The FCC Wireless Bureau invited interested parties to update the record in the wireless radio service overhaul proceeding. The bureau said the FCC sought comment in 2010. “In the NPRM, the Commission proposed new renewal standards designed to ‘create consistent requirements for renewal of licenses and consistent consequences for discontinuance of service, and to clarify construction obligations for spectrum licenses that have been divided, by geographic partitioning or disaggregation of the spectrum,'” said a Tuesday public notice. “The Commission proposed to prohibit the filing of mutually exclusive, i.e., competing, renewal applications and imposed a freeze on the filing of such competing applications.” The FCC already has a “robust record” but wants “to update the record with new information or arguments that may be relevant,” the bureau said. Comments are due June 1 in docket 10-112, replies June 16.

T-Mobile will launch the first “REAL, NATIONWIDE, MOBILE 5G network” in the U.S., said Chief Technology Officer Neville Ray in a Tuesday blog post. "We are going to dedicate part of the new 600 MHz spectrum we just won to LTE and then part to 5G nationwide. This means T-Mobile is the first company to commit to building a nationwide 5G network. And yes that’s real 5G, not fake 5G! And that’s nationwide Mobile 5G, not Fixed 5G!” T-Mobile has 200 MHz of spectrum in the 28/39 GHz bands covering almost 100 million people in major metropolitan areas “and an impressive volume of mid-band spectrum to deploy 5G in as well,” Ray wrote. “This positions T-Mobile to deliver a 5G network that offers BOTH breadth and depth nationwide.” CEO John Legere also commented in a video blog: “5G will be amazing, and we can’t even imagine all the cool stuff it will bring, just like with our earlier network innovations. That’s why truly mobile 5G has to be nationwide.”

Motorola Solutions agreed to buy broadband push-to-talk provider Kodiak Networks, Motorola said in a Monday news release. Motorola didn’t disclose terms, and said the deal is subject to customary conditions and will close later this year.

ACT|The App Association emphasized the importance of spectrum to 5G and to its members, in a meeting with FCC Commissioner Mike O’Rielly. “The App Association expressed its strong desire that the Commission reduce barriers for deploying new infrastructure as well as supporting innovative and more efficient ways to use wireless spectrum,” said a filing in various dockets including 16-106. “As high speed wireless broadband availability is essential for the app economy to continue growing, failure by the Commission to meet these infrastructure and spectrum needs will harm the economy and consumers.” The group said the FCC is the wrong agency to address questions raised by the National Association of State 911 Administrators (NASNA), which last year asked the agency to initiate a proceeding on how smartphone 911 apps potentially interface with 911 systems. The FCC sought comment (see 1612190055). “We emphasized that the FTC is the appropriate authority to address the concerns raised by NASNA,” the App Association said. “Although we are sensitive to the concerns NASNA expresses in its letter, the Commission is not the appropriate venue to handle such concerns.” ACT members representing Southern DNA, TM Technologies, Alchemy Security, FMS, Cosmic Innovations, Dogtown Media, 1564B, Remine, NeuEon and Colorado Technology Consultants were at the meeting, the filing said.

The International Trade Commission voted to begin a Tariff Act Section 337 investigation on imports of LTE wireless communication devices imported by Blu Products, the ITC said in Monday's Federal Register. In a complaint filed in March (see 1703270059), LG Electronics said Blu’s Dash, Energy, Life, Neo, Pure, Speed, Studio, Vivo, Win and R1 HD mobile phone products infringe its patents. As the technologies are essential to the LTE communication standard, LG committed to license use of the patents on fair terms, and Blu hasn't responded to LG’s attempts to negotiate a fair and reasonable licensing deal, LG said. Blu didn't reply to our queries.

