Progeny updated the FCC on the buildout of its 900 MHz multilateration location and monitoring service licenses (M-LMS) in a filing Friday (docket 12-202). “Progeny is currently seeking Commission rule changes that would enable highly accurate, widescale geolocation services, greatly enhancing the efficacy and utility of Progeny’s terrestrial position, navigation, and time services as a complement and backup to the Global Positioning System,” Progeny said. Parent NextNav proposed a reconfiguration of the 902-928 MHz band in April (see 2404160043). Progeny noted last year it filed notifications of construction and coverage for M-LMS licenses covering 32 of the remaining economic areas where its network wasn’t previously operational.

The FCC on Friday proposed a $367,436 fine for ASUSTeK Computer for marketing a Wi-Fi adapter and router that allegedly were modified to operate in excess of their previously authorized power limits. The FCC also said it’s considering changing how it addresses such rules violations. ASUSTeK Computer is a Taiwanese company selling gear in the U.S. through Asus Computer, a wholly owned U.S. affiliate. RF equipment that operates at excess power “risks causing harmful interference” to other devices and “may give the violator an unfair competitive advantage,” the order said. Commissioners approved it 5-0 Thursday. The commission said it’s considering making its rules tougher. “We are concerned that in equipment marketing enforcement cases like this one -- with a small number of noncompliant equipment models, but a large volume of units sold -- our existing ‘per-model’ forfeiture calculation, even with substantial upward adjustments, may fail to yield an appropriate forfeiture amount,” the FCC said: “In future equipment marketing cases we may change our methodology for calculating forfeitures in a way that better aligns forfeitures with the harms caused by the underlying violations, including, where appropriate, increased forfeitures.” Commissioner Brendan Carr issued a statement clarifying his stance. “I do not read this item as determining whether the FCC’s upward adjustment factor applies based on the line of business relevant to the FCC’s enforcement action or based on a company’s entire operations,” he said: “I am open to the FCC considering reasonable changes in the context of an appropriate Commission proceeding.”

Liberty Latin America agreed to pay a $100,000 fine and implement a compliance plan to settle an investigation of FCC rule violations by subsidiaries Liberty Mobile in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The fine was tied to a 2023 data breach, the FCC Enforcement Bureau said Thursday. The affiliates failed to “reasonably protect the confidentiality of customer information,” file in a timely way a report in the FCC’s data breach reporting portal and “abide by the conditions of a Commission order, in connection with a data breach of a third-party vendor,” the bureau said.

NCTA and its members urged the FCC to make more spectrum, including 7/8 GHz, available for unlicensed use and discussed the importance of sharing in the citizens broadband radio service band during a meeting with Office of Economics and Analytics staff. NCTA warned against an overreliance on high-power, exclusive use licenses covering large geographic areas. “NCTA highlighted the need for additional unlicensed spectrum to keep pace with burgeoning demand for Wi-Fi,” a filing posted Thursday in docket 18-295 said: “By the end of 2024, there will be 21.1 billion Wi-Fi devices in use globally, ranging from smart locks and thermostats in homes to devices enabling cloud computing and rich telepresence in enterprise settings, to factory monitoring devices in industrial settings.” Among those represented at the meeting were Comcast, Cox Enterprises, Charter Communications and CableLabs.

Railroads face a growing need for spectrum in light of requests from the National Transportation Safety Board and Federal Railroad Administration but have had difficulty identifying additional spectrum to use, the Association of American Railroads said in a meeting with FCC Wireless Bureau Chief Joel Taubenblatt and staff. AAR explained “the railroads’ current use of spectrum in the 160-161 MHz, 219.5-222 MHz, 450 MHz, 900 MHz, and 6 GHz bands,” a filing posted Thursday in docket 24-99 said. The group discussed “how the railroads continue to improve their technology and use their existing spectrum more efficiently.”

Verizon representatives spoke with FCC staff and commissioner aides about the carrier’s opposition to the Public Safety Spectrum Alliance’s proposal that effectively gives the FirstNet Authority control of the 4.9 GHz band (see [Ref:2405240048). PSSA proposes that FirstNet use the band “in the same manner as Band 14 is today, which means it would be fully available to AT&T to serve its commercial customers, subject to priority and preemption for its public safety customers,” a filing posted Wednesday in docket 07-100 said: “PSSA would take the 4.9 GHz band out of the hands of local public safety entities and give it to FirstNet, and in turn AT&T.” The New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) also opposed giving FirstNet control of the spectrum. In meetings at the FCC, the MTA discussed how it uses the 4.9 GHz band for its Communications Based Train Control (CBTC) modernization project: “MTA described its significant investments in the 4.9 GHz band for the New York City subway system and how its CBTC project will promote intensive use of the band using next-generation 5G technology.”

