Comments are due July 18, replies Aug. 2, after an NPRM on contraband cellphones in prisons was published in the Federal Register. “In this document, the Federal Communications Commission proposes rules to encourage the development of multiple technological solutions to combat the use of contraband wireless devices in correctional facilities nationwide,” the notice said (http://1.usa.gov/15g4zG2). “Specifically, the Commission proposes rule modifications to facilitate spectrum lease agreements between wireless providers and providers or operators of managed access systems.”

Another Michigan county was designated a “connected community” of Connected Nation, the fourth in that state and the seventh nationwide. The Michigan Public Service Commission spotlighted the state’s broadband progress in a news release Monday, with a focus on Roscommon County (http://1.usa.gov/12GTNMT). “Roscommon County’s broadband action plan has identified four priority projects: identifying, mapping and validating broadband demand; improving digital literacy and establishing a low-cost broadband program; developing a program to support schools’ new technology initiatives; and hosting website and social media classes for local businesses,” the PSC said. Communities must complete several planning steps before Connected Nation certifies them as connected communities. The PSC listed several other Michigan communities working with Connected Nation to improve their broadband planning efforts, with an eye toward the same certification.

The House Intelligence Committee scheduled a hearing to examine the National Security Agency’s surveillance programs for Tuesday at 10 a.m, in Room 210 HVC of the Capitol Visitor Center. Scheduled to testify are: General Keith Alexander, NSA director; James Cole, deputy attorney general; Sean Joyce, deputy FBI director; and Robert Litt, general counsel at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.

TracFone’s petition to amend FCC Lifeline rules to prohibit in-person distribution of cellphones to prospective customers is “meritorious, and it should be granted,” said Free State Foundation President Randolph May Monday in an FCC filing. TracFone’s petition is “commendable as part of the ongoing effort to continue on the reform track,” May said. Although reforms the FCC has already instituted are on track to save the agency $400 million this year, critics of the program are still reporting instances of fraud and abuse, particularly when Lifeline phones are distributed in public places, he said. TracFone “appears to be correct that ‘in-person distribution of handsets remains a practice that invites fraud and is difficult to police,'” he said. “This is because allowing carriers to distribute handsets in person in real time to prospective Lifeline customers makes it more difficult for the carrier to perform the requisite verification to certify eligibility for Lifeline support in accordance with FCC requirements” (http://bit.ly/12ESZbt).

The FCC Office of Engineering and Technology is giving interested parties 30 more days to file reply comments on a proposal to open more 5 GHz spectrum to unlicensed use. The new deadline is July 24. OET noted that IEEE 802 and the Wi-Fi Alliance each requested the extension. “Given the importance of the issues in this proceeding,” OET said Monday (http://bit.ly/19e46YR), “we find that good cause exists to provide all parties an extension of the reply comment deadline to facilitate the development of a full and complete record.”

Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R) signed into law House Bill 2268 Friday. It requires a warrant for police to access “certain customer data, communications, and other related information held in electronic storage in this state and other states by providers of electronic communications services and remote computing services,” said the bill text (http://bit.ly/17TLr6O). It laid out in detail the protocol for obtaining a warrant to search a person’s data.

The FCC should ignore the “renewed push” for a “regulatory mandate” to solve interoperability problems in the lower 700 MHz band, said AT&T Vice President Joan Marsh in a Monday blog post. A mandate “would require carriers like AT&T that own only B and C block licenses to support a band class that they don’t need and won’t use, a Dual Band mandate would fall far short of solving the interoperability challenge and raises a host of new problems,” Marsh wrote (http://bit.ly/12EPQIH). “At the outset, such a requirement would needlessly add material extra cost and complexity to devices. A Dual Band mandate would require AT&T to equip every device we offer with both Band 12 and Band 17 components. The result: inferior performance, form factor limitations and more cost -- which would adversely affect competitiveness and user experience -- all to enable operations on a block of spectrum that we don’t own.” Marsh said handsets are already complex. “AT&T is already pushing the envelope on how many bands we can accommodate in our devices,” she said. “Devices today are tightly engineered to achieve the small form factor that consumers desire, and even the smallest change in components can have substantial impacts on form factor and performance.” Steve Berry, president of the Competitive Carriers Association, fired back. “Instead of addressing the feasibility, pricing and consumer benefits of interoperability, AT&T again revisits false and long-settled allegations of harmful interference in the Lower 700 MHz band and ignores the economic, technical and practical evidence in the record in this proceeding,” Berry said. “In addition, AT&T has misconstrued Lower A Block licensees’ ask. The ask is simple. Restore interoperability to Band Class 12. As its first action towards restoring interoperability, the Commission could require a dual band solution as a transitional step. During the transition, as CCA and its members have long-stated, the costs of incorporating Band Class 12 into a Band Class 17 device are minimal. If AT&T does not think there is a need for a transition period -- they should let everyone know. It is in the interest of all stakeholders to work quickly towards a unified band class for the Lower 700 MHz band. This will finally eliminate an unnecessary additional band class among a growing number of LTE bands and simplify device production while increasing support for roaming for years to come."

CableLabs has new qualifications for network equipment that will enhance interoperability in the cable industry for “network equipment based on Ethernet Passive Optical Network technology,” the organization said in a news release Monday. The qualification applies to “the first devices to implement version 1.0 of the DOCSIS Provisioning of EPON specifications,” the release said. “This capability allows cable operators to quickly and seamlessly integrate fiber-based access network technology to meet the high bandwidth demands of business customers,” said the release. “The DPoE specifications enable multi-vendor interoperability of devices based on EPON technology, which allows cable companies to invest confidently in equipment from multiple vendors that is interoperable with other DPoE-compliant devices.”

South Park Telephone Co. is “exactly the type of rural carrier that Universal Service funding was designed to support,” the Colorado Public Utilities Commission told the FCC in a letter Friday supporting the carrier’s request for waiver of various USF rules (http://bit.ly/ZYjZA9). The Colorado carrier serves a low-density, mountainous area of about 600 square miles (CD Dec 5 p14). “It is our understanding that the Commission has granted USF waivers to both Accipiter and Allband in the past where similar deployment challenges and high costs existed,” the PUC wrote. “We are mindful of the Commission’s desire to reduce the USF fund size and to transition funding in support of broadband, but hope that the Commission reaches the same conclusion after a full review of its petition and supporting materials filed by SPT.”

In devising rules for 911 outage notification requirements, the FCC should define a 911 “service provider” broadly enough to include any facilities or services involved in the initiation, transport or delivery of a 911 call, Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials representatives told commission officials Thursday, an ex parte filing said (http://bit.ly/15dt4na). Network outages that should be reported include any outages that disrupt the ability of subscribers in a public safety answering point’s service area from dialing 911, APCO said: “PSAPs and first responder agencies need to know when the citizens they serve are unable to seek emergency assistance.”