The NFC (near-field communications) Forum cut its membership fee for startups, it said Wednesday. Organizations with less than $5 million revenue, incorporated in the past five years, can qualify for the $2,500 startup membership fee, which provides access to the forum and participation in the certification program, it said.

The FCC released its user guide for the forward part of the TV incentive auction Wednesday. The guide provides basic information, for example, the browsers and operating systems that can be used to access the system. The use of tablets and smartphones isn't permitted, the guide said. It detailed how to log in and explains how the auction will progress when it starts. The FCC is in the process of releasing basic information, including a still-expected qualified bidders public notice, with the forward auction expected to start in weeks (see 1607110052).

Even though the FCC isn't expected to unlock 3.85 GHz of licensed and 7 GHz of unlicensed high-frequency spectrum Thursday, other spectrum will retain its value, New Street Research said in a research note. The FCC is to vote on the spectrum frontiers order reallocating high-band spectrum (see 1606240026). “Despite the large amount of spectrum supply coming to market, our view of traditional ‘mid-band’ spectrum value remains largely unchanged,” New Street said. The physical properties of the “millimeter wave” spectrum makes it more akin to Wi-Fi than sub-3 GHz licensed spectrum, New Street said: “Sub-3GHz spectrum will still have a vital role in the 5G world and operators will continue to compete for the limited supplies.”

Public interest advocates met with FCC Commissioner Mignon Clyburn to express disappointment that the draft spectrum frontiers order “reportedly allocates” all but 600 MHz of more than 3,000 MHz in the 28, 37 and 39 GHz bands to exclusive licensing over wide geographic areas, said a filing on the meeting. Michael Calabrese, director of the Wireless Future Program at New America, and Harold Feld, senior vice president at Public Knowledge, met with Clyburn and staff. “Exclusive wide-area licensing by auction is a poor fit with the propagation characteristics of millimeter wave spectrum that is inherently intended for small cell deployments in localized, high-traffic areas in urban cores and busy indoor venues,” they told Clyburn. “If a few large carriers foreclose access to 80 percent or more of these [millimeter wave] frequencies, both outdoors and indoors, the likely outcome will be to leave the spectrum fallow in the vast majority of the country and in tens of millions of homes, businesses and community anchor institutions.” The order should also allocate at least half of the 37 to 37.6 GHz spectrum for shared, general authorized access, "or its equivalent," said the filing in docket 14-177.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation said a new study by researchers at Northeastern University and the University of Southern California shows problems with T-Mobile’s zero-rated Binge On service. The FCC has been investigating whether Binge On violates net neutrality rules (see 1604260054). Researchers “confirmed that Binge On works by throttling video data to 1.5 Mbps without doing any sort of optimization,” EFF said in a Tuesday news release. “But the researchers went even further, showing how Binge On can result in worse-quality video (especially for mobile devices with high-resolution screens), and explaining how it could also result in decreased battery lifetime (due to the longer download times Binge On causes).” Much of the paper is technical, EFF said. “The fundamental point is that T-Mobile is doing deep-packet inspection to support a brittle zero-rating service that discriminates against edge providers who don’t want to make a private deal with T-Mobile,” EFF said. “Binge On throttles -- not optimizes -- video regardless of whether or not it’s zero-rated, sometimes resulting in a poorer video streaming experience for T-Mobile customers.”

The FCC should consider RF health risks before plowing forward on 5G, Maryland Smart Meter Awareness said. “A month ago, the $25 million National Toxicology Program study revealed initial findings clearly establishing that 2G cell phone radiation causes DNA damage and carcinogenic effects,” the group said. “While many other countries are currently moving to lower public exposure, FCC Chair Tom Wheeler intends to do the opposite. Wheeler not only disregards the independent science, but wants to fast track a move to 5G.”

Apple ranks highest in customer satisfaction among suppliers of smartwatches, and Samsung holds the same distinction in fitness-band devices, J.D. Power said in two reports released Tuesday. They measure overall satisfaction with smartwatches and fitness trackers among a total canvass of about 6,000 consumers who bought one or both of those devices in the past 12 months, said the researcher. Overall customer satisfaction with smartwatches is 847 (on a scale of 1,000), it said. But nearly two in 10 indicated having experienced one or more problems with their smartwatch, with short battery life as the leading complaint, it said: “When customers experience one or more problems with their smartwatch, there is a significant 21-point drop in overall satisfaction.” Overall customer satisfaction with fitness band devices across all brands is 829 on a scale of 1,000, it said. Ease of use (cited by 48 percent of consumers) in the main purchase consideration in choosing a particular brand of fitness tracker, followed by price (40 percent), brand reputation (38 percent) and positive reviews (36 percent), it said.

The FCC should take into account the benefits to competition of innovative offerings by competitive carriers, as the agency prepares its annual report on competition in mobile (see 1606010023), T-Mobile said in a letter to Wireless Bureau Chief Jon Wilkins. T-Mobile said it has rolled out numerous innovative programs in a series of “uncarrier” initiatives, and its larger competitors have noticed and in some cases followed. The FCC should be “mindful of actions that might inhibit or limit the ability of competitors like T-Mobile to offer innovative products and services to consumers,” the carrier said. “Development of original and creative consumer offerings that result in tangible benefits for consumers should be encouraged, not stymied by theoretical concerns. As history has shown us, adopting pro-competitive policies that encourage innovation will benefit not only T-Mobile customers, but all consumers throughout the mobile wireless market.” The letter in docket 16-137 didn't mention T-Mobile’s zero-rated Binge On offering, the subject of an FCC probe (see 1604260054).

The FCC spectrum frontiers order, set