Virtually every commenter opposes cellular market area-level bidding in next June’s auction of priority access licenses in the citizens broadband radio service band (see 1910290046), Verizon told the FCC on bidding rules. Replies were posted through Wednesday in docket 19-244. “CMA-level bidding is not package bidding and would reduce bidder flexibility, while adding unnecessary complexity to an already-complex auction,” Verizon said. Verizon identifies T-Mobile as the lone CMA bid supporter. T-Mobile fired back, urging instead that the FCC allow just CMA-level bidding in the top 172 markets incorporating multiple counties and only county-level bidding in remaining areas. “That approach would: (1) eliminate the complexity of allowing both CMA-level and county-level bidding in the same area; and (2) balance concerns that CMA-level bidding may inhibit some bidders from securing licenses against the potential for interference and need for coordination the Commission identified when it decided to consider package bidding,” T-Mobile said. There's “overwhelming opposition” to CMA-level bidding, so drop that and package bidding, said the Rural Wireless Association. RWA noted 126 of the 663 counties in the 172 markets are rural “based on the Commission’s own definition.” CMA-level bidding “would produce unintended, detrimental consequences that would jeopardize the auction’s success,” NCTA said. CMA bidding “adds a bewildering level of complexity to the auction process that, by itself, eliminates any realistic possibility of auction success for smaller commercial and business enterprise entities,” the Enterprise Wireless Alliance filed: “It would undo the very compromise that the Commission achieved.” A broad group opposes CMA-level bidding “largely because the proposal will exclude all but the largest mobile wireless carriers from having access to PAL-protected spectrum wherever CMA-level bidding applies,” said the Industrial IoT Coalition.

Giving 911 responders a caller’s estimated floor number isn’t “technically feasible with current technology and available building databases,” NextNav filed, posted Tuesday about meetings last week with FCC Commissioner Mike O’Rielly and aides to Commissioners Jessica Rosenworcel and Geoffrey Starks. NextNav sympathizes with APCO and others seeking an “actionable” location like floor number (see 1911050032), but said “technological hurdles must first be overcome, including surveying and electronic mapping tall buildings in order to address variations in ceiling heights and floor numbering conventions (such as skipping the 13th floor).” Horizontal location also would need to be more accurate than the FCC requires -- within 50 meters for 80 percent of calls -- because a 50-meter radius in a city would cover multiple buildings, NextNav said. The FCC should move forward now with adopting a vertical metric within 3 meters, it said.

Of online shoppers, 81 percent plan to use a smartphone or tablet, CTA's holiday report found. Its pre-Black Friday week survey found top planned purchases are wireless earbuds/headphones (57 percent), mobile device cases (46 percent), videogame discs (42 percent), portable battery chargers (42 percent), streaming and download services such as Netflix or Spotify (41 percent), and smartphones (41 percent). Overall tech spending will reach $97.1 billion revenue in the U.S. this season, on par with last year, the group said.

Utilities urged the FCC to grant cities’ motion for more time to comment on CTIA and Wireless Infrastructure Association proposals seeking additional changes to wireless infrastructure rules designed to accelerate siting of towers and other gear (see 1910300027). Commission staff gave some more time. Boston, New York, Los Angeles, suburbs of Washington, D.C., and many other municipalities and their associations sought a 21-day extension to Dec. 4 for replies in docket 19-250. “The record … requires thorough review and the potential for response is substantial,” wrote the Edison Electric Institute, National Rural Electric Cooperative Association and Utilities Technology Council, posted Friday. Later Friday, the Wireless and Wireline bureaus partly OK'd additional reply time for the National League of Cities "and a number of local governments and associations representing local governments." A seven-day "extension of time is warranted," to Nov. 20, staff said.

