Continental Automotive Systems representatives met with aides to FCC Commissioners Brendan Carr and Geffrey Starks on concerns over patents for cellular vehicle-to-everything technology in the 5.9 GHz band, said a filing posted Friday in docket 19-138. That follows a meeting with an aide to Commissioner Nathan Simington (see 2304030043). Potentials problems can be “rectified by Commission action to provide corrective measures to promote fairness in the C-V2X marketplace,” the company said: “As the Commission is requiring the use of C-V2X technologies in the U.S., it should require that C-V2X-related patent licenses be available to all who seek them for the purpose of complying with the Commission’s regulation. By mandating licensing, the Commission will in turn allow diverse companies of all sizes and national origins, and from across industries, to participate in the C-V2X market.”
Country of origin cases
The FCC’s proposed policy statement on receivers lays out core principles to “help inform the Commission’s future actions and stakeholder expectations about interference from spectrally and spatially proximate sources,” according to a draft released Thursday for the commissioners’ April 20 open meeting. The draft draws on recommendations in a 2015 report by the FCC’s Technology Advisory Council.
The FCC is taking next steps on receivers, proposing a policy statement with "high-level principles" rather than rules or standards, which some industry observers had expected (see 2301180046), at commissioners' April 20 open meeting, FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel said Wednesday. The meeting is another busy one for the agency. The agenda includes a draft order on spectrum sharing rules among non-geostationary orbit (NGSO) fixed satellite service (FSS) systems, which has gotten little consensus among satellite operators (see 2204270015). Commissioners will also take on additional rules to get tough on Chinese carriers still operating in the U.S.
The Oklahoma Corporation Commission softened a staff-recommended proposal to require carriers to notify other telecom companies about outages, after receiving AT&T opposition. At a livestreamed meeting Tuesday, OCC members voted 3-0 to approve a package of changes to state telecom rules in docket 2023-000005. Commissioners also agreed in the same matter to adjust directory rules and ban door-to-door Lifeline enrollment. The OCC also voted 3-0 for changes to state USF process rules (docket 2023-000005). All three commissioners opposed an alternative option to automatically approve staff-recommended changes to the contribution factor if the commission doesn’t issue an order within 31 days. AT&T Director-External Affairs Jason Constable said the outage reporting proposal was "extremely onerous and burdensome" and "technically infeasible." The commission instead should require carriers to provide, upon request, 24-hour contact information for discussing possible service outages, he said. Commissioners supported the contact-information approach with a plan to return to the item later. Contact information isn’t enough, said Bill Bullard, attorney for Consolidated Communications and other rural LECs. Bullard supported OCC staff’s original plan. "This is an ongoing problem that has gotten worse over the years." AT&T’s proposed requirement is already a standard part of the carrier’s contracts with CLECs, said Bullard. Commissioners also agreed with AT&T’s suggested change to a proposed rule requiring white pages directories only to areas where at least one person has requested a directory. Chairman Todd Hiett and Commissioner Bob Anthony supported Constable’s suggestion to increase that threshold to at least 10 requests, and to require publication every 18 months. CTIA warned last month that USF changes recommended by OCC staff to streamline the process could exacerbate the fund’s uncontrolled growth (see 2302270054).
Some states have fairly sharp pencils for estimated awards from NTIA’s broadband, equity, access and deployment (BEAD), but others are working with wide ranges. States were mixed on whether it's challenging to plan their broadband programs without knowing the award amount. NTIA is expected to make funding allocation announcements June 30.
Blue Origin's failed New Shepherd rocket launch on Sept. 12 was due to a failure of an engine nozzle, which then triggered the crew capsule escape system, the company said Friday. The mission was unmanned. It said the crew capsule and payloads on board landed safely and will be flown again. It said all systems designed for public safety "functioned as planned," and it's making changes to engine design and expects to resume flights soon.
Satellite industry representatives pushed for changes to the FCC International Bureau's guidance on earth station methodologies, in a meeting with FCC officials, per a docket 17-172 filing Thursday. The satellite reps urged eliminating limits on earth station collocation that conflict with commission rules and reverting to the original definition of highways and arterial roads as those defined and classified by the Department of Transportation. They said applicants should be able to decide on earth station antenna gain pattern used to show compliance, and the agency should allow earth station applicants to rely on equivalent isotopically radiated power data reflecting clear sky conditions. Representatives of OneWeb, Inmarsat, Intelsat, Telesat and the Satellite Industry Association met with International and Wireless Bureau staff.
Wireless industry commenters and public safety groups agreed on the need for some flexibility, in reply comments on an FCC proposal that carriers more precisely route wireless 911 calls and texts to public safety answering points through location-based routing (LBR). Disagreements remain on some implementation details (see 2302170044). Comments were posted Monday and Tuesday on an NPRM commissioners approved 4-0 in December (see 2212210047).
A Maryland children’s privacy bill cleared the House Economic Committee and second reading on the floor Friday, with amendments. The committee heard testimony earlier this month on HB-901, which is based on California’s Age-Appropriate Design Code Act (see 2303010062). Amendments included edits to definitions of sell, consumer, biometric information and targeted advertising. Also, the bill would now cover products sold after April 1, 2025, rather than July 1, 2024, in the original bill.
An FCC robotexting order approved Thursday (see 2303160061) and posted Friday interjects a changed focus from “unwanted” text messages to “potentially harmful” and “unlawful” texts. Officials said Thursday the order included “minor” tweaks addressing changes sought by Commissioner Brendan Carr and industry. CTIA was able to get several changes it sought, based on a side-by-side comparison. Commissioners made few changes to a Stir/Shaken order, also released Friday.