The National Trust for Historic Preservation wants the court reviewing a wireless infrastructure order to decide whether the FCC unlawfully failed to engage in "government-to-government consultation with Indian Tribes” and “whether the FCC’s action was otherwise in violation” of the Administrative Procedure Act. Thursday's filing (in Pacer) was on United Keetoowah Band v. FCC & USA, No. 18-1129, at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. The group said other questions raised are whether the order is inconsistent with requirements of the National Historic Preservation and National Environmental Policy acts.

Sprint said prepaid brand Virgin will no longer offer its “Inner Circle” service plan, which offered one-year unlimited plan for $1 to users who bought an iPhone and ported their number to the new plan or upgraded to the plan. Current Virgin iPhone subscribers can stay on their Inner Circle plan, a Sprint spokesperson emailed. “Because we are bringing back Android devices and Inner Circle is an iPhone-only plan, we now offer Unlimited Data with benefits plans starting at $35/month,” she said. “Any new Virgin Mobile iPhone or Android customer will pair their smartphone with one of Virgin’s Unlimited Data with benefits plans.”

Global smartwatch shipment will rise 43 percent this year to 33 million units, doubling to 66 million units in 2022, as cellular connectivity stokes demand, Futuresource reported Thursday. Convergence” of fitness, communication and productivity features is driving smartwatch sales, and “independent LTE connectivity is expected to bring a new wave of smartwatch adoption, as consumers reap the benefits of standalone devices,” it said.

The six associations that earlier agreed to launch a Hearing Aid Compatible (HAC) Task Force are seeking applicants for administrator. In 2016, the FCC unanimously adopted rules aimed at making all wireless handsets HAC within eight years (see 1608040046). The FCC also established a task force that will report back by the end of 2020 on whether the eight-year goal is feasible. The Competitive Carriers Association, CTIA, the Hearing Loss Association of America, National Association of the Deaf, Telecommunications for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing and the Telecommunications Industry Association are working together on launch of the task force. “The Administrator will lead the HAC Task Force process as it assesses technical and market conditions to make a final recommendation to the FCC,” the groups said Wednesday, in a release emailed the following day. “The Signatories seek applicants with relevant technical, legal, administrative and policy expertise to manage the process, which will carefully weigh the needs of consumers with hearing loss, the wireless industry, and other industry participants.”

The relatively few petitions asking the FCC to deny T-Mobile’s buy of Sprint (see 1808280038) probably bode well, Macquarie’s Amy Yong told investors Thursday. “Odds of deal approval are rising and attention is now shifting to potential conditions/remedies,” Yong forecast. “The backdrop doesn’t seem to support spectrum or subscriber divestments.” She said AT&T and Verizon, “as expected,” were silent, as were new wireless entrants Comcast and Charter Communications. The cable companies' stance “likely reflects their commitment to their Verizon MVNOs, rather than looking to access New T-Mobile’s network or spectrum assets,” she said. However, Altice had MVNO worries. The deal's harms are "especially potent today as cable operators entering the wireless market using MVNOs are only beginning to offer consumers wireless choice," the operator said.

Lower small-cell attachment and application fees would mean more widespread deployment of 5G, Corning said, posted Thursday in FCC docket 17-79. Corning funded the report by CMA Strategy Consulting. “Reducing small cell attachment and application fees could reduce deployment costs by $2.1 billion over five years, or $7,900 per small cell built,” Corning said. “These cost savings could lead to an additional $2.6 billion in capital expenditure due to additional neighborhoods moving from being economically unviable to becoming economically viable, with 97 percent of this capital expenditure going towards investment in rural and suburban areas.”

T-Mobile notified the FCC it received a subpoena from the New York State attorney general as part a review of the pending T-Mobile/Sprint transaction (see 1808300046). The office asked for numbering resource utilization and forecast reports and carrier-specific local number portability data, T-Mobile said. “This subpoena requires that T-Mobile provide ‘[a]ll Documents . . . received from . . . [FCC] in connection with the . . . FCC’s investigation of the Proposed Transaction,’” T-Mobile said in a filing posted Thursday in docket 18-197. “All materials provided to the NYAG are made available to other state attorneys general that are investigating the transaction and that have signed confidentiality agreements with T-Mobile and Sprint.” Meanwhile, Crown Castle filed a letter at the FCC, posted Thursday, supporting the deal. “The combination of these two smaller nationwide wireless providers will advance the national priority of fast-tracking 5G deployment and create a company with the spectrum and other necessary resources to help the U.S. win the global race for 5G leadership,” the tower company said. “We anticipate that, in addition to consumers and enterprise consumers, Crown Castle and other companies throughout the mobile wireless supply chain can benefit from New T-Mobile’s investment in its next-generation wireless network.”

Union Pacific is making “significant progress” on implementing positive train control, the railroad announced Wednesday. “The company will meet all required deadlines for installing PTC on its network,” the freight railroad said. “As allowed by federal law, Union Pacific will continue to implement, test and refine the complex suite of technologies comprising the system in 2019-20.” The company noted its PTC footprint is the largest in North American, running more than 17,000 route miles or roughly one-third of all U.S. PTC miles.

5G Americas and the Small Cell Forum want streamlined siting rules, saying they are critical to U.S. success on 5G. If challenges of siting small cells aren’t addressed quickly, “many of the benefits which governments, regulators and cities hope to derive from 5G -- such as smart city platforms and the Industrial IoT -- will be severely compromised,” the groups said Wednesday. “Altering regulatory policies at the national, state and city level is imperative to reduce the time and cost of deploying small cells at scale.” They released a paper on the benefits of densified wireless networks. “Municipalities, citizens and operators should be partners, not adversaries, in delivering the future of 5G connectivity,” said 5G Americas President Chris Pearson.

With the Connect America Fund Phase II reverse auction wrapped up (see 1808280035), the policy discussion needs to shift to spectrum policy, especially forthcoming citizens broadband radio service band decisions, the Wireless ISP Association said Tuesday. It said 15 members were among CAF II reverse auction winners. WISPA CEO Claude Aiken tweeted that the auction results are "one more step in closing the #DigitalDivide" and fixed wireless operators accounting for about half of the auction spending is a "Big moment for the industry."