Commissioners approved 5-0 an NPRM proposing that the FCC fully transition its universal licensing system, the agency’s largest, from paper to electronic. Chairman Ajit Pai said in July he would seek the change (see 1907220028). The notice proposes to make all ULS filings “completely electronic; expand electronic filing and correspondence elements for related systems; and require applicants to provide an e-mail address on the FCC Forms related to these systems,” the FCC said. “This item also seeks comment on additional rule changes that would further expand the use of electronic filing and electronic service.” Comment dates will come in a future Federal Register notice. Commissioner Mike O’Rielly said in a statement he has supported such revisions since he joined the commission. With such changes, “the Commission would reduce not only its administrative costs, but also those of its licensees, and enhance the efficiency and transparency of the Commission’s processes,” O’Rielly said. Other commissioners didn't have statements. The NPRM was adopted Tuesday, released Friday.
T-Mobile announced a service plan Thursday, offering customers older than 55 two lines for $55 monthly.
The outlook for AT&T is improving, based on meetings Wednesday with the company, Wells Fargo’s Jennifer Fritzsche told investors Thursday. “We walked away incrementally positive on the wireless ops and believe the Street focus on certain ‘key metrics’ (negativity around balance sheet and video subs losses) is changing for the positive.” Wireless positives outweigh the negatives, the analyst said: AT&T “continues to see positive trajectory with its push toward the public safety sector (aka FirstNet).”
TCL pushed its NXTVISION display and camera technology at IFA Thursday, bowing the Plex smartphone. TCL has sold Blackberry-based smartphones. The 6.5-inch $360 Plex is the first of a range of mobile devices it will release next year, “including 5G products and devices with foldable displays,” said Peter Lee, general manager-global sales and marketing.
Altice USA's Altice Mobile service is launching with "the most aggressive" pricing in the wireless industry for single-line plans, Wells Fargo analyst Jennifer Fritzsche said in a note Thursday to investors. Altice Mobile will be $20 per line per month for its Suddenlink and Optimum customers and $30 per line per month for non-customers living in its 21-state footprint, the company said. It said the plan comes with unlimited data, text, voice, video streaming and mobile hot spot. Altice is a Sprint mobile virtual network operator and has a national roaming agreement with AT&T. Wells Fargo said the pricing should let Altice gain market share, especially coming just before Q4, which sees higher volumes of wireless phone activations. It said Altice likely will have to raise pricing for its mobile product to be profitable.
The FCC Wireless Bureau approved a waiver request granting Choice Communications permanent authorization to use 2.5 GHz spectrum in St. Croix, St. Thomas and St. John in the U.S. Virgin Islands for which it previously held special temporary authority. Viya, through Choice, has been using spectrum in the band there for more than 20 years, the bureau said. The order noted the current freeze on applications to use educational broadband service spectrum. In July, commissioners approved 3-2 revised rules, including an incentive auction of unused 2.5 GHz spectrum and EBS white spaces (see 1907100054). “Application of the filing freeze would be inequitable and contrary to the public interest under the unique circumstances,” the bureau said: “Other than Viya’s network, there is limited broadband available in the USVI. Viya’s 4G LTE network is better able to reach more areas than the island’s wireline broadband network. In addition, Viya is using all of the available EBS spectrum and has no other immediate alternative than to seek permanent authorization.”
The U.S. 4th Circuit Court of Appeals overruled a decision last year by a federal judge in Maryland who awarded Sprint $26.9 million based on one of the company's cellphone trafficking lawsuits. The court reversed a judgment against Wireless Buybacks, which took advantage of Sprint’s practice of offering subscribers upgraded phones as part of their plans. Wireless Buybacks worked with business customers that didn’t want the use of the new cellphones. The company would buy the phones from the businesses, then resell them. “The district court found that the contract unambiguously barred resale and granted partial summary judgment for Sprint,” the 4th Circuit ruled in docket 18-1729: “We disagree. We therefore vacate the relevant portion of the district court’s summary-judgment order and remand.” Sprint didn’t comment. Judge Julius Richardson wrote the decision, joined by Judges Albert Diaz and Henry Floyd.
The FirstNet board meets Sept. 18, says a notice for Thursday's Federal Register. The board and its Governance and Personnel, Technology, Public Safety Advocacy and Finance committees will meet jointly. The meeting is 11 a.m. at the Park Hyatt Washington.
The NTIA Spectrum Policy Symposium scheduled for Tuesday will have a keynote address by Commerce Department Deputy Secretary Karen Dunn Kelley. Diane Rinaldo, acting NTIA administrator, and Charles Cooper, associate administrator in the NTIA Office of Spectrum Management, will also speak. Panels will feature government speakers followed by industry. The event begins at 8:30 a.m. at the National Press Club.
A white paper by 5G Americas, released Wednesday, said 5G will continue to evolve in the years ahead and spectrum will remain a “key ingredient” requiring harmonization of bands “across national boundaries.” Rysavy Research wrote the report. “Hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of small cells will increase capacity and provide a viable alternative to wireline broadband,” the report suggests: Artificial intelligence “will optimize 5G network efficiency, make devices easier to use, enable new applications and leverage a hybrid architecture of central cloud, edge clouds and device computing.” The move to 5G “has been happening simultaneously with continued advances in 4G LTE,” said Rysavy President Peter Rysavy. “5G will transform wireless network capability by facilitating extremely dense deployments, harnessing spectrum never before available for cellular systems, being able to use extremely wide radio channels, employing virtualization methods, and supporting new ultra reliable and low latency applications.”