Dish Network plans to offer, “subject to market and other conditions,” $500 million in senior secured notes to help fund its 5G build, it announced Tuesday. That follows a $2 billion debt offering in November.

Semtech completed its buy of Sierra Wireless in an all-cash transaction valued at $1.2 billion and expected to nearly double the company’s annual revenue. The buy “adds approximately US$100 million of high-margin IoT Cloud services recurring revenues,” said a Thursday news release: “Semtech expects the acquisition to be immediately accretive … and to generate US$40 million of run rate operational synergies within 12-18 months post close.” Top Sierra Wireless executives joined the company -- Tom Mueller as executive vice president of the IoT System Products Group, Ross Gray as vice president-IoT Connected Services Group and Pravin Desale as senior vice president-IoT engineering.

July tests of interference by low-power indoor devices in the 6 GHz band to FirstEnergy’s licensed operations there raised potential concerns, the company and Edison Electric Institute told the FCC. They reported on a virtual meeting last week with staff from the Office of Engineering and Technology to discuss the tests, in a filing Thursday in docket 18-295. The 6 GHz incumbents noted the “additive nature of interference from LPIs operating both within and outside of the microwave beamwidth.” Tests confirmed “a single LPI can cause harmful interference” and the “limited effectiveness of contention-based protocol to reduce signal transmission power.” FirstNet said it did its study in the summer during peak foliage “to observe the impact of unlicensed LPI 6E” devices “during the ‘best case’ time of the year for minimizing interference.”

The FCC gave preliminary approval to RED Technologies as a spectrum access system operator in the citizens broadband radio service band. The company “satisfied the Commission’s SAS laboratory testing requirements and is approved to begin its initial commercial deployment,” said a Thursday notice by the Wireless Bureau and Office of Engineering and Technology: The FCC “in coordination with NTIA and the DoD, will review RED’s ICD Report and will publicly announce if RED successfully completes ICD and receives final certification to operate a SAS.”

Driven by the COVID-19 pandemic and the need for wireless connectivity, private networks are enjoying record growth, though challenges remain, 5G Americas said in a new white paper. “We are witnessing organizations deploying private 4G and moving to private 5G, many vendors building solutions, as well as launching a variety of offers,” 5G Americas said. “The future is bright with many market observers and analysts also reporting increased interest and demand for private 5G across almost all industry verticals,” the paper said: “Smart manufacturing and factories of the future have been defined in great detail on paper. However, realizing and deploying these factories have not happened as fast as some have expected due to real world logistics issues such as lack of necessary equipment, delays in supply chain, as well as complexities of integration with brownfield production facilities.” 5G Americas President Chris Pearson blogged, “Compared to other access technologies, 5G networks offer three main strengths: 1) data throughput potentially up to 10 gigabits per second, which is 10-100 times faster than 4G LTE 2) network latency that is potentially below 10 milliseconds and theoretically as low as 1 millisecond, offering incredibly precise timing capabilities and 3) management of up to 1 million devices per square kilometer, allowing placement of a staggering number of IoT sensors and devices in very high density on an enterprise campus or factory floor.”

Representatives of Federated Wireless and Charter Communications met with an aide to FCC Commissioner Geoffrey Starks to discuss “the benefits of spectrum sharing,” said a filing posted Wednesday in docket 17-258. The citizens broadband radio service spectrum sharing model “facilitates the growth of mobile competition and has enabled new entrants into the market, many of whom are using the band to develop their own private networks for uses such as industrial automation, artificial intelligence, and predictive maintenance, in environments ranging from warehouses, ports, factories, airports, and office buildings, in rural as well as densely populated areas, supporting supply chain efficiency,” the companies said. CTIA raised questions whether the CBRS sharing model is a viable alternative to exclusive-use licensed spectrum (see 2212120050).

The Rural Wireless Association criticized the FCC for moving too slowly to implement a program to rip and replace nonsecure Chinese gear in small carrier networks. In a new report to Congress, the FCC said it has approved reimbursement claims of about $41 million of the $1.85 billion budgeted for the program so far. “This slow-moving effort, demonstrated by the Report … has left Reimbursement Program participants, and in particular rural carriers, in a bind as they attempt to move forward through an overly burdensome administrative process with extremely limited funds,” RWA said Wednesday: “It is time that both Congress, by allocating full funding, and the FCC, in quickly administering the program, take on their responsibility to assist Reimbursement Program participants in ridding their communications networks of unsecured equipment and services that continue to pose a national security threat.” The report was posted Wednesday in docket 18-89.

The FCC approved new environmental sensing capability sensor deployment and coverage plans in the citizens broadband radio service band for Federated Wireless, in parts of Alaska. The order, by the Wireless Bureau and Office of Engineering and Technology, was posted Tuesday in docket 15-319.

The Wireless Infrastructure Association hired a Crown Castle executive to fill a new position at the association, in charge of developing the group’s workforce services business unit “as it focuses on building America’s broadband workforce through innovative sector partnerships,” WIA said Tuesday. The association hired Amelia De Jesus, formerly national vice president-site acquisition at the tower company, as vice president-workforce solutions. “As Congress, the White House, and states work to expand broadband access to all Americans, WIA is stepping up to support sector partnerships and expand training programs to build a workforce capable of meeting the broadband deployment demands of today and tomorrow,” said WIA Executive Vice President Tim House. The unit is an “evolution of existing efforts,” a spokesperson emailed.

Stephen Bye, chief commercial officer at Dish Wireless and a key executive behind the company’s 5G launch, is leaving that job for Ziff Davis, Dish Network announced Tuesday. "Stephen has been an integral part of building our wireless business, helping lead efforts to maximize our wireless efforts and prepare us to monetize our investments," said Dish Chairman Charlie Ergen. Dish said Bye will become a member of the Dish board, effective Jan. 18. Bye will be president of the Ziff Davis connectivity division starting Jan. 23, in charge of the Ookla, RootMetrics and related properties, Ziff Davis said. Bye is a former CEO of Connectivity Wireless.