Critical infrastructure and public safety groups lined up against the FCC’s NPRM on unlicensed 6 GHz band use, in a Friday letter to Chairman Ajit Pai: “Given the significant risk that the proposed unlicensed operations could have on mission-critical networks that are used to protect the safety of life, health and property, and provide essential services to individuals, businesses, governments and others across the nation, unlicensed operations should only be permitted in the 6 GHz band if the Commission adopts more stringent interference protections for co-channel and adjacent channel microwave systems, including proven technology to mitigate the risk of interference by prior coordination of unlicensed operations.” Proposed mitigation of automated frequency coordination “is theoretical in nature and has not been tested or proven to work,” said associations for gas, petroleum, water, railroad and power industries, plus the International Association of Fire Chiefs, National Rural Electric Cooperative Association and Utilities Technology Council. Others also have concerns (see 1911080052). Industry studies failed to lessen New York concerns about possible interference from unlicensed 6 GHz band use, the city wrote the FCC, posted Friday in docket 18-295: Broadcom, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, and New America studies didn’t fully examine all potential interference cases or adequately show negative impact interference would cause critical public safety communications. "The potential influx of low powered devices operating in this critical band [could] impact the ability to isolate interference, an already difficult task compounded by the sheer number of devices operating" in the city, New York said. “Adopt more stringent interference protections, including for co-channel and adjacent channel operations.” Proposed mitigations are “unproven, untested, and have not yet been built to mission critical standards,” the municipality said. New York said it met last week with Broadcom, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Qualcomm and New America, and the companies presented their proposals for unlicensed use in the band. The businesses discussed a lidar study "conducted without the City’s prior knowledge or participation" that covered fixed service links licensed for public safety operations in the city, and a multipath fading study. New York has "significant concerns with the proposals generally" and the studies and those concerns have been filed with the commission. The companies and New America didn't comment Friday or declined to comment.

The FCC Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau is taking comments through Dec. 9, replies Dec. 24, on Capital One's petition for a declaratory ruling, said a public notice Thursday in docket 18-152. The bank asks the agency to clarify rules on text messaging (see 1911040051).

Wi-Fi Alliance President Edgar Figueroa spoke with FCC Chairman Ajit Pai about the importance of the 6 GHz band to Wi-Fi. Pai said in a recent speech he recognizes the importance of the band to unlicensed (see 1910220057). “Significant enhancements and innovation in Wi-Fi connectivity will become available through the use of 160 megahertz wide channels,” said a filing posted Thursday in docket 18-295: "That, coupled with the ever-increasing congestion in currently-available unlicensed spectrum, is why Commission action in this proceeding, making the 5925-7125 MHz band available for Wi-Fi, is so important.”

5G’s low latency will enable IoT uses requiring “near-instantaneous communications,” with the automotive market the largest consumer of IoT cellular modules by 2025, reported Strategy Analytics. 5G IoT module shipments will pass 4G’s in 2023, reaching 350 million annually by 2025, SA said Wednesday.

Utilities Technology Council officials told FCC Commissioner Geoffrey Starks about interference risk to utilities posed by Wi-Fi in the 6 GHz band (see 1911040048). UTC said "utilities were promoting broadband deployment to unserved and underserved areas, and urged the Commission to enable opportunities for utilities to compete for access to broadband funding that will be made available through the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund,” per a docket 18-295 filing posted Wednesday.

Amateur Radio Safety Foundation Inc. President Loring Kutchins and others from ARSI held FCC meetings on Winlink Global Radio Email's significance (see 1904010034). The group cited “the importance of radio e-mail in the high frequency bands for emergency communications, and Winlink’s key role,” said a filing posted Wednesday in docket 16-239: “We provided a detailed description of the substantial efforts that ARSFI expends on ensuring its Winlink station operators comply with the regulations of Part 97. We disputed the allegations of lack of transparency and possible interference.” The Wireless Bureau sought comment last week (see 1911010066) on a New York University petition for a declaratory ruling that rules prohibit transmission on amateur radio frequencies of “effectively encrypted or encoded messages.”