Mobile Future views the opening of the 3.5 GHz band, with rules that will encourage industry to bid on priority access licenses (PALs), as critical to U.S. leadership in 5G, the IoT and even 4G, said Robert McDowell, chief public policy adviser, Monday on a call with reporters. FCC commissioners are to vote Tuesday on an NPRM on revised rules (see 1710180043). “The U.S. is leading the world in this space and we think that we need to continue to lead when it comes to the international harmonization of this band in particular,” McDowell said. By “improving the licensed options in the band,” the FCC will “create certainty” and lead to more investment by carriers, equipment providers and entrepreneurs, he said. The band provides “plenty of spectrum for everybody, regardless of their size or their type of business plan,” McDowell said. Larger-sized licenses also will stimulate build out in rural areas, he said. Austin Schlick, Google director-communications law, reported in docket 12-354 on a call with Louis Peraertz, aide to Commissioner Mignon Clyburn, on the size of the PALs. Schlick said Google prefers the FCC stick with census tract-sized licenses.

The FCC disputed an AT&T court argument that the agency could impose structural separation on common carriers to facilitate FTC regulatory authority. During a Sept. 19 en banc hearing by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, AT&T argued the FCC's authority to require common carriers to structurally separate their operations would reduce concerns about a "regulatory gap" under the telco's status-based interpretation of the FTC's common-carrier exception, said an FCC letter (in Pacer) Friday that it asked the court to accept to correct the record in FTC v. AT&T Mobility, No. 15-16585 (see 1709180061 and 1709190025 on the argument). "AT&T argued for the first time ... that the FCC 'can and would' require carriers to form separate subsidiaries for their non-carrier activities to close the gap and thereby enable the FTC to exercise authority over such activities," said the letter from Nick Degani, the FCC's outgoing acting general counsel. "The FCC’s authority to require separation for the unprecedented purpose of facilitating FTC regulatory authority is doubtful. And the FCC has never required separation except to prevent abusive conduct by carriers with market power." AT&T didn't comment Monday.

Chinese smartphone maker Vivo, nudged out of the top five global brands in Q2 by Xiaomi, according to IDC (see 1708020031 or 1708020038), entered the Hong Kong market Friday with the launch of the X20 handset. The company plans to expand to Taiwan, Singapore, Russia and Africa markets, it said. Vivo phones are also sold in Thailand, the Philippines, Myanmar, Malaysia, Indonesia, Pakistan, Cambodia and Bangladesh.

Verizon performed well in Q3, but Q4 is likely to present additional challenges, Wells Fargo's Jennifer Fritzsche emailed investors Friday. “We expect Q4 will be more competitive in the wireless business with higher volumes and more switching activity, given the launch of the Google phone and iPhone X,” she wrote. “This will likely pressure wireless margins in the quarter as promotional activity ramps up.” Wells Fargo rates Verizon as “Market Perform” but believes the carrier “is moving in the right direction now that its unlimited plans have gained traction,” she said. The company reported quarterly results Thursday (see 1710190033).

Parts of an FCC March 24 order on contraband cellphones in correctional facilities took effect Friday, after Office of Management and Budget approval, said a notice in Friday's Federal Register. Other parts take effect Feb. 12. "In the Report and Order, the Commission streamlined the process of deploying contraband wireless device interdiction systems -- systems that use radio communications signals requiring Commission authorization -- in correctional facilities," the notice said. "The action will reduce the cost of deploying solutions and ensure that they can be deployed more quickly and efficiently." Commissioners approved rules and a Further NPRM on contraband devices in March designed to speed permitting of contraband interdiction systems (see 1703230056).

FCC Chief Administrative Law Judge Richard Sippel will preside over a dispute between Sprint and Indiana, the agency said in a Thursday order in docket 02-55. The dispute is over parts of costs of the 800 MHz rebanding in Indiana that the state claims weren't fully reimbursed by Sprint (see 1710180032). The FCC set a prehearing conference for Nov. 6 at 11 a.m. at FCC headquarters.

