The Public Safety Spectrum Alliance committed Tuesday to working with the FCC on the 4.9 GHz band, after commissioners last week approved a stay 3-1 (see 2105270071) of rules the group opposed. After Brendan Carr's no vote, PSSA looks “forward to further dialogue to determine a path which addresses his concerns.”

T-Mobile will buy Shentel Wireless, a deal that has been in the works since August, when T-Mobile said it would exercise an option (see 2008270048), Shenandoah Telecommunications said Tuesday. T-Mobile will pay $1.95 billion cash, a price set by three independent valuation providers (see 2102020022). This gives T-Mobile 1.1 million subscribers in parts of Maryland, North Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia, Kentucky, Ohio and Pennsylvania. “The deal, now set to close in Q3, has been in the works since last summer, as T-Mobile had few options but to buyout the old Sprint affiliates,” New Street’s Jonathan Chaplin told investors.

AT&T expects to meet a deadline of March 2023 for FirstNet completion, and many of the remaining sites will be difficult, President-Public Sector and FirstNet Jason Porter told a Cowen investor conference Tuesday. They are often “remote rural areas, tribal lands, national parks and areas like that,” he said: “We’re building ahead of schedule right now, but we are down to the challenging sites that might be really hard to get access to.” While AT&T is building a 5G core for FirstNet, subscribers are largely using a 4G network, Porter said. AT&T had 2.2 million FirstNet connections as of March 31, he noted: Most connections today are phones, and AT&T expects a growing number of other devices.

Groups representing educational broadband service licensees asked to delay a 2.5 GHz auction until after a better FCC inventory of available areas. Dish Network endorses the single-round auction format sought by T-Mobile, in replies posted through Friday in docket 20-429. T-Mobile, which hopes for a 2021 auction, cited problems with the inventory (see 2105040077). “Past Commission Chairs have routinely announced when auctions will be conducted even before the Commission proposes procedures for the auction,” T-Mobile said: “Commenters have already provided substantial information" for updating the licensing database. “Implement a process to update and correct the inventory prior to the auction,” said the National EBS Association. “The inventory should not include county/frequency blocks where there is no white space at all, or where the white space is entirely over water, or where the white space has no population.” The list must be “completely accurate,” the Catholic Technology Network said. The North American Catholic Educational Programming Foundation and Mobile Beacon urged an updated database first. Dish saw “substantial support” for a single-round auction: “DISH agrees with several commenters, and the Commission itself, that a single round auction with pay-as-bid pricing will promote diverse auction participation and give smaller providers a chance to get the spectrum they need.” If the FCC adopts a simultaneous multiple-round format, keep the rules simple and consistent with past auctions, Dish said. SMR is “generally a superior method for allocating spectrum than a single bid format,” AT&T said: “But, as the Notice and comments confirm, the circumstances here are far from ordinary, and the commenters who support an SMR format fail to engage.” Verizon saw broad SMR support. Nationwide carriers to “small and rural carriers” agree that “will create a more competitive auction that enables bidders of all sizes to have a fair shot,” Verizon said: “Many bidders prefer the certainty that comes with better price discovery.” The Wireless ISP Association sought a single round auction that’s “neither novel nor untested.”

Zebra asked the FCC to act on its waiver request this summer to operate its Dart positioning system in the 7.125-8.5 GHz band, in a call with Office of Engineering and Technology staff. Zebra “answered questions from FCC staff regarding operational and technical matters,” said a filing posted Thursday in docket 20-17. OET sought comment last year (see 2001150016). The system is primarily used to track balls and players at NFL facilities.

Anterix and Motorola Solutions said Thursday they’re working together to help utilities deploy private LTE networks, using the 900 MHz spectrum the FCC cleared for broadband a year ago (see 2005130057). Anterix also announced an agreement with Nokia to combine the 900 MHz spectrum with Nokia's private LTE/4.9G wireless infrastructure “so that utility companies can more easily deploy private LTE solutions that support advanced communications for modernizing their grids.”

Gogo Business Aviation asked for limited waiver of FCC effective radiated power limits for air-to-ground operations in the 849-851 MHz and 894-896 MHz bands for a next-generation system. The system uses orthogonal frequency division multiplex technology “to improve throughput, coverage, and reliability for inflight connectivity to aircraft in the United States and Canada,” said a Thursday posting: “A narrow waiver permitting the current ERP rules to be measured as limits on the maximum average power, rather than peak power, will allow Gogo … to maximize the utility of its next-generation system, similar to other mobile wireless licensees.”

The FCC plans an online open radio access network solutions showcase June 29 at 9:30 a.m. EDT, it said Thursday. The agency invites presentations on equipment, it said. The event will give fixed and mobile network operators "an opportunity to hear directly from vendors whose interoperable, open interface, standards-based 5G network equipment and services will be ready and available for purchase and installation by January 1, 2022, if not sooner."

The Federal Railroad Administration seeks comment by June 7 on requests for amendments by 19 railroads on their FRA-certified positive train control systems, said Wednesday Federal Register. CSX, Union Pacific, Amtrak and regional and commuter lines sought modifications.

Comments are due June 28, replies July 26, in docket 21-186 on the Office of Engineering and Technology and Wireless Bureau seeking comment on aligning FCC rules with unwanted emissions limits into the passive 23.6-24 GHz band adopted by the World Radiocommunication Conference in 2019, says Thursday's Federal Register.