Mobile Future urged the FCC to reject T-Mobile arguments in favor of a larger reserve spectrum set-aside in the TV incentive auction. FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler is poised to do exactly that in an order set to circulate next week (see 1506170052), FCC and industry officials say. “Shielding large corporations from open and competitive bidding will lead to lower auction proceeds and reduced incentives for broadcasters to participate,” Mobile Future said. “The result will be that the Commission fails to fulfill the Spectrum Act’s central objective, which is to reclaim a meaningful amount of spectrum to meet the ever-increasing consumer demand for mobile broadband.”

The Wireless ISP Association urged the FCC to move forward with changes to TV white spaces rules, in a meeting with Office of Engineering and Technology staff. “The WISPA representatives stated that ongoing regulatory uncertainty has raised concerns in the fixed broadband industry about the continuing availability of equipment and investment in white space deployment,” said a filing in docket 14-165. “We urged the Commission to move forward as quickly as possible to adopt rules in the subject proceeding that would provide regulatory certainty and increased flexibility consistent with many of the Commission's proposals.” Among the changes WISPA seeks is immediate incorporation of power and directional antennas into the white spaces database and the permitting of channel bonding and aggregation.

T-Mobile submitted a white paper to the FCC supporting the agency’s proposal to not allow bidders in the forward part of the TV incentive auction to reduce expressed demand to a point where aggregate demand in a market would fall below aggregate supply. T-Mobile said this “no excess supply” rule would mean a more efficient auction. The proposal “offers a common-sense limitation on bidding activity that helps ensure bidding satisfies the Final Stage Rule while providing a meaningful safeguard against anticompetitive or predatory auction behavior,” T-Mobile said. “Allowing bidders the unrestricted ability to withdraw bids would encourage disingenuous bidding, impede price discovery in the auction, create the opportunity to ‘bid up’ other bidders to raise competitors’ prices and threaten the success of the auction.” In a May paper, AT&T argued against the rule. The proposed rule “would interfere with the normal functioning of a multi-good auction process, under which bidders can freely adjust the quantities they demand as prices rise,” said a paper written on AT&T’s behalf by Philip Haile, professor of economics at Yale University. “This rule would directly block efficient reallocation of demand during the auction. In doing so, it would also create substantial exposure risk for bidders who, when hoping to acquire a pair of complementary licenses, may find themselves instead forced to buy a single license at a price exceeding its standalone value.”

The $100 million proposed FCC fine against AT&T for throttling customers with unlimited data plans (see 1506170050) is “regulatory grandstanding at its best,” said Adonis Hoffman, former chief of staff to Commissioner Mignon Clyburn, Friday in an emailed statement. "No matter how egregious ATT's action allegedly may have been, a fine of $100 million takes the FCC's enforcement regime from the ridiculous to the sublime,” said Hoffman, founder of a new think tank, Business in the Public Interest. “Of course, before you get to the fine, you have to get past some dubious legal authority in the first place, which many experts suspect will not stand.” AT&T and the Enforcement Bureau could work out a settlement, but that appears unlikely, said Fletcher Heald lawyer Paul Feldman in a blog post. Feldman said AT&T is not client of his. “That the NAL [notice of apparent liability] was issued (with a $100 million bottom line, to boot) strongly suggests that the parties are too far apart for a settlement,” he said. “Rather, it seems most likely that this matter will be resolved in court.” The proposed fine against AT&T for violating the 2010 net neutrality order through its “Maximum Bit Rate” [MBR] raises an interesting question -- what does unlimited mean” Feldman said. “Not to add any pressure or anything, but bear in mind that if you come up with the wrong answer, it could cost you $100 million. Does that help?” The NAL raises other tough questions, he said. “There’s no question that many consumers felt that they were deceived, and that AT&T could have done more to inform them of the MBR policy,” he said. “But ... did the Transparency Rule require it to do so?" Feldman does not represent AT&T. A former FCC official said the NAL shows that the Enforcement Bureau is quietly emerging as the dominant force within the FCC: “New rules will be made through enforcement proceedings with no opportunity for public notice and comment.”

The U.S. wireless industry appears to be stabilizing, based on a recent conference with the chief financial officers of major carriers, Credit Suisse analyst Joseph Mastrogiovanni said Thursday in a note to investors. “The carriers seemed very comfortable with the current state of the wireless industry, which appears to be stabilizing somewhat,” he said. “We continue to believe AT&T has catalysts [that] could drive appreciation in 2015 and expect strong momentum to continue at T-Mobile. Verizon continues to downplay interest in Dish [Network] and is firm in their belief that densification is more prudent than some recent spectrum auction prices.”

