The August T-Mobile data breach (see 2108180062) will likely cut postpaid phone net adds for the carrier by 350,000 in Q3, with some lingering effects into Q4, New Street’s Jonathan Chaplin told investors Thursday. New Street still expects T-Mobile to add 3.3 million postpaid phones for the year. “We currently don’t expect the hack to impact long-term adds or financials,” Chaplin said: “We still expect T-Mobile share gains to accelerate as their product advantage becomes apparent.”

A draft NPRM on automatic frequency coordination (AFC) in the 6 GHz band, set for a Sept. 30 vote, is an important next step for the band, said representatives of the Dynamic Spectrum Alliance (DSA) in a call with an aide to acting FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel. They “encouraged the FCC to continue to work rapidly and to expedite AFC certification so that the full range of unlicensed devices may commence operations in the 6 GHz band while ensuring protection of incumbent services,” said a filing posted Thursday in docket 18-295. Standard power operations permitted by AFC “will support outdoor, indoor higher power, and indoor connectorized antenna deployments,” DSA said. Representatives of Cisco, Hewlett Packard Enterprise Aruba and Federated Wireless were on the call.

T-Mobile urged the FCC to set a date for the 2.5 GHz auction to start and begin and finalize a proceeding on auction procedures, in a filing posted Thursday in docket 18-120. The band “is critical to help provide 5G services to Americans,” the carrier said: “Yet, it has been over two years since the Commission adopted new rules governing the 2.5 GHz band and nearly eight months since the Commission proposed procedures to auction the spectrum.” The FCC should reject calls by AT&T for a single-round, sealed-bid auction with pay-as-bid pricing, T-Mobile said: That approach “would favor speculators and not service providers -- service providers that compete with AT&T.” T-Mobile favors a more traditional simultaneous multiple round (SMR) auction. The 2.5 GHz auction will offer more than 8,300 “unique licenses,” which “will be ‘overlaid’ on existing spectrum licenses, the characteristics of many of them -- even in the same geographic area -- may vary significantly,” the carrier said. “An SMR auction is essential in these circumstances because it allows for price discovery, which enables participants to effectively determine the value of a license based on the specific spectrum made available and the geographic area covered.” The auction is expected to start next year, after the conclusion of the 3.45 GHz auction, which starts next month (see 2106070054). AT&T didn't comment.

Aerospace Industries Association representatives support a record refresh on use of the 5030-5091 MHz band for unmanned aircraft system controls (see 2108230034), said an AIA filing posted Wednesday in RM-11798. In a call with FCC Wireless Bureau and Office of Engineering and Technology staff, the group “offered an initial spectrum access proposal that could be launched with minimal oversight to facilitate the immediate deployment of point-to-point link operations,” the filing said: It discussed “operating models … that might accommodate different UAS markets, defined by different UAS missions, that are expected to emerge over time.” AIA seeks a phased-in approach. Aura Networks, Boeing, Collins Aerospace, Honeywell and Lockheed Martin were among companies participating in the briefing.

Smith Bagley asked the FCC for an additional six-month extension of the Lifeline rule waiver scheduled to expire Sept. 30, said a petition posted Tuesday in docket 11-42 (see 2106280032). It said 2,800 Lifeline subscribers on tribal lands may be de-enrolled in November or December if reverification requirements take effect Oct. 1.

The National Science Foundation announced a $25 million investment over five years in SpectrumX, a spectrum innovation center to “address the growing demand for usage of the radio spectrum.” SpectrumX is made up of a coalition of 27 institutions led by the University of Notre Dame, NSF said Tuesday. The FCC looks forward to working with the center, said acting Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel. "Exploring creative mechanisms for spectrum management that will support new wireless technologies is a central focus of the FCC’s work -- and this forward-looking innovation center will enhance our capacity to fulfill this mission,” she said. The center will “develop new ways to share and manage the radio spectrum; act as a hub for collaboration among researchers, industry, government agencies and others; and develop the diverse workforce needed for future growth,” the foundation said.

Shure representatives urged the FCC to act on wireless multichannel audio systems rules, teed up in an April NPRM (see 2104220056). A filing posted Tuesday in docket 21-115 noted WMAS “enables deployments to accommodate a variety of required channel capacities and available bandwidths, preserving spectral efficiency in the case of smaller bandwidth deployments.” The wireless mic maker spoke with staff from the Office of Engineering and Technology and the Wireless and Media bureaus.

Managed access systems (MAS) are effective in curbing contraband cellphones in prisons, but other technologies aren’t ready for widespread use, industry commenters responded to an FCC July Further NPRM (see 2107120057). The FNPRM asks “whether other interdiction approaches have become feasible" and CTIA thinks "they have not,” said its filing, posted Tuesday in docket 13-111. Other solutions “remain either problematic for legitimate consumers, technically infeasible, a cybersecurity risk, or they are unavailable” now, the group said. Evolved MAS “builds upon existing MAS technologies to provide more real-time and automated adjustment to changes in the RF environment,” AT&T commented. The systems are “more cost effective to deploy because they can easily be upgraded” and interoperable, AT&T said. T-Mobile said quiet zones, geofencing and network-based solutions and beacon systems aren’t ready. The FCC sought comment on alternatives a year ago, the provider noted: “It now seeks to refresh the record on whether there have been technological, economic, policy, and/or legal developments sufficient to overcome those challenges. There have not.”

Open radio access networks “should be industry led, but ... there is a role for governments to play,” said Jaisha Wray, NTIA associate administrator-international affairs. Government “recognizes that many network operators in the United States, and really across the world, are facing limited options,” she told the virtual OpenRAN Forum Tuesday: The limits “can reduce supply chain resilience and contribute to higher prices for operators and consumers in the long run,” she said. The biggest motivation for carriers opting for ORAN is wanting more choices of gear suppliers, said Stefan Pongratz, Dell’Oro vice president. “They want to have a broader selection from the get-go." U.S. government efforts against Huawei are working and the Chinese company had a 3%-4% drop between last year and today in global market share, he said. Globally, providers spend as much as $40 billion a year on RAN equipment, he said. Dell’Oro estimates 80% of operators are investing in ORAN or considering doing so, he said: “It’s a broad-based movement. It’s strong right now.” NTIA, which held 5G listening sessions (see 2102250056), is continuing its focus on open networks, noted Wray. ORAN is ready to be deployed and the performance is “at par” with legacy systems, said Stefano Cantarelli, Mavenir executive vice president. “We have had several implementations where we have seen all of the requirements of operators being met.” More radio units are coming to market, he said. Analog Devices first became involved with ORAN three years ago and knew then that development would take time, said Joseph Barry, vice president of the company’s Wireless Communications Business Unit. “It’s essentially on track in terms of deployment at scale” though this pandemic slowed things down by “one or two quarters,” he said: “We’re seeing a lot of good progress in the near term but also a lot to be done in the next one to two years in terms of its ultimate large-scale deployment.” Work remains on power savings, beam forming and digital functionalities needed for massive multiple-input and multiple-output radios, he said.

Wireless ISP Association representatives urged FCC action permitting outdoor use of the 5.9 GHz band without waivers or grants of special temporary authority, in a call with an aide to Commissioner Nathan Simington. With more than 200 STA grants, WISPs show “that fixed wireless providers can use this spectrum without causing cochannel interference to Intelligent Transportation System operations or federal operations,” said a filing posted Monday in docket 19-138: “The public interest would be better served by allowing these small providers to use … resources for deploying broadband service rather than for applying for STAs and waivers.” WISPA also sought point-to-multipoint operations with an effective isotropic radiated power of up to +36 decibel-milliwatts.