Comments are due Aug. 19, replies Sept. 3, on a Further NPRM on the voluntary cyber-trust mark program FCC commissioners approved in March (see 2403180046), a notice for Thursday’s Federal Register said. Topics raised in the FNPRM include the format of cybersecurity label administrator (CLA) and lead administrator applications, filing fees for CLA applications, the criteria for selecting CLAs and the lead administrator and CLA sharing of lead administrator expenses. Comments should be filed in docket 23-239.

Boost Mobile prepaid and Boost Infinite postpaid brands will be offered as Boost Mobile, EchoStar announced Wednesday. “Boost Mobile is now the only nationwide carrier with both prepaid and postpaid mobile services under one name because Boost believes how you pay is not a product,” EchoStar said. The company said it’s offering “simplified pricing” with unlimited plans starting at $25 a month, and is “kicking off a nationwide brand and advertising campaign.” EchoStar also offered a 30-day money-back guarantee allowing new customers to try Boost Mobile's 5G network “risk free.” EchoStar owns Dish Network, which obtained Boost Mobile from T-Mobile as part of an agreement with regulators allowing T-Mobile to buy Sprint (see 1911180038).

Verizon has hired advisers as it looks to sell a package of up to 6,000 towers, Bloomberg reported Tuesday, citing unnamed sources. The package could reportedly bring in more than $3 billion. In 2015, Verizon sold the rights to lease and operate 11,000 towers to American Tower for an upfront payment of $5 billion (see 1502050059). The rumored price is too low, New Street’s Philip Burnett told investors: “We suspect this price is based on Verizon and AT&T’s tower sales a decade ago. Based on recent transactions and market [comparisons], we estimate the assets could sell for close to three times the rumored deal value.”

The FCC Wireless Bureau sought comment Tuesday on North East Offshore's request for a waiver of the freeze on nonfederal applications for new or expanded Part 90 operations in the 3100-3550 MHz band (see 1905290011). Comments are due July 31, replies Aug. 21, in docket 24-212. “North East argues that ‘there have been no indications that either the FCC or NTIA is considering reallocating the 3100-3300 MHz band’ and notes that its proposed operations are for a proposed facility more than 40 kilometers” off the U.S. coast, the bureau said.

Samsung Electronics America representatives met with aides to FCC Commissioners Geoffrey Starks and Anna Gomez about the company’s request for a waiver on a 5G base station radio that works across citizens broadband radio service and C-band spectrum (see 2309130041). Samsung “emphasized its dedication to the success of CBRS and 5G, generally,” in the U.S., a filing posted Tuesday in docket 23-93 said. Samsung noted the commission has had the waiver request for more than 700 days.

Global smartphone shipments increased 6.5% year over year to 285.4 million units in Q2, IDC said Monday. While that marks the fourth consecutive quarter of shipment growth “and builds the momentum towards the expected recovery this year, demand has yet to come around in full and remains challenged in many markets,” IDC said. Samsung led with an 18.9% market share, down from 20% a year ago. Apple was second at 15.8%, down from 16.6%. China’s Xiaomi was third at 14.8%, up from 12.4% a year ago. Nabila Popal, research director with IDC's Worldwide Tracker team, noted that prices are increasing, as is buzz about generative AI smartphones. “As Apple and Samsung both continue to push the top of the market and benefit the most from the ongoing premiumization trend, many leading Chinese [manufacturers] are increasing shipments in the low end in an attempt to capture volume share amidst weak demand,” Popal said.

Tango Networks, a wireless provider with operations in the U.S. and other nations, urged that the FCC take an aggressive approach on handset unlocking requirements proposed in an NPRM. The NPRM is set for a vote on Thursday (see 2406270068). Applying proposed changes to existing contracts “would provide immediate benefit" for consumers "with little impact to the service providers holding those contracts,” Tango said in a filing last week in docket 24-186. Service providers in other countries and Verizon Wireless “have proven that long term device locking is not required to prevent fraud.” Tango also said increasing the number of unlocked devices on the secondary market “would enable businesses to provide mobile service to a greater number of their employees.” Tango noted it also has operations in other countries in North America and Europe.

The 12-month compliance timeline in the FCC's draft next-generation 911 order might be insufficient for smaller providers, according to the Competitive Carriers Association. The order is part of the FCC's July agenda (see 2406260058). In a docket 18-64 filing Monday recapping meetings with the offices of Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel and Commissioner Brendan Carr, CCA said non-nationwide commercial mobile radio service providers should have at least 18 months for each phase of the NG911 transition following a request from a 911 authority, rather than 12 months. It urged the FCC to clarify that it will consider waiver requests from non-nationwide CMRS providers in completing connections. In addition, it asked the FCC to clarify that when a provider falls into two categories for the purposes of compliance time frames, the longer compliance time frame applies.

Verizon CEO Hans Vestberg, who earlier met with FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel to oppose giving FirstNet and AT&T control of the 4.9 GHz band (see 2407010041), discussed the band with Commissioners Geoffrey Starks and Nathan Simington. Vestberg repeated arguments that the FCC shouldn’t provide AT&T free access to mid-band spectrum valued at more than $14 billion. “If the Commission chooses to make the 4.9 GHz band available for public safety and commercial wireless use, it must assign this spectrum through an appropriate competitive process (e.g., auction, bidding process, etc.) rather than gifting the spectrum to one commercial provider,” said a filing Thursday in docket 07-100. AT&T didn’t comment. The filing doesn’t clarify how Verizon arrived at the $14 billion figure.

Representatives of the Schools, Health & Libraries Broadband Coalition and the Open Technology Institute at New America asked the FCC to expand its draft order allowing schools and libraries to use E-rate support for off-premises Wi-Fi hot spots and wireless internet services to include partnerships with nontraditional providers (see 2406270068). The draft order “would only provide subsidy for traditional, commercially available hotspots and services, which could skew the market and prevent schools and libraries from considering lower-priced and higher quality options,” the groups said: They asked the commission to consider allowing support for alternative services and devices, including anchor-enabled networks, “outside of those offered by traditional mobile carriers.” The groups met with aides to FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel, Commissioners Geoffrey Starks and Anna Gomez, and Wireline Bureau staff, a filing posted Friday in docket 21-31 said. The Wireless ISP Association, meanwhile, met with aides to Starks and Gomez on whether the FCC has legal authority to adopt the order. With those meetings, the group has now met with aides to all five commissioners (see 2407100028).