The Competitive Carriers Association asked the FCC to revise parts of its rules for high-frequency spectrum. It asked the agency in a petition for reconsideration to modify licensing policies for the 37-37.6 and 64-71 GHz bands, reconsider subdividing local multipoint distribution service licenses and eliminate an operability requirement across the 37/39 GHz bands. The high-frequency spectrum “offers tremendous opportunities for rural, regional and nationwide carriers as they begin to deploy 5G networks, and it is absolutely essential for the FCC to ensure this spectrum is utilized in a way that promotes competition and innovation while protecting those that have deployed services on this spectrum,” CCA President Steve Berry said in a news release. “However many of the policies adopted in the Report and Order would harm wireless carriers by increasing consolidation and discouraging investment -- a result the Commission certainly does not wish to see.” The FCC approved the order in July (see 1607140052). U.S. carriers see the spectrum as critical to the eventual launch of 5G services.

Apple launched chip-based Bluetooth AirPods earphones, originally due in late October, with limited availability. Early Tuesday, the Apple website said customers would receive orders by Dec. 21; when we checked back before noon, delivery time stretched to four weeks. AirPods will ship in limited quantities to retailers and select carrier stores next week, Apple announced. The smartphone maker's stores will receive regular shipments of the product, which connects automatically with all of a user's Apple devices. The company didn’t respond to our questions.

Consumer Watchdog used Google’s name change for its self-driving car unit -- Waymo -- to promote the need for more disclosure to the public about the way “robot car systems” work. Consumers should be made aware of the ethical choices programmed into autonomous vehicles’ “secret algorithms,” Consumer Watchdog Privacy Project Director John Simpson said in a statement Tuesday. “Admitting that robot cars aren't really ready to be put on our roads without steering wheels and the capability for a human driver to take control is an important acknowledgment of reality," said Simpson. Google said Waymo is short for "way forward in mobility."

New High Performance User Equipment (HPUE) technology will help Sprint make optimal use of its extensive 2.5 GHz holdings, the carrier said Tuesday. Use of HPUE extends 2.5 GHz coverage by up to 30 percent to nearly match the performance of mid-band 1.9 GHz spectrum, Sprint said in a news release. “HPUE is an incredible innovation that will dramatically improve the performance of our high-band spectrum and deliver an even better experience for the millions of customers on the Sprint network whether they’re streaming videos, playing games or using apps, both indoors and out,” said Chief Technology Officer John Saw. The 3rd Generation Partnership Project certified HPUE Dec. 6 as a new power class, Sprint said. The company said it tested the technology with China Mobile, which is also deploying HPUE.

A Sprint/T-Mobile combination would create a stronger competitor and is a deal that could get done, Wells Fargo analyst Jennifer Fritzsche emailed investors. Sprint stock was up 31 percent and T-Mobile 11 percent since the election, as of Monday, she wrote. “Many believe a Republican-dominated FCC and DoJ could open up merger opportunities that had previously been shot down.” A deal would get a close look from regulators, but “the synergies of such a merger (especially on the network side) would be meaningful,” she said. A combined company would have a 25 percent share of the market, versus 43 percent for Verizon and 30 percent for AT&T, Fritzsche said. She predicted Sprint could buy T-Mobile for $72 per share, or $93.4 billion. The combined company would have 286 MHz of nationwide spectrum, she said: “It is also complementary, with [T-Mobile] owning the largest mid-band portfolio along with a growing 700 MHz presence, and [Sprint’s] deep 2.5 GHz holdings a critical component for dense urban areas.” Industry observers said last week a deal is doable, not a slam dunk (see 1612090053).

