NTelos shareholders OK'd its proposed sale to Shenandoah Personal Communications and the associated license deal with SprintCom, nTelos and Shenandoah told the FCC in a letter posted Friday in docket 15-262. They said the Rural Utilities Service approved nTelos' request to assign its Broadband Initiatives Program grant to Shenandoah Telecommunications Co., Shenandoah PC's parent. The Department of Justice previously gave the proposed nTelos transaction antitrust clearance, and all state regulatory approvals have been received, said the companies. FCC approval of nTelos communications license transfers to Shenandoah PC and SprintCom is the only remaining federal or state action needed, they said. FCC approval isn't expected to be problematic and Shentel said in August it expects the deal to close by early 2016 (see 1508110067).

The outdoor small-cell market is expected to experience a 43 percent compound annual growth rate (CAGR) through 2020, while the beginning of "meaningful deployments" of small cells will occur in 2015, said an ABI Research report released Monday. Vendors and infrastructure owners, such as Alcatel-Lucent, American Tower, Crown Castle and Ericsson, are overcoming the challenges of backhaul and tower permitting and siting by utilizing small cells as a service, the report said. ABI said several infrastructure providers have reported strong quarter-over-quarter small cell-related growth. The report said 4G small cells have been the fastest-growing small-cell type in 2015 due in part to dense urban deployment, and that the number of LTE small cells is projected to double in 2015 and by a "similar factor" each following year. The value of LTE small cells in 2020 will be more than 85 percent of the small cell equipment market, ABI said.

Iowa Wireless opposed an AT&T Mobility bid for interim FCC relief in a roaming dispute, pending commission resolution of a related AT&T complaint. “The Motion mistakes the applicable facts and law and seeks relief that is directly contrary to the well-considered Commission policy governing interim service arrangements pending the resolution of a roaming dispute,” said Iowa Wireless in its opposition posted Monday in docket 15-259. It said, “iWireless has proffered an interim rate to AT&T which meets the commercial reasonableness standard, and will not discontinue service to AT&T as long as the sums due are paid on a timely basis. As a result, the Motion is moot.” AT&T on Oct. 20 said it filed its motion to establish interim rates for iWireless’s roaming services, subject to a true-up, because of reasons it explained to the FCC but could not reveal publicly and which were redacted from its motion. After Iowa Wireless asked that AT&T’s associated complaint be dismissed for allegedly violating protection of confidential information, drawing AT&T opposition, the Enforcement Bureau sent a letter to both companies that suspended some of the scheduled proceedings but directed (1) Iowa Wireless to file its opposition to AT&T’s motion, and (2) the parties to exchange and file Best and Final Offers for a roaming agreement going forward, and to attempt to resolve some of their procedural differences over mediation and arbitration. AT&T didn't comment.

North County Communications (NCC) and Sprint disagree whether the FCC has jurisdiction to adjudicate Sprint's 2014 complaint about wrongful interstate access charges. In a joint status report posted Friday in docket 14-223 on the Enforcement Bureau complaint and parallel proceedings in the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Sprint said the U.S. District Court final judgment in September should have ended the FCC proceeding. But it said if the agency doesn't dismiss the formal complaint, it should grant Sprint's first three counts but dismiss four and five as moot, once it determines NCC didn't provide service to Sprint. NCC, meanwhile, said the FCC should stay the case for now "instead of requiring the parties and the Commission to spend valuable time and other resources prosecuting and defending the referral issues." U.S. District Court in San Diego ruled in September against NCC and its claim of contract breach by Sprint, saying it was NCC that had breached the agreement; the court also said Sprint's contract damages fell outside the two-year statute of limitations. The joint filing said NCC had filed a notice of appeal with the 9th Circuit Oct. 28, with Sprint filing a cross appeal Nov. 9. NCC plans to argue the District Court was wrong in deciding it wasn't a telecom carrier when delivering calls to HFT, a chat-line service; Sprint said its appeal would argue its breach of contract damages weren't barred by statute of limitations. Oral argument hasn't been scheduled, the joint status report said.

Comments on FCC hearing aid compatibility (HAC) proposals are due Jan. 14, replies Jan. 29, said the text of a report and order and NPRM in docket 15-285. The item was adopted unanimously Thursday and aims to give people with hearing loss access to more wireless handsets and functionality (see 1511190032). The order expanded the scope of HAC rules to cover IP-based services, such as Wi-Fi Calling and Voice-over-LTE, while the NPRM sought comment on proposals for further actions. They included a consensus proposal by industry and hearing-loss groups to establish a path to achieving 100 percent HAC-compatible handsets within eight years, if technically feasible. The items were released Friday and included in Monday's Daily Digest.

