Dish Network slammed T-Mobile’s defense of plans to close its legacy CDMA network at the end of this year in a filing posted Wednesday in docket 18-197. T-Mobile’s latest was posted Tuesday (see 2104120035). “T-Mobile makes no effort to challenge the central basis of DISH’s concerns: that the accelerated shutdown of the CDMA network likely will harm millions of Boost consumers, many who already face economic challenges,” Dish said. “This is because the harms are indisputable.” Dish wants the carrier to “honor the commitments it made to regulators under oath and keep the CDMA network operational until at least July 2023.” T-Mobile agreed to sell Boost to Dish as a concession to regulators as it sought approval to buy Sprint. Michael Calabrese, director of the Wireless Future Program at New America, spoke with aides to acting Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel on the group's concerns. “A pandemic emergency is the worst time possible for pre-paid mobile subscribers to lose cellular phone service, or for a rapid transition that reportedly faces the challenges of contacting customers and providing them with a new device, SIM card and/or software upgrade,” he said.

The FCC asked Verizon five pages of questions on its proposed buy of Tracfone. Tracfone got a shorter list of questions. Regulators are expected to take a long look at the deal, which has raised concerns, particularly since the prepaid carrier is a major provider of Lifeline service (see 2104050029). “Explain in detail the steps Verizon will take to continue to offer Lifeline service to existing TracFone Lifeline customers, including those currently on other networks,” said the Wednesday letter to Verizon. It asked how Verizon will compete for more Lifeline customers. The letters were from the Office of Economics and Analytics and posted in docket 21-112. OEA and the Wireless Bureau also handed down an order protecting proprietary and confidential information filed in the docket, with stricter limits on “particularly competitively sensitive information.” Verizon and Tracfone didn’t comment.

CTIA urged the FCC to act on its December petition for reconsideration of portions of the FCC's call authentication trust anchor second report and order, in a call with an aide to acting Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel. CTIA supports Rosenworcel’s “anti-robocall agenda and the Commission’s efforts to strike a careful balance between protecting legitimate calls and protecting consumers from illegal and unwanted robocalls, including calls from outside the U.S.,” said a filing posted Tuesday in docket 17-97: “The Foreign Provider Prohibition may risk upsetting this balance by compelling U.S. voice service providers to block legitimate traffic, especially from Americans travelling or working abroad that rely upon mobile wireless roaming services.”

Mobile operators are struggling to create average revenue per user (ARPU) uplift from 5G network upgrades as mobile data revenue in Q4 fell below $1 per gigabyte for the first time, reported Strategy Analytics Tuesday. Cellular data traffic grew 35% year on year in Q4, but total mobile service revenue inched up just 0.6%, it said. Weak service revenue growth in strong 5G markets -- South Korea and China -- “paint a challenging picture for consumer 5G value creation across the globe in 2021,” said the researcher. Subscriptions used on 5G networks grew from 2.1% in September to 3% three months later; China had 80% of global totals, it said. Speed-based, tiered unlimited data plans in Finland helped lift ARPU by 17% over the past five years, compared with a 15% decline across Western Europe, noted SA. “Volume-based data pricing is going to cause a headache for many operators conditioned to utility-based revenue or cost per unit thinking,” said Phil Kendall, director-service provider group. With the capacity gains offered by 5G “diluting value per Gigabyte, operators need ‘more for more’ pricing that offers revenue uplift through better experiences and richer content rather than through more data,” he said. Carriers need to “educate users away from high-volume low-cost plans and the idea that 150GB is meaningfully better than 100GB,” said analyst Josie Sephton. Consumers are picking price plans that fit their budget first, data usage requirements second, she said: “We are in a data pricing merry-go-round that needs to be reset.”

Information collection requirements included in the FCC’s wireless E911 location accuracy rules were approved by the OMB and take effect Wednesday, says that day's Federal Register.

Competitive Carriers Association representatives urged the FCC to create a new category of citizens broadband radio service devices allowed to operate at higher power levels than under current rules. “CCA’s initial analysis indicates that higher-power operations would increase the utility of the band … without increasing the risk of interference to other services,” said a filing posted Monday in docket 19-348: Higher power levels would “increase the array of use cases supported by CBRS spectrum, provide more technical and operational flexibility for users of the band, and improve wireless coverage in rural America.” CCA proposed allowing devices to operate at a maximum equivalent, isotropically radiated power of 62 dBm/10 MHz and allow user equipment to operate at 26 dBm. CCA spoke with aides to the four commissioners.

Verizon signed deals with tower companies Crown Castle and SBA Communications to rapidly deploy equipment as it launches 5G and fixed wireless broadband in C-band spectrum. “Deploying 5G Ultra Wideband on this spectrum requires new network equipment including basebands and antennas to be placed on existing towers,” Verizon said Monday. The terms weren’t announced. The carrier secured an average of 161 MHz of C-band spectrum nationwide in the recent FCC auction (see 2103110034).

T-Mobile defended its plans to close its legacy CDMA network at the end of this year, against criticism from Dish Network (see 2104010044), which said doing so will harm Boost subscribers. “All CDMA customers, including DISH’s Boost-branded customers, will receive enormous benefits by migrating as planned onto T-Mobile’s new network, and it is absolutely in their best interest to do so,” said a letter to acting FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel, posted Monday in docket 19-348. Under T-Mobile’s agreement to sell Boost to Dish, “it is unambiguously DISH’s financial responsibility to migrate customers to the new technology in a timely manner, and if they live up to those obligations, no consumers will be negatively affected by the sunset and in fact will receive substantial benefits,” the filing said: The move from CDMA to the new network will provide Dish's Boost-branded customers and T-Mobile’s CDMA customers “a far better experience than that on CDMA.” Dish didn't comment.

CEO Gary King and others from Radio Physics spoke with an aide to FCC acting Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel on the status of the company’s 2-year-old waiver request for its standoff threat detection device, operating in the 71-86 GHz band. The company also sought an experimental license to test the device. Radio Physics asked the aide to “look into any obstacles that might be holding up decisions by the Commission on the pending application and Petition,” said a filing posted Friday in docket 19-158.

CTIA and USTelecom urged FCC action on a June petition seeking regulatory relief on pro forma filings (see 2006050039), in a call with an aide to acting Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel. “By issuing a Declaratory Ruling clarifying that no pro forma filings are required for certain non-substantial transactions and streamlining application forms, and initiating a Rulemaking to apply post-closing notification procedures to all pro forma transactions no matter the license type, the Commission can meaningfully reduce confusion and burdens associated with non-substantive assignments and transfers of control for all Commission licensees, large and small, communications and non-communications providers,” said a Friday posting in docket 20-186.