The Open Technology Institute at New America is disappointed the FCC didn’t propose to “authorize or require” white space databases to utilize terrain-based propagation models, such as the Longley-Rice irregular terrain model, to “take account of real-world terrain and clutter in the local area where operators request use,” the group told an aide to Commissioner Brendan Carr. OTI supports authorizing fixed devices to use channels immediately adjacent to TV operations, provided they maintain 3 MHz separation from the adjacent TV channel, said a filing posted Tuesday in docket 20-36: “Extensive field tests and laboratory measurements by Microsoft have demonstrated that three megahertz of separation between a fixed [white spaces] signal and a TV broadcast channel is sufficient to avoid harmful interference to TV viewers at power levels even greater than 100 milliwatts.”

Adopt 2.5 GHz auction procedures that promote price discovery and “efficient assignment of licenses” through a simultaneous multiple round (SMR) auction format, CTIA asked the FCC. The group met with Office of Economics and Analytics staff, said a filing posted Tuesday in docket 18-120. Price discovery is especially important “in the 2.5 GHz context where the information on the value of the white spaces is limited given that much of the spectrum is subject to long-term leases and the encumbrances vary license-by-license,” CTIA said. An SMR auction would be an “effective tool for the Commission to use to auction irregularly shaped Educational Broadcast Service white spaces,” it said.

Verizon agreed to buy "certain assets" of Bluegrass Cellular, a rural wireless operator with 210,000 customers in central Kentucky, Verizon said Monday. The deal requires FCC approval and other conditions. It’s expected to close late this year or early next, Verizon said.

The Competitive Carriers Association mostly supports the proposed 5G Fund order but seeks changes, said a filing posted Monday in docket 20-32. “Requiring legacy support recipients to immediately begin deploying 5G at 35/3 Mbps in rural America in 2021 would be unreasonable, particularly as many carriers have already completed their 2021 budgets, some carriers have already placed their equipment purchases for the year, and others have already submitted network plans to states that retain [eligible telecommunications carrier] oversight authority,” CCA said: To the extent that the draft is “intended to enable legacy support recipients to have greater flexibility in spending support towards 5G during this interim period” it should be “clarified to more explicitly allow for flexible use of legacy support.” CCA spoke with aides to the Republican FCC commissioners and staff from the Rural Broadband Auctions Task Force, Office of Economics and Analytics and Wireline Bureau. Commissioners vote Oct. 27 (see 2010060060).

Oppositions to petitions for reconsideration by CTIA and APCO on FCC wireless 911 location accuracy rules are due Nov. 3 in docket 07-114, replies Nov. 13, says Monday's Federal Register. Commissioners approved updated rules for finding the vertical location of wireless callers to 911 in July over a partial dissent by Jessica Rosenworcel (see 2007160055).

Require further testing before approving rules for the 6 GHz band, as proposed in a Further NPRM (see 2007280033), Southern Co. said in a call with an aide to FCC Chairman Ajit Pai. Southern cited “the need for actual testing of unlicensed devices to evaluate their effect on licensed incumbent operations under real-world conditions prior to authorizing any expansion of unlicensed operations in the 6 GHz band,” in a filing posted Friday in docket 18-295. “Efforts are underway by incumbents to try to set up and conduct testing that could help inform the Commission and all stakeholders, but these efforts are hampered by the inability to obtain prototype or pre-market devices for testing.” Tech companies spoke with Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel on the importance of rules ensuring “6 GHz devices meet consumers’ expectations by enabling mobile use -- including both mobile [automatic frequency coordination]-controlled devices as well as very-low-power devices.” Apple, Broadcom, Cisco, Facebook, Google, Microsoft and Qualcomm were participants. The companies had a similar call with Commissioner Brendan Carr (see 2010090038).

There’s not enough differentiation among carriers’ iPhone 12 trade-in offers to make them consumers' main motivator in choosing a service, New Street Research analyst Jonathan Chaplin wrote investors Thursday, saying service price and perceptions of network difference will be bigger drivers. T-Mobile and AT&T offer the best deal with the trade-in of an iPhone 11 Pro; AT&T wins with a trade-in of the 11 or X; and T-Mobile and Verizon win with the trade-in of the iPhone 7, he said. Chaplin sees the most common trade-ins as iPhone 8, X and 11. All carriers claim “nationwide 5G” on lower frequencies, but speeds on these frequencies are only “slightly better than 4G,” said the analyst. T-Mobile has a slight advantage, claiming 260 million population 5G coverage vs. AT&T and Verizon at about 200 million. New Street believes the “real 5G” will happen on spectrum frequencies at 2.5 GHz and higher: “We expect speeds of 300-400 Mbps on 2.5 GHz and higher on millimeter wave.” T-Mobile has a “powerful advantage,” with 25 million covered today, growing to 100 million by year-end. Verizon and AT&T haven’t disclosed their population coverage on higher frequencies; Chaplin suggested it’s fewer than 10 million, possibly fewer than 5 million. “Whatever the coverage gap is today, it will only widen until Verizon and AT&T are able to deploy the C-Band in a couple of years.”

A consortium led by John Hancock Life Insurance will buy 30% of ExteNet, the wireless infrastructure company said Thursday. ExteNet will use the John Hancock capital to fund 5G network densification and other wireless connectivity, it said. The deal isn’t expected to change ExteNet’s management team, the company said. The sale is subject to state regulatory approvals.

Act on a 2019 Verizon petition and decide siting fees in Clark County, Nevada’s small-cell ordinance are unlawful (see 1908270035), CTIA told the FCC in a filing posted Thursday in docket 19-230. “Unlawful local ordinances threaten to impede robust deployment of advanced wireless services across the country, undermining the Commission’s efforts to expedite the public’s access to those services, and suppressing their benefits to consumers and the U.S. economy,” CTIA said: “Grant of the Petition will have both local and national importance.”

T-Mobile is working to build up its 600 MHz portfolio, seeking regulatory approval for a lease with TStar, “a 600 MHz spectrum holder we previously identified as a potential target for T-Mobile,” LightShed’s Walter Piecyk told investors Thursday. “5G deployments on low-band spectrum provide T-Mobile subscribers with the broad ‘dedicated 5G coverage’ that its management team has been promoting,” the analyst wrote: “Unfortunately, T-Mobile’s low-band spectrum is not deep enough to deliver 5G speeds that are materially different than LTE, especially when they also plan to dedicate a portion to LTE.” This is T-Mobile’s third lease of 600 MHz spectrum, following leases from Dish Network and Columbia Capital, he said. It adds about 300 million MHz-POPs to the 2.3 billion MHz-POPs of 600 MHz spectrum T-Mobile previously leased, he said. At an estimated cost of $1.50 per MHz/POP, Piecyk said the annual cost to T-Mobile is about $300 million.