Former FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler attempted to blow up some 5G myths in a Brookings report Tuesday. “The 5G discussion, with all its permutations and combinations, has grown to resemble an elementary school soccer game where everyone chases the ball, first in one direction, then another,” Wheeler wrote. Widely misunderstood is that 5G is both revolutionary and evolutionary, he said. “The details of the new applications that will use the network are still in the imagination stage,” he said: “How they will function, however, is not. The ubiquitous Internet Protocol will be the language of both the network architecture and the applications that run on it. Thanks to IP, 5G will be able to run multiple concurrent application layers -- each tied together by IP -- as opposed to legacy telecom networks that could only perform tasks sequentially.” Wheeler questioned whether the Trump administration is paying enough attention to 5G security, which he said must be part of the network from the beginning. “5G is not just about Huawei,” he said: “The security of 5G is an ecosystem that must be protected in its whole. The supply chain that makes up 5G runs the gamut from radio networks, to the integrated chipsets in that network, and the devices that will use the network (not just phones, but also billions of IoT devices).”

The hint of agreement on Huawei between President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping “both solves nothing and increases the muddle and confusion,” American Enterprise Institute Resident Scholar Claude Barfield blogged Monday. Trump “caved without any real pre-concessions from Beijing -- the resumption of trade negotiations, no new tariffs while talks continue, no Chinese commitments on structural reform, and upfront easing of restrictions on Huawei,” Barfield wrote. At the same time, U.S. officials downplayed the value of the concessions to China, he said: “In a situation endemic to this administration, from the outset both the president and his top economic and security advisers attempted to redefine the results and walk back the extent of the concessions.” Experts said last week the net effect is unclear (see 1907020060).

Dynetics asked the FCC to act on its request that the FCC lift or waive the temporary freeze on nonfederal applications for new or expanded Part 90 operations in the 3100-3550 MHz band (see 1905290011). “Modifying the Freeze to apply only to the 3450-3550 MHz range … is fully supported by the record, which confirms … that critical infrastructure operators must comply with long-term sector-specific physical site protection requirements and therefore must rely on the continued ability to obtain non-temporary licenses authorizing the operation of state-of-the-art radiolocation technologies in the 3.1-3.3 GHz range or face increased risk of attack and enforcement penalties,” the company said Monday in docket 19-39. The FCC took comment and got a mixed response, including opposition from CTIA (see 1906130001 and 1906140056). NTIA confirmed to it that “no additional frequencies have been identified by NTIA for alternative use beyond the limited 3450-3550 MHz frequency range previously identified in February 2018,” Dynetics said.

Apple, Broadcom and other tech companies presented a new study on interference risks in the 6 GHz band, from low-power indoor (LPI) unlicensed devices. They see it as a key band for Wi-Fi (see 1903190050). The companies presented an interference protection analysis of fixed service (FS) links used by the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, a top U.S. public power company. "Potential interference from unlicensed LPI operations to any LADWP FS link is extremely unlikely even when an unlicensed device is operating within direct line of sight of a licensed FS link,” said a filing posted Monday in docket 17-183. Cisco, Facebook, Google, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Intel, Marvell Technology, Qualcomm and Ruckus also attended.

FCC commissioners haven’t had a chance to vote on an order approving T-Mobile’s buy of Sprint, promised by Chairman Ajit Pai in May (see 1905200051), agency officials said Monday. T-Mobile/Sprint agreed to sell Boost, Sprint’s prepaid business, and to make other concessions to win FCC OK. DOJ hasn’t made a decision but indicated it wants the deal to lead to the emergence of a fourth national wireless provider to replace Sprint. Fourteen state attorneys general sued to block the deal (see 1906210033). Google, meanwhile, denied a report it's working with Dish Network to become the fourth carrier. “These claims are simply false,” a Google spokesperson emailed Monday: “Google is not having any conversations with Dish about creating a wireless network.” The state lawsuit changed “the trajectory of the merger process and, no doubt” increased “the desire of the DOJ to have a credible fourth provider before blessing the deal,” New Street’s Blair Levin told investors Monday: “This coming week should see a similar big development, one way or another, as the framework for that fourth is likely to become public this week, or if it doesn’t, the lack of news will have further consequences down the road.” A DOJ decision appears “very close at hand,” said Wells Fargo’s Jennifer Fritzsche. “But as we noted last week, we still think there remain outstanding issues (namely the State AG lawsuit and what concessions are being extracted).” Pai said June 6 (see 1906070058) that he would circulate an order on the deal “in the coming weeks.” The FCC didn't comment Monday.

