The Wireless ISP Association plans to fight to protect its interests in the shared 3.5 GHz band, President Chuck Hogg said in a State of WISPA address Tuesday, streamed from Las Vegas. The mobile wireless industry is “working hard to undo the years of work” WISPs dedicated to opening the Citizens Broadband Radio Service band, Hogg said. Some characterize the fight as a “David vs. Goliath” battle, he said. “I don’t have to tell you that we’re not Goliath,” he said. “We’re active, engaged and definitely punching above our weight. Everyone in this room can play a part.” The FCC is to consider an NPRM on revised rules for the 3.5 GHz band at commissioners' Oct. 24 meeting (see 1710030059). Hogg said the WISPA board agreed to hire an executive search firm to search for a paid president. The job has been filled by a volunteer. T-Mobile, meanwhile, said the FCC should ask questions about its requests for two additional changes to the rules for priority access licenses (PALs) in the band. T-Mobile executives met with Erin McGrath, an aide to Commissioner Mike O’Rielly, who was tasked by Chairman Ajit Pai with proposing changes to the rules. The FCC also should seek comment on the potential use of PALs throughout the 150 MHz band and on changing the effective isotropic radiated power limits for 3.5 GHz devices, T-Mobile said. “Adopting an Order rejecting the two recommendations rather than seeking comment on them is unnecessary and contrary to Commission precedent, and would prevent development of a complete record on the issues raised,” said a filing by the carrier in docket 17-258. “While the Commission may not yet be prepared to propose the rule changes proposed by T-Mobile, adopting an Order dismissing them -- without further opportunity for public comment -- is the wrong approach.”

The FCC said the due date for filing 4G LTE coverage data, as part of the Mobility Fund II challenge process, is Jan. 4. The Friday notice was released by the FCC Rural Broadband Auctions Task Force, in conjunction with the Wireless and Wireline bureaus.

Sprint executives met with FCC Wireless Bureau Chief Donald Stockdale and others from the bureau to make their case for improved wireless siting rules. “Sprint addressed the urgent need for the Commission to reform the tribal historic review process,” said a filing in docket 17-79. “Sprint noted that the Commission has various means to lower costs for tribal historic reviews that do not impact eligible historic properties, including allowing costs only for consultation when an affected property is identified or by broadening exclusions.” Sprint also said the FCC should clarify the term tower in the context of National Historic Preservation Act reviews. “Specifically, Sprint noted that the replacement of an existing street light, utility pole, or traffic signal with one capable of supporting a small-cell collocation does not change the ‘primary purpose’ of the structure as a street light, utility pole, or traffic signal,” the carrier said.

The FCC Office of Engineering and Technology gave Ruckus Wireless special temporary authority to demonstrate operations in the 3.5 GHz shared band, the focus of an FCC proceeding. The demo is to happen later this month inside a building in Denver, said the authorization.

FCC staff cleared Crown Castle's proposed buy of Lightower's 30,000 route miles of fiber. No opposition comments were filed (see 1708230039), said a Wireline Bureau order in docket 17-204. "Although Applicants have overlapping services in the Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, New York, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and Washington, DC metro areas, the two companies primarily provide different services to different customers, thereby lessening the likelihood of the transaction reducing competition," said the order: "Applicants assert that they provide fiber-based service to only 454 of the same on-net locations, of which only 235 are enterprise locations," or only about 1.2 percent of their combined on-net enterprise locations, and they "provided information showing that, even in the overlap areas, multiple competitors providing fiber-based services are also present." It said combinations of providers "with largely complementary service areas are less likely to result in harm to competition and may result in a stronger competitor to larger carriers and [ILECs]."

