CTIA and Competitive Carrier Association officials discussed their recent letter calling for an interim waiver of the agency’s “former defaulter” rule prior to the AWS-3 auction, at a series of meetings at the FCC, said an ex parte filing posted by the FCC Monday (http://bit.ly/1pL9tYs). The rule requires bidders to make larger upfront payments for licenses if they ever defaulted on a license or were delinquent on a debt owed to a federal agency (CD June 3 p1). CCA and CTIA officials met with Wireless Bureau Chief Roger Sherman and aides to FCC commissioners, among others at the agency. “If administered properly” the AWS-3 auction will “unleash 65 megahertz of mobile broadband spectrum -- thus playing a vital role in addressing the wireless industry’s continued need for spectrum,” the filing said. “Unfortunately, an overly broad application of the former defaulter rule could inhibit robust auction participation.” The filing was in docket 14-78.

A Boingo Wireless subsidiary won a contract with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey to design, install and operate distributed antenna system and Wi-Fi networks in parts of the World Trade Center in Manhattan. The contract went to New York Telecom Partner, a Boingo subsidiary, said a Monday news release (http://on.wsj.com/VgddpG). The DAS system will cover more than 1.6 million square feet of the World Trade Center, the company said. “Boingo will also install high density Wi-Fi networks, providing complimentary Wi-Fi access to visitors throughout the public areas of the Transportation Hub, retail spaces and other core locations.” The networks are to launch next year with the opening of the World Trade Center Transportation Hub, Boingo said.

The first job for new Sprint CEO Marcelo Claure should be increasing the number of gross subscriber additions, Wells Fargo said Friday in a research note. Analyst Jennifer Fritzsche reported on a call the firm held with Claure, who’s replacing Dan Hesse (CD Aug 7 p1). “His three strategic priorities are (mentioned in this order): 1) effective cost management, 2) bringing compelling offers to potential customers, and 3) continued focus on the network,” Fritzsche wrote.

The FCC has the authority to exempt distributed antenna systems and small cells from environmental and historic preservation review and should take that step as quickly as it can, CTIA said in a letter to the commission. “There can be no doubt that the Commission has both the legal authority and the record to support the creation of the requested categorical exclusion,” the group said (http://bit.ly/1r0sPMU). “The buildout of wireless broadband infrastructure -- both to provide more universal availability and to expand the bandwidth available to the public -- cannot be accomplished in a timely manner unless the FCC streamlines its processes, wherever it can.” The filing was posted Friday in docket 11-59.

Open Mobile Alliance added more than 30 members, including Stream Communications in Scotland, France-based Thales and Chicago-based Telular. Some companies have withdrawn their membership, said a Friday Federal Register notice (http://1.usa.gov/1r7AfJI). Interop Technologies in Fort Meyers, Florida, Motorola in Illinois and Oracle in Palo Alto, California, are among the companies that have withdrawn, it said.

The Broadway League took FCC Commissioner Mike O'Rielly on a backstage tour of the Majestic Theatre in New York City to explain in more detail how wireless mics are used on Broadway, said a Tuesday filing by The Broadway League in docket 08-166 (http://bit.ly/V1y5RI). O'Rielly was accompanied by members of his staff and had sought the tour to answer his questions about the “use, control and frequency coordination” of wireless mics in theaters. The FCC is examining how such mics are regulated as part if its work on the TV incentive auction.

Apple and Samsung took care to note in a joint announcement Wednesday that their decision to drop all litigation between them outside of the U.S. doesn’t extend to existing lawsuits pending in U.S. courts. In a joint statement, the companies said, “Samsung and Apple have agreed to drop all litigation between the two companies outside the United States. This agreement does not involve any licensing arrangements, and the companies are continuing to pursue the existing cases in U.S. courts.” Asked whether such an agreement may come to pass regarding lawsuits in the U.S., a Samsung spokeswoman told us the statement was the only information she had to share.

FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel unveiled four core principles for wireless calls to 911 in remarks at the APCO conference in New Orleans. Rosenworcel said the principles have been endorsed by APCO at her behest and have the support of CTIA as well. The first is that all calls must be dispatchable, she said, according to her written text (http://bit.ly/1kIBykn). “The gold standard for location accuracy is dispatchable location -- the actual floor plus office suite, apartment, hotel room, or classroom.” Rules also must be verifiable, with verifiable targets for measuring accuracy, and flexible, she said. “A solution must be sufficiently flexible to accommodate technological advancements like next generation 911.” Rules also must be put forward in a “reasonable” timeline, Rosenworcel said. “While we must continue to strive towards achieving dispatchable location, we must be honest that this goal could take some time.” The FCC needs “interim benchmarks along the way.” Rosenworcel also said she has visited public safety answering points across the U.S. The visits “have taught me that in Washington, what is trite is true -- leaving town is a good thing,” she said. CTIA President Meredith Baker said in a blog post the group is on board with Rosenworcel’s calls for a voluntary solution to bolster wireless calls to 911. “We need to work harder and faster,” Baker said Wednesday (http://bit.ly/1orK7L6). “We need a smarter approach to improve 9-1-1 location accuracy. We need to work with all stakeholders to enhance wireless 9-1-1 accuracy. I pledge that we will at CTIA.”

Public Knowledge filed letters of complaint at the FCC Wednesday against the four national wireless carriers, charging they're violating the transparency provisions in the 2010 net neutrality rules. The provisions are the only ones that survived the January court ruling otherwise overturning the rules, PK said (http://bit.ly/1paPVh3). “If the FCC’s transparency rules mean anything, they must require carriers to let subscribers know why, when, and to what speed their connections might be throttled,” said PK Vice President Michael Weinberg. At this point, Sprint and Verizon subscribers “will not know if they are eligible for throttling until after they have crossed the usage threshold,” he said. “AT&T, Sprint, and Verizon subscribers will not know they will be throttled until they are actually connected to a congested cell site.” The complaint against T-Mobile said the carrier must end its practice of exempting speed test applications from network throttling. Last week, FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler sent Verizon Wireless a letter asking about the carrier’s announcement it would slow data speeds on its LTE network starting in October, but only for the top 5 percent of data users on unlimited data plans (CD July 31 p1).

LeapFrog started the rollout internationally of the LeapBand, the first wearable activity tracker created specifically for children, LeapFrog CEO John Barbour said Monday on an earnings call. Inspired by Michelle Obama’s “Let’s Move” initiative against child obesity, the LeapBand tracks activity and “encourages and rewards active play and healthy habits with the fun and engagement of nurturing a personalized virtual pet,” Barbour said. “And it also teaches and encourages children to adopt healthy eating habits.” Soccer star Mia Hamm will be the official spokeswoman for the brand, when a “major PR event” kicks off in Los Angeles in early September, said Barbour.