The FCC’s Wireless Telecommunications Bureau and Wireline Competition Bureau, in conjunction with the FCC’s Office of Economics and Analytics, have released an Order granting a petition filed by New Hampshire State Senator Jeanne Dietsch on behalf of the state’s Public Utilities Commission (NH PUC) for limited waiver of the designated handset requirement adopted in the FCC’s Mobility Fund Phase II Challenge Process Order. The MF II challenge process required the use of specific approved devices when testing a mobile carrier’s network. The NH PUC petition sought to include speed-tests using a particular Samsung mobile device sold by T-Mobile that was similar to other permitted models, but which T-Mobile did not approve for the MF II challenge purposes. The NH PUC conducted 2,335 speed-tests using a non-approved Samsung Galaxy S8 (G95OU) between September 11, 2018 and September 30, 2018 and wanted the entirety of those test results to be reviewed by USAC. The two bureaus granted NH PUC’s petition for waiver because: (1) the speed-tests were conducted in accordance with the FCC’s technical requirements; (2) the Samsung Galaxy S8 is a device sold by T-Mobile to consumers nationwide; and (3) to deny the waiver would force the NH PUC to re-test markets at great expense or throw away otherwise helpful data.