Larger, more sophisticated high-altitude unmanned aerial vehicles will require a different approach from regulators than smaller UAVs have, said Jennifer Warren, Lockheed Martin vice president-technology policy and regulation, during a Silicon Flatirons spectrum conference late Wednesday. The challenge is which comes first -- the FAA has to set out performance objectives and the FCC needs to make spectrum available for command and control, Warren said. “It’s going to be an interesting timing scenario and the one has to be informed by the other,” she said. “There’s a little bit of collaboration that we’re hoping for between the FCC and the FAA” when we get beyond smaller drones, she said. The FAA and FCC don’t disagree, said Julius Knapp, chief of the FCC Office of Engineering and Technology. The commission allocated 50.30-50.90 MHz for command and control of UAVs, he said. “There are so many different kinds of UAVs used by both federal and nonfederal.” Finding spectrum isn’t easy, Knapp said. “Most of the spectrum is spoken for in one way or another,” he said. “It generally comes down to there’s something there. Either you’re going to share without modifying it or it has got to be moved and that usually costs money.” Tom Hazlett, economics professor at Clemson University, said challenges presented by space-based and aerial communications technologies are “profound.” Hazlett sees a possible solution an Intel/Intelsat proposal for the 3.7-4.2 GHz band (see 1710020047). “They’re talking about incumbent licensees, including especially satellite licensees, being able to make deals with terrestrial in particular,” he said. Incumbents would be protected, but new entrants could “make deals, make bargains,” he said. The companies get it “just right,” he said. “There are rigidities in the system that can be overcome by allowing the rights to go into the marketplace, that allow bargains to be made.” The FCC wouldn’t have to make trade-offs on things that are “completely unknown” like “is a band better used for autonomous vehicles or Wi-Fi-delivery of cat videos,” Hazlett said. The FCC "doesn’t know the answer" to that question and neither does he, he said. “We want the opportunity costs to be visible, transparent,” he said. “We want users to make rational calculations and we don’t resources to go to low-valued uses when there’s something much better.”

Comments are due Oct. 12 at the International Trade Commission on public interest issues raised by Tessera Technologies’ Tariff Act Section 337 allegations that various Samsung mobile devices containing “wafer-level” packaged (WLP) semiconductors infringe two Tessera patents (see 1709290044), said a notice in Wednesday’s Federal Register. Tessera’s complaint (docket 337-3262) seeks exclusion and cease and desist orders against Samsung devices containing WLP-based power management chips, including the Galaxy 8 and Note8 smartphones. Samsung is “looking into” the Tessera complaint and “will take necessary measures accordingly," said the company in response (see 1710020033).

The Competitive Carriers Association welcomed an FCC nationwide number portability draft for "recognizing the unique challenges smaller rural and regional carriers face." Many smaller carriers have "problems with porting-in wireless numbers from disparate parts of the country," putting them "at a further competitive disadvantage compared to the largest carriers who are able to port-in numbers, regardless of location," said CCA President Steven Berry in a release Tuesday. A draft NPRM and notice of inquiry put on the Oct. 24 commissioners' meeting agenda would seek ways to usher in nationwide number portability (see 1710030059).

IEEE’s Technology Roadmap Working Group released a “5G" looks at challenges and opportunities. IEEE also issued a call to action in a news release, for "the entire 5G and beyond ecosystem to come together, to collaborate and reach consensus,” said Timothy Lee, co-chair of the IEEE 5G Initiative. “Not just for the purposes of advancing technology or furthering economic pursuits but to anticipate and plan for sustainability and the social implications to those currently connected and those to be connected.”

Samsung’s August 2016 application to trademark a promotional tagline for the twice-recalled Galaxy Note7 smartphone was published for opposition Tuesday at the Patent and Trademark Office, said an agency confirmation notice. If no opposition to “Note7 the Smartphone That Thinks Big” within 30 days, PTO will register the trademark by mid-January. Samsung Electronics America in March ruled out offering refurbished Note7s for commercial availability in the U.S. after its South Korean parent announced plans to market Note7s with reconditioned batteries as replacement or rental in several global markets to minimize environmental impacts from recalls of the fire-prone smartphone (see 1703270067).