CTIA urged the FCC to auction spectrum in the 28 GHz and 37/39 GHz bands by the end of 2018. The ask was part of a high-frequency spectrum road map the wireless association filed with the regulator Friday. CTIA also asked the FCC to modify its rules to allow terrestrial licensed use of the 42-42.5 GHz band. “The additional 500 megahertz of spectrum in the 42 GHz band will be utilized along with the 37/39 GHz band to provide 3.5 gigahertz of spectrum that can be accommodated into a single radio in mobile devices,” CTIA said. The group also sought “a nearly contiguous block of spectrum from 24 GHz to 28 GHz for licensed terrestrial services” and asked for licensed use of the 47.2-50.2 and 50.4-52.6 GHz bands. “The U.S. wireless industry is in a global race to lead the world in the development of the next generation of wireless services, 5G,” CTIA said in the filing in docket 14-177. “Access to licensed high band spectrum, which offers the potential for larger channel sizes, is key to this effort."

The Rural Wireless Association, which pushed hard for a rethink of Mobility Fund II challenge rules (see 1702150035), said Friday it's disappointed with the draft circulated by FCC Chairman Ajit Pai Thursday. “Pai may have proclaimed August to be ‘Rural Broadband Month,’” said RWA General Counsel Carri Bennet, but the draft “doesn’t live up to the hype.” RWA sought changes to proposed challenge rules and the FCC agreed (see 1702230042). The Thursday draft addresses the challenge process. But “RWA remains concerned with the lack of a 1 Mbps upload threshold to determine MFII support-eligible areas,” the group said in a news release. “Upload speeds are crucial to the end user’s experience -- particularly real-time data exchanges like distance learning and telemedicine applications needed to ensure those living in rural America are not left behind.” The FCC also fails to address CDMA/GSM incompatibility “and potential loss of voice fallback will leave mobile consumers traveling in rural America without the voice service that they have previously enjoyed,” RWA said. “This lack of action and potential loss of service unnecessarily endangers public safety.” RWA also raised concerns on the proposed challenge process. The draft challenge proposal “places onerous burdens on small rural carriers,” it said. “A significant ‘proof of lack of coverage’ data submission requirement within a too-short 60-day challenge window and restrictions on challenger eligibility would limit the ability of interested parties to submit valid challenges for the sake of expediency and skew the marketplace.” CTIA didn't comment. “While we continue to review the order, we are pleased [Chairman Ajit Pai] seems open to standardizing the data collection process to ensure reliable data is used when determining areas eligible for support," said Steve Berry, president of the Competitive Carriers Association.

The move to 5G will have “massive impacts on the U.S. economy and its competitiveness” for decades, Sprint CEO Marcelo Claure said in a commentary on CNBC. Claure cited a report by Accenture. Besides much faster speeds, “it will also be able to deliver ubiquitous connectivity with greater reliability and lower power consumption,” Claure wrote Wednesday.

Representatives of Viaero Wireless met with aides to FCC Chairman Ajit Pai and Commissioner Mignon Clyburn on a July 2016 waiver request of parts of Mobility Fund Phase I rules. The carrier reported then it had failed to meet network coverage requirements in three census tracts in Colorado. The most recent filing, in docket 10-90, explains the problems the company cited in seeking a waiver. “We discussed performance impossibility in the subject Census Tracts, due to the inability of the US Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management to grant access and related rights of way for Viaero to construct cell sites on federal lands,” Viaero said. “The difficulties in obtaining access were not apparent on the date Viaero participated in Mobility Fund Phase I, but became clear as the Forest Service decided to revise its master plan in 2014 and thereafter.”

