The FCC Public Safety Bureau said Sprint has paid enough in 800 MHz rebanding costs that the carrier won’t owe the federal government a “windfall” payment for the spectrum it received as part of the 2004 800 MHz rebanding order. Sprint sought that declaration (see 1409180037). The agency imposed the payment obligation to ensure Sprint didn’t reap an “economic windfall” from the 1.9 GHz band the company had received in exchange for undertaking the financial obligation to support 800 MHz rebanding. “The anti-windfall payment provision should be lifted, as Sprint has expended sufficient funds in fulfilling its 800 MHz rebanding commitments to preclude the windfall that the provision was intended to prevent,” said a Thursday order. “This order, however, does not alter other rebanding-related obligations and license conditions applicable to Sprint until rebanding is completed.”

The FCC is likely to approve all bands proposed in the spectrum frontiers Further NPRM for licensed use, Public Knowledge Senior Vice President Harold Feld told us. “My sense is that the FCC wants to get moving on 5G,” Feld said. “It's bipartisan and something where the industry is now really pushing to get spectrum rules settled. Additionally, FCC chairmen generally like to run auctions, as they are revenue generating and applauded as signs of progress for digital technology.” Chairman Ajit Pai is expected to propose a second spectrum frontiers order as early as the November commissioners’ meeting (see 1710100063). Feld said he hasn’t heard any “any serious pushback from DOD” on the bands being examined by the FCC, “so I expect those will be designated for auction.” Feld said the FCC appears likely to reject a request that it convert part of the spectrum approved in the 2016 spectrum frontiers order from unlicensed to licensed use, but “in exchange they will allocate all the designated spectrum in the FNPRM for auction.” The agency is also likely to resolve the pending petitions for reconsideration of the 2016 order and get rid of the spectrum screen, he said. “Pai has consistently made it clear that he is not worried about consolidation, and I expect he has the votes.”

CTA predicts 2017 holiday tech spending will be up 1 percent to $96.8 billion from 2016 vs. 3.8 percent in Q4 2016 and negative 1.8 percent in 2015. Steve Koenig, senior director-market research, told us Wednesday at the group's conference (see 1710110063) that "what makes robust tech spending growth challenging for 2017 is the comparison to a very solid 2016 season." Smartphone volume will be "mostly flat against a backdrop of lower prices," Koenig said. “We’re even seeing on an annual basis, not just holiday, very moderating growth” in screen devices, he said. Data mining will play a more prominent role, and consumers will see more targeted marketing, said Koenig. A much-requested gift will be smartphones (8 percent), and 128 million adult gift givers plan to buy communications devices including smartphones (27 percent).

Though Apple remains locked in a bitter patent fight with Qualcomm at the International Trade Commission over iPhone baseband processor chips (see 1707120023), Apple is reinforcing Qualcomm’s “modem design leadership” in its new Apple Watch 3 product lineup, said ABI Research in a Wednesday teardown report. With cellular connectivity added to the Apple Watch lineup for the first time, Apple is using a Qualcomm modem in the Watch 3 to “fulfill this cellular obligation,” ABI said. Though the cellular version of the Watch 3 doesn't support CDMA networks, “which would seemingly make Intel the potential main supplier of the modem,” it’s the Watch 3's “smaller form factor” that makes Qualcomm “the obvious modem choice,” it said. Qualcomm CEO Steve Mollenkopf told an investor conference last month his company is trying to keep separate its roles as an Apple litigator and supplier (see 1709100004).

FCC staff temporarily waived wireless location-accuracy obligations on 911 calls for providers affected by Hurricane Maria. "Because of hurricane damage and related effects, service providers that utilize triangulation to provide location information for 911 calls may not have a sufficient number of towers in service to permit triangulation at this time in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands," said a Public Safety Bureau public notice in Wednesday's Daily Digest. The bureau waived Phase II location accuracy requirements for Maria-affected commercial mobile radio service providers utilizing network-based solutions until Dec. 31, or until they restore facilities enabling transmission of 911 location information to public safety answering points, if earlier. The bureau said it will monitor the situation and consider an extension if necessary. Chairman Ajit Pai said he has spent most his time recently on helping restore communications disrupted by storms (see 1710110015).

A divided federal appeals court denied en banc rehearing of its April decision upholding a Berkeley, California, ordinance requiring retailers to inform prospective cellphone buyers that carrying their devices in certain ways can cause exposure to RF radiation exceeding federal limits (see 1704240041). Judges William Fletcher and Morgan Christen supported the Wednesday opinion, while Judges Michelle Friedland and Kim Wardlaw dissented. A majority of non-recused active judges failed to vote for rehearing. Fletcher and Christen said they didn’t want to create a circuit split with the D.C., 1st, 2nd and 6th circuits: Such splits “are generally to be avoided” and the other four courts “got it right.” Wardlaw said the panel majority applied the wrong legal standard when it cited 1985's Zauderer v. Office of Disciplinary Counsel. “We should have taken this case en banc to clarify that Zauderer’s rational basis standard applies only when the government compels speech to prevent consumer deception,” Wardlaw said. “By allowing the opinion to stand, we have condoned the panel majority’s deference to the City of Berkeley’s well-intentioned, but unconstitutional, incursion into First Amendment rights.” CTIA "will continue to assert that the First Amendment prohibits the government from forcing private companies to promote misleading and inaccurate opinions," a spokeswoman said. Berkeley didn't comment.

The mobile advertising market will have a compound annual growth rate of 19 percent through 2022, Persistence Market Research reported Tuesday. Growth will be driven by the proliferation of social media, affordable smartphones and expanding 4G LTE infrastructure, it said, as millions of customers in developing countries are getting smartphones.

Nokia will halt development of future versions of the Ozo professional virtual-reality camera and hardware as part of a strategy shift to “reduce investments” in VR and focus its Nokia Technologies subsidiary more on “technology licensing opportunities,” the company said in a Tuesday announcement. Nokia Technologies will continue to service existing customers on the Ozo, it said. Nokia was prompted to act because the VR market has been slower to develop than expected, it said. The subsidiary expects to eliminate about a third of its 1,090 employees, mainly in Finland, the U.S. and the U.K., it said. Nokia will “sharpen the focus" of Nokia Technologies on “digital health,” while leaving its “successful patent licensing business untouched,” the company said.

The FCC Office of Engineering and Technology approved special temporary authority allowing Sunesys to test indoor small-cell prototype equipment in 3.5 GHz shared band in the Celebration, Florida, area. “Sunesys will deploy a small cell network, exclusively indoors, to test the end-to-end functionality of 3.5 GHz hardware,” said a filing Tuesday. “Testing will include access points, core network, and user devices.”

Extend by 14 days to Nov. 15 the deadline for replies on the mid-band spectrum notice of inquiry, the Wi-Fi Alliance, Telecommunications Industry Association, Dynamic Spectrum Alliance and Wireless ISP Association asked the FCC. The NOI led to more comments than expected (see 1710060054). “Many parties submitted comments in response to the NOI: seventy-seven in total, across a range of industries, with a wide variety of perspectives,” said a filing in docket 17-183. “Many commenters provided extensive and detailed technical and engineering information.”