The FCC reminded carriers offering wireless emergency alerts they must be able to deliver no later than Nov. 30 geo-targeted messages to 100 percent of the target area, with no more than one-tenth of a mile overshoot, to new mobile devices offered for sale and existing devices capable of being upgraded. The FCC approved the requirement and deadline in January 2018 (see 1801300027).

ARRL signed a memorandum of understanding with the FCC to implement a “new and enhanced” Volunteer Monitor program. “The memorandum establishes the Volunteer Monitors as a replacement for the Official Observers (OO) program. Current OOs have been encouraged to participate in the new program, the group, which represents amateur radio operators, said Tuesday. “We are excited by the opportunity to codify our partnership with the FCC and to work together to achieve our mutual interests of protecting the integrity of our Amateur Radio bands,” said ARRL President Rick Roderick. ARRL estimates “within 6 to 9 months the first Volunteer Monitors will be in place and ready to begin their duties.”

BTIG’s Walter Piecyk said the FCC needs to make more mid-band spectrum available for 5G, echoing a growing pro-mid-band drumbeat (see 1904120058). “Governments around the world are auctioning mid-band spectrum for 5G and, as a result, 5G networks are getting launched with more than just hot-spot coverage,” Piecyk said Wednesday, noting KT in Korea recently launched a 5G network using 3.5 GHz spectrum. “That’s the company that Verizon rushed to beat with their 5G 'launch' in Chicago and Minneapolis earlier this month,” Piecyk said. “We have not been to Korea to test this network, but based on the press reports and coverage maps, KT appears to offer superior coverage to what we experienced on Verizon’s mmWave 5G network in Chicago, last week.” Verizon didn't comment.

The clock phase of the 24 GHz auction ended Wednesday with $1.99 billion in gross proceeds and bidders claiming 2,904 of 2,909 available licenses, the FCC said. The agency stopped the auction after round 91. Winning bidders will now bid for frequency-specific licenses in the assignment phase with a public notice coming soon on when that phase will start, the FCC said. The auction had a “successful conclusion,” said Scott Bergmann, CTIA senior vice president-regulatory affairs: “We look forward to the final results of this auction, as well as making progress on mid-band spectrum availability.”

The FCC will go from five bidding rounds Tuesday to eight Wednesday as it speeds up the 24 GHz auction. The auction has been stuck just below $2 billion and closed Tuesday with $1.99 billion in gross proceeds.

TracFone representatives discussed the FCC’s 2016 Lifeline order and the recent launches of the national verifier with an aide to Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel. “TracFone reiterated its concern that, in many states, the National Verifier lacks access to SNAP [Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program] and Medicaid databases, which can result in significant Lifeline re-verification failure rates,” said a filing posted Tuesday in docket 17-287. “In states that do not have access to a SNAP database and where Lifeline recipients are using manual verification, TracFone proposed that applicants could demonstrate Lifeline eligibility using a SNAP card along with additional eligibility documentation.”

FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr will speak about 5G workforce development Thursday at Aiken Technical College in Graniteville, South Carolina, his office said Tuesday. The speech is part of a three-day swing by Carr through Alabama, Georgia and South Carolina. Carr will travel with Rep. Buddy Carter, R-Ga., Wednesday.

Comments are due May 15, replies May 30, on an FCC public notice on bidding rules for the 37, 39 and 47 GHz auction. Commissioners approved the notice last week 5-0 (see 1904120058). The auction, to start Dec. 10, will be the FCC’s third of high-band spectrum for 5G. “The clock phase of Auction 103 serves as both the forward and reverse portions of the incentive auction by determining the prices and winners of new flexible use licenses as well as determining the amount of incentive payments to those incumbent licensees that relinquish spectrum usage rights,” the FCC said Monday. “By initiating the pre-auction processes for assigning licenses in Auction 103, we take another step toward releasing even more high-band spectrum to the market and thus furthering the deployment of fifth-generation wireless, the Internet of Things, and other advanced spectrum-based services.”

Sprint told the FCC it won’t provide much competition without its deal with T-Mobile, said a letter posted Tuesday in docket 18-197. Meanwhile, public interest and consumer groups filed a petition urging the FCC to reject the deal. “Sprint is in a very difficult situation that is only getting worse,” the carrier said. “Sprint’s network lacks the coverage and consistency that customers demand. Sprint’s lack of low band spectrum is at the root of these network problems, and that problem cannot be fixed because there is no low band spectrum available that Sprint could buy.” Sprint said it's losing customers and seeing lower revenue and cash flow “further limiting its ability to invest in its network and service its debt. Simply put, Sprint is not on a sustainable competitive path.” Free Press, the Communications Workers of America, Common Cause, the Demand Progress Education Fund and other public interest groups said they filed 60,000 petitions at the FCC Tuesday opposing the deal. “Despite claims made by T-Mobile and Sprint executives[,] the deal would reduce competition, raise prices and result in the loss of as many as 30,000 jobs,” the groups said: “It won’t advance their stated goal of faster 5G deployment and improved rural broadband service." Industry officials said the number of petitions and how many are real is difficult to verify. On Monday, CWA reported on a meeting with Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel on its case against the transaction. DOJ staffers told the two companies the deal is unlikely to be approved as structured, The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday, citing unnamed sources.

Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel repeated Monday concerns that the FCC should refocus on mid-band spectrum for 5G (see 1904120058). “The US has ceded leadership when it comes to mid-band spectrum,” Rosenworcel tweeted. “If we want to lead the world in #5G, this is a problem.”