Pokemon Go-creator Niantic is commercially exploiting children and marketing junk food with last week's announcement that 7,800 Starbucks stores in the U.S. will be locations for the popular augmented reality mobile game, said Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood in a Tuesday news release. “It’s wrong to lure children to a sponsor’s location under the guise of playing a game,” said CCFC Executive Director Josh Golin. “Niantic and Starbucks should exclude children from this sneaky marketing designed to hook players on sugar-saturated, high calorie drinks.” CCFC sent a letter with a petition signed by 7,300 people to Niantic CEO John Hanke, asking the company not to direct any advertising tied to paid sponsorships to kids under 13. Golin said kids are more vulnerable than adults to ads and it's "wrong to use an extremely popular game to surreptitiously market Starbucks' sugar-laden high-calorie drinks, many of which are high in caffeine, to children." Golin previously told us children under 13 are unable to distinguish a marketing deal with playing the game and said it could amount to a case of unfair and deceptive marketing (see 1607250009). Sprint recently announced a partnership with Niantic that would make the telco's 10,500 locations part of the game (see 1612070017). Niantic "does not show sponsored locations to players under the age of 13 in Pokémon GO," it emailed. "Players under the age of 13 must have their parent's permission to play through the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) compliant verification and consent process handled by The Pokémon Company through the Pokémon Trainer Club."

The FCC is on the right track on its transition plan for the post-incentive auction, T-Mobile told Incentive Auction Task Force and other staff, according to a filing in docket 16-306. “T-Mobile’s representatives identified several additional mechanisms the Commission might employ to promote a more efficient post-auction transition,” the filing said. “The Commission might encourage more extensive use of: (i) auxiliary antennas, (ii) temporary channels, and (iii) multicasting and channel-sharing opportunities. Properly implemented, these voluntary alternatives might accelerate the transition and put otherwise idle resources to work for the benefit of both broadcasters and broadband providers.” T-Mobile was among the industry players filing comments at the FCC in November on the transition plan (see 1611160033). The carrier is expected to go big in the auction to fill in gaps and add to its low-band spectrum portfolio (see 1601060059).

FirstNet needs to do a better of publicizing itself and the benefits of a national network for first responders, said Chairwoman Sue Swenson Tuesday as board committees got updates before Wednesday’s board meeting. “It’s time that we take our story to more mainstream media,” Swenson said. “It’s one thing to talk about FirstNet … to people who will actually use the service. But I don’t think the general public understands the gap that’s out there today that this will close.” The committees spent most of their time in closed session to review “procurement and acquisition-sensitive matters,” which was expected to take as long as five hours, Swenson said.The authority may say more about the closed meetings Wednesday, she said. Swenson also said the network was still seeking to replace telecom executive Barry Boniface on the board. FirstNet also must pick a coalition of companies to help build the network, a decision now expected to be made next year. An AT&T-led coalition is expected to win the contract (see 1612050026).

Shipments of flexible displays for smartphones and other devices are expected to reach 139 million units in 2017, up 135 percent from 2016, said IHS Markit in a Monday report. But flexible displays are expected to account for only 3.8 percent of total display unit shipments in 2017, said IHS. Many manufacturers have plans to develop foldable, bendable or dual-edge curved smartphone designs, and Apple is expected to launch the iPhone 8 in 2017 using a flexible active-matrix OLED (AMOLED) display, it said. Apple’s move into that sector “would dramatically drive up expected demand for flexible AMOLED panels,” enough for them to account for 20 percent of total OLED display unit shipments in 2017, said the researcher. “During 2016, many smartphone manufacturers have pressured display panel makers to supply them with more flexible AMOLEDs for their new smartphone designs.” Limited production capacity prevented all but “a few players” having their orders “met in quantity,” it said. Tight supply conditions are expected to ease in 2017 once Samsung Display and LG Display “start operating their new fabs to increase supply capacity for flexible displays, resulting in earlier availability of new smartphone entrants in the market,” IHS said.

About 4,000 students in 11 cities will get free mobile devices and wireless internet through a Sprint pilot program aimed at closing the homework gap, the carrier said in a Monday news release. The pilot starts in January, with participating schools invited to join the multiyear initiative starting in the 2017-18 school year. After announcing the 1Million Project in October (see 1610110031), Sprint received 100 applications for the pilot program, the company said. Students get a free smartphone, tablet, laptop or hot spot device with 3 GB of 4G LTE data monthly, Sprint said. Speeds fall to 2G levels if a student exceeds the data limit, it said.