Dish Network fired back Friday at T-Mobile in their dispute (see 2308280055) over whether the emerging carrier should have until June 30 to exercise an option to buy 800 MHz licenses from T-Mobile. Dish asked for an extension from the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. The option to buy the licenses was part of a web of agreements in T-Mobile’s buy of Sprint (see 2308170065). Dish noted T-Mobile’s dominance among U.S. wireless carriers, with the largest market cap of the big three. “T-Mobile wants the Court to view DISH’s Motion as nothing more than an ordinary commercial dispute,” Dish said: “The Opposition reads as if the Court’s evaluation of this Motion were just an exercise in contract interpretation. But the Opposition’s rhetoric about how contracts ought to be read obfuscates the key principle relevant to the Court’s analysis of the Final Judgment: preserving Competition.” Dish noted that two weeks ago, in agreeing to the spectrum transfer, T-Mobile told the FCC, “The terms of the Final Judgment are designed to facilitate DISH’s entry into the wireless market as a facilities-based provider and ... [t]he 800 MHz spectrum licenses contemplated by this transaction will substantially enhance DISH’s ability to do so.” That admission undermines T-Mobile’s opposition to an extension, Dish said: T-Mobile’s objection “should be seen for what it is: an attempt by the market leader to hinder a nascent competitor, one that has taken on the Herculean task of building a modern nationwide facilities-based wireless network in a period of unprecedented economic turmoil.”
CTA representatives told an aide to FCC Commissioner Nathan Simington about “the consumer technology industry’s work to operationalize the National Institute of Standards and Technology guidance on IoT cybersecurity labeling” in light of a recent NPRM seeking comment on a voluntary cybersecurity labeling program for smart devices (see 2308100032). CTA “emphasized the importance of ensuring the program leverages the work of NIST and rigorous processes for industry standards, certification and accreditation,” said a filing posted Thursday in docket 23-239.
The North Carolina Department of Transportation became the latest state agency to seek an FCC waiver allowing early cellular vehicle-to-everything deployments in the 5.9 GHz band (see 2307170049). “The Applicant requests this waiver as it is prepared to deploy and operate C-V2X on-board units and roadside units to improve roadway safety, but cannot do so absent a waiver that permits such deployment,” said a Thursday filing in docket 19-138. The DOT said it's willing to abide with restrictions approved as part of a joint waiver order released in April (see 2304240066).
Fixed-wireless provider Starry, which filed for bankruptcy in February (see 2302220053), said Thursday it completed its Chapter 11 restructuring process. Starry previously slashed staff and refocused on dense urban markets with multi-tenant buildings (see 2301190047). “We said from the beginning that Starry would emerge from this restructuring process stronger and ready to meet the growing demand for high-quality internet services,” said Alex Moulle-Berteaux, the company’s new CEO: “Today, as we exit this process, Starry is a stronger company. We are more operationally efficient and laser-focused on driving this business to profitability.” Starry is now a privately held company and shares of Starry common stock will halt trading on the over-the-counter market effective immediately, the company said.
The Computer & Communications Industry Association and Incompas filed in support of Dish Network in its pursuit of extra time to buy 800 MHz spectrum from T-Mobile. T-Mobile and parent Deutsche Telekom opposed the extension (see 2308280055), which is before the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. “The Motion requests a reasonable, 10-month extension of time for DISH to exercise its right, granted by the Court, to purchase several 800 MHz Spectrum Licenses from T-Mobile,” said a brief filed Thursday. “CCIA and INCOMPAS urge the Court to grant the Motion as the best means to replace the competition lost via the T-Mobile-Sprint merger, preserve consumer choice, and encourage broad-reaching, cost-effective wireless service,” they said: “Competition in the wireless industry remains in a delicate state.” The FCC’s 2022 Communications Marketplace said “the U.S. communications marketplace is in a substantial state of change and re-examination,” citing T-Mobile’s buy of Sprint as one of “the recent major transactions that have had and will continue to have an effect on the competitive landscape,” the brief said. “As the leading advocate for competition, we believe this extension is critical to ensure consumers have more choices in the marketplace,” said Incompas President Angie Kronenberg: “We support DISH’s request and urge the court to grant the extension.”
