Comments are due by Oct. 4 on TerreStar's request for a temporary waiver of the substantial service requirement for its commercial wireless licenses in the 1.4 GHz band, with replies in docket 16-290 due Oct. 14, the Wireless Bureau said in a public notice Wednesday. It said TerreStar wants the 36-month waiver, through April 23, 2020, while it puts in place wireless medical telemetry service operations in the 1.4 GHz band through spectrum leasing arrangements with healthcare providers and facilities and wireless medical telemetry equipment makers.

People Power introduced a software stack for telecom IoT projects, said a Monday announcement: It includes an open-source software development kit and open application programming interfaces, a mobile and web app framework for iOS, Android and Web, and a cloud analytics service that connects to social networks. People Power worked with Stanford ChangeLabs and consumer behavior experts to develop the IoT Suite.

PwC and iconectiv scheduled back-to-back webcasts Sept. 21 on the local number portability administrator transition from Neustar to iconectiv and related processes. The 3 p.m. webcast by PwC, the transition oversight manager, will be its latest LNPA outreach and education event, and the 4 p.m. iconectiv (Telcordia) webcast will be its first since finalizing its contract to be the next administrator, said company emails (interested parties can register here and here). Iconectiv said it will provide an overview of the "onboarding" process and the details of registering with new number portability administration centers.

The FTC will investigate a complaint by the Electronic Privacy Information Center and the Center for Digital Democracy against WhatsApp for plans to share some user account information such as phone numbers with parent Facebook, which the privacy groups say contradicts the messaging service's previous promise (see 1608290059 and 1608250027). EPIC released the FTC's Aug. 31 letter in a blog post Wednesday informing both groups that agency staff will "carefully review" their complaint. The FTC has a 20-year consent order, starting in 2012, with Facebook that resolved allegations involving sharing of users' personal data. The agency said in the letter that the investigation is nonpublic until it decides whether to close the probe or issue a formal complaint. "As a result, we can neither confirm nor deny that we are conducting an investigation of the issues raised by your complaint," the FTC letter said.

Intel and TPG agreed to form a jointly owned, independent cybersecurity company with the McAfee name, the companies said in a Wednesday news release. McAfee is an Intel subsidiary, but after the proposed $4.2 billion deal, TPG will own 51 percent of McAfee and Intel the rest, they said. TPG agreed to make a $1.1 billion equity investment. Intel Security general manager Chris Young will be CEO of the new McAfee, the companies said. The transaction is expected to close in Q2, subject to regulatory approvals and closing conditions, they said.

The FCC Task Force on Optimal Public Safety Answering Point Architecture (TFOPA) will meet Sept. 23, starting at 1 p.m., in the Commission Meeting Room at agency headquarters, the FCC said Tuesday. All three of the TFOPA working groups are slated to provide updates on their work, said an FCC public notice.

The Federal Aviation Administration's Drone Advisory Committee, formed to discuss issues and challenges with integrating unmanned aircraft into the national airspace (see 1605040017), plans its inaugural meeting Sept. 16, said an agency news release Wednesday. Almost 400 people and organizations expressed interest in participating in the committee that will be chaired by Intel CEO Brian Krzanich. Drone manufacturer DJI said Brendan Schulman, vice president-policy and legal affairs, will be on the committee, and the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems said CEO Brian Wynne was selected. Some other members of the 34-person committee include: Greg Agvent, CNN senior director-national news technology and aerial imagery; Martin Gomez, Facebook director-aeronautical platforms; Gur Kimchi, vice president-Amazon Prime Air; Christopher Penrose, AT&T senior vice president-IoT; Ed Sayadian, of Harris Corp.; Phil Straub, of Garmin; Dave Vos, Google[X] Project Wing lead; and PrecisionHawk CEO Bob Young.

Much pontificating has questioned Sony’s “viability and relevance," CEO Kazuo Hirai said at his company’s IFA news conference in Berlin Thursday. “A lot of predictions were made, perhaps by the folks in this very room,” that Sony wouldn’t survive or that it would forever remain a fraction of the innovator it once was, Hirai said at the consumer electronics gathering. “The narrative is changing” in Sony’s favor, he said as the screen behind him flashed headlines of stories about Sony's recent financial and technology rebounds. “Despite those moments when Sony’s future seemed a little uncertain -- at least to the folks on the outside -- we believed Sony’s innovation would flourish.” The company debuted the Xperia XZ “flagship” smartphone. Since the phone’s camera features “triple image-sensing” technology borrowed from Sony’s digital-imaging expertise, “you can capture every moment as you see it” without motion blur and with “true-to-life color,” said Hideyuki Furumi, Sony Mobile Communications executive vice president-global sales and marketing.

The FTC announced slightly higher annual fees for FY 2017 for telemarketers that access phone numbers on the National Do Not Call Registry, said a Thursday news release. The commission voted 3-0 to authorize publication of the Federal Register notice. As per 2007's Do-Not-Call Registry Fee Extension Act, which requires a reevaluation, telemarketers in FY 2017 will pay $61 for access to registry phone numbers in a single area code, or $1 more than last year, up to a maximum of $16,714 for all area codes nationwide, said the commission. In FY 2016, the maximum was $16,482. "The fee for accessing an additional area code for a half year will remain the same at $30," said the agency. The FTC said all U.S. telemarketers are required to download phone numbers on the registry to make sure they don't call those who have registered their numbers. "The first five area codes are free, and organizations that are exempt from the Do Not Call rules, such as some charitable organizations, may obtain the entire list for free," the release said. "Telemarketers must subscribe each year for access to the Registry numbers."

FCC staff will host a technology transitions "info session" Sept. 26, from 1 to 2 p.m. "FCC subject matter experts will share information about how the progress of technology transitions are impacting the consumer experience," including "service implications, backup power issues, and accessibility concerns," said a Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau public notice Wednesday.