The Wi-Fi Alliance urged the FCC to propose low-power, indoor use of the 6 GHz band without automatic frequency coordination (AFC). “There are many reasons that low power unlicensed devices restricted to indoor-only use are unlikely to cause harmful interference to fixed service stations,” the coalition said. “Those unlicensed devices are most likely to be operated at or near ground level -- removed from the main beam of microwave transmissions, or in high-rise structures where structural steel, concrete and treated windows absorb most of radiofrequency energy outside.” The alliance said Friday in docket 18-295 it met with aides to the four commissioners and Julius Knapp, chief of the Office of Engineering and Technology. Commissioners will consider proposed rules at their meeting on allowing Wi-Fi in the 6 GHz band (see 1810010027). Add additional questions to the NPRM “and provide more specific guidance about the types of evidence that would be most useful to the Commission in assessing the feasibility of these operations in each 6 GHz sub-band,” tech players said in FCC meetings with Mike O’Rielly and aides to the other commissioners. “Consider additional questions about the use of portable access points in the 6 GHz band, which have proven to be a key use case in the 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz unlicensed bands." They sought a comment request "on how technical rules governing transmitters can promote rural broadband deployment in the 6 GHz band.” The filing was signed by Apple, Broadcom, Cisco, Facebook, Google, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Intel, Marvell Technology Group, Microsoft, Qualcomm and Ruckus Networks.

T-Mobile and Sprint executives met FCC staff reviewing their proposed deal on the network model the companies offered in response to Wireless Bureau questions. Mark McDiarmid, T-Mobile senior vice president-radio network engineering and development, led the meeting, said a filing posted Monday in docket 18-197. “Applicants showed how the network model is utilized to determine if there may be network congestion for the LTE and 5G networks for standalone T-Mobile, standalone Sprint, and New T-Mobile,” it said. Free Conferencing met staff to complain about T-Mobile business practices. “Free Conference provided FCC staff with information concerning T- Mobile’s deceptive and ongoing call blocking scheme, referred to as the One-Cent Policy,” the company said Friday. “T-Mobile designed the policy solely to reduce its own customers’ calls to Free Conferencing and others that tend to have longer duration calls.” T-Mobile didn't comment.

The FCC Enforcement Bureau said Adaptive Micro Systems agreed to adopt a compliance plan and pay a $50,000 penalty for marketing LED signs used in digital billboards and other applications without equipment authorization, labeling and user manual disclosures. In a consent decree, the company admitted it violated the rules. It didn't comment Friday.

The FCC Office of Engineering and Technology gave AT&T special temporary authority to operate a 5G new radio (NR) system using 28 GHz spectrum in a collaborative trial at the University of Southern California, Los Angeles. “The 5G air links … will be used to test and verify the performance of various applications that require very high speeds and very low latencies, to confirm the benefits of 5G NR for such applications,” AT&T said. “The results will provide valuable information to users whose feedback could be used to enable product development and system optimization, as well as to improve future system standards and the deployment processes.”

A Phoenix Center study Friday proposed a two-stage economic model for market-based repurposing of spectrum, using an expiring “transaction window.” Licensees would get a fixed period to sell, acquire or repurpose their licenses. “This transaction window expires at a known, fixed date, at which time licenses held by incumbents that are not participating in or eligible for providing the ‘new’ service receive a compensation level established by the Commission, such as relocation to new spectrum bands where a functionally equivalent flow of services may be obtained,” the center said. “The motivation to act fairly and quickly during the transaction window depends on the Commission’s chosen level of compensation when the window expires.” Senior Fellow Randolph Beard and Chief Economist George Ford did the study. “Economic theory and empirical evidence suggests an expiring transaction window will expedite market transactions for spectrum licenses,” Ford said.

Verizon disputed complaints by competitive carrier Smith Bagley, which asked the FCC to investigate (see 1810110032) data Verizon submitted to determine which parts of the U.S. are eligible for support under the Mobility Fund II program. Verizon maps “follow the parameters set forth by the Commission,” a spokesperson emailed. “The FCC recognized that the coverage maps are predictive and will not necessarily reflect actual customer experience in every location all the time. The maps are designed to identify those areas (outside the maps) that are presumed eligible for support, so that limited funding can be targeted to the areas of highest need. The maps are only a first step in the Mobility Fund II process. The challenge process allows the Commission to expand the areas eligible for support upon evidence that coverage does not exist.”

Representatives of the Ultra Wide Band Alliance raised concerns about proposals in the FCC’s draft 6 GHz NPRM. Deployment “at the requested power levels, would effectively render many UWB products, services and applications useless,” said a filing posted Friday in docket 17-183. The alliance “holds grave concerns that the NPRM’s proposed power levels and use of the entire 6 GHz band will halt all innovation other than another variation of the current Wi-Fi techniques.” The FCC should consider ways to mitigate the risks for UWB, the alliance said. Members met with Chief Julius Knapp and others from the Office of Engineering and Technology. The FCC will consider proposed rules at the Oct. 23 commissioners' meeting allowing Wi-Fi in the 6 GHz band (see 1810010027).

Chief Technology Officer Neville Ray and others from T-Mobile and Sprint met with FCC officials examining the companies’ proposed deal. The topic was the network engineering model for the combined company, said a filing in docket 18-197. “T-Mobile and Sprint described how the combined company would be uniquely positioned with complementary spectrum assets in the low, mid, and high bands to drive a robust, nationwide 5G network to the benefit of consumers,” the Thursday filing said. “The transaction would allow for a multiplicative effect for capacity due to the increase in number of cell sites, amount of spectrum available per cell site, and increases in spectral efficiency.” The companies said the model is “built upon T-Mobile’s ordinary course practices and models standalone T-Mobile, standalone Sprint, and New T-Mobile for both LTE and 5G.” The filing includes slides. The District of Columbia approved the deal last week (see 1810120021).

Dialog Semiconductor is licensing its power management integrated circuits to Apple, with a $300 million prepayment for product purchases over three years and as much also in cash. Apple will employ more than 300 Dialog engineers for R&D and award the semiconductor company a “broad range” of new contracts. The transition is expected to foster "deeper collaboration," Dialog said Thursday. The chipmaker plans to accelerate its transition to provide “differentiated custom and configurable mixed-signal ICs across a broader customer base” in IoT, mobile, automotive and computing & storage markets. Dialog is the manufacturer for wireless charging company Energous. Its CEO Steve Rizzone told us Thursday he expects that arrangement to continue and the new pact is a “win-win” for both companies. Dialog closed up 32 percent at $24.60 on U.S. over-the-counter markets, where it's usually thinly traded.

Echodyne asked the FCC for waiver so it can offer a device that makes ground-based use of the 24.45-24.65 GHz aeronautical radio navigation band. Echodyne originally intended to offer equipment that would operate as an airborne detect-and-avoid radar, consistent with the rules for the band. But industry and government customers want to use the band for ground-based security and surveillance (SSR), Echodyne said in docket 17-352. “This interest has been so strong that Echodyne has created a version of the radar optimized for ground-based use, the EchoGuard,” the company said. “This ground-based SSR radar can scan for drones in the air and vehicles and people on the ground.” This detect-and-alert role for the band “is complementary to the existing service allocation in the band and will not interfere with Echodyne’s use of the band for radionavigation,” the company said.