Top officials from the Edison Electric Institute and Alliant Energy told FCC Commissioner Nathan Simington it's important to protect the 6 GHz band for electric utilities. “EEI is very concerned about the impact of interference on electric company microwave links from unlicensed devices operating in the 6 GHz band, particularly as such devices proliferate,” said a filing posted Wednesday in docket 18-295. EEI also said it convened a CEO-level task force “to explore how investor-owned electric companies can best play a role as solution partner in closing the digital divide.”

Federated Wireless has a mechanism for priority access licensees in the citizens broadband radio service band to lease the spectrum to others. The company “will accept PAL leasing notifications and support PAL Spectrum Manager Lease Agreements in compliance with sections 96.32 and 96.66” of FCC rules, said a filing posted Wednesday in docket 15-319.

Verizon is seeing traffic growth at its stores as the pandemic wanes, and is recruiting an additional 1,000 retail employees to keep pace, Verizon Consumer Group CEO Ronan Dunne told a Bernstein virtual conference Wednesday. Verizon is seeing strong economic recovery, “we're seeing the evidence of consumer confidence, we're seeing activity levels both on the network and in the marketplace, back to 2019 and maybe even above,” he said. Dunne predicted growing momentum for Verizon as its C-band spectrum comes online later this year. All “key” handsets are compatible with the newly opened band, which will offer 5G similar to what’s available now using high-band spectrum, he said. Verizon’s high-band 5G covers only a small percentage of customers, “but we make no apologies for that because we're delivering millimeter wave as a fundamental enhancement of experience and capacity in the areas that have the densest demand for traffic,” he said.

Wireless groups asked the Supreme Court to reject an appeal by Portland, Oregon, and 35 other municipalities of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals' decision upholding much of the FCC’s 2018 small-cell orders (see 2103230052). CTIA, the Competitive Carriers Association, Verizon and Wireless Infrastructure Association jointly filed a brief posted Wednesday in docket 20-1354. “Contrary to Petitioners’ claims, the decision … creates no conflicts worthy of this Court’s review,” the groups said. Claims the decision “subjects localities to ‘immense’ consequences rests on a mischaracterization of the FCC’s order,” they said: The “real interest” of local governments “is in being able to charge unlimited amounts for right-of-way access.”

The Public Safety Spectrum Alliance committed Tuesday to working with the FCC on the 4.9 GHz band, after commissioners last week approved a stay 3-1 (see 2105270071) of rules the group opposed. After Brendan Carr's no vote, PSSA looks “forward to further dialogue to determine a path which addresses his concerns.”

T-Mobile will buy Shentel Wireless, a deal that has been in the works since August, when T-Mobile said it would exercise an option (see 2008270048), Shenandoah Telecommunications said Tuesday. T-Mobile will pay $1.95 billion cash, a price set by three independent valuation providers (see 2102020022). This gives T-Mobile 1.1 million subscribers in parts of Maryland, North Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia, Kentucky, Ohio and Pennsylvania. “The deal, now set to close in Q3, has been in the works since last summer, as T-Mobile had few options but to buyout the old Sprint affiliates,” New Street’s Jonathan Chaplin told investors.

AT&T expects to meet a deadline of March 2023 for FirstNet completion, and many of the remaining sites will be difficult, President-Public Sector and FirstNet Jason Porter told a Cowen investor conference Tuesday. They are often “remote rural areas, tribal lands, national parks and areas like that,” he said: “We’re building ahead of schedule right now, but we are down to the challenging sites that might be really hard to get access to.” While AT&T is building a 5G core for FirstNet, subscribers are largely using a 4G network, Porter said. AT&T had 2.2 million FirstNet connections as of March 31, he noted: Most connections today are phones, and AT&T expects a growing number of other devices.

Groups representing educational broadband service licensees asked to delay a 2.5 GHz auction until after a better FCC inventory of available areas. Dish Network endorses the single-round auction format sought by T-Mobile, in replies posted through Friday in docket 20-429. T-Mobile, which hopes for a 2021 auction, cited problems with the inventory (see 2105040077). “Past Commission Chairs have routinely announced when auctions will be conducted even before the Commission proposes procedures for the auction,” T-Mobile said: “Commenters have already provided substantial information" for updating the licensing database. “Implement a process to update and correct the inventory prior to the auction,” said the National EBS Association. “The inventory should not include county/frequency blocks where there is no white space at all, or where the white space is entirely over water, or where the white space has no population.” The list must be “completely accurate,” the Catholic Technology Network said. The North American Catholic Educational Programming Foundation and Mobile Beacon urged an updated database first. Dish saw “substantial support” for a single-round auction: “DISH agrees with several commenters, and the Commission itself, that a single round auction with pay-as-bid pricing will promote diverse auction participation and give smaller providers a chance to get the spectrum they need.” If the FCC adopts a simultaneous multiple-round format, keep the rules simple and consistent with past auctions, Dish said. SMR is “generally a superior method for allocating spectrum than a single bid format,” AT&T said: “But, as the Notice and comments confirm, the circumstances here are far from ordinary, and the commenters who support an SMR format fail to engage.” Verizon saw broad SMR support. Nationwide carriers to “small and rural carriers” agree that “will create a more competitive auction that enables bidders of all sizes to have a fair shot,” Verizon said: “Many bidders prefer the certainty that comes with better price discovery.” The Wireless ISP Association sought a single round auction that’s “neither novel nor untested.”

Zebra asked the FCC to act on its waiver request this summer to operate its Dart positioning system in the 7.125-8.5 GHz band, in a call with Office of Engineering and Technology staff. Zebra “answered questions from FCC staff regarding operational and technical matters,” said a filing posted Thursday in docket 20-17. OET sought comment last year (see 2001150016). The system is primarily used to track balls and players at NFL facilities.

Anterix and Motorola Solutions said Thursday they’re working together to help utilities deploy private LTE networks, using the 900 MHz spectrum the FCC cleared for broadband a year ago (see 2005130057). Anterix also announced an agreement with Nokia to combine the 900 MHz spectrum with Nokia's private LTE/4.9G wireless infrastructure “so that utility companies can more easily deploy private LTE solutions that support advanced communications for modernizing their grids.”