The 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected Council Tree’s challenge of an FCC decision to impose a $150 million bidding cap on designated entities (DEs) in the TV incentive auction. The Philadelphia-based court heard argument in March (see 1703070041). “The question presented here is whether the FCC acted legally when it limited the bidding credits available to DEs,” said Thursday's opinion. “It did.” The DE argued the FCC acted arbitrarily and capriciously in imposing the bidding caps. “According to Council Tree, the FCC was chasing a phantom because its Order provides no evidence that DEs are ‘gaming the rules’ or that DE investors are ‘unjustly enriched,’” the 3rd Circuit said. “The FCC’s Order did little to assess the scope and substantiality of the harm posed by large companies abusing the DE process.” But there's at least “general agreement that the DE program can be abused,” it said: The FCC “identified a threat (abuse of the DE designation) to one of its statutory objectives (preventing unjust enrichment), and adopted a prophylactic measure.” Judge Thomas Hardiman wrote the unanimous decision. Chief Judge Brooks Smith and Judge Smith Cheryl Ann Krause also heard the case. Council Tree didn't comment.

The Environmental Health Trust urged the FCC to impose a moratorium on new wireless antennas and 5G buildout until health evidence is studied more carefully. “The assumption that 5G technology must be safe because it does not generate heat has been shown through the recent studies to be incorrect. Environmental Health Trust scientists and advisers are willing and able to help you develop appropriate protocols to evaluate environmental and health impacts the 5G technology,” the trust commented in docket 17-79. “It is imperative that such an evaluation proceed prior to the widespread introduction of 5G or additional wireless infrastructure rollout.”

Qualcomm International filed a complaint against Apple asking the International Trade Commission to begin a Tariffs Act Section 337 investigation into allegations that certain Apple smartphones and tablets are being imported in violation of Qualcomm patents. Qualcomm's Thursday complaint alleges Apple uses its chips in some of its products, but in others, including some versions of the iPhone 7, Apple chooses not to use Qualcomm chips but still copies Qualcomm’s patented technologies. The chips enable “numerous important features” on the iPhone including better battery life, increased network speeds and improved graphics, Qualcomm said. The chip company seeks a limited exclusion and cease and desist orders banning import and sale of infringing devices by Apple. The ITC is seeking comment by July 20, it said in Wednesday's Federal Register. Apple didn't comment Tuesday or Wednesday.

Deep fiber is critical to the future of 5G, Deloitte & Touche executives said in a meeting with FCC Chairman Ajit Pai. Deloitte discussed a new white paper on the need for deep fiber, said a Monday filing in docket 17-83. “Not only is increased fiber investment necessary to support densification of wireless networks through small cells -- an expected feature of 5G networks -- but more fiber deployment is critical to provide greater competitive choice to residential and business customers,” Deloitte said. “The digital divide has actually widened in recent years, due to the lack of sufficient fiber investment and competitive broadband offerings in rural and underserved communities.” Among those at the meeting was Deloitte U.S. Vice Chairman Craig Wigginton.

The Competitive Carriers Association encouraged the FCC to deny Verizon’s bid to acquire NextLink, in tandem with the pending Verizon/Straight Path, saying it would give the buyer too much high-frequency spectrum. If both buys are approved, Verizon would control 54 percent of all 28 GHz and 38 percent of all 39 GHz spectrum, CCA said in a news release. “It is certainly no surprise that Verizon is trying to downplay the substantial anti-competitive harms that would result from its acquisition of Nextlink, alongside the millimeter wave spectrum that could be aggregated by Verizon in the Verizon/Straight Path Transaction,” said CCA President Steve Berry. “The commission previously rejected CCA’s arguments by declining to consolidate the review of the Nextlink and other applications," a Verizon spokesman said. "We’re pleased that the Department of Justice has already favorably completed its antitrust review of this transaction.”

AT&T officials met with FCC Public Safety Bureau staff on wireless emergency alerts, said a Tuesday filing in docket 15-94. The bureau asked “technical questions” about “congestion on the Cell Broadcast network, integrating improvements into WEA, a proposal to create a well-managed standardized over the top application to process new WEA alerts, improved geo-targeting for WEA Alerts, multi-lingual WEA alerts, and Multi-media being included in WEA Alerts,” AT&T said.