Some T-Mobile customers experienced “intermittent call issues” Wednesday night, CEO John Legere tweeted. “Update: Call issues are resolved and service is back to normal,” Chief Technology Officer Neville Ray later tweeted, apologizing for the disruption. A spokesperson had no additional comment Thursday.

Nearly eight in 10 U.S. consumers plan to use 5G as the springboard to expand their video-streaming activity, IHS Markit found. IHS canvassed 2,030 consumers late May on which types of activities they’re likely to increase with the arrival of 5G, and most ranked video streaming first, ahead of video calling, social media, mobile gaming, virtual reality and augmented reality. “The promise of faster video streaming through 5G is generating enormous enthusiasm,” it said. “Interest is particularly high for those younger than 50, with 81 percent of survey respondents in that age range citing video streaming as the top activity for 5G.”

The Wireless ISP Association slammed NAB and Satellite Industry Association filings raising questions on whether the C band can be safely shared with fixed point-to-multipoint (P2MP) operations. Both referred to an ITU report, WISPA filed, posted Thursday in docket 18-122. “Citing the ITU report is misleading because NAB, and SIA before it, mention only the fact that interference occurred, and do not explain that the circumstances in Bangladesh and Brazil were entirely different from coordinated sharing that would take place in the United States under the proposal advanced by the Broadband Access Coalition and others in this proceeding,” WISPA said. Both “mislead the Commission by disingenuously comparing carefully coordinated P2MP operations in C-band spectrum to network deployments about which next to nothing is known, except that they were likely uncoordinated with earth stations,” WISPA said. "NAB does not have confidence that the unproven P2MP coordination proposal will fully protect earth stations, and adding the P2MP proposal to an already complex C-Band reallocation would be reckless," a NAB spokesperson emailed Thursday: "There is no indication that the operations in Bangladesh and Brazil (as well as other countries) were not authorized operations -- yet they still caused interference.” SIA didn't comment.

The outlook for AT&T is improving, New Street’s Jonathan Chaplin told investors. “AT&T’s network is improving, based on objective testing, and it seems as if churn is showing early signs of improving too,” he said. “We have been bearish on AT&T for years.” Verizon could face tough times if T-Mobile completes its buy of Sprint and Dish Network launches another wireless network, Chaplin said Tuesday: “If AT&T starts to take share as well, Verizon is very exposed. AT&T’s recovery is still speculative; sub trends aren’t improving yet; but they should if the network improves, and the network should improve with new spectrum.”

The maximum number of generic license blocks will be available in the upcoming high-band auction, since during the initial commitment filing window, which closed Aug. 15, all 39 GHz incumbents committed to relinquish their licenses. That means in every market, 24 100-MHz blocks will be available in category M/N and 10 in category P, Wednesday's FCC public notice said. Category M/N “consists of blocks in 37.6-40 GHz and includes 10 blocks in the Upper 37 GHz band,” the PN said: Category P is made up of 10 blocks in 47.2-48.2 GHz.

WifiForward fired back after the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials asked the FCC to reserve the 5.9 GHz band for public safety use. A connected vehicle environment “holds the potential to support a fundamental advancement in ensuring the safety of our nation’s surface transportation system,” AASHTO said Monday in docket 13-49: “For this promising future to become a reality, the 5.9 GHz spectrum must be preserved for transportation safety purposes.” WifiForward later responded in a statement: “The FCC can achieve a win-win solution for auto safety and broadband by taking a fresh look at the rules for the 5.9 GHz band. Dedicating spectrum to specific transportation applications would merely perpetuate the waste of this extremely valuable resource at a time when we need it more than ever.”

CTIA and AT&T opposed a petition by Paul Armbruster, a Phoenix consumer who asserts the Telephone Consumer Protection Act gives subscribers the right to revoke consent from receiving unwanted text messages. Armbruster filed the petition in early 2017 and the Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau asked for comment last month (see 1907180028). “For nearly 30 years, all calls and texts from wireless service providers to their subscribers have fallen outside the TCPA ‘prior express consent’ requirements, as long as subscribers are not charged for the communications,” CTIA said, posted Tuesday in docket 02-278: “The Commission has repeatedly recognized the unique relationship that providers have with their subscribers as both the sender of the message and the provider of the wireless service.” The petition “offers no basis for the Commission to conclude that it has misread the letter and intent of the TCPA for the past 25 years,” AT&T commented. “Petitioner does not even attempt to make that argument.” But Justin Holcombe, a Georgia lawyer who handles TCPA complaints, said the FCC should listen to Armbruster. Holcombe said his carrier sends him automated telemarketing text calls: “I reply ‘stop’ to such messages, but they continue ... it’s an invasion of privacy.” Initial comments were due Monday.

The FCC published its procedures for the 37, 39, 47 GHz auction, which is to start Dec. 10 (see 1904120065), in the Federal Register Tuesday. Applications to participate must be submitted by 6 p.m. EDT Sept. 9, the notice said: Upfront payments are due Oct. 22.

T-Mobile said it opened a 20,000 square-foot device lab at its home base in Bellevue, Washington. The lab will “test smartphones and any other devices that connect to the Un-carrier’s network using any technology available,” T-Mobile said Tuesday: “The space is made up of more than a dozen testing areas where T-Mobile engineers analyze and fine-tune everything from network signal quality, voice call and sound quality, data throughput and video optimization … to in-depth testing of the latest software, applications and services.” The lab will also test the durability of devices. “5G will unlock SO MANY new capabilities and opportunities for innovation,” said Neville Ray, T-Mobile chief technology officer in the release: “With that comes new complexities in delivering the technology to customers.”

About a dozen smaller carriers in the U.S. are using gear from Huawei, estimates consultant John Strand, who has studied the matter.. Some small carriers “have taken a calculated risk when choosing Huawei as their supplier, which now turns out to be a bad decision,” Strand emailed Tuesday: “Our forthcoming study shows that there are cost-competitive alternatives to Huawei.” The Commerce Department gave rural U.S. carriers that use Huawei equipment a 90-day reprieve from a ban on doing business with the company (see 1908190040). The administration is right to focus on Huawei since “the vast majority of hacking attacks against governments and businesses in the Western world come from China,” Strand said. Blocking Huawei from buying U.S. components “largely affects Huawei's sales of phones outside the United States,” he said. “It has little impact in the U.S.” The decision is also good for Qualcomm, he said: “Qualcomm makes more money when the phone is embedded with a Qualcomm chipsets, rather than a licensed version produced by Huawei.”