Colorado tower building company Centerline Solutions said it bought wireless project management firm Cascadia PM, expanding Centerline’s operations in Alaska, Hawaii, Oregon and Washington. Centerline already had a presence in Hawaii and Washington, along with offices in Arizona, Colorado and New York. Centerline didn’t reveal the terms of the deal. Centerline’s clients have included all four major national wireless carriers.

T-Mobile found a way to pique interest at CES: The self-proclaimed uncarrier is giving away bags of cash. To highlight T-Mobile’s new 10 GB data plan, the carrier is sponsoring the #DataStash DASH at the conference. At the top of every hour, T-Mobile is tweeting the location of the prizes. The first three people who show up get a bag. “One of them is filled with $1,000 cash and the other two are packed with prizes such as new smartphones, tablets and free T-Mobile service,” T-Mobile said in a news release.

TIA filed a petition for reconsideration Friday with the FCC to seek revisions to the commission’s 700 MHz narrowband transition order to reflect that it may not be feasible for a manufacturer to have completed all the requirements for the Project 25 Compliance Assessment Program certification at the time it submits a device to the FCC for approval. TIA said in its filing that it strongly supports the CAP compliance program but it feels the rules need to be revised “to more fully reflect the product development process in which devices are mature enough for submission for FCC type acceptance before CAP certification testing is feasible.” Most of the rules in the order, which eliminated the Dec. 31, 2016, deadline for public safety licensees using 700 MHz narrowband spectrum to transition their radio systems to 6.25 kHz technology, took effect Friday (see 1412020053).

Replying to a petition by Marriott and others seeking FCC guidance on how they can protect the security and quality of their Wi-Fi networks, the Open Technology Institute at the New America Foundation and Public Knowledge said in comments posted Tuesday that network operators “have many alternative and permissible ways to combat cybersecurity threats and criminal activities -- including notification of the relevant law enforcement authorities. By contrast, nothing could more undermine the stability of our wireless infrastructure than to authorize a set of trigger-happy vigilantes to engage in wide-area jamming at will.” The groups said hotels “employ security guards to help manage their property and provide a first line defense against theft, trespass or other threats to their guests. No one imagines that these private security guards should have SWAT-team style weapons and body armor, or that hotels should force guests through a TSA-like body scan to prevent terrorist attacks. Similarly, hotels (and other operators) have more than adequate means to protect their networks without resorting to jamming. The concerns articulated by the Hotel interests do not justify a resort to willful interference with non-hotel Wi-Fi networks or devices.” Marriott and co-petitioners, the American Hospitality and Lodging Association and Ryman Hospitality Properties, have said the hotel doesn't intend to block guests’ ability to access the Internet through their own Wi-Fi services (see 1501010001).

Apple hasn’t announced a definitive 2015 launch date yet for the Apple Watch, but that’s not stopping a small Evansville, Indiana, supplier from laying claim to fielding what it calls "the first great Apple Watch accessory." The supplier, Standzout, is using a CES exhibit in the Las Vegas Convention Center’s North Hall to demonstrate prototypes of an Apple Watch docking station it calls the Bandstand, the company said in an emailed media alert Sunday. Calling the Apple Watch "the new king of wearables," though it hasn’t yet reached the commercial market, Standzout said the Bandstand has been designed "from the ground up to make the experience of using the Apple Watch easier, more natural, and more beautiful." The Bandstand is designed to be "the nightly home" for an Apple Watch, it said. It will include integrated charging using Apple’s inductive charger, plus additional ports to allow the user to charge two other USB devices simultaneously, including an iPad, the company said. "It also features a pivoting watch platform, to adjust the angle of the watch for visibility from any angle." With the built-in charging for the Apple Watch and two additional USB devices, Standzout expects to price the Bandstand "around the $99.99 range," CEO Brandon Barnard emailed us Sunday. "We are still early in development to offer exact pricing." Availability of the Bandstand will come "within weeks of the Apple Watch release for reasons of needing to evaluate for exact fit and testing," Barnard said. Asked for his company's latest intelligence on when it thinks Apple Watch will debut, Barnard said: "We have no other information other than what is publicly available." What Apple originally touted as wireless charging technology for the Apple Watch isn't wireless at all because it uses a wire with a magnet on the end (see 1409160022). Referring in the media alert to Apple's long-term status as a CES exhibitor holdout, Standzout said: "This year's CES is jam-packed with amazing tech from hot companies around the world. You're going to be busy. But one of the year's biggest stories, the Apple Watch, isn't likely to make an appearance. "

