Metro by T-Mobile said Tuesday it launched the “Broadband BS Fund,” which will offer up to $1 million for consumers who experience “Cable trauma,” willing to share their stories. “The world is awash in yada yada -- added taxes, surprise charges, exploding bills and plenty of other gotchas -- everywhere from airlines to hotels to cable broadband and beyond,” the company said: “Not Metro by T-Mobile.” Metro said it offers unlimited 5G data for $25/month and 5G Home Internet at $20 through the FCC's affordable connectivity program.

The FCC should consider a central clearinghouse, similar to the one used in the 800 MHz transition, to address problems that arise as use of the 6 GHz band becomes more prominent, Enterprise Wireless Alliance representatives told an aide to FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel. EWA also “urged the FCC to adopt cost recovery mechanisms for incumbents that need to baseline their operations and take other steps to mitigate against interference from unlicensed devices,” said a filing Tuesday in docket 18-295. “We expressed our concern that the FCC not adopt further changes to the technical rules in this band without also addressing these issues,” EWA said.

5G Americas released a paper Tuesday on the latest developments in transport networks, warning of looming challenges “supporting energy- and space-efficient solutions” in different cellsite environments. “A flexible, scalable, and future-proof 5G transport network is crucial for enabling innovation and facilitating the smooth and uninterrupted advancement of 5G implementations,” the report said. The next stage of the evolution will require “more centralized, virtualized, and open architectures, utilizing diverse slicing techniques, incorporating more connected elements at cell sites, and implementing systems that require precise frequency/phase/time synchronization,” 5G Americas said. “A lot has been said about core networks and radio access networks, but at the heart of 5G’s transformative journey lies the intricate web of transport networks, which are the unsung heroes that ensure seamless data transmission between the core network, radio access network, and our ever-growing array of devices,” blogged 5G Americas President Chris Pearson.

T-Mobile announced a new premium plan, Go5G Next, which costs $100 per month for a single line but allows subscribers to upgrade devices annually. That’s $10 a month more than the Go5G Plus plan, with biannual upgrades, announced in April (see 2304200056). Almost 10% of Americans say “upgrading to the latest smartphone every 12 months is a major priority,” T-Mobile said Monday: “While that number may seem small, it’s not! That accounts for over 33 million people, based on the U.S. population.”

The FCC ordered spectrum access system administrators in the citizens broadband radio service band to start using the DOD’s Telecommunications Advanced Research and Dynamic Spectrum Sharing System (TARDyS3) scheduling portal to protect designated DOD facilities. “The TARDyS3 is a DOD managed calendar-based tool that will support the expeditious and autonomous communication of scheduled spectrum use information for designated facilities in the 3.5 GHz band that was developed to replace the manual scheduling portal currently used,” said a Monday order by the Wireless Bureau and Office of Engineering Technology. The FCC said it acted on a request last week by NTIA.

The FCC Public Safety Bureau approved a waiver allowing the Government of the U.S. Virgin Islands (GVI) to use frequency 157.4500 MHz for voice communications to “strengthen and expand its public safety system.” The bureau said “GVI has no reasonable alternative” to the channel, otherwise allocated for limited-area, hospital one-way paging systems. “We find particularly persuasive the statement from GVI’s contractor that there is no other frequency immediately available that can satisfy the requested public safety use, i.e., spectrum in the 150-160 MHz band that is compatible with existing infrastructure and enables it to remain interoperable,” the bureau said Monday.

Dish Network representatives met with FCC staff about the company’s advocacy on the lower and upper 12 GHz band, the topic of a Further NPRM and NPRM by the FCC (see 2308100048). Also in the meeting were representatives of RKF Engineering, which studied potential interference from 5G in the lower part of the band (see 2304270077), said a filing posted Monday in docket 20-443.

Denso International America sought a “me too” waiver allowing early cellular vehicle-to-everything deployments in the 5.9 GHz band. Denso wants to deploy C-V2X technology in roadside units and onboard units for roadway safety, said a waiver request posted Monday in docket 19-138. Denso said it's willing to abide with restrictions approved as part of a joint waiver order released in April (see 2304240066).

Aura Network Systems CEO Bill Tolpegin and others from the company spoke with aides to FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel and Commissioner Nathan Simington about the company’s request for a rulemaking on expanding use of air-ground radiotelephone service channels between 454.675-454.975 MHz and 459.675-459.975 MHz for voice and data communications, including by drones (see 2109230049), said a filing posted Monday in RM-11912. The representatives discussed “AURA’s operations and its significant progress developing its terrestrial, standards compliant, command and control (C2) and voice technology stack to augment its existing network to enable uncrewed and remotely piloted flights in controlled airspace and other advanced air mobility (AAM) operations,” Aura said: They “stressed the importance of C2 to AAM operations, many of which will rely on standards compliant C2 networks and services to gain” FAA approval.

Apple representatives urged FCC adoption of rules allowing very-low power (VLP) portable operations in the 6 GHz band, one of the proposals in a 2020 Further NPRM (see 2004230059), in a meeting with an aide to FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel. “The mobility that will come with VLP is critical to the future of the 6 GHz band and that countries around the world have already approved mobile VLP operations in the band,” said a filing posted Monday in docket 18-295: “These countries have established a power level of 1 dBm/MHz, determining that this power level protects incumbents.” Apple asked the FCC to approve operations “at a power level as close as possible to that approved by other international regulatory bodies.” Rosenworcel is expected to release an item in the next few months in response to the FNPRM (see 2308070060).