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.

The Wireless Broadband Alliance launched World Wi-Fi Day set for June 20 to focus industry, policy and public attention on addressing the divide between connected and unconnected societies. The alliance is encouraging cities, government bodies, fixed and mobile operators, technology vendors, Internet giants, service providers and retailers to unite to deliver “connectivity to everyone, everywhere.” The digital divide in developing nations and developed urban centers “is still a major issue,” said the alliance. Billions of people in developing nations are unconnected, and hundreds of thousands of people in developed markets like the U.S. are still struggling to gain Internet access due to poor infrastructure or slow Internet speeds, it said. “As the only universal unlicensed and affordable public access network, Wi-Fi connectivity will be the key to bridging the global digital divide -- connecting the unconnected and underserved,” said Wireless Broadband Alliance CEO Shrikant Shenwai.

Kaspersky Lab and WISeKey are jointly developing technology to safeguard financial data exchanged via wearables, the companies said Thursday. Many connected devices and the data they exchange are “worryingly unprotected," they said. Kaspersky CEO Eugene Kaspersky said millions of devices “were never designed to be secure” and there’s an “urgent need to establish and implement higher levels of security for IoT devices.” The collaboration will be based on WISeKey’s NFCTrusted technology and its Cryptographic Root of Trust for IoT that has been installed on more 2.6 billion desktop, browsers, mobile devices, SSL certificates and connected devices, said the companies. Existing wearables can be retrofitted with the Kaspersky security layer by adding asymmetric identification at the device level, a WISeKey spokesman told us. The technology will be applicable to other IoT sectors, said WISeKey CEO Carlos Moreira.

The FCC was wrong in its net neutrality order and wireless competition report, and in other orders, to refuse to say mobile broadband is a substitute for wireline broadband, Free State Foundation President Randolph May said Thursday in a blog post. “The fact that 13 percent of Americans in 2015 were ‘smartphone-only,’ which is more than a 60 percent increase in two years, shows that a growing number of consumers perceive mobile and fixed broadband to be substitutable services,” May wrote. “The increasing substitutability of mobile and fixed broadband services is making an already competitive broadband market even more competitive. The Commission should not ignore the actual realities of the marketplace and clear patterns of consumer behavior in order to pursue a pro-regulatory agenda.”

The FCC Wireless Bureau approved AT&T’s buy of two lower 700 MHz C-block licenses in Texas from Peoples Wireless Service. “After carefully evaluating the likely competitive effects of AT&T’s increased aggregation of below-1-GHz spectrum from the proposed transaction, as well as the other factors ordinarily considered in a case-by-case review, we find that the likelihood of competitive harm is low," the bureau said. “Further, we find some public interest benefits are likely to be realized, such as increased network quality and a better consumer experience.”

AT&T entered into a five-year agreement with the FCC to provide "a cost-effective IP solution that will support mobile and cloud-based applications," the company said in a news release Tuesday. AT&T's service will connect "a number of offices and data centers" and allow the FCC to alter its network and Internet needs as necessary, the release said.

Since the FCC’s narrowbanding requirement took effect Jan. 1, 2013, all VHF/UHF industrial/business and public safety radio pool licensees in the 150-174 MHz and 421-470 MHz bands are required to operate on channels with a maximum bandwidth of 12.5 kilohertz "or equivalent efficiency," the Wireless and Public Safety bureaus said in a Wednesday public notice. Wideband-only operation “absent a waiver is no longer permitted,” the bureaus said. Because wideband operation is no longer permitted, “the Bureaus now dismiss applications to renew 150-174 MHz and 421-470 MHz band licenses that list only wideband emission designators unless (a) the application also proposes to modify the license by replacing the wideband emission designator(s) with narrowband emission designator(s), (b) the applicant certifies that the station equipment meets the narrowband efficiency standard, or (c) the licensee has been granted a waiver of the January 1, 2013 deadline for that station,” the PN said. Starting Feb. 16, the bureaus said, they're extending the policy to cover all private land mobile radio license applications in the 150-174 MHz and 421-470 MHz bands that list only wideband emission designators.