Howard Buskirk

FCC commissioners approved fines against the then four national wireless carriers for failing to safeguard data on their customers' real-time locations, industry officials said Wednesday. Commissioners were reportedly still finishing their statements. The notices of apparent liability were approved in 2020 under former Chairman Ajit Pai (see 2002280065). The FCC proposed the largest fine, $91 million, against T-Mobile, followed by AT&T, $57 million; Verizon, $48 million; and Sprint, $12 million. T-Mobile subsequently acquired Sprint. “It’s time to hold [the carriers] accountable and make them pay for this behavior -- and by that I mean the more than $200 million in fines proposed by the last administration,” Rosenworcel said last year (see 2306140075). The FCC didn’t comment.

FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez and carrier executives warned of challenges from the pending expiration of the affordable connectivity program and negative implications for the broadband access, equity and deployment program, speaking Wednesday at a Competitive Carriers Association conference streamed from Palm Springs, California. Gomez said she supports the proposed 5G Fund, circulated by Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel last month (see 2403260052), and is focused on concerns raised by CCA and others.

Proponents of revised net neutrality rules are urging FCC commissioners to further tighten provisions on 5G network slicing, one of the more contested items in the proposed rules (see 2404050053). But officials on both sides said it’s not clear how many changes will be made to the order, prior to an expected 3-2 vote next week. Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel may need to make some concessions because the rules likely won’t pass without support from her fellow Democrats Geoffrey Starks and Anna Gomez.

Paradise Mobile, which launched last year in Bermuda and will start operations soon in the Cayman Islands, offers a new take on what a wireless network can look like, executives for the mobile network operator said Tuesday during a Light Reading webinar. The network is a completely virtualized open radio access network.

Use of cyber insurance to protect companies against sometimes unexpected digital risks is growing in popularity, experts said Thursday during an FCBA Cybersecurity Committee online panel. Speakers said companies should view cyber insurance as one way of limiting risk from a cyberattack.

The FCC should make inventory spectrum available for free to “non-dominant” carriers to promote competition, EchoStar, the parent of Dish Wireless, told the FCC (see 2404090045). “Non-incumbent carriers (more specifically, every carrier other than AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon) should have a ‘right of first refusal’ to all Inventory Spectrum,” EchoStar said. The company also urged the FCC to address the lower 12 GHz band, as advocated by the 12 GHz for 5G Coalition (see 2312270045): “Substantial evidence in the record shows that fixed 5G services can provide broadband to tens of millions of Americans, while fully protecting existing non-geostationary orbit Fixed-Satellite Service and Direct Broadcast Satellite customers.” In another filing this week in docket 24-72, electric utilities said the approaches the FCC is examining don’t provide the certainty they need. “Currently, utilities have very few options for accessing spectrum -- particularly spectrum with the certainty provided by licensed exclusive-use -- and those limited options are increasingly insufficient in bandwidth,” they said. “The ability to access Inventory Spectrum presents one potential solution to the problem of spectrum availability.” The filing was signed by the Edison Electric Institute, the Utilities Technology Council, the Utility Broadband Alliance, FirstEnergy, Southern California Edison and the Southern Co. The Blooston Group of small and rural carriers said the best approach would be site-based licensing, which “would provide a simpler and lower cost way to promote access to spectrum in rural areas, and by entrepreneurs and smaller operators.” Third-party coordinators and licensee-to-licensee coordination “could be relied upon to minimize harmful interference between operators,” Blooston said. NCTA said the Lower 3, 7, Lower 37 and 12.7 GHz bands would be “perfectly situated -- both spectrally and technologically” for licensed-shared and unlicensed spectrum access frameworks. “A coexistence-based approach in each band would allow for efficient and cost-effective spectrum use by a diverse set of users, offer the fastest method of putting this spectrum in the hands of businesses and consumers, and enable federal and non-federal incumbents to continue providing critical services without disruption,” NCTA said.

Many small carriers could be in financial trouble if Congress doesn’t allocate more money to pay for removing unsecure Chinese-made gear from their networks, Summit Ridge Group President Armand Musey said in an interview. Congress has considered, but so far has failed to provide, the $3.08 billion needed to fully fund the Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Reimbursement Program (SCRP).

Commenters disagreed sharply on what mechanisms the FCC should use to make available unassigned licenses in its inventory absent general auction authority. Comments were posted Tuesday in docket 24-72. The FCC sought comment in March on the first anniversary of the expiration of its general auction authority (see 2403070062). Wireless carriers said grants of special temporary authority (STA) are the best alternative. Unlicensed advocates hailed the benefits of dynamic spectrum sharing.

Top DOD officials stressed the continuing military importance of the lower 3 GHz band as DOD and NTIA kick off a study of the band that the national spectrum strategy requires (see 2403120056). DOD and other administration officials during a Monday event at CTIA stressed the importance of developing more sophisticated ways of sharing spectrum. The National Spectrum Consortium also sponsored the event.

FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel circulated for a commissioner vote initial rules allowing drone use of the 5030-5091 MHz band (see 2303100028), the commission said Monday. If approved, the order would allow operators to obtain direct frequency assignments in a portion of the band for non-networked operations, the FCC said. The band is one of the five targeted for study in the national spectrum strategy (see 2403120056). “The FCC must ensure that our spectrum rules meet the current -- and future -- spectrum needs of evolving technologies such as uncrewed aircraft systems [UAS], which can be critical to disaster recovery, first responder rescue efforts, and wildfire management,” Rosenworcel said. The proposal relies on dynamic frequency management systems (DFMSs) “to manage and coordinate access to the spectrum and enable its safe and efficient use,” said a news release: “These DFMSs would provide requesting operators with temporary frequency assignments to support UAS control link communications with a level of reliability suitable for operations in controlled airspace and other safety-critical circumstances.” During an interim period, users could obtain early permission to use the spectrum, coordinating with the FAA and filing an online registration form with the commission. Under the spectrum strategy, the FCC, in coordination with NTIA and the FAA, is to “take near-term action to facilitate limited deployment of UAS in the 5030-5091 MHz band, in advance of future study of the band,” the FCC said. Under the strategy, work on future use of the band is supposed to start next March and be completed in March 2027.