The Wireless Infrastructure Association met with FCC Wireless Bureau officials on the group’s calls for a harmonization of rules on compound expansions (see 1810090038). “Harmonize the differing rules that apply to compound expansions,” WIA asked, posted Wednesday in docket 17-79. “Members continue to face regulatory hurdles when applying for Eligible Facilities Requests (EFRs) under Section 6409 of the Spectrum Act.”

It’s too early to forecast when the 5G rollout might start benefiting Corning’s optical glass fiber business, said CEO Wendell Weeks on a Tuesday earnings call. “I would characterize 5G as being in the beginning,” said Weeks. “We’re just really at the early stages of the deployment of infrastructure needed to have a 5G service level.” Some of the first deployments “you see out of different carriers are some of the easier ones,” said Weeks. “You’re really going to see the demand for our products get stronger and stronger as you have to support full mobility for 5G. That’s also going to take phones getting upgraded to 5G. So we’re just right in the beginning, and we’ve got a long, long way to go to get that much glass in the ground.”

T-Mobile had the best quarter in mobile phone activations in Q3, Consumer Intelligence Research Partners reported Monday, saying the carrier had the highest retention rate of existing customers and highest percentage gain of new customers, including switchers and first-time mobile buyers. Some 85 percent of T-Mobile customers who activated a mobile phone in the quarter stayed, and 30 percent of its customer base switched from competitors, said CIRP. Sprint had a 72 percent retention rate, and AT&T and Verizon had 78 percent and 82 percent retentions, it said. CIRP surveyed 500 U.S. subjects Oct. 1-9 who activated a new or used phone.

The FCC Public Safety Bureau sought comment on applications by St. Croix County, Wisconsin, for waiver to use paging-only channel 157.45 MHz for repeater output voice communications. The system provides dispatch for first responders in the county, the bureau said. St. Croix asserts the frequency is the “'best choice’ for deploying a new repeater output channel at each of the base stations in its county-wide simulcast system” and a “currently underutilized” channel including near St. Croix, the bureau said: “St Croix says that all other channels considered in its frequency search reflected ‘heavier usage.’” Comments are due Nov. 21, replies Dec. 6 in DA 18-1076.

The FCC Enforcement Bureau issued a notice of violation against Cleveland for alleged improper operation of marine coast station license KJA414. “Agents observed the intentional transmission of multiple unmodulated carriers (dead air) that interrupted safety radio communications” and operations from an unauthorized location, said the notice in Monday's Daily Digest. The city “must submit a written statement” within 20 days, the bureau said. “The response (i) must fully explain each violation, including all relevant surrounding facts and circumstances, (ii) must contain a statement of the specific action(s) taken to correct each violation and preclude recurrence, and (iii) must include a time line for completion.” The city didn't comment.

The Aerospace Industries Association supported a Boeing petition to streamline FCC equipment certification rules for industrial, scientific and medical (ISM) devices, used in aircraft and other vehicles for operations and monitoring. “Boeing’s Petition is fully consistent with the goals of its members,” the group said, posted Monday in RM-11814. "Wireless sensors and other devices that generate low levels of RF emissions are increasingly being used as components in aircraft for a range of purposes," AIA said. "These devices monitor environmental conditions and the status of countless operational and safety systems, including fuel systems, engines, flight control, airframe, and landing systems." Boeing said in an Aug. 6 petition the change is important as autonomous and semi-autonomous vehicles are launched. “Perhaps the single greatest technological challenge of this generation is the use of wireless systems, digital processing, and sensors to further heighten the operational safety and efficiency ... with the ultimate goal of autonomous operations,” Boeing said.

The FCC notified carriers about nine state attorneys general seeking access to confidential numbering resource utilization and forecast and local number portability data related to T-Mobile buying Sprint in docket 18-197, from Alabama, Connecticut, District of Columbia, Florida, Hawaii, Mississippi, Tennessee, Virginia, Washington and Wisconsin, said a notice Monday. The FCC earlier noted such requests by California and New York (see 1809200038). An AT&T executive, meanwhile, spoke with an FCC Wireless Bureau official on data and general information requests the bureau made of AT&T Oct. 3 and Sept. 10 on the deal. “We discussed the scope of and potential modifications” to the requests, said a filing posted Monday.

Utility representatives met aides to Chairman Ajit Pai and Commissioner Mike O’Rielly on the need for the FCC to update Part 22 paging rules to encourage more use of the frequencies. “Utilities rely on their Part 22 spectrum to provide real-time communications using handheld portable radios,” said a filing posted Monday in docket 14-180. “Utilities are constrained in their ability to deploy Part 22 channels and expand their operations because of the various technical limitations imposed by certain provisions of the FCC’s rules.” The meeting included representatives of New York State Electric & Gas and the Utilities Technology Council.

Verizon submitted part of the data the FCC Wireless Bureau requested earlier this month as it reviews T-Mobile’s proposed takeover of Sprint (see 1810040021). All data was redacted from the filing, posted Friday in docket 18-97. Verizon said it will “produce additional data responsive to the Data Request on a rolling basis.”

ADT said the FCC shouldn't adopt an “overly expansive interpretation” of automatic telephone dialing systems under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, as others also commented in docket 18-152 (see 1810180030). With more than 7 million customers, ADT said it sends “millions of non-telemarketing, informational calls to its customers ... on matters such as the status of alarm equipment and upcoming appointments. ... ADT simply could not engage in this volume of customer outreach without the use of efficient calling technologies.” ADT said it has a TCPA compliance program, but “finds itself the target of TCPA litigation based most recently on its efforts to reach consumers who are behind on their payments -- a type of call that TCPA’s legislative history makes clear was never intended to be regulated.”