One of the most important infrastructure investments the U.S. can make is in its 911 system, said NG9-1-1 Institute Executive Director Patrick Halley Monday in reaction to an op-ed in that day's New York Times by FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler. Only Congress can provide what state and local authorities require to get next-generation 911 fully functional, Wheeler wrote. That includes the need for one-time funding assistance to 911 jurisdictions to help get them through the transition to next-gen, he said. “Done right, smart federal investment will actually lower costs by shortening the transition period and enabling 911 authorities to retire costly legacy facilities more quickly.” The NG9-1-1 Institute applauded Wheeler’s recognition that the NG-911 system needs addition funding to be able to get off the ground, Halley said. “As technology advances, so too must our emergency communications networks, and sufficient funding is a critical element of that evolution.”

For now, the wearables market will remain “highly fragmented,” Fossil Chief Strategy Officer Greg McKelvey emailed us. Activity trackers, smartwatches and smarter watches “are each playing a part in satisfying the highly variable wants, needs, and personal styles of today’s connected consumer,” he said. Fossil said earlier this month it’s buying the wearables platform company Misfit for $260 million (see 1511130053). The platform that powers Misfit’s products will be “behind the scenes” when integrated into connected devices for other Fossil brands, McKelvey said.

Communications Workers of America members and East Coast supporters protested at dozens of Verizon Wireless stores Thursday, demanding fair labor contracts, said a CWA news release. The rallies were a day after the National Labor Relations Board authorized issuance of a complaint against Verizon for violating federal labor laws when it fired a member "in an attempt to silence and terrify Brooklyn Verizon Wireless workers," the union said Thursday. CWA members working for Verizon have been without a new contract since August (see 1508030061). Since then, CWA has released radio and TV ads slamming Verizon (see 1508070029), asked state commissions to review what the union calls the company's lack of action on wireline upkeep (see 1511160039) and held rallies (see 1508130024). A Verizon spokesman Friday called the latest action another "agenda-driven attempt by the CWA" to divert attention from the "real" work that needs to be done at the bargaining table: "If the CWA truly wants to look out for its members, they should work with us on achieving a new contract that’s good for our employees, fair to our customers and puts the company on a path toward success.”

The FCC's best route to LTE-U/Wi-Fi coexistence is by watching and encouraging industry-led progress toward that goal, the Wi-Fi Alliance said in an ex parte filing posted Friday in docket 15-105. The group, which earlier this month put out its own suggested guidelines on how the two can coexist in the same spectrum (see 1511040059), has said the agency should monitor that coexistence development and step in on coexistence issues only if necessary. "I hope we have stepped in on it," FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler said Thursday after the agency's November meeting. "I've said to [LTE-U and Wi-Fi industry representatives], 'Folks, you've got to come together and resolve this in a broad-based standard.' It appears the House subcommittee has done the same. This is the way things ought to be taken care of. There are two things that characterize unlicensed spectrum. One, it's the innovation band; it's where all kinds of new innovations happen. And you want to make sure that in fact continues. The second is, it's the 'everybody respects everybody else' band. And we want to make sure both of those are happening. And the way that can be done is by a broad-based development of commonly agreed-to standards that meets both of those criteria." LTE-U backer Verizon "agrees," Patrick Welsh, assistant vice president-regulatory affairs, told us Friday in an email. "We are actively working with the Wi-Fi Alliance to develop coexistence guidelines for LTE-U." And in a statement, fellow LTE-U advocate Qualcomm said "proponents of LTE-U, including the members of the LTE-U Forum -- whose members also are members of the Wi-Fi Alliance -- are pleased to continue our ongoing collaboration with the industry through our work with the Wi-Fi Alliance initiative to develop an agreed-upon coexistence test regimen that will ensure that LTE-U and Wi-Fi successfully co-exist in the unlicensed spectrum, where the watchword is permission-less innovation, as Chairman Wheeler has correctly recognized.” The Wi-Fi Alliance ex parte recapped meetings between alliance CEO Edgar Figueroa and front-line staff of Wheeler and of Commissioners Mignon Clyburn, Ajit Pai and Jessica Rosenworcel, plus with Office of Engineering and Technology representatives. The Wi-Fi Alliance said it plans a Coexistence Test Workshop for the week of Feb. 8. The group's members include Apple, Broadcom, Cisco, Comcast, Intel, LG, Microsoft, Sony and T-Mobile, its website said.

The FCC should act to reduce workers' RF risks from wireless antennas, said the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers in a letter to Chairman Tom Wheeler posted Wednesday in docket 13-84. “I write to urge you to promulgate a rule that would require stronger RF monitoring and safety regulations that would protect all workers not just those employed in the telecommunications industry,” said IBEW International President Lonnie Stephenson. He noted congressional concerns about the potential for workers to be overexposed to RF emissions from wireless transmission sites. He said employers are rarely informed about the location of RF antennas, which are often not recognizable because they're camouflaged or hidden. “Our understanding is that the FCC does plan to address RF exposure through a proposed rule,” he said. “The IBEW hopes that the FCC's proposal will protect all personnel, especially our members, with the same level of safety enjoyed by the wireless industry's workforce. An updated RF regulation could go a long way to prevent unnecessary health risks associated with RF over-exposure.”