NTIA’s Institute for Telecommunication Sciences (ITS) released an advanced software model for radio wave propagation in urban environments, critical to improved sharing of spectrum, ITS Director Keith Gremban said in a Monday blog post. “Understanding the characteristics of radio waves, especially how far they propagate and how they interact with structures and the environment, is important in planning and operating wireless systems,” Gremban said. “Any agreement to share spectrum bands will require reliable predictions of how that spectrum will perform in the real world.” Making the source code publicly available allows researchers to “use and modify the code as they wish, as well as collaborate with other researchers and avoid duplicating efforts,” Gremban said. “This software can be used by consumers, engineers, scientists and others to explore the behavior of radio waves interacting with buildings, trees, and other environmental features.”

A month after the Department of Commerce announced AT&T would help build the FirstNet network (see 1703300007), the authority continues to make progress, FirstNet CEO Mike Poth said in a Monday blog post. “This public-private partnership maintains the same sense of urgency that FirstNet has upheld since the beginning,” Poth wrote. “There are a number of key milestones that we are on track to achieve, including the expected delivery of draft State Plans in the June timeframe, which is three months ahead of FirstNet’s original target timeframe.” FirstNet and AT&T “look forward to bringing all of the State Single Points of Contact (SPOCs) together to preview key information that will be shared in the online State Plans portal,” Poth said. “We will also review with the SPOCs the process for state plans.” AT&T officials said last week most states will opt to be part of the national network rather than going alone (see 1704260015). Poth agreed. The state plans “will deliver a superior solution for public safety wireless broadband communications,” he said. “Our confidence in the FirstNet value proposition is a result of the rigorous acquisition process leading to a best value award as well as the market research that we conducted and the feedback we received from public safety over the last three years through our consultation and outreach efforts. This truly is a network for public safety, by public safety.” Poth promised the public safety the network is coming soon. "As we pledged to do, FirstNet and AT&T have hit the ground running with this public-private partnership," he said. "There is much work to be done and we won’t be letting up on the focus or drive to deliver this much needed Network for public safety."

Microsoft representatives pressed the FCC to set aside spectrum in the TV band in every U.S. market for Wi-Fi and other unlicensed use, in meetings with aides to the three commissioners. The software maker supported "ensuring that three 6 MHz channels are available for unlicensed use in the 600 MHz and TV bands, and highlighted the existing and potential unlicensed uses of the band,” said a filing in docket 12-268: It “discussed the importance of preserving the use of the duplex gap, channel 37 and a vacant channel in each television market for unlicensed use.”

CTA spun the consumer electronics’ industry’s shortfall in reaching the eCycling Leadership Initiative’s goal to recycle 1 billion pounds of CE products annually by 2016 as a positive result, in the industry’s April 2017 sustainability report. In a year-by-year breakdown since the ELI was announced in 2011, the industry posted yearly gains until 2016, when the weight of electronics recycled fell from 700 million pounds -- the peak year -- to 630 million pounds, CTA said Thursday. The decrease should be “celebrated, not disparaged,” CTA said. “As electronics become smaller, lighter and thinner, fewer materials are required to create them.” ELI is a collaboration among manufacturers, retailers, collectors, recyclers, nongovernmental organizations and local, state and federal governments. Currently, 25 states have 25 different approaches to recycling electronics, leading to a “patchwork of regulation” that’s complex and burdensome, said CTA, which supports a single national approach.

Members of the Wireless Innovation Forum "reiterated their commitment to a Release 1 schedule that enables approval of SASs and ESCs" this year, in a meeting with the FCC on the future of the 3.5 GHz shared band, said a filing in docket 15-319. The FCC is looking at changes to rules for the band, in a process directed by Commissioner Mike O’Rielly (see 1704190056). Under the rules, spectrum access system (SAS) administrators and an environmental sensing capability (ESC) operators will manage the sharing in the band. The group said its members "offered further assistance to the FCC, [the Department of Defense] and NTIA as appropriate to ensure that full nationwide operation in the band happens quickly and the eco-system remains viable for all.” Officials from the Wireless Bureau and Office of Engineering and Technology were at the meeting.