The government has a big job ahead of it in coordinating with nonfederal users both before and after the AWS-3 auction “to allow commercial use of the band as soon after the auction as possible,” said Steve Sharkey, senior director at T-Mobile, Thursday in a blog post (http://bit.ly/1pdJ4Fs). The AWS-3 spectrum, like the AWS-1 band, is government spectrum being repurposed for commercial use. “Much work still needs to be done to ensure potential bidders fully understand the scope of federal incumbency, relocation timelines, and the potential for temporary or indefinite sharing through geographic or temporal access to spectrum,” Sharkey wrote. “Without additional clarity about the impact of government operations in the band, wireless carriers’ bidding strategies will have to be made in a vacuum, potentially depressing auction participation and revenues.” Potential bidders also need to be able to “determine the realistic impact of incumbent federal users through the transition,” he said. Also important is “an understanding that realistic models will be used to coordinate between industry and government,” he said.

The FCC should stick with a three-tiered framework as proposed by the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology in developing rules for the 3550-3700 MHz band, Google representatives said in a meeting with Louis Peraertz, aide to Commissioner Mignon Clyburn. The FCC will take up a rulemaking on the shared use of the band at its April 23 open meting. Google said the rules should mandate “broad eligibility for the secondary (priority access) tier of users,” according to an ex parte filing (http://bit.ly/1hPMCcI). The rules should also specify “general authorized access wherever priority access reservations are not in use” and management through a spectrum access system (SAS), the company said. “In particular, we emphasized that an SAS can adequately protect both government incumbents and priority access users,” Google said. “We also stressed that the Commission should set baseline requirements for an SAS but allow SAS providers to innovate and differentiate among themselves in offering more sophisticated technologies that enable increased spectrum utilization.”

The FTC is seeking public comment on mobile security “with an eye towards a report,” it said in a Thursday release (http://1.usa.gov/1lcCF7m). The report idea springs from the FTC’s daylong forum last June on the issue, it said. The FTC is asking for comments on secure mobile platform design, secure distribution channels, secure development practices and the security lifecycle of a mobile device. The public can file comments online (http://bit.ly/RsNVUg) until May 30. Commenters must write “Mobile Security Project, Project No. P145408” on their comment, according to FTC guidelines for submissions (http://bit.ly/1r32vfA).

Motorola Mobility representatives stressed, in a meeting with FCC staff, the importance of interoperability throughout the 3550-3700 MHz band, according to an ex parte filing at the FCC (http://bit.ly/1gB6Odb). “Interoperability would benefit consumers by improving choice and quality by enabling consumers to port their devices between service providers and enabling devices to roam on different networks,” the company said. “Motorola Mobility also reiterated its support for flexible technical rules that would facilitate LTE and Wi-Fi implementation throughout the 3550-3700 MHz band and promote international harmonization of wireless broadband spectrum allocations, which also would benefit consumers through economies of scale.” Motorola met with Louis Peraertz, aide to Commissioner Mignon Clyburn.

Emilio Ferrara, a postdoctoral researcher at Indiana University’s Center for Complex Networks and Systems Research, is using cellphone calling data to help police fight crime, said a news release from the university. The technology has already helped police in Italy solve a number of crimes, the release said (http://bit.ly/1hKvwMr). “We're learning new insights about individuals by taking very specific physical events, let’s say like a string of robberies, and identifying huge spikes of activity during that same period of time,” Ferrara said. “We can then create what we call a dynamic spring layout -- a series of nodes that represent possible members of criminal networks -- and analyze how those members interact and shape their interconnections over time.” Even a very short phone call or hang-up can provide useful information in solving crimes like theft, Ferrara said. “You have these spikes of phone activity during the times of these robberies, and those might well be the lower rung of the network, but the system also can identify what would be non-intuitive calls of interest, maybe very short, that are extremely hard to capture,” he said. “But we capture these into the network as well."

The FCC Wireless Bureau rejected a request by booster maker ClearRF that it find its signal booster Model Number WRE2710 provides “equivalent protection” to the commission’s Network Protection Standard. “We note at the outset that the ClearRF Request lacks technical specificity regarding the proposed product,” the bureau said in a Wednesday order (http://bit.ly/1paIsAk). “For example, there is no indication of the bands of operation, air interface(s) supported, or types of Machine-to-Machine (M2M) devices which can be connected to the ClearRF booster. Likewise, ClearRF provides no technical analysis or test data to support its Request."

