Montgomery County, Texas, is seeking a waiver from the FCC Public Safety Bureau to allow it to test the wireless emergency alert system, said a letter posted Thursday in docket 15-91. The county Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Management wants to do three tests in December to gauge the system as a whole and to test geolocation: “During Hurricane Harvey we noted a potential loss of messages, where some of our constituents informed us that they may not have received our alerts.”

The National Educational Broadband Service Association and Catholic Technology Association support the proposed T-Mobile/Sprint deal and want EBS white space to be licensed through priority filing windows limited to tribal nations and educational institutions that don’t hold EBS licenses, they said. The filings posted Thursday in dockets 18-197 and 18-120 on meetings Tuesday with the FCC Wireless Bureau and an aide to Commissioner Brendan Carr. Licensing EBS white space to tribal entities and schools “will benefit the education community as a whole” and “help preserve the essential educational nature of EBS.” T-Mobile/Sprint will provide better coverage and greater availability of 5G, the groups said. It shouldn’t involve the forced divestitures requested by Voqal because they would “be disruptive to affected EBS licensees,” CTA and NEBSA said.

TV white spaces database provider Nominet’s assertion it fixed all issues from NAB’s petition for reconsideration (see 1811150053) isn't the first time the company made that claim, NAB said in a call with an aide to FCC Chairman Ajit Pai Tuesday. In August, Nominet claimed to have addressed all the database’s errors, but information remained incorrect, NAB said, posted Thursday in docket 04-186. Don't "simply take Nominet’s word,” said the group. "Undertake a comprehensive review of Nominet’s database" to verify it's correctly identifying available channels for TVWS. Nominet didn't comment.

The FCC allowed Sprint to deploy 800 MHz wideband operations in seven more counties in the Southern California National Public Safety Planning Advisory Committee (NPSPAC) Region 5 before 800 MHz band reconfiguration is completed in that region, the Wireless Bureau said in a Thursday letter granting Sprint’s modification request. The carrier had a waiver for three other counties north of Los Angeles. “Sprint’s subscribers in the additional counties will have access to valuable broadband wireless services as public safety jurisdictions complete rebanding and portions of these counties become available for deployment, while protecting the remaining public safety entities from harmful interference,” the bureau said.

Bid commitments rose to $391 million in the 28 GHz band auction Thursday, with provisionally winning bids on 2,549 of 3,072 licenses, said the FCC dashboard. The bid total was $317 million Wednesday (see 1811280043). The auction continues Friday with four more rounds.

Fishing net buoys are among a growing problem of noncompliant devices operating in frequencies assigned to automatic identification systems (AIS), the FCC Enforcement Bureau advised Wednesday, saying sellers, advertisers and users of such noncompliant devices could face "substantial monetary penalties." The only devices certified for AIS frequencies are Class A and B shipborne equipment, AIS search and rescue transmitters, and maritime survivor locating devices. Fishing net tracking equipment is authorized in the 1900-2000 KHz band.

Oklahoma Department of Corrections Director Joe Allbaugh asked FCC Chairman Ajit Pai for assistance "to help make contraband cellphones unusable to the inmate population." So wrote Charles Mathias, FCC Wireless Bureau associate chief and ombudsperson for contraband device issues, in a filing Tuesday in docket 13-111 on the Oct. 16 meeting.

Comments are due Dec. 12, replies Dec. 24, on the Wireless ISP Association and Utilities Technology Council request for more time for grandfathered wireless broadband licensees in the 3650-3700 MHz band to transition to the Part 96 citizens broadband radio service rules, said an FCC Wireless Bureau public notice in Wednesday's Daily Digest.

T-Mobile's criticisms of Dish Network's narrowband IoT and spectrum deployment plans (see 1810260047) are "a blatant attempt to stifle competition" and legally meritless, Dish responded Tuesday to FCC Wireless Bureau Chief Donald Stockdale. The "baseless claims" are aimed at preventing a disruptive new market entrant and rest largely on the unsupported proposition the IoT network won't meet buildout requirements since it won't use "some undefined sufficient portion" of the company's spectrum, it said: Its spectrum licenses don't have any minimum loading or spectrum use requirements, it said. Dish IoT plans differ from "license saving" deployments that fell short of buildout requirements since its network will be a neutral host platform for third parties alongside Dish's IoT offerings, the company said. It said T-Mobile wrongly asserted the AWS-4, H block and lower 700 MHz E block are supposed to be used for mobile broadband since they're licensed for flexible use. Dish said the carrier should have aired concerns 20 months ago, when it made its IoT plans public, before radios, chipsets and RF designs were committed to and developed. T-Mobile emailed that Dish's response "makes it even clearer they’re merely buying time, at a cost to consumers, hoping to figure out a meaningful ‘Phase 2’ business plan. The FCC’s construction requirements are intended to ensure spectrum is put to use in a timely manner -- DISH has missed the mark and the FCC should enforce its rules.”

Citigroup analysts suspect the 28 GHz auction has "two outsized bidders," based on their bidding analysis. "We expect Verizon to be a major participant," given its existing holdings in the band, they wrote investors Wednesday. They noted AT&T, Dish Network, T-Mobile, U.S. Cellular and several financial firms filed as potential bidders, but said it's unclear who else might be driving bidding, which picked up this week. The auction's spectrum was valued 0.4 cents per MHz-POP, with $241.6 million in bids at Tuesday's close, they noted. That compares with $182.1 million the previous Monday (see 1811260045). Bids reached $317 million Wednesday, with provisionally winning bids on 2,496 of 3,072 licenses, said the FCC dashboard. Bidding continues Thursday with four more rounds.