The FCC Wireline Bureau wants comment by Oct. 20, replies by Nov. 4, in docket 17-142 to refresh the record on broadband access in multiple tenant environment buildings, said Monday's Federal Register (see 2109070047).

The Wireless ISP Association asked the FCC to tweak its draft Further NPRM on the 4.9 GHz band (see 2109150055). Don't "simply seek comment, but" instead "‘tentatively conclude’ that it should allow non-public safety” uses, WISPA said Friday. Others should be required to “ensure that public safety licensees are protected from harmful interference with appropriate technical rules and coordination procedures that do not undercut the ability of WISPs and others to use the band,” the group said. WISPA said 5 GHz devices “can be easily adapted for operation” here.

Northwell telehealth services are accessible on the Walgreens Find Care platform in New York state under the digital component of a five-year “strategic affiliation” agreement announced Thursday between the national pharmacy chain and New York’s largest healthcare provider. The agreement also calls for expanding patients’ access to virtual emergency care services from board-certified doctors, they said.

Walmart’s first U.S. “multi-city autonomous delivery collaboration” will offer “last mile” service using Ford self-driving test vehicles equipped with the Argo AI self-driving system to deliver Walmart orders to consumers in Austin, Miami and Washington, said the companies Wednesday. The service will be available to Walmart customers “within defined service areas” of the three markets and will expand over time, they said. “Initial integration testing” will begin later this year, they said: “As consumer expectations continue to shift to next-day or same-day delivery -- especially in the urban core where there is a higher concentration of deliveries -- this collaboration will drive key learnings in how autonomous technology can enhance customer experiences, while also optimizing logistics and operations.”

DOJ’s lawsuit against Google for “monopolizing search and search advertising markets remains a major priority,” Associate Attorney General Vanita Gupta said Tuesday. The No. 3 Justice official spoke at a Georgetown Law antitrust symposium. She said DOJ’s complaint focuses on how Google’s “anti-competitive conduct has harmed competition, similar to how Microsoft did decades ago in favoring Internet Explorer and locking out Netscape.” She referenced how Google’s “anti-competitive conduct has affected a huge range of consumer choices.” DOJ will continue scrutinizing acquisitions involving “dominant firms and would-be rivals,” she said, noting the control that few digital platforms have over communications. She welcomed congressional interest in “providing new tools and resources for antitrust enforcement.” Powerful companies too often “exploit consumers and tilt the playing field in favor of the already powerful,” she said. Google didn't comment.

Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey (D) opened a probe into the T-Mobile data breach, her office said Tuesday. Healey is asking if the company had enough safeguards to protect consumer and mobile device information. T-Mobile said last month a hacker used brute force to hack into the carrier’s system and steal customer data (see 2108270043). T-Mobile didn’t comment by our deadline.

Amazon pacts with wholesalers harm consumers by increasing prices and hurting competition on online marketplaces, said District of Columbia Attorney General Karl Racine (D), adding that charge about first-party sellers to his May antitrust lawsuit at D.C. Superior Court (case 2021 CA 001775 B). The original complaint alleged Amazon practiced “anticompetitive restraint” at least until two years ago by barring its third-party sellers through a “price parity provision” in its contracts from offering their products at lower prices on a competing online retail sales platform (see 2105250050). Monday’s amended complaint alleges it's anti-competitive to require first-party sellers to guarantee Amazon a certain minimum profit. That minimum margin agreement means if Amazon lowers its price to match or beat another online marketplace a wholesaler must compensate Amazon for the difference between the minimum and actual profit, said the AG's office: To avoid those payments, wholesalers increase prices on other online marketplaces. “Amazon has continued to use its dominant position as an online marketplace to rig the system,” said Racine. An Amazon spokesperson emailed that what the AG seeks “would result in higher prices to customers, whether offered directly by Amazon or by third parties in our store, oddly going against core objectives of antitrust law." The court plans an initial scheduling conference Oct. 28 at 10:30 a.m.

A federal judge said Apple engaged in anti-competitive conduct without violating federal antitrust laws in Epic v. Apple (see 2010090015). Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers ruled Friday Apple can’t block developers from directing users away from Apple in-app purchases. “While this decision includes some relief for consumers, app developers, startups, and other innovators, it is clear that courts continue to narrowly interpret the antitrust laws in favor of monopolies and against consumers, workers, and small businesses,” wrote Reps. Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., and David Cicilline, D-R.I. “This ruling reaffirms what we heard in our Senate hearing last spring: app stores raise serious competition concerns,” said Senate Antitrust Subcommittee Chair Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn. The ruling increases the likelihood of related legislation passing Congress, Cowen emailed investors. Apple may seek “a quick injunction against the enforcement” of Gonzalez Rogers’ “revisions to the App Store,” wrote analyst Paul Gallant. The company “has decent shot at near-term injunction,” if it seeks one, with a ruling on that in “perhaps 1-2 months,” he added. The judge "affirmed what we’ve known all along: the App Store is not in violation of antitrust law," an Apple spokesperson emailed. "As the Court recognized ‘success is not illegal.’ Apple faces rigorous competition in every segment in which we do business." The company didn't answer our question about plans for an injunction request.

U.S. interest remains high in using 5G networks for enterprise IoT applications, but deployment questions and uncertainties abound, reported the Information Services Group Thursday. Many companies rolling out IoT remain concerned about cybersecurity, “and they’re turning to service providers to help them protect the data flowing over IoT systems,” said ISG. There’s “rampant” hype about 5G, “and not all spectrum types are available in a particular country or on a particular mobile network,” said analyst Ron Exler. “Enterprises need to work with their network and IoT providers to manage the selection of replacement technologies in advance of shuttering events, preferably in conjunction with 5G deployment.”

A new Motorola AI-enabled in-car video system for law enforcement has an in-car camera that begins recording when an individual enters the back of a police car, said the company Wednesday. The technology is designed to ensure that the presence of a person in a police vehicle is securely recorded and that video evidence is automatically tagged and saved to an incident record, it said. The system is also equipped with advanced license plate recognition, which uses AI to raise critical alerts, such as identifying a vehicle that may be associated with a person.