Verizon fixed 5G trials “are going very well” and 5G is exceeding expectations, Chief Financial Officer Matt Ellis said Thursday during a quarterly earnings call. The company said it took a 1-cent-a-share earnings hit due to the hurricanes that struck Florida and Texas. The carrier is finding that with 5G, it can deliver service without line of sight to a cell tower, Ellis said. Service to multiple dwelling units worked better than expected, with 5G working above 20 floors, higher than expected, he said. “A number of good things” are coming out of trials, Ellis said. The company still plans to launch a fixed 5G offering next year, he said. It has commercial 5G trials ongoing in 11 cities (see 1709280047). A positive point is that Verizon had a rush of customers as soon as its stores reopened in Houston post-storm, he said. Ellis declined to comment on rumors of a merger between Sprint and T-Mobile. “There’s a lot of various rumors and so on around the industry all the time,” he said. “We have the right set of assets to compete irrespective of the industry structure.” Verizon has “a great spectrum portfolio” and only about half the spectrum it controls is now serving its network, Ellis said. Among its plans for 2018 are “refarming” its 850 MHz and personal communications service spectrum and deploying service on licenses it bought in the AWS-3 auction, he said. “We’re comfortable with our spectrum position,” he said. Ellis said Verizon's plans to launch an over-the-top video service are under development, and the company envisions becoming a bigger video player. “We feel there is an opportunity for us to play,” he said. “But we don’t want to launch another ‘me too’ service.” Earnings were flat from the same quarter last year and revenue increased 2.5 percent to $31.7 billion. The company added a net 274,000 postpaid phone subscribers, compared with forecasts of about 195,000. Analysts were mostly positive. Verizon “delivered a second consecutive quarter of strong results, particularly in its wireless segment," wrote Wells Fargo's Jennifer Fritzsche.

Several brands of smartwatches for children have privacy flaws, said a Wednesday letter to the FTC by privacy and child advocacy groups. Amazon sells several of the brands that the Norwegian Consumer Council found hackers could easily hijack, the letter said. FTC officials told the groups it would give the complaint "serious consideration," said Jeff Chester, executive director of the Center for Digital Democracy, among signers including the Consumer Federation of America, Consumers Union and Public Citizen.

An agreement between Australia’s Lendlease and Japan’s SoftBank to develop and own telecom infrastructure assets in the U.S. was a surprise, Wells Fargo analyst Jennifer Fritzsche said in a Wednesday note to investors. Both companies plan to contribute $200 million to the new joint venture, said a Tuesday news release. “The joint venture, to be known as 'Lendlease Towers', will focus on partnering with major US carriers to roll out further phases of their infrastructure expansion plans to meet growing demand for data,” the companies said. “The aim is to create a geographically diverse portfolio of rooftop and tower assets through both a development and an acquisition-based strategy.” The initial agreement “is more around Sprint's rooftop sites but macros seem to be part of the eventual plan,” Fritzsche wrote. “We may have a new tower [company] on the come. … Yes it will take a long time and a lot of money (but Softbank has MUCH capital behind it).” The announcement also could speak to SoftBank’s long-term strategy if its key U.S. asset Sprint eventually merges with T-Mobile, she said.

The FCC Wireless Bureau denied waivers to three parties seeking a way around the 800 MHz application freeze in Las Vegas. Regions along the U.S.-Mexico border are frozen to preserve vacant channels for licensees retuning their systems as part of the ongoing 800 MHz rebanding. Kirk O’Brian Asset Management, Sierra Capital Management and Wireless Acquisitions Group sought waiver for a total of 15 channels in the 806-824/851-869 MHz band for three new specialized mobile radio (SMR) stations at a Las Vegas location. They planned “to use their SMR systems to support communication needs of various service industries in the rapidly developing Las Vegas metropolitan area,” the bureau said. Applicants argued the freeze was unnecessary there since Las Vegas is about 300 miles from the border and the rebanding process there is complete, the bureau said. The bureau dispatched the application in two sentences. “We conclude that the Applicants have not demonstrated that waivers are warranted under the circumstances presented. We deny the waiver requests.” The bureau denied a similar request by Kenneth Erikson and Vantage seeking a total of five channels in the 800 MHz band for two new SMR stations at Keokuk, Iowa, location. “Waiver is needed because the proposed service area overlaps a region where 800 MHz Expansion Band and Guard Band channels are not yet available for assignment,” the bureau said.