T-Mobile emphasized in a new filing at the FCC that giving the company special temporary authority to use licenses bought in the 2.5 GHz band (see 2304060062) would help veterans, after the Department of Veterans Affairs selected the company as its primary wireless provider. The FCC declined to award the licenses, won last year, after its auction authority expired earlier this year. Six hundred Mobile wireless facilities in 47 states near VA facilities “could be immediately enhanced with additional spectrum, at sites covered by the STA request,” said a filing in the FCC’s universal licensing system. “Since T-Mobile submitted the STA request, it has become increasingly evident that Congress does not appear to be prepared to restore the Commission’s authority in the near-term,” the carrier said: “Some at the Commission have asserted that the Commission no longer has authority to process its Auction 108 application. Those circumstances have made it even more important for the Commission to grant T-Mobile’s STA request.”

T-Mobile notified the FCC it decided to receive transitional support under a USF fund supporting mobile and fixed carriers in Puerto Rico (see 2304190063). “T-Mobile is an eligible telecommunications carrier in Puerto Rico and has been receiving Stage 2 mobile support in Puerto Rico,” said a filing Wednesday in docket 18-143: “T-Mobile commits to satisfy the transitional mobile support service obligations and requirements established by the Commission.”

Intelligent Transportation Society of America representatives said they met via teleconference with staff from across the FCC to express industry enthusiasm for the April approval of long-awaited waivers allowing proponents of cellular-vehicle-to-everything use of the 5.9 GHz band (see 2304240066). The FCC approved a joint waiver request filed in 2021. The order “was received enthusiastically by the ITS community” at the group’s meeting last month and was “the subject of much attention in the discussions regarding national V2X deployment,” said a filing posted Thursday in docket 19-138. ITS America also discussed its “V2X National Deployment Plan.” On the call were staffers from the Office of Engineering and Technology, Wireless and Public Safety bureaus and Office of General Counsel, ITS America said.

Electric utilities, wireless ISPs and others asked the FCC to allow broader use of the 4.9 GHz band, beyond public safety agencies, in comments on an FCC Further NPRM (see 2305160065). Utilities said the FCC limiting use to critical infrastructure industry (CII) entities can protect public safety users. CII companies “have a record of co-existence with public safety licensees in other bands,” the Edison Electric Institute said: “To foster local control, public safety entities should directly lease 4.9 GHz spectrum to CII entities, and where public safety entities do not need 4.9 GHz spectrum, CII entities should be able to obtain primary licenses in the band.” The FCC should develop criteria for public safety licensees to work directly with CII companies on preemption, EEI said in docket 07-100. “The Commission has long acknowledged that the 4.9 GHz band is underutilized,” said Florida Power & Light. CII entities “use spectrum in ways that complement traditional public safety users, especially in response to emergencies and natural disasters,” the utility said. The American Petroleum Institute, the Enterprise Wireless Alliance and the Utilities Technology Council jointly said CII and enterprise users are the most likely users of the band beyond public safety agencies. They said it's “telling that no national or regional commercial carrier or organization representing such operators has filed comments indicating an interest in leasing 4.9 GHz spectrum under the conditions, including public safety protections, adopted by the FCC.” The FCC should "reject any argument that there is not a need for access to the 4.9 GHz band by commercial users, that commercial use of the 4.9 GHz band would interfere with public safety operations, and that the public interest would be served by expanding eligibility to certain users while excluding commercial interests,” the Wireless ISP Association said. WISPA proposed use of a dynamic spectrum coordination system to allow public safety to preempt other users. That model will “ensure reliable and immediate preemption and will provide non-public safety users with confidence that they will be able to access the 4.9 GHz band with sufficient certainty that they will only be preempted when technically necessary,” WISPs said. WISPA also opposed a petition by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials asking the FCC to reconsider part of revised rules for the spectrum (see 2303300060): “AASHTO’s Petition, which among other things requests that the Commission continue to prohibit non-public safety use of the band, provides no adequate basis for reconsideration under the Commission’s Rules and should be denied.”

