The FCC granted nearly 2,700 licenses bought by most of the 33 winning bidders in the 28 GHz auction, which ended in January (see 1901240034). A total of 2,965 licenses sold, for $700 million in net bids. The applications “have been found to be complete and in conformance with the Commission’s rules, and there are no petitions to deny or other requests pending that would prevent grant of these licenses,” the bureau said Wednesday: “Granting the applications … serves the public interest.” Despite low prices, FCC and industry officials dubbed this first 5G auction a success.

T-Mobile said Pivotal Commware should be exempt from FCC industrial signal booster labeling requirements for its Echo signal booster, but subject to consumer signal booster rules (see 1909300050). “Given the Commission-recognized importance of labeling in the signal booster context, Pivotal should not be granted a blanket waiver of all signal booster labeling requirements,” the carrier said in docket 19-272, posted Tuesday.

Aviation Spectrum Resources Inc. (ASRI) said there's general support for FCC-proposed changes to Part 87 aviation radio service rules, in a June NPRM (see 1906060056). Replies posted Tuesday in docket 19-140. Others raised aeronautical mobile airport communication system (AeroMACS) concerns, mirroring initial comments (see 1909040057). “The Data Comm system has already improved the efficiency of ATC [air traffic control] operations resulting in major time savings and the elimination of read-back errors in which pilots and controller repeat spoken messages in order to ensure accuracy,” ASRI said: “Aeronautical enroute stations licensed in the upper half of the 136 MHz band have been utilized for Data Comm operations, but the time is rapidly approaching in which additional spectrum will be needed. Accordingly, ASRI asked the Commission to add aeronautical enroute stations to the list of facilities that may be licensed in the 136-136.475 MHz sub-band.” Federated Wireless said the FCC is correct to try to maximize spectrum efficiency here. It's “an opportunity for the Commission to ensure that the spectrum allocated for operations in the 5000-5030 MHz and 5091-5150 MHz bands … is used as densely and efficiently as possible,” Federated said: Leverage “to the maximum extent possible dynamic coordination and spectrum sharing technologies" and ensure “service rules for the AeroMACS Bands are technologically neutral and allow for the densest possible use of the spectrum at and in the areas surrounding airports.” Adopt service rules for AeroMACS, the WiMax Forum said. “The record confirms the momentum,” the group said: “Commenters of all stripes -- airline, airport, airframe manufacturer, and aeronautical communications network provider stakeholders, among others -- reiterate the benefits of AeroMACS and support the adoption of service rules.” Boeing said the rules need more work. Ensure non-aircraft licensees “have sufficient experience,” designate a frequency coordinator “with appropriate qualifications” and preclude AeroMACS deployments “at airports with significant flight testing activities,” Boeing commented. Lockheed Martin recognizes AeroMACS has priority over aeronautical mobile telemetry “but urges the Commission to establish a sufficiently flexible licensing and operational framework that does not unfairly prejudice [aeronautical mobile telemetry] operations at the manufacturing locations where the subject frequencies would be required for use. Priority should not be construed as a regulatory status to mean exclusivity of operations.”

A private auction of C-band spectrum would violate Communications Act Section 309(j), Michael Calabrese, director of the Wireless Future Program at New America, told William Davenport, an aide to Commissioner Geoffrey Starks. That’s “regardless of whether a private auction was conditioned on FCC-like protections and/or a contribution of some share of revenue to the Treasury,” Calabrese said in a docket 18-295 letter, posted Monday.

Lifeline service provider Smith Bagley Inc. asked the FCC to exempt elderly customers on tribal lands from having to provide paperwork proving their eligibility if they're 60 or older when recertification checks through the national verifier no longer show them as eligible, in a filing posted Monday in docket 11-42. "If an elderly customer on Tribal lands can no longer be verified as a Medicaid participant," SBI said, "it is statistically likely that they also qualify via household income" or as a Social Security beneficiary. "Requiring documents in these cases would not only be unnecessary to prevent fraud, it would impose undue burdens on seniors." The company suggests elderly customers in tribal areas should be allowed to self-certify. Its counsel met with Wireline Deputy Bureau Chief Trent Harkrader and other staff Wednesday.

The FCC extended until Oct. 29 the deadline for comments on petitions by CTIA and the Wireless Infrastructure Association seeking clarifications aimed at speeding wireless siting decisions (see 1909130062). Replies are now due Nov. 13. The old deadlines were Oct. 15 and Oct. 30. Organizations representing utilities and local government associations requested comment and reply deadlines be extended 30 days, the Wireless and Wireline bureaus said Monday in docket 19-250. “An additional 14 days should provide sufficient time for parties to analyze the issues raised in the petitions and meaningfully address them.”

Comments would be due Oct. 30, replies Nov. 14 on an NPRM proposing the FCC fully transition its universal licensing system, the agency’s largest, from paper to electronic. Commissioners approved the NPRM 5-0 this month (see 1909060030), set for publication in Monday's Federal Register.

Ericsson CEO Borje Ekholm and colleagues met with FCC Chairman Ajit Pai on 5G and pressed for FCC action on the C band that many stakeholders want for fifth-generation wireless use. "Not only is timing important, but Ericsson would like to see enough spectrum in the band made available to serve multiple operators with 100 MHz channels," the company asked the agency: "Reconsider its proposal to devote the entire 6 GHz band to unlicensed use." The executives "highlighted its commitment to its U.S. customers as they roll out 5G products at an increasing rate,” said a filing posted Thursday in docket 18-122. It noted its new 5G smart factory in Lewisville, Texas (see 1909190042).

A “satellite operator-led transition” like that proposed by the C-Band Alliance is “the fastest and most efficient way” to open the C band for 5G, Verizon executives said in a meeting with FCC General Counsel Tom Johnson and others. “Such a process can free up hundreds of megahertz of valuable mid-band spectrum, potentially years faster than a Commission-administered auction process,” Verizon filed in a letter posted Friday in docket 18-122: “The value of that speed-to-market advantage to our economy and international competitiveness is enormous as countries around the world seek to position themselves as the hub of 5G development.”

Mobile handsets with 5G functionality will capture 56 percent of the global smartphone market in 2023, from 10 percent in 2020, said Gartner Thursday. “As a result of the impact of 5G, the smartphone market is expected to return to growth” next year, rising 2.9 percent from 2019, it said. “After years of growth, the worldwide smartphone market has reached a tipping point.” The researcher projects smartphone sales will decline 3.2 percent in 2019, the worst single-year decrease since the category’s inception 13 years ago. Consumers hold "onto their phones longer,” said Gartner. The quality and technology features of premium smartphones “have reached a level today where users see high value in their device beyond a two-year time frame,” it said. “Unless the devices provide significant new utility, efficiency or experiences, users do not necessarily want to upgrade.”