serving rural communities are concerned about uncertainty on available high-cost universal service support “for operating, upgrading, and expanding wireless networks in rural areas,” CCA said. This support is key to “facilitating investment, which promotes competition and broadens the number of providers who can offer services through the Lifeline program,” the association said.

The FCC Wireless Bureau approved a waiver sought by Breitling U.S.A. for its dual band emergency watch, branded as the Emergency2 watch. Last year, the bureau sought comment on the proposed waiver (see 1411040040). The device, intended for use on land, can be used to transmit a distress signal on 406.0-406.1 MHz for communication with the Cospas-Sarsat satellite system and a lower-powered homing signal on 121.5 MHz, the bureau said. Breitling needed a waiver because the locator watch doesn't meet all of the requirements for Radio Technical Commission for Maritime Services (RTCM) devices. No commenter opposed the waiver and most supported the request “unreservedly,” the bureau said. Breitling told the FCC that incorporation of a personal locator beam (PLB) into a wristwatch casing, instead of the more traditional handheld device “renders certain requirements in the RTCM standard irrelevant or infeasible, but argues that the Emergency2 provides the offsetting advantage that it is always immediately at hand and ready to operate, with no added risk of harmful interference to others,” the bureau said. Breitling sought a waiver of various manual control, battery and labeling requirements in the RTCM standard. “There appears to be no dispute that most of the requirements in the RTCM standard from which Breitling requests a waiver are irrelevant or infeasible for a PLB incorporated into a wristwatch casing,” the bureau said. “For example, the requirements for integral manual on/off controls, a separate test switch, a highly visible orange or yellow case, and certain labels contemplate a handheld, box-shaped device.”

The Enterprise Wireless Alliance asked the FCC to convene a meeting on the future of the 800 MHz band. EWA said it could take in both a proceeding on the 800 MHz expansion/guard band (EB/GB) and a proposal to introduce new, full-power, interstitial 12.5 kHz “offset” channels in the 809-817/854-862 MHz band. “The possibility cannot be ignored that open entry to interstitial spectrum would create the same land rush by what the Alliance considers speculative applicants claiming Specialized Mobile Radio (SMR) eligibility that the industry and FCC have witnessed since EB/GB channels were made available in certain markets,” EWA said. Attendees should include frequency advisory committees "certified by the FCC to provide Part 90 800 MHz frequency coordination services, equipment vendors whose customers seek access to the 800 MHz band to capitalize on emerging technologies, and other parties that the FCC believes would contribute to the discussion,” the alliance said in docket 15-32.

Qualcomm unveiled a new version of LTE-unlicensed, MuLTEfire, which operates only in unlicensed spectrum, industry officials said Wednesday. Qualcomm didn't put out a news release on the development. Qualcomm is promoting three versions of LTE-U, a spokeswoman emailed Wednesday. LTE-U “operates in downlink-only mode in two parts of the 5 GHz band,” the unlicensed national information infrastructure-1 and UNII-3 bands, the spokeswoman said. Licensed assisted access involves modes “supporting both downlink-only and uplink and downlink operations” using an anchor channel in a licensed spectrum band, she said. The third version is MuLTEfire, which “operates entirely in unlicensed spectrum and, nevertheless, is envisioned to deliver enhanced capacity and a superior user experience than today's unlicensed technologies,” the spokeswoman said. “Qualcomm is working with service providers and equipment manufacturers around the world on these technologies.” NCTA said Qualcomm’s announcement of MuLTEfire is “welcome, though long overdue” as a unlicensed-only version of LTE-U. Still, NCTA said in a statement “it is irrelevant to the fundamental harm that Americans will face unless meaningful technical protocols are adopted to ensure that LTE-U technology does not impair the performance of Wi-Fi technology that uses unlicensed frequencies today.” Since hundreds of millions of Wi-Fi enabled devices and routers are in use, “the ongoing failure of LTE providers in the U.S to recognize and meaningfully address the potential for substantial consumer harm is a cause for increasing concern,” NCTA said. “In the absence of an open and reinvigorated industry process to develop and adopt protections that will prevent such harms, it will fall to policymakers to take the steps necessary to ensure that consumers are protected and to insist that providers use appropriate controls that promote fair use and will prevent LTE-U technology from steamrolling Wi-Fi operations."