The FCC’s AWS-3 auction restarted Monday after its holiday break. the number of new bids has dropped to less than 20 per round. The FCC will increase the number of rounds per day Tuesday to ten from eight to further accelerate the conclusion of the auction. BTIG analyst Walter Piecyk said in a note to investors, “At this rate, we could see a conclusion by the end of the week.”

The Enterprise Wireless Alliance sought certification as a frequency coordinator for Medical Body Area Networks within the 2360-2390 MHz band. EWA said Wednesday it has “thoroughly reviewed the record in this matter and understands the frequency coordinator requirements and obligations.” The FCC approved the MBANs service more than two years ago, but the networks haven't been deployed (see 1410240038). The networks are to be licensed by rule on a secondary basis in the band. “MBAN technology will provide a flexible platform for the wireless networking of multiple body transmitters used for measuring and recording physiological parameters and other patient information or for performing diagnostic or therapeutic functions, primarily in health care facilities,” EWA said. It said just over 5,720 hospitals are registered in the U.S.

Officials from the Enterprise Wireless Alliance and Pacific DataVision met with an aide to FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler to discuss their November petition asking for a rulemaking proceeding to realign the 896-901/935-940 MHz (900 MHz) band to create a private enterprise broadband allocation, said a filing posted by the FCC Wednesday in proceeding RM-11738. The main subject of the meeting was the history of the 900 MHz band and a proposal that the FCC “realign this 30-year old 5/5 MHz allocation to provide a 3/3 MHz broadband segment for deployment of build-to-suit systems as requested by Business/Industrial/Land Transportation entities, with mandatory priority access for critical infrastructure industry entities,” the filing said.

The Alaska Wireless Network, the underlying facilities-based carrier for GCI Wireless and ACS Wireless, asked the FCC for a waiver of its requirement that starting Wednesday all wireless carriers had to be able to provide text-to-911 service to emergency call centers. AWN said it has been working with two vendors, Intrado and TeleCommunications Systems, on a possible solution. “Both vendors informed AWN of an issue within LTE network standards that prevent their solutions from capturing and passing through the cell-level location information associated with text messages on AWN’s LTE network, which covers the most populous areas of Alaska,” AWN said. The issue is solvable, but at significant costs, AWN said. “Given the high cost of service and relatively modest served population, it is not reasonable for AWN to commit resources to network architecture of the kinds the nationwide GSM LTE carriers have adopted, including installing the kinds of location infrastructure that those carriers leverage to provide coarse location information for texts to 911,” AWN said.

Marriott released a statement further explaining its position on controlling Wi-Fi at its hotels. In August, Marriott, joined by the American Hospitality and Lodging Association and Ryman Hospitality Properties, asked the FCC to clarify the extent to which companies can manage networks on their properties without violating FCC rules, and the FCC sought comment. CTIA, Google, NCTA and other commenters said such network management is a clear violation of FCC rules (see 1412220055). “To set the record straight it has never been nor will it ever be Marriott's policy to limit our guests' ability to access the Internet by all available means, including through the use of personal Mi-Fi and/or Wi-Fi devices,” Marriott said in a statement. “As a matter of fact, we invite and encourage our guests to use these Internet connectivity devices in our hotels. To be clear, this matter does not involve in any way Wi-Fi access in hotel guestrooms or lobby spaces.” The question is merely “what measures a network operator can take to detect and contain rogue and imposter Wi-Fi hotspots” in meeting rooms and otherwise on hotel property, Marriott said. The company cited the growing use of wireless technology to launch cyberattacks and “purposefully disrupt hotel networks.” That's why it and others are seeking clarity, the company said: “We feel this is extremely important as we are increasingly being asked what measures we take to protect our conference and meeting guests and the conference groups that are using Wi-Fi technology in our hotels.”