The FCC’s 2.5 GHz auction ended a year ago, but the agency has yet to award T-Mobile any of the more than 7,000 licenses it won, or allow access to the spectrum through a grant of special temporary authority, the company said. The FCC declined to issue the licenses because of the March decision expiration of its auction authority (see 2307070042). “While we wait for Congress to act, Americans are losing out on enhanced 5G broadband and economic development opportunities,” Ulf Ewaldsson, T-Mobile president-technology, blogged Tuesday. “Our outstanding 2.5 GHz licenses would improve high speed internet service for millions of American households, in all 50 states and Puerto Rico,” he said: “In fact, 61 of the nation’s 109 operational Historically Black Colleges and Universities are in locations that would be immediately enhanced with improved 5G data speeds, mobile and home internet services were the FCC to issue T-Mobile’s licenses or grant access to the spectrum via STA.” Ewaldsson expressed hope Congress will act when it returns to Washington next week. “Restoring this authority not only provides a path forward for a future spectrum pipeline, but also ensures the Auction 108 licenses we purchased can be deployed for the benefit of consumers,” he said.
Qualcomm and Broadcom notified the FCC they're opening portals for public tests of their 6 GHz automated frequency coordination (AFC) systems. The letters, posted Wednesday in docket 21-352, come less than a week after the Office of Engineering and Technology authorized a process for testing the systems (see 2308250061). Qualcomm, already approved as an AFC operator in Canada (see 2308230060), said its portal is already open. “The public can test Qualcomm’s AFC system by registering for a free account at the Public Trial Portal by clicking on the ‘REGISTER’ link,” Qualcomm said. Broadcom said its AFC portal will open Tuesday. The Wi-Fi Alliance told the FCC Wednesday its AFC system will be available for public trial via an internet-based test portal starting Sept. 6. The FCC had not yet posted the alliance's filing.
Groups representing incumbent licensees in the 6 GHz band, led by electric utilities, asked the FCC to seek comment on any revised rules for the band, “consistent with the Administrative Procedure Act,” before issuing an order as expected later this year (see 2308070060). “The Commission may not adopt rules which were not proposed” in the 2020 Further NPRM “or otherwise considered in this proceeding,” said a filing posted Wednesday in docket 18-295: “Actual notice of any new rules must come from the Commission and not from monitoring comments in the record. Although the Commission may adopt rules that are the logical outgrowth of those that were proposed, it must provide fair and sufficient notice, including about the material components of such a rule.” The opportunity for comment is “particularly vital where, as here, the matter involves complex technical issues and a modification of the proposed rule results in a substantial change affecting the technical issues under consideration,” the groups said. The filing was signed by the Utilities Technology Council, the Edison Electric Institute, the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association, APCO and the Enterprise Wireless Alliance. AT&T also weighed in, raising concerns about very-low-power operations in the band, a focus of the FNPRM. Advocates “continue to assert as gospel various technical theories that are subject to considerable debate on the record, to urge the Commission to rely on their self-interested, curated summaries of simulations that remain unfiled and undocumented, and to extrapolate insignificant results to broad assertions of interference protection,” AT&T said: “In the face of substantial real-world testing demonstrating the potential for interference, the Commission should not rely on unfiled, untested, and undocumented assertions for decisions that could impact critical radio communications infrastructure.”
NTIA’s Commerce Spectrum Management Advisory Committee will meet Sept. 21, starting at 1 p.m. EDT, said a notice for Wednesday’s Federal Register. The meeting will be at the Verizon Technology and Policy Center, 1300 I St NW, Suite 500 East, Washington, D.C. CSMAC last met in July (see 2307180076).
Correction: SiriusXM first identified interference and brought to the FCC’s attention the device that was the subject of an AT&T complaint at the FCC (see 2308280048). SiriusXM doesn't operate wireless signal boosters.