CTIA urged the FCC to avoid imposing additional requirements to block texts, in response to a December Further NPRM (see 2312130019). A filing posted Friday reports on a meeting with an aide to Commissioner Brendan Carr, ahead of the FCC’s release of a draft order for the Sept. 26 open meeting on new robocalling and robotexting rules (see 2409050045). “The record continues to show that a requirement to incorporate text message authentication solutions are unnecessary to address the main problem in text messaging: identity spoofing/impersonation,” the filing in docket 21-402 said. CTIA urged the commission “to reject calls from a handful of non-consumer message senders to dismantle the wireless ecosystem’s existing practices that are stopping billions of spam and scam text messages.”

Very low power (VLP) devices pose little risk to mobile electronic newsgathering (ENG) receivers, tech companies said in a meeting with FCC Office of Engineering and Technology staff. A Broadcom analysis “demonstrated that ENG systems can operate error-free with SINRs [signal to interference and noise ratio] at and above 1 dB and that interference from VLP transmitters is very unlikely to cause SINR levels to fall below that 1 dB threshold in any plausible operating scenario,” said a filing posted Friday in docket 18-295. New, supplemental analysis further “confirms that VLP devices in U-NII-6 and U-NII-8 do not present a significant risk of harmful interference and that mobile ENG systems will operate with a[n] SINR above 8 dB in every realistic scenario,” the filing said. Also in the meeting were Apple, Google, Meta Platforms and Qualcomm.

The FCC “clearly lacks authority” to assign the 4.9 GHz band to the FirstNet Authority and FirstNet “clearly lacks authority to receive it,” the Coalition for Emergency Response and Critical Infrastructure (CERCI) said in a filing posted Friday in docket 07-100. Coalition representatives met with aides to FCC Commissioners Brendan Carr, Geoffrey Starks and Nathan Simington about concerns with a Public Safety Spectrum Alliance (PSSA) proposal that would give FirstNet control of the band. “PSSA’s and AT&T’s alternative proposal that the Commission effect this unlawful assignment indirectly through a forced sharing agreement with a Band Manager does not solve the problem,” CERCI said: “The PSSA and its allies do not cite a clear congressional grant of authority for this proposal.” CERCI cited the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision in Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo, which “makes clear that agency interpretations of statutes … are not entitled to deference.”

Comments are due Oct. 7, replies Nov. 5, in docket 17-258, on an August NPRM from the FCC asking about further changes to rules for the citizens broadband radio service band, said a Friday notice in the Federal Register. The FCC adopted initial CBRS rules in 2015, launching a three-tier model for sharing 3.5 GHz spectrum, while protecting naval radars. The NPRM explores further changes (see 2408160031).

Jeff Blum, EchoStar executive vice president-government and external affairs, fired back at a SpaceX filing this week that called on the FCC to close a proceeding examining the lower 12 GHz band for fixed wireless use (see 2409040035). "The latest SpaceX study is an unserious and last-ditch effort by SpaceX to prevent unleashing 500 MHz of spectrum in the 12.2-12.7 GHz band for fixed 5G broadband services that can be used to help close the digital divide,” Blum said in an email. The filing “imagines phantom locations for SpaceX’s own customers, a phantom fixed 5G system that can either operate at full power or not operate at all (without being able to reduce power), and phantom physics (a fictional world where all 5G transmissions will hit all Starlink antennas right at their ‘boresight’).”

The Electronic Frontier Foundation opposed NextNav’s proposal that the FCC reconfigure the 902-928 MHz band “to enable a high-quality, terrestrial complement” to GPS for positioning, navigation and timing services (see 2404160043). Comments were due Thursday in docket 24-240. “NextNav’s own proposal makes it clear that this is essentially a land grab,” the foundation said: “NextNav seeks to increase the amount of band they have sole use of, the size of the physical region those licenses operate in, the amount of power they can use, and amount interference they can cause.”

A FirstNet Authority task force report about the Feb. 22 nationwide AT&T wireless outage (see 2403040062) found “the network did not perform up to public safety’s standards that day,” CEO Joe Wassel blogged Thursday. The task force made five recommendations including “more complete All Hazards Emergency Operations planning between the FirstNet Authority and AT&T, so both entities can better prepare for, respond to, and communicate effectively during planned and no-notice network impacting events.” The report also discusses the importance of “stakeholder communications” and continuity planning. The FCC released a report on the outage in July (see 2407220034). In a second development, the Commerce Department Office of Inspector General said it’s starting an audit of authority “oversight of the Nationwide Public Safety Broadband Network.” The objective “is to determine whether FirstNet Authority is ensuring that the Nationwide Public Safety Broadband Network is achieving service availability requirements,” a notice said.

The FCC Wireless Bureau on Thursday launched a record refresh seeking comment on updating performance standards for maritime radiocommunications equipment under Part 80 of the commission’s rules. Comments are due Oct. 21, replies Nov. 4, in RM-11765. The bureau asked for comment on the specific updated version of the standard the agency should incorporate into its rules, “the rule section(s) where the standard appears, … the element(s) of the standard which have been modified from the version currently referenced in part 80” and “the costs and benefits of referencing the updated standard,” among other issues.

NTIA will convene a virtual industry roundtable listening session on the Public Wireless Supply Chain Innovation Fund on Sept. 26, a notice for Friday’s Federal Register said. The session starts at 10 a.m. EDT. NTIA said it’s seeking specific feedback on “ongoing barriers” to open radio access network adoption, “including for example, technology gaps and market challenges, among others, and opportunities to address such barriers,” expected use cases for “open and interoperable standards-based networks in public and private 5G networks” and “desired outcomes from industry, including relevant trials, deployment models, or proofs of concept.” The agency awarded its initial grants under the fund 13 months ago (see 2308080047).

The Wi-Fi Alliance asked the FCC to address its waiver request that would allow automated frequency coordination systems in the 6 GHz band to take building entry loss into account for “composite” standard-power devices that are restricted to operating indoors. Representatives met with an aide to FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel. The FCC sought comment on the waiver last year (see 2304060049). The request “has been pending for over 18 months” and “there have been no additional submissions in the record in this proceeding for over a year,” said a filing Wednesday in docket 23-107.