The FCC’s Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau announced today that the agency’s 911 Reliability Certification System is open for filing of annual reliability certifications. They are due Oct. 15.

Courtesy TRDaily

The Rural Wireless Association is taking issue with a construction progress report that T-Mobile US, Inc., recently filed for three 700 megahertz band licenses covering areas in Montana and Wyoming. Last December, the Mobility Division of the FCC’s Wireless Telecommunications Bureau granted T-Mobile a conditional waiver of rules that mandate the acceleration by two years of the final build-out deadline (TRDaily, Dec. 21, 2106).

In an Aug. 4 ex parte filing in WT docket 16-319, RWA said that “the report does not provide any information from which T-Mobile’s current coverage area, much less the roll back area, can be determined. The report speaks in very aspirational terms in defining T-Mobile’s goals and planning but is lacking in any specifics that would show the level of coverage and service availability T-Mobile has accomplished to date. With respect to WQJQ805 and WQJQ806, T-Mobile has filed no buildout showings whatsoever. With respect to WQJQ807, T-Mobile has submitted a buildout showing current as of February 17, 2017. With respect to the former two stations, T-Mobile must be required to demonstrate actual coverage and service availability as it existed on June 13, 2017 or stipulate to the fact that no coverage or service availability existed for those two licenses as of that date. With respect to WQJQ807, T-Mobile last filed coverage and service availability information on February 17, 2017.

“If in fact there has been no expansion of coverage or service area since T-Mobile’s last construction notice showing coverage as of February 17, 2017, then at a minimum T-Mobile should stipulate to this fact,” RWA added. “If coverage and service areas were increased between December 13, 2016 and June 13, 2017 then it is incumbent upon T-Mobile to demonstrate this fact through the submission of an appropriate construction showing.

“Without the filing of system maps and shapefile data reflecting coverage as of June 13, 2017, there will be no way for potential competitors to determine the boundaries of T-Mobile’s license area in the event that it fails to meet all of the conditions imposed by the waiver letter,” RWA argued. “This point was specifically acknowledged by the Bureau in its recent decision granting a conditional waiver of section 27.14 of the rules to Alaska Wireless Network (‘AWN’) for one of its 700 MHz licenses [TR Daily, June 6]. In that case, the Bureau specifically required AWN to file ‘a showing demonstrating its geographic coverage area within 15 days of June 13, 2017’ so that the June 13, 2017 coverage area could be readily ascertained. These same concerns apply with equal force in the present case and the Bureau should rectify its potential oversight by requiring T-Mobile either to submit a construction notification for each of its licenses subject to the waiver immediately, or to include that data in its upcoming construction progress report.” —Paul Kirby, paul.kirby@wolterskluwer.com

Courtesy TRDaily

The FCC’s Wireless Telecommunications Bureau announced today that its “Form 605, Quick-Form Application for Authorization in the Ship, Aircraft, Amateur, Restricted and Commercial Operator, and General Mobile Radio Services, has been revised in both paper and electronic form to ask whether the applicant has ever been convicted of a felony, a revision consistent with application forms for other Commission services.  The previous edition of FCC Form 605 will become obsolete and the new edition of the form must be used upon deployment on Sept. 7, 2017.”

Courtesy TRDaily

Parties have generally expressed support for an FCC proposal to amend its Emergency Alert System (EAS) rules to add the event code “BLU” for Blue Alerts, but they disagree on some details, including the timeframe for deploying the new code and whether it should be voluntary. The new alert would enable the dissemination of information when law enforcement officers have been killed or seriously injured, are in imminent danger, or are missing.

In comments filed in PS docket 15-94 in response to a notice of proposed rulemaking adopted in June (TR Daily, June 22), the National Association of Broadcasters said it “supports the Commission’s commitment to public safety, and in particular, its effort to facilitate the apprehension of suspects who pose an imminent threat to law enforcement officers by notifying the public of an actionable threat to law enforcement officers. NAB recommends certain measures designed to enhance the effectiveness of Blue Alerts. Specifically, we submit that the highly successful AMBER Alert program provides a useful model for implementation of Blue Alerts. For example, like the AMBER program, a uniform approach to Blue Alerts will facilitate nationwide implementation, uniform message formulation and the consistent dissemination of Blue Alerts by EAS Participants. Also similar to AMBER Alerts, the Commission should require a comprehensive training and technical assistance program for message originators to ensure efficient message origination. Finally, we agree with the Commission’s proposed implementation period of six months, so long as a reasonable waiver process is available to broadcasters that face unexpected delays in introducing the new code.”

NAB proposed “that, as in the AMBER Alert program, Blue Alert stakeholders should agree that law enforcement officials will issue alerts only when established criteria have been met. Law enforcement officials should also help EAS Participants provide accurate information, and provide a method for handling tips and inquiries once the alert has been activated. Also, like AMBER Alerts, news organizations may use information in a Blue Alert for news purposes, and supplement that information with legitimate reporting to better inform the public. These and other criteria will help to ensure that Blue Alerts are accurate, timely and issued in an efficient manner.”

NCTA said its “member companies support the Commission’s proposal, unveiled at a recent DOJ event, to add Blue Alerts to EAS to assist in the protection and safety of police and other law enforcement officers in dire emergency situations in the line of duty. And as with other non-Presidential emergency alerts, including weather alerts and other state and local alerts, the transmission of Blue Alerts by EAS participants will be voluntary. This is consistent with the voluntary nature of the Blue Alert program and appropriate for incorporating the new code into the EAS rules.”

But NCTA noted that the NPRM “proposes to have EAS equipment manufacturers integrate the Blue Alert event code into equipment yet to be manufactured or sold, and to make necessary software upgrades available to EAS Participants within six months from the effective date of the rules. We urge the Commission to work with EAS equipment manufacturers to determine the adequacy of this timeframe. Under the proposed rules, EAS Participants may upgrade their equipment through either new equipment programmed with the new code or by installing the software upgrade from the manufacturer into existing equipment on a voluntary basis until their equipment is replaced. This is a sensible and effective approach for adopting a new code by EAS Participants based on past experience with other new EAS event codes.” Continue reading →