Shure executives briefed aides to FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel and Commissioner Brendan Carr about spectrum needs of wireless mic users. The executives recently provided the same update for staff from the Office of Engineering and Technology and Wireless Bureau and the other three commissioners (see 2406050011). “We discussed the increasing demand for wireless microphone audio technologies … for professional users in the American music, theater, sports, broadcasting and film industries, among other sectors that rely on high-quality professional wireless microphone operations,” a filing posted Wednesday in docket 14-166 said: “It is more and more difficult to meet the wireless audio needs of professional productions and events in those industries.”

The FCC Wednesday notified certified spectrum access system administrators in the citizens broadband service band that they are now permitted to implement changes to the existing aggregate interference model used to protect federal operations in the band. Among the changes, SAS administrators may now assume an 80% time division duplex activity factor and 20% network loading factor for each CBRS device in the aggregate interference calculation, said a notice from the Wireless Bureau and Office of Engineering and Technology. Administrators may use median irregular terrain model terrain dependent propagation loss “using reliability and confidence factors of 0.5 -- to calculate the aggregate received power levels” within a protection area. The FCC urged administrators to submit a demonstration of their ability to implement the new testing parameters in docket 15-319. NTIA approved the changes in a letter to the FCC posted Wednesday. “The changes outlined … will expand Internet access to more people across the country,” said NTIA Administrator Alan Davidson: “They could not have been implemented without the collaboration of the Navy and our ongoing coordination with the FCC.” The change will expand use of the band to tens of millions of Americans, said FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel. “The CBRS dynamic spectrum sharing framework is already fertile ground for wireless innovation, and through collaboration with [DOD], NTIA, and stakeholders, we are expanding opportunities for reliable spectrum access while also ensuring that federal incumbents remain protected,” she said. The changes authorize service to approximately 72 million more POPs and expand the total unencumbered CBRS area to roughly 240 million POPs nationwide, the agencies said. CBRS is a prime example of how industry and government can coordinate on spectrum, Ira Keltz, deputy chief of the FCC’s Office of Engineering and Technology said Wednesday at the International Symposium on Advanced Radio Technologies (ISART) conference in Denver. When CBRS started, the initial exclusion zones were “huge” and would have excluded 75% of POPs, he said. NTIA, working with engineers, was able to reduce the size of the zones so that CBRS made more sense, industry was willing to invest, and the Navy felt comfortable that its radars would be protected, Keltz said. “It just really comes down to people being open-minded,” he said. Derek Khlopin, NTIA deputy associate administrator, noted the work to make CBRS work better. “These improvements we’ve made have been phenomenal,” he said, also at the ISART conference. He credited the Navy for its willingness to work with the NTIA and the FCC. “With little ‘greenfield’ spectrum available yet ever-increasing demand for spectrum-driven utilizations, sharing allows more efficient use of limited spectrum resources,” emailed Richard Bernhardt, vice president-spectrum and industry at the Wireless ISP Association: The development “will provide more predictability and allow for approximately 72 million additional people to be covered by CBRS without having to move or change power due to Federal operations.”

The FCC Office of Engineering and Technology Tuesday sought comment on using geofencing in the 5.9 GHz band, which would allow higher power limits while protecting federal radiolocation service sites. Comments are due July 5 in docket 19-138. NTIA recently suggested that geofencing could allow higher equivalent isotropically radiated power limits for cellular vehicle-to-everything on-board units (see 2406100032). OET noted that filing and asked for comments on NTIA's proposal.

Boston became the latest opponent of the Public Safety Spectrum Alliance’s (PSSA) proposal that effectively gives the FirstNet Authority control of the 4.9 GHz band (see [Ref:2405240048). Local control of the band “is crucial for future preparedness and providing network resiliency to first responders,” said a filing at the FCC posted Tuesday in docket 07-100: “One of the most valuable aspects of the 4.9 GHz band is the flexibility it affords public-safety communications at the local level. Many local and regional authorities, including those in the Greater Boston area, currently operate point-to-point communications on the 4.9 GHz band during natural disasters, recovery efforts, and other emergencies.”