Samsung Electronics America representatives said they met with FCC staff to press for action on the company’s request for waiver for a 5G base station radio that works across citizens broadband radio service and C-band spectrum (see 2303100019). “The waiver request has been pending for more than a year” and is “ripe for grant,” said a filing posted Wednesday in docket 23-93. “As carriers prepare to deploy wireless infrastructure to utilize both their 3.7 GHz and 3.5 GHz licenses, the proposed multiband radio is critical to support 5G buildout in the United States,” Samsung said: Grant of the waiver “will serve the public interest by affording 5G network operators with access to an innovative, efficient, and cost-effective base station that is smaller, is more energy efficient, and has more functionality than separate CBRS and 3.7 GHz band radios.” The representatives met with an aide to Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel and staff for the Wireless Bureau and Office of Engineering and Technology.
T-Mobile will be able to deploy service immediately on some of the 600 MHz spectrum it’s buying from Comcast, in a deal announced Tuesday (see 2309120076), T-Mobile Chief Financial Officer Peter Osvaldik said Wednesday at a Bank of America financial conference. Markets where Comcast hasn’t deployed the spectrum aren't subject to the “clawback” that’s part of the deal, “but the operating markets potentially are,” he said. The deal encompasses all of Comcast’s 600 MHz licenses except Philadelphia, he said. “It’s structured in the form of a long-term lease, so we can go and deploy that 600 immediately for the benefit of consumers with the option, of course, then to purchase it in 2028,” Osvaldik said. T-Mobile doesn’t need the spectrum, per se, but also didn’t want to pass up an opportunity to add its portfolio, he said, noting 600 MHz is a “great spectrum band” able to penetrate buildings. Osvaldik also touched on the dispute with Dish Network, which is asking for additional time to buy 800 MHz spectrum from T-Mobile. T-Mobile and parent Deutsche Telekom oppose the extension (see 2308280055). The license purchase agreement, which was part of T-Mobile’s buy of Sprint, is “fairly clear from our perspective as to what Dish’s opportunities are,” he said. Dish could either purchase the spectrum by the Aug. 11 deadline or pay the termination fee, he said: “The ball is in their court.” Jon Freier, T-Mobile president-Consumer Group, said with the unveiling of Apple’s iPhone 15 this week “this is always an exciting time for us in our space.” During parts of the year, carriers promote their plans more than in others times, he said: “This is one of those periods … over the last couple of years, where it's been a little bit more promotional on devices.” While the wireless market is “a competitive space,” T-Mobile views it as being “very, very stable,” Freier said. The industry showed during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the resulting “economic turmoil,” that wireless is “a tremendously resilient industry, because connectivity is becoming more and more central to people's lives, how the economy works,” Osvaldik said.
Dish Wireless asked the FCC to give confidential treatment to some of the data it’s submitting as part of the FCC’s broadband data collection. Dish sought protection for mobile wireless propagation modeling information, link budget information and mobile voice and data subscription numbers, said a filing posted Wednesday in docket 19-195.
Shipments of fixed-wireless access customer premise equipment hit 25.5 million units in 2022, an increase of 12% over 2021, based on a survey of 27 suppliers, the Global Mobile Suppliers Association (GSA) said in a new report. Indoor and outdoor CPE grew 9%, hitting 18.8 million units. “Overall FWA shipments are expected to rise 26% in 2023 to 32 million,” with indoor CPE responsible for 21.6 million units, GSA said. Most suppliers don’t expect component shortages in 2023 and 2024, “but inflationary pressures remain,” the report said: “There is a strong consensus that flexible indoor and outdoor CPE and self-installation apps are growing. Expectations are more mixed for window-mounted and hybrid fibre/DSL CPE. As with previous years, most vendors predict the prices of 5G CPE will reach parity with those of 4G CPE by 2025.”
Rural Wireless Association representatives met with aides to Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel on the group's concerns on a proposed 5G Fund (see 2309110053). A Further NPRM on the fund is set for a Sept. 21 vote (see 2308310059). “We discussed RWA’s concerns with the 5G Fund framework and how the current draft of the FNPRM fails to consider such concerns,” said a filing posted Tuesday in docket 20-32.
Broadcom filed at the FCC a new analysis of the interference risk of very-low-power operations in the 6 GHz band to electronic newsgathering operations. The analysis focused on VLP interactions with truck-mounted ENG receivers. “This analysis confirms that the risk of harmful interference from a VLP device to such a receiver is insignificant even when using conservative assumptions,” said a filing posted Tuesday in docket 18-295. FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel is expected to seek a vote an order on revised rules for the 6 GHz band, focused on VLP operations, in coming months (see 2308070060). “Because VLP devices are itinerant, any such VLP device would be very likely to be transported away from that area as quickly as it entered, making even the worst-case impact we examine small,” Broadcom said: “ENG operators also have the capability to optimize their link conditions by, for example, reducing the distance between the transmitter and receiver, elevating the receiver above clutter, or adjusting transmit power levels.”
Wireless ISP Association representatives raised concerns on Samsung Electronics America’s request for waiver for a 5G base station radio that works across citizens broadband radio service and C-band spectrum (see 2303100019). WISPA questioned whether the waiver could be construed to allow the CBRS side of the radio to use higher C-band out-of-band emissions limits. “We indicated that the difference between -13 dBm/MHz and -25 dBm/MHz is significant,” said a filing posted Tuesday in docket 23-93: “Any increase in noise within the CBRS band could have severe consequences for the tens of thousands of [CBRS devices] currently registered for General Authorized Access and Priority Access License use, many of which have been deployed by WISPA members to serve … consumers and businesses.”
T-Mobile agreed to buy 600 MHz spectrum from Comcast for as much as $3.3 billion, said a Tuesday filing at the SEC. The purchase requires approval by the FCC and other regulators and is expected to close in the first half of 2028, T-Mobile said. The geographic areas covered by the licenses that may not be removed from the license purchase agreement include markets covering approximately 39 million people, including New York, Orlando and Kansas City, Missouri, T-Mobile said: Comcast has the option to remove markets from the sales agreement covering 110 million people.
The FCC Wireless Bureau sought comment on a request by utility company Evergy for a waiver of the agency’s 2018 900 MHz licensing freeze (see 1809130064). Evergy hopes to obtain new licenses for frequencies in the 896-901/935-940 MHz band, said a Tuesday notice. Comments are due Oct. 2, replies Oct. 13, in docket 23-307. Evergy has headquarters in Topeka, Kansas, and in Kansas City, Missouri.
The Rural Wireless Association raised concerns on a proposed 5G Fund and called instead for a fund modeled on the alternative connect America cost model (see 2207190056). RWA representatives met with an aide to Commissioner Brendan Carr to discuss a draft Further NPRM on the 5G Fund, set for a Sept. 21 vote (see 2308310059). “Legacy high-cost mobile carriers have been using legacy support to upgrade their networks from 2G to 3G to 4G to 5G, and in that time, they have been great stewards of the high-cost funds,” said a filing posted Monday in docket 20-32: “But under this framework, if they lose at auction, their investments in their networks and communities will be stranded.”