The FCC Wireless Bureau put off deadlines for filing comments on the protection framework and protection criteria during the transition to spectrum sharing in the 3.5 GHz band. The deadlines were those sought by the Wireless Innovation Forum earlier this week (see 1512080008). The deadline for initial comments was delayed from Thursday until Dec. 28, the reply deadline from Dec. 28 to Jan. 12. “It is in the public interest to grant an extension to promote industry collaboration and allow parties to fully address the complicated issues raised in the 3650-3700 MHz Band Protection Contours Public Notice,” the bureau said in a Wednesday public notice.

The Virginia Department of State Police raised objections to a FirstNet proposal for clearing incumbent systems from Band 14 (758-769/788-799 MHz), the spectrum that the authority is using to build its network. The FCC Public Safety Bureau sought comment in November on an Oct. 20 letter from FirstNet detailing its plans (see 1511050060). Initial comments were due Wednesday. The state said its comments express the views of the 21-agency Statewide Agencies Radio System (STARS). Incumbent statewide public safety systems “must be properly protected during the transition” to FirstNet, Virginia said. “It is not appropriate procedurally to have a new public safety licensee (FirstNet) control at its discretion the transfer schedule of existing public safety licensees,” the state said. “This is not intended as a reflection on FirstNet's ability or good faith, but when a conflict develops between First Net's legitimate needs and timetable, and an existing public safety licensee's legitimate needs and timetable, FirstNet should not be allowed to unilaterally make that decision.” The state of Hawaii, which has systems that must move from the band, said the FCC, consistent with past practice, should require that FirstNet pay transition costs. The state said FirstNet has committed to do so and a federal grant funding notice is expected. The comments were filed in docket 06-150.

Any 5G deployment will need low- and mid-band spectrum allocations plus high band to enable such applications as IoT, and sizably different infrastructure from 4G, with many more small cell sites, said CTIA Chief Technology Officer Tom Sawanobori Wednesday at an FCBA telecom and wireless committees event. Unlike the traditional spectrum evolution where a technology came first, followed by technical requirements and regulations, 5G represents "a slightly different equation," said Michael Ha, FCC Office of Engineering and Technology Policy and Rules Division deputy chief. The increasing demand for bandwidth for data transmission and the relative lack of unassigned spectrum is pushing the move into the millimeter wave bandwidths to support 5G, Ha said. The spectrum frontiers rulemaking (see 1510230050) is looking at bands above 24 GHz for 5G, and the 2015 World Radiocommunication Conference identified some bands for 5G -- though 28 GHz, a subject of the FCC proceeding, wasn't included in the WRC work, Ha said. While numerous incumbent satellite operations already use that spectrum, Ha said, sharing is inevitable: "We know it's not going to be exclusive use." The satellite industry wants to be part of 5G -- such as in potential applications like driverless vehicles -- but also wants assurances and safeguards against harmful interference, said Satellite Industry Association President Tom Stroup. "We certainly are advocates of sharing, where it works." 4G has become ubiquitous in the U.S., with roughly 98.5 percent of the nation covered and traffic on the 4G network expected to sextuple over the next five years, Sawanobori said. Such applications as Voice over LTE are expected to become commonplace as soon as more products offer "high-definition voice," he said. 5G, by contrast, probably won't be deployed ubiquitously across the U.S. due to different business models, Sawanobori said.

The TV incentive auction offers a “historic test case for using market dynamics” as part of spectrum policy, CTIA President Meredith Baker said Tuesday in a blog post carried by The Hill. “CTIA’s call for this new spectrum allocation tool was first included in the FCC’s National Broadband Plan and ultimately adopted by Congress in 2012,” she said. “Since then, we worked tirelessly with the FCC and in the courts to ensure a timely and effective auction -- a complex and difficult undertaking that came with no pre-existing roadmap.” The auction is a “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity” for broadcasters, she said.