The U.S. wireless industry’s rapid growth in recent years, adding as many as 9.5 net million postpaid phones per year during the COVID-19 pandemic, remains hard to explain, said T-Mobile Chief Financial Officer Peter Osvaldik Wednesday at a MoffettNathanson investor conference. “There's still an element I think that's hard to really pin down,” he said. Core connectivity became more important than ever, with businesses and consumers adding lines, and stimulus money helped, Osvaldik said. It remains “hard to explain the totality of the industry growth with just those factors, and that's a question that I think we can't answer either,” he said. T-Mobile now has 40% market share in many top 100 U.S. markets “and we arrived there over time because of the customer value proposition,” he said. Earlier, people switched to T-Mobile because of lower costs, but the network has become a bigger factor, he said. T-Mobile’s goal is to hit 20% share by the end of 2025 in the next 775 markets, he said. T-Mobile is also getting an almost 60% penetration rate in 5G devices, he said. Customers are upgrading so they can “actually experience what true 5G is,” he said. Osvaldik said T-Mobile isn’t worried about Verizon’s new service offerings, unveiled Tuesday (see 2305160056). T-Mobile adopted new rate plans in April (see 2304200056).

The Rural Wireless Association filed at the FCC a May 9 New York Times article on the plight of small carriers as they wait for Congress to fully fund the FCC's Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Reimbursement Program. RWA asked that the article be included in the record (see 2304210069). “Many rural carrier participants, including Pine Belt, as mentioned in the article, are struggling to continue to provide adequate service to their customers as they attempt to rip out their unsecure equipment and install new equipment with limited funding,” RWA said in a filing posted Tuesday in docket 18-89. RWA asked the commission to “grant all Reimbursement Program participants the blanket six-month extension of the one-year completion deadline as affected companies work diligently to complete this effort with limited time.”

Numerous associations told the FCC they “endorse many of the positions espoused” by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials in a petition asking the FCC to reconsider part of revised rules for the 4.9 band (see 2303300060) but oppose the petition itself. Reply comments (see 2305160065) in the proceeding “would address AASHTO’s concerns without requiring a wholesale reconsideration” of the rules “and the attendant further delay in adopting final rules for this important band,” the groups said. Signing the comments were the American Petroleum Institute, the Enterprise Wireless Alliance, the Forestry Conservation Communications Association, the International Municipal Signal Association, the National Sheriffs’ Association and the Utilities Technology Council.

Verizon announced Tuesday it's simplifying consumer price plans and will have only two unlimited offerings starting Thursday. The Unlimited Welcome plan is for the carrier's slower 5G network, with no hot spot data, at $65 for one line. The Unlimited Plus plan offers 30 GB of high-speed hot spot data per line plus the ability to connect to Verizon's faster 5G networks, at $80 per line. Per line charges drop for those with multiple lines -- the Unlimited Welcome plan comes at $55/line for two lines. Customers can add “perks” at $10 per month, including bundles from Apple, Disney and Walmart. “Others talk about phone ‘freedom,’ but in reality they’re just pushing customers into their most expensive, bloated plans -- which are limiting, don’t allow for changes, and where customers end up paying for things they don’t want or need,” Verizon said. T-Mobile and AT&T added net postpaid phone customers in the last quarter, but Verizon lost 127,000 (see 2304250073). Sowmyanarayan Sampath, CEO-Verizon Consumer Group, unveiled the plan at a MoffettNathanson investor conference Tuesday. “We went back to our fundamental roots” and asked “what irritates customers the most,” Sampath said. Subscribers want flexibility, control and value, he said: “And we said, you know what, we are going to give them 100% of all three.” Sampath said the U.S. wireless industry added as many as 9.5 net million postpaid phones per year during the COVID-19 pandemic, but a more natural number is 5 million-6 million. Verizon has another 100 MHz of C-band spectrum to deploy in its network and more than half its sites have fiber connections, he said. “When people talk about planning in the network” the radio access network “is not the only thing that is congested -- it's also the back haul,” he said.

RS Access CEO Noah Campbell spoke with an aide to FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr about the 12 GHz item, set for a vote Thursday, (see 2304270077), said a filing posted Monday in docket 20-443. “Campbell urged the Commission to seek comment on potential non-ubiquitous mobility in the lower 12 GHz band, and to preliminarily conclude that a high-powered fixed wireless service is compatible with the current co-primary users in the band,” the filing said.

The Public Safety Spectrum Alliance opposed a petition by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials asking the FCC to rework part of revised rules for the 4.9 GHz band (see 2303300060). The petition notes “there is currently a ‘patchwork of spectrum plans, deployments and technologies scattered across the nation in the 4.9 GHz band,’” the alliance said in a filing posted Monday in docket 07-100: “This ‘patchwork’ of regional and local plans is precisely the problem that must be solved in order to create ‘a consistent, nationwide framework for the 4.9 GHz Band that fosters efficient use of this important mid-band spectrum.’” Commissioners approved a revised approach on the band 4-0 in January (see 2301180062).