Wireless Infrastructure Order Published in Federal Register

On March 22, 2018, the Commission adopted the Wireless Infrastructure Streamlining Report and Order (Vol. XV, Issue 13).  Last week, the Order was published in the Federal Register, with an effective date of July 2, 2018.  As we previously reported, the Order exempts small cell deployments from NHPA and NEPA review, updates the tribal review process, and includes an agency “shot clock” for processing Environmental Assessments.  

Last week, PDV Wireless, Inc. (PDV) and the Enterprise Wireless Alliance (EWA) filed a revised proposal for a Private Enterprise Broadband (PEBB) in the 900 MHz band, shifting its proposed 3 x 3 MHz PEBB allocation down 400 kHz to 897.600-900.600/936.600-939.600 MHz and modifying its proposed licensing rules. Last August, the Commission adopted a Notice of Inquiry in response to PDV and EWA’s Petition for Rulemaking (Vol. XIV, Issue 32).  The revised proposal attempts to address some of the concerns raised by parties in response to the Notice of Inquiry.  

FCC Grants Honda Accessibility Waiver

Last week, the FCC issued a Memorandum Opinion and Order granting Honda Motor Company a limited waiver of the Commission’s accessibility rules.  The rules generally require user interfaces on a covered digital apparatus to be accessible to individuals with sight or hearing impairments.  In 2017, the Commission granted Honda a 20-month waiver of this requirement for the rear entertainment systems in its Acura MDX.  The Order last week extended this waiver to model year 2020 vehicles and also granted the company a waiver of the Commission’s rule that would otherwise require Honda to adopt a simple and easy to use activation mechanism for closed captioning and video description through the rear entertainment system.  The Commission’s accessibility rules were adopted pursuant to the 21^st Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act of 2010 (CVAA).  

Feasibility of Sharing in the 3.7-4.2 GHz Band

Last week, the Commission issued a Public Notice seeking comment for a report that will address the feasibility of allowing commercial wireless services to use or share use of the 3.7-4.2 GHz spectrum band.  The report is required by the recently enacted MOBILE NOW Act (Vol. VX, Issue 13).  The Public Notice seeks comment on how sharing in this band could be accomplished and how it might impact existing users already operating in the band.  Comments are due May 31, 2018 and Reply Comments are due June 15, 2018.  

911 Wireless Routing NOI Reply Comment Extension

On May 2, 2018, the FCC’s Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau granted a joint motion to extend the Reply Comment period for the Commission’s Notice of Inquiry which seeks to reduce the number of wireless 911 calls routed to incorrect PSAPs (Vol. XV, Issue 14).  The Reply Comment deadline has been extended to June 28, 2018.