The Competitive Carriers Association asked the FCC to pause the phase-down of legacy USF support for wireless carriers until Phase II of the Mobility Fund is operational. The request came in a filing at the FCC Tuesday (http://bit.ly/1md24z2). “We are very concerned that the FCC’s draft Report and Order on USF will be detrimental to wireless carriers and the consumers they serve, especially those in rural areas where USF support is absolutely necessary,” CCA President Steve Berry said in a statement. “To avoid furthering the dominance of the legacy twin Bells, the FCC must act immediately to put USF reform efforts back on track to promote competition and benefit consumers who are choosing wireless services more and more each day.” Berry also urged the FCC to eliminate the right of first refusal for incumbent price-cap carriers. “Price-cap carriers already have been given the opportunity to accept support, and giving them another ‘first opportunity’ would allow them to take advantage of the process to maximize their own revenues, to the detriment of consumers,” he said. “The FCC has the opportunity to put USF reform on the right track again. Wireless carriers got the short end of the stick the first go-round -- with a 60 percent reduction of funding despite contributing more than half of the high-cost support funding -- and it’s time the FCC focused on restoring competition rather than further skewing USF support in favor of wireline carriers."

Smartphone anti-theft steps announced by the wireless industry late Tuesday were criticized by local officials as “inadequate” and as “an incremental yet inadequate step to address the epidemic of smartphone theft.” CTIA and participating wireless companies announced (http://bit.ly/1mcQOmq) the “Smartphone Anti-Theft Voluntary Commitment,” in which new models of smartphones manufactured after July 2015 will have a preloaded or downloadable tool that would wipe out the authorized user’s personal data, render the smartphone inoperable to unauthorized users and prevent reactivation without the user’s permission if the device is reported lost or stolen. The “'opt-in’ proposal misses the mark if the ultimate goal is to combat street crime and violent thefts involving smartphones and tablets,” said a statement from California Sen. Mark Leno (D), sponsor of California Senate Bill 962, which would require smartphones and tablets to be disabled if reported lost or stolen (CD April 2 p14). “For stolen phones to have no resale value on the black market, the vast majority of consumers must have the theft-deterrent feature pre-enabled on their phones, using an ‘opt-out’ solution. Inexplicably, the mobile industry refuses to take this approach, which will simply prolong the epidemic of thefts we're seeing in California and the rest of the country.” New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman and San Francisco District Attorney George Gascón said in a joint statement (http://bit.ly/1mcVKrw) that the commitment “falls short of what is needed to effectively end the epidemic of smartphone theft. We strongly urge CTIA and its members to make their anti-theft features enabled by default on all devices, rather than relying on consumers to opt-in. The industry also has a responsibility to protect its consumers now and not wait until next year. Every week that passes means more people are victimized in street crimes that often turn violent, and more families will have to endure the needless loss of a loved one.” Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., who introduced legislation requiring the so-called kill switches, called the commitment “another important milestone in the fight against cell phone theft. ... We need to ensure that manufacturers and providers not only make good on this commitment but continue to take steps to make sure that all consumers have access to the most advanced technologies to protect their smartphones and personal information” (http://1.usa.gov/1m7BVUP). The CTIA press release said the commitment “will continue to protect consumers while recognizing the companies’ need to retain flexibility so they may constantly innovate.”

A second request for an extension by California’s Coachella Valley Water District to provide a cost estimate for the reconfiguration of its 800 MHz communications system to Sprint and the 800 MHz Transition Administrator was denied Wednesday by the FCC’s Public Safety Bureau. Coachella already had received an extension until March 31 and then wanted a second extension until Aug. 31, said Michael Wilhelm, deputy chief, Policy and Rules Division, in the order (http://bit.ly/1l3k8hZ). Coachella had said it needed more time because it had not signed its Planning Funding Agreement with Motorola Solutions until recently, the order said. Wilhelm wrote that the PFA was received in January and there was no reason why Coachella needs until August to comply.

Members of two groups that illegally distributed copies of copyrighted Android mobile applications pleaded guilty to engaging in separate efforts to distribute more than 1 million app copies, the Department of Justice said Tuesday night. Thomas Pace, of Oregon City, Ore., pleaded guilty Tuesday to one count of conspiracy to commit criminal copyright infringement. He’s to be sentenced July 9. DOJ claimed Pace and fellow members of the Appbucket Group illegally reproduced and distributed more than 1 million copies of Android apps, worth more than $700,000, between August 2010 and August 2012. Thomas Nye and Appbucket Group leader Nicholas Narbone pleaded guilty to the same charge in March, DOJ said. Kody Jon Peterson, of Clermont, Fla., pleaded guilty Monday to one count of conspiracy to commit criminal copyright infringement. His sentencing date hasn’t been set. DOJ claimed Peterson and other members of the SnappzMarket Group illegally reproduced and distributed more than one million copies of Android apps, with a retail value of more than $1.7 million, between May 2011 and August 2012 (http://1.usa.gov/1eSiSWR). U.S. law enforcement authorities seized websites belonging to Appbucket and SnappzMarket, along with a third website, applanet.net, in August 2012.