The AWS-3 auction has to be seen as a huge success, with $43 billion in provisionally winning bids made so far, FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler said in a news conference Thursday after the agency’s meeting. “When the auction was first conceived, the expectation was it would be maybe $12 [billion], maybe $16 billion.” The reserve price was set at only $10.6 billion, he noted: “This auction will certainly raise enough to fully fund FirstNet, pay for the relocation of existing spectrum users and make a significant" contribution towards deficit reduction. It also makes 65 MHz available for wireless broadband, he said.

After a disappointing Samsung Q3 earnings report, which saw mobile division sales plummet 74 percent (see 1410300033), the company announced Wednesday that effective Jan. 1 it's combining Samsung Electronics America and Samsung Telecommunications America into a single U.S. organization comprising consumer electronics, mobile and enterprise business. According to a statement, integrating the two organizations into a single Samsung Electronics America “will give customers and partners the advantage of a single point of contact.” In the new organization, Gregory Lee will continue as president and CEO of Samsung Electronics North America, and Tim Baxter has been named president and chief operating officer of the new, integrated Samsung Electronics America, Samsung said. The new organization will focus on “aggressive growth in new strategic initiatives,” Samsung said, and by bringing together all of the company’s branded consumer and enterprise business operations, it will “better serve” U.S. customers through “strengthened business operations and collaboration across market segments.” A single organization will provide “expanded career development and mobility programs for Samsung’s growing workforce,” the company said. U.S. offices in Ridgefield Park, New Jersey; Richardson, Texas; and San Jose, California, will continue to operate, it said. Questions to Samsung on possible layoffs, areas of focus for the new organization and any changes to Samsung's smartphone business weren’t immediately answered.

NAD said it added Rhapsody to its BluOS platform for Bluesound wireless music systems. Bluesound’s U.S. customers will be offered a two-month trial subscription for Rhapsody Premier, which they can sign up for through the NAD BluOS controller app, the company said Wednesday. Rhapsody boasts a library of 32 million songs. The premier subscription is $9.99 per month for unlimited access to music, personalized radio suggestions, song-skipping capability and the ability to play music on mobile devices, PCs and home audio gear.

The FCC pushed back the comment deadline on an October notice of inquiry on the potential for the provision of mobile radio services in bands above 24 GHz. Comments were due Dec. 16, replies Jan. 15. The new deadlines are Jan. 15 and Feb. 17, said a notice in Tuesday's Federal Register. The FCC approved the NOI at its October meeting (see 1410170048).

An unusual amount of network congestion occurred the last two weeks of September, which seemed to affect measurements for the Measuring Broadband America program, FCC officials told an industry meeting in October, said an agency notice released Wednesday. SamKnows, which is doing measurements for the FCC, had to extend the collection period for results to the first three weeks of October to collect enough data for the 2015 broadband measurement report, the FCC said. “The cause of this unusual network congestion was suspected to be the software release by Apple of iOS 8,” officials said.

The FCC said it will provide more time for comments on key incentive auction NPRMs -- on Part 15 unlicensed operations and wireless mics. The FCC had been under industry pressure to delay the filing deadlines (see 1412080075). Comments were due Jan. 5, replies Jan. 26. The new deadlines are Feb. 4 and Feb. 25. “We believe that extensions of the comment and reply comment deadlines will provide parties with an opportunity to more fully analyze and respond to the complex technical issues raised in the Notices, thus allowing development of a more complete record in these proceedings,” the FCC said Wednesday.

The record breaking AWS-3 auction is a win for public safety, paying for the startup costs of FirstNet, and for the government, because part of the proceeds will go toward deficit reduction, CTIA President Meredith Baker said in a blog post Wednesday. Consumers are also winners, she wrote. The auction also makes a good case for future auctions, Baker said. “This is the first major spectrum auction since 2008, and serves as an important affirmation of the wireless industry’s demand for spectrum,” she wrote. “This auction also reinforces our understanding of the need for licensed paired spectrum, especially when it is substantially cleared and internationally harmonized. While CTIA applauds the FCC’s recent efforts in the area of unlicensed and lightly-licensed spectrum models, this auction shows there is no true substitute for exclusively-licensed spectrum for the wireless industry.”

T-Mobile US said Monday it's selling stock in an offering expected to raise $1 billion. The carrier said it will use the money for capital expenditures and spectrum purchases beyond the AWS-3 auction.

The FCC issued a warning, posted on its main web page, against the illegal use of cell signal jammers. The FCC said jammers don’t just weed out annoying cellphone calls, they also block calls to 911. “We again warn the public that it is illegal to use a cell phone jammer or any other type of device that blocks, jams or interferes with authorized communications,” the Monday notice said. “This prohibition extends to every entity that does not hold a federal authorization, including state and local law enforcement agencies.”

The Federal Aviation Administration is streamlining its processes for Notices to Airmen (NOTAMs), which identify communications towers with extinguished or faulty lighting, the FCC said in a notice. Under FCC rules, tower owners are in general required to notify the FAA within 30 minutes of discovering a lighting outage or malfunction and they must take steps to repair the faulty lighting as quickly as practicable, the FCC said. “The planned change will enable tower owners to self-select the amount of time their NOTAMs remain active.” The FCC said the change is expected to take effect next month. Under the current system, NOTAMs last for 15 days, though some tower repairs take longer to complete, the agency said. By allowing longer NOTAMs the FAA will allow tower operators to avoid filing for repeated notices, the FCC said. “While the change will allow tower owners to self-select the repair deadline, every outage should be corrected as soon as possible, and the FCC and FAA will respond aggressively if they discover tower owners are abusing a system designed to protect aviation safety,” the FCC said.