The FirstNet Authority board approved on Monday a $684 million budget package for FY 2025. The budget includes $100.2 million for operations and $534 million to fund network enhancements. “We are committed to investing in the future of FirstNet and public safety communications through innovation and expanding coverage,” FirstNet Authority CEO Joe Wassel said: “This is a top priority.” The authority noted it has made several investments to expand the network, including enhancing in-building coverage through small-cell technologies and expanding the fleet of deployable assets. The authority has also invested in “initial generational upgrades to the network core for 5G capabilities and beyond.”

Dover became the latest city to urge the FCC not to grant the FirstNet Authority effective control of the 4.9 GHz band (see 2406210045). The FCC’s current 4.9 GHz rules “allow effective communications by public-safety agencies and their partners in Dover, and throughout Delaware,” a filing last week in docket 07-100 said.

The FCC Wireless Bureau Monday approved utility company Evergy's request for a waiver of the agency’s 2018 900 MHz licensing freeze, thus providing it with access to additional spectrum (see 1809130064). The bureau noted that when it sought comment on the request last year, there were no filings in support or opposition (see 2309120047). “Grant of a waiver is in the public interest, as Evergy has demonstrated a long-standing need to upgrade and expand a complex multi-state communications system that is critical to its extensive utility operations and the safety of its personnel, and thereby replace significantly older, no longer supported network equipment,” the bureau said. Evergy has headquarters in Topeka, Kansas, and in Kansas City, Missouri.

AT&T and other major carriers continue clashing over giving FirstNet access to the 4.9 GHz band. The Coalition for Emergency Response and Critical Infrastructure on Friday said AT&T is attempting "a massive and illegal spectrum grab" in trying to give FirstNet what is essentially exclusive control of the band. The move would take "valuable mid-band spectrum away from local public safety users," CERCI said. It said AT&T hasn't mentioned that FirstNet customers already have access to all the carrier's 5G spectrum. Assigning the spectrum to FirstNet is "a poorly crafted nesting doll of bad licensing and legal theories designed solely to benefit AT&T" and cut off public safety users, CERCI said. The organization was responding to a docket 07-100 filing Friday in which AT&T boasted Public Safety Spectrum Alliance (PSSA) support for assigning the 4.9 GHz band spectrum to FirstNet (see 2401190067). AT&T said there's broad public safety consensus that mid-band spectrum is needed to build out 5G and integrating the spectrum into the nationwide public safety broadband network will let FirstNet improve network speed and capacity for public safety. A freeze on new entrants into the band would protect incumbents and allow robust use of otherwise underutilized spectrum, it said. AT&T said claims that FirstNet access to the band would be a windfall to the carrier are a mischaracterization. Criticizing the PSSA proposal, the California Department of Transportation last week said that a nationwide license to FirstNet "will create extensive and irreparable problems for the public-safety community." CDOT said network providers that integrate commercial spectrum and commercial network components into public safety broadband networks could deny the band's use for public safety users under the PSSA proposal.

The FCC is set to publish in the Federal Register on Monday last week’s notice from the Office of Engineering and Technology on geofencing in the 5.9 GHz band (see 2406110029). Comments are due July 5 in docket 19-138.

Alstom Transport Holding US agreed to pay a $30,000 fine and implement a compliance plan for the transfer of private wireless licenses without FCC authorization. Alstom got nine licenses from three subsidiaries of Bombardier when it purchased the businesses in January 2021, the Enforcement Bureau said Friday. In February 2022, Alstom sought consent for the transfers. The FCC approved the transfers in July 2023. The Wireless Bureau also referred the matter to the Enforcement Bureau, which launched an investigation, the order said.

Progeny updated the FCC on the buildout of its 900 MHz multilateration location and monitoring service licenses (M-LMS) in a filing Friday (docket 12-202). “Progeny is currently seeking Commission rule changes that would enable highly accurate, widescale geolocation services, greatly enhancing the efficacy and utility of Progeny’s terrestrial position, navigation, and time services as a complement and backup to the Global Positioning System,” Progeny said. Parent NextNav proposed a reconfiguration of the 902-928 MHz band in April (see 2404160043). Progeny noted last year it filed notifications of construction and coverage for M-LMS licenses covering 32 of the remaining economic areas where its network wasn’t previously operational.

The FCC on Friday proposed a $367,436 fine for ASUSTeK Computer for marketing a Wi-Fi adapter and router that allegedly were modified to operate in excess of their previously authorized power limits. The FCC also said it’s considering changing how it addresses such rules violations. ASUSTeK Computer is a Taiwanese company selling gear in the U.S. through Asus Computer, a wholly owned U.S. affiliate. RF equipment that operates at excess power “risks causing harmful interference” to other devices and “may give the violator an unfair competitive advantage,” the order said. Commissioners approved it 5-0 Thursday. The commission said it’s considering making its rules tougher. “We are concerned that in equipment marketing enforcement cases like this one -- with a small number of noncompliant equipment models, but a large volume of units sold -- our existing ‘per-model’ forfeiture calculation, even with substantial upward adjustments, may fail to yield an appropriate forfeiture amount,” the FCC said: “In future equipment marketing cases we may change our methodology for calculating forfeitures in a way that better aligns forfeitures with the harms caused by the underlying violations, including, where appropriate, increased forfeitures.” Commissioner Brendan Carr issued a statement clarifying his stance. “I do not read this item as determining whether the FCC’s upward adjustment factor applies based on the line of business relevant to the FCC’s enforcement action or based on a company’s entire operations,” he said: “I am open to the FCC considering reasonable changes in the context of an appropriate Commission proceeding.”

T-Mobile and the Competitive Carriers Association last week said the FCC should make FirstNet subject to the agency’s network outage and disaster information reporting systems. The comments were filed in docket 21-341 as the FCC took reply comments on a January Further NPRM, which raised the matter (see 2406130023). "Every other commenter -- except FirstNet -- addressing this issue also supported the extension of outage reporting requirements to FirstNet,” T-Mobile said. The carrier cited AT&T’s February outage, which also affected FirstNet (see 2402220058). “The record demonstrates support for the FCC’s proposal to extend resiliency reporting to FirstNet and similarly notes the benefits FirstNet reporting would provide,” said CCA. In addition, the group raised competition issues: “Some wireless providers compete with FirstNet, and parity in terms of FCC reporting requirements along with increased transparency in terms of network outages and resiliency will put wireless providers on a more competitively neutral footing.” In initial comments, the FirstNet Authority argued against the proposed requirement. “Information about FirstNet’s network status, infrastructure, and assets is already included as part of AT&T’s DIRS and NORS reporting and therefore available to the FCC,” the authority said. Expanding the rules to “explicitly apply to FirstNet would be duplicative.”

Railroads face a growing need for spectrum in light of requests from the National Transportation Safety Board and Federal Railroad Administration but have had difficulty identifying additional spectrum to use, the Association of American Railroads said in a meeting with FCC Wireless Bureau Chief Joel Taubenblatt and staff. AAR explained “the railroads’ current use of spectrum in the 160-161 MHz, 219.5-222 MHz, 450 MHz, 900 MHz, and 6 GHz bands,” a filing posted Thursday in docket 24-99 said. The group discussed “how the railroads continue to improve their technology and use their existing spectrum more efficiently.”