Oppositions are due Dec. 2, replies Dec. 12, to a petition asking the FCC mandate that wireless carriers and covered text providers implement texting to 988 to communicate with the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, says Tuesday's Federal Register. Petitioners include the National Association of the Deaf, National Association of State Agencies of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, Telecommunications for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, and National Federation of the Blind.
Facebook representatives spoke with FCC Chairman Ajit Pai on revised 6 GHz rules, widely expected to get a commissioner vote Dec. 10 (see 2010190040). The company wants to allow very-low-power devices to operate across the band at power levels of at least 14 dBm, said a filing posted Thursday in docket 18-295. “VLP devices are poised to offer exciting applications and yet-to-be-imagined advancements in such areas as healthcare, augmented reality/virtual reality, automotive, and fitness,” Facebook said. “Anything lower would result in dropped connections, high latency, and battery drain.”
FCC Office of Economics and Analytics data shows the digital divide is closing, said an agency release Thursday. Americans living in areas without access to terrestrial fixed broadband of at least 25/3 Mbps decreased 46% from the end of 2016 to the end of 2019. The data is based on Form 477 filings. “Services at higher speeds saw even more significant deployment, with the number of Americans living in areas without broadband speeds of at least 250/25 Mbps falling by 77% since the end of 2016,” the release said. “In just three years, the number of American consumers living in areas without access to fixed broadband has been almost cut in half,” said FCC Chairman Ajit Pai. “Today’s report confirms that our work enabled the private sector to deliver record-breaking results,” said Commissioner Brendan Carr. “The FCC should continue to prioritize a connectivity agenda and pursue reforms that will incentivize buildout of Internet infrastructure.” Free Press Policy Manager Dana Floberg disputed the FCC's progress on the digital divide. "As @freepress has shown time & again, Pai is actually taking credit for the passage of time -- not for anything his FCC has done," she tweeted. "At last count, 92% of fiber deployments made under Pai's term were actually planned & announced under his predecessor -- when #TitleII was in place!" That's referring to net neutrality and the Communications Act.
SpaceX's focus in coming months is expanding its consumer footprint in the U.S. and its service into new countries, said Vice President-Starlink and Commercial Sales Jonathan Hofeller in a Euroconsult discussion Tuesday. Canada's Innovation, Science and Economic Development Department approved SpaceX providing service last week. Hofeller said SpaceX also aims to broaden its customer base into government, educational and enterprise. Telesat Senior Vice President-Corporate and Business Development Michael Schwartz said its low earth orbit constellation is being designed to emulate fiber as much as possible, with launches to start in early 2023. He said it anticipates announcing a manufacturer of its LEO satellites later this year. Stewart Sanders, head of the SES/O3b mPower Program, said first launch of SES' mPower constellation will be in less than a year, with service commencing in 2022. Asked about the state of Iridium's 2019 memorandum of understanding with OneWeb for a combined L- and Ku-band service offering, Iridium CEO Matt Desch said he doesn't know where it stands, with OneWeb emerging from bankruptcy. "They're still resetting themselves as a company," he said.
Antitrust authorities cleared the way for Uber to buy Postmates. An FTC early termination notice dated Monday and released Tuesday ended the Hart-Scott-Rodino waiting period.
IEE Sensing spoke with FCC Office of Engineering and Technology staff on “the need for an Unattended Child Detection functionality in automobiles in order to prevent deaths by vehicular heatstroke, and how the VitaSense sensor will be able to provide that capability.” The company asked whether it needs a waiver to enable the VitaSense “to operate in the 60-64 GHz band when operations were limited to times during which the vehicle was completely stopped,” per a Monday filing in docket 20-144.
The FCC proposal that satellite operators with an earth station license in the upper microwave flexible-use service bands re-coordinate with UMFUS operators if the station isn't built out within a year creates uncertainty in deployment plans, Amazon Kuiper representatives told aides to all five commissioners, per a docket 18-314 posting Monday. Re-coordination could mean changes to earth station ability to operate without providing more terrestrial service protections, it said, and re-coordination is unnecessary since rules require satellite operators coordinate with UMFUS operators and place earth stations where UMFUS deployment is unlikely. The satellite industry seeks changes to proposed licensing rules on Nov. 18's agenda (see 2011050010).
The FCC is getting oppositions (see 2011030053) on draft rules, set for a commissioner vote next week, allowing Wi-Fi to share 45 MHz of the 5.9 GHz band. Filings were posted Monday in docket 19-138. Facebook opposes exclusion zones there. The proposal relies on “profoundly flawed analysis of federal radar operations authorized in the 5.9 GHz band -- an analysis whose assumptions about Wi-Fi operation are both inaccurate and inconsistent with the Commission’s own assumptions in the 6 GHz Order,” Facebook said: “Because the NTIA analysis did not appear in the record until very recently (Oct. 23rd), the parties have not yet had a meaningful opportunity to study and respond.” The order would “cement in place” cellular vehicle-to-everything “as the presumptive technology standard for all future automotive communications technologies,” Continental Automotive Systems said. “Because in many cases licenses to the technology at the core of C-V2X cellular standards are not directly available to many automotive industry participants in the supply chain, or if so are often subject to unreasonable terms, the exclusive use proposal generates the potential for patent holders to abuse and distort the market for the next-generation of automotive communications,” Continental said: “The Commission should have a full understanding of the consequences to the automotive supply chain in this regard.” The company spoke with Office of Engineering and Technology and Office of Economics and Analytics staff.
The FCC’s draft 5.9 GHz order doesn’t “provide sufficient certainty” for cellular vehicle-to-everything to launch quickly, 5G Automotive Alliance members warned. ‘Provide C-V2X access to the 5.9 GHz band as soon as possible,” said a filing posted Friday in docket 19-138: “The draft ruling proposes a lengthy, potentially indefinite ‘transition period’ for C-V2X operations. This transition poses significant constraints in bringing this safety technology to American travelers.” Immediately allow C-V2X roadside unit operations in the upper 30 MHz of the band reserved for C-V2X, the companies said. Ford Motor Company, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles US, BMW Group, Daimler North America, T-Mobile, Nokia and Qualcomm were among the members signing the letter. Qualcomm has made similar arguments (see 2011050048). The FCC is to vote on the order Nov. 18.
Wireless and satellite critics of AST's planned 243-satelltie non-geostationary orbit constellation to provide mobile broadband connectivity (see 2011040003) "don't know our system," CEO Abel Avellan said in an interview Thursday. He said concerns about lack of proof of interference protections and about spectrum use incompatible with FCC rules "are simply not factual," and the company will respond. The plans for satellite-based connectivity to mobile devices "is revolutionary, [and] when you bring something completely new, people don't understand it," he said. The company is seeking regulatory approvals other than the U.S. and plans to begin putting up its constellation in late 2021, he said.