NTIA released a technical report with data on spectrum sharing in the 3.5 GHz band Thursday. The report provides the “assumptions, methods, analyses, and system characteristics” used to generate the maps of revised exclusion zones in the band the NTIA submitted to the FCC in March, it said. The commission used that data to approve in April final rules for the 3.5 GHz shared band (see 1504170055). The report “serves as a concrete example of our efforts to make more spectrum available to meet the exploding demand for commercial wireless broadband while protecting mission-critical Federal systems,” NTIA said in a blog post Thursday.

The FCC approved on circulation an order that rejects nearly all requests for reconsideration on the service rules for the TV incentive auction. FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler circulated the order last month (see 1505060069) and putting it on the agenda was seen as an effort to force all commissioners to vote the item (see 1506120050). The incentive auction came up during the news conference after the FCC meeting. Wheeler largely sidestepped a question on whether he also asked the commission to reject T-Mobile’s push for an increase in the amount of reserve spectrum set aside for competitive carriers. Industry officials said Wednesday that policy call is in an order set for a vote at the FCC’s July 16 meeting (see 1506170052). Wheeler conceded that additional lawsuits potentially could delay the start of the auction: “One of the realities of this job is that fact there’s always the potential for lawsuits.”

Sierra Wireless introduced an open hardware reference design called Project mangOH along with an open interface standard that’s been adopted by Freescale, Linear Technology and Texas Instruments (TI), it said Wednesday. The IoT “can only be realized when technologies are interoperable,” said Sierra Wireless Chief Technology Officer Philippe Guillemette in a statement. Sierra is contributing to both open source and projects and standards bodies, it said. The IoT connector open interface standard is designed to take complexity and cost out of ensuring that different wireless and sensor technologies communicate, said Guillemette. Sierra compared its IoT connector to the Mini PCIe standard used in laptop, tablet and networking applications by enabling plug-and-play hardware for IoT developers. Project mangOH is the first implementation of the IoT connector, and Freescale, Linear Technology and TI have developed wireless module designs based on the standard, enabling Bluetooth, 6LoWPAN, Thread, Wi-Fi and ZigBee technologies, Sierra said.

As part of its IoT efforts, which produced 22 million IoT connected devices worldwide by March 31 (see 1506150046), AT&T Wireless added six wearables to its roster Wednesday for sale June 26. The Case-Mate Rebecca Minkoff Notification Bracelet ($120) will debut through AT&T online and through select AT&T retail stores. The bracelet vibrates when a call or text is received and can be programmed to receive notifications for up to 25 people. Battery life is 30 days, the carrier said. The Healbe GoBe ($299), which will launch at AT&T’s Michigan Avenue, Chicago, store and at att.com, tracks calorie intake and calorie burn without manual logging of meals or activities, AT&T said. Three sensors using Flow Technology give data on net calorie count for a defined time period, it said. The device also tracks metrics for hydration, stress, sleep quality, heart rate and blood pressure. Mio Fuse ($149) will launch at AT&T online and in select stores offering “EKG-accurate” heart-rate monitoring along with activity tracking for steps, calories, distance and pace, AT&T said. Users can monitor activity on fitness apps, GPS watches and bike computers via Bluetooth Smart, it said. The smart wristband can track up to 30 hours of exercise data and two weeks of activity data, AT&T said. Misfit’s Flash ($49), available in all AT&T stores and online, provides feedback on activity progress, controls music and tells time with one touch, AT&T said. LEDs on the display indicate the distance to the nearest daily activity goal, and the replaceable battery runs for six months, it said. The Withings Activité Pop ($149), available in company-owned AT&T stores and online, is an activity tracker with a standard watch face. The step-up Withings Activité ($450), launching online and in AT&T’s Michigan Avenue store, automatically adjusts to time zones and packs 3D motion sensors to track steps, sleep and distance traveled, the carrier said. Both watches are waterproof and come with an eight-month battery. Meanwhile, AT&T will begin trial integration of the Nest Learning Thermostat with its Digital Life platform next month, and it will begin selling the Microsoft Lumia 640XL smartphone as an exclusive on June 26, it said.

Americans used 4.1 trillion MB of data in 2014, 26 percent more than in 2013, CTIA said Wednesday, as the group released results of its annual survey. That's a 947 percent jump over 2010. Every minute, U.S. subscribers use 7.7 million MB of data and exchange 3.6 million text messages and 300,000 videos and photos, the wireless association said. U.S. wireless subscribers hit 355 million in 2014, 20 percent more than in 2010, CTIA said. Some 208 million smartphones and 35 million connected tablets were in use in America, a 166 percent and 161 percent increase over 2010, respectively, the group said. Minutes of use climbed only 10 percent during the period. “The year-over-year pressure of skyrocketing mobile data and device growth highlights the need for a long-term national spectrum plan so that Americans continue to enjoy new and innovative wireless offerings,” said CTIA President Meredith Baker.