The Association of American Railroads told the FCC it faces unique challenges if the agency reconfigures the 900 MHz band to allow for broadband (see 1907030028). AAR’s replies were posted Friday in docket 17-200. Railroads rely on a nationwide ribbon license created in 2001 from more than 300 private land mobile radio call signs for communications, AAR said. “Member railroads rely on the ribbon license’s six noncontiguous, paired frequencies for Train Control/Central Traffic Control operations, which enable approximately 9,500 transceivers to wirelessly control wayside track switches and signals.” Three of the license’s paired frequencies are within the proposed broadband swath and the remaining three paired frequencies are less than 1 MHz away, the group said. “Relocating AAR’s frequencies county-by-county would administratively and operationally burden AAR, which could be required to: (1) hire additional staff to track its new patchwork network of frequencies across hundreds or thousands of counties; and (2) reconfigure its network to accommodate different base stations operating on different frequencies in different counties, thereby creating potentially unsafe conditions for trackside switch and signal operations.”

An FCC Enforcement Bureau citation directs Jose Perez to “immediately cease and desist” reprogramming transmitters to operate on unauthorized frequencies, “and to avoid any recurrence of this misconduct.” The bureau warned Perez he faces fines of up to $20,134 daily if he doesn’t comply. Perez couldn’t be reached for comment. Agents from the bureau’s New York office investigated and found L and G Car Service, licensee of private land mobile station WQVL958, allegedly transmitting on 154.8025 MHz at 445 Broadway, Paterson, New Jersey. “The license for Station WQVL958 does not authorize operation on 154.8025 MHz,” the bureau said Wednesday. “A representative from L and G Car Service informed the Agents that its radio vendor, Perez Communications and Electronics, had programmed the frequency 154.8025 MHz into its radio transmitters.” The bureau directed Perez to provide a timeline within 30 days for taking “corrective actions.”

The Wireless ISP Association wants changes to draft rules for the 2.5 GHz band to ensure WISPs will bid for the band in an eventual auction. WISPA President Claude Aiken spoke with an aide to FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel about proposed changes, said a filing Monday in docket 18-120. WISPA asked the FCC to offer small business and rural provider bidding credits, as it traditionally does in auctions. WISPA “expressed strong disappointment with the Draft Order’s proposal to auction spectrum in two blocks, one of 100 MHz and the other of 16.5 MHz” and prefers smaller blocks that would be less expensive for WISPs. The order is teed up for a commissioner vote next Wednesday (see 1906190063).

Engineering company Robert Bosch sought partial reconsideration of the March spectrum horizons order, saying the FCC should have allocated more spectrum for unlicensed use above 95 GHz. The agency approved the order 5-0, despite quibbles by Commissioners Jessica Rosenworcel and Geoffrey Starks (see 1903150054). “Overall, the actions taken … will provide new opportunities for innovators and experimenters to push technological boundaries in wireless communications, and facilitate the development of new equipment and applications using unlicensed RF systems in some segments of spectrum between 95 GHz and 3 THz,” Bosch said Monday in docket 18-21. “However, the Commission did not make internationally harmonized spectrum available in the band 123-140 GHz for unlicensed operation, and it did not address the merits of the arguments provided by Bosch in favor of doing so.”

An apparently widespread AT&T outage Tuesday morning prevented some wireless users from being able to contact emergency services, according to AT&T and tweets from first responders in several states. “Earlier this morning some wireless customers may have been unable to connect to 911,” an AT&T spokesperson emailed. “This has been resolved and we apologize to anyone who was affected.” AT&T didn’t specify the precise locations and duration of the outage. Police departments in Minneapolis, Hot Springs, Arkansas, Dutchess County, New York and other far-flung localities tweeted about the outage and described it as “nationwide.” AT&T “is experiencing a nationwide network service outage impacting the ability to reach 9-1-1 on a cell phone if you have AT&T,” tweeted the Frisco, Texas, PD at 7:45 a.m CDT. Minneapolis PD reported service being restored in a matter of hours. The National Emergency Number Association didn’t comment.