Representatives of Total Call Mobile (TCM) asked the FCC to change a provision in the June FCC Lifeline order (see 1506180029) establishing “a uniform snapshot date" for Lifeline reimbursements. TCM reported on a series of recent meetings at the FCC, raising an issue it has complained about in the past (see 1510290038). “TCM recognizes that the negative impact of the proposed Snapshot Rule is likely an unintended consequence,” it said in a filing in docket 10-90. “Barring Commission action, the Snapshot Rule will go into effect in February, 2016. TCM respectfully asks the FCC to examine impact of the Snapshot Rule on companies like TCM and change the Snapshot Rule to reimburse service providers for customers who enroll and dis-enroll within the same month before the Snapshot Rule takes effect.”

The Wireless Innovation Forum asked the FCC to extend the comment period on the protection framework and protection criteria during the transition to spectrum sharing in the 3.5 GHz band. Initial comments are due on an Wireless Bureau public notice Dec. 10 and the forum asked that the deadline be delayed until Dec. 28, and the reply deadline from Dec. 28 to Jan. 12. “The Task Group is making good progress and has reached general agreement on some specific aspects of Part 90 protections,” the group said in a filing in docket 12-354. “However, because substantive comments filed by the Wireless Innovation Forum must be balloted prior to submission, we are unable to submit the results of the Task Group’s discussions on a timescale consistent with the Public Notice’s short comment window.”

Fletcher Heald lawyer Mitchell Lazarus questioned the FCC Enforcement Bureau’s logic in its recent fine against Mobile Relay Associates, not for causing harmful interference but for failing “to take reasonable precautions to avoid causing harmful interference.” Lazarus summed up the bureau’s arguments in a blog post Tuesday: “The rule says to take precautions, but not what precautions to take. The licensee says it took precautions, but they didn’t work. The Enforcement Bureau says, ‘$25,000, please.’” The bureau could have cited MRA “for unnecessarily long transmissions or for not trunking, charges to which MRA would have had no real defense,” Lazarus said. “The Bureau should not have followed the course it did without first issuing a clear public statement -- or, perhaps better yet, revising its rules -- to make very clear what is and is not permitted.” The bureau released its forfeiture order last week against the Malibu, California-based provider of private land mobile radio services. “MRA argues that its actions did not violate any of the Commission’s rules (Rules) and that imposition of a penalty would be unduly discriminatory,” the bureau said. “We find that MRA’s actions did result in Rule violations and that it is not the subject of disparate treatment.” The firm doesn't represent MRA, Lazarus said. MRA didn't comment.

T-Mobile doubled branded postpaid net adds and nearly tripled branded postpaid phone net adds during the "Black Friday/Cyber Monday" weekend, compared with the same period in 2014, T-Mobile said in an SEC filing Monday. T-Mobile also confirmed guidance for 2015, projecting adjusted EBITDA of $6.8 billion to $7.2 billion, branded postpaid net adds of 3.8 million to 4.2 million and capital expenditures of $4.4 billion to $4.7 billion.

The FCC should take steps to protect electronic maps that carriers submit to the FCC as they document that they have met build-out requirements for 700 MHz licenses, the Competitive Carriers Association said in a filing in docket 12-69. “Certain submissions may contain proprietary information, such as exact site locations, particularly for service providers located in rural and remote areas.” CCA recommended the agency adopt universal procedures “to protect competitively sensitive information that may be included in new shapefile submissions to streamline certification filings and reduce burdens on filers.”

Spectrum Financial Partners supports a request by the Blooston Rural Carriers that the FCC change a requirement that bidders in the TV incentive auction are active on 95 percent of their eligibility from the start of the auction, without activity waivers even for small carriers. The wireless carriers represented by the Blooston law firm asked the FCC for changes to the rule last month. Spectrum Financial Partners said it's “partnering with others in bidding in the upcoming 600 MHz incentive auction, and is keenly interested in the opportunities for small businesses to competitively participate in these transactions.” The forward auction is more likely to be a success “if the Commission adopts procedures that allow greater bidding flexibility by smaller applicants to reduce the risk of their prematurely exiting the auction,” the firm said. The filing was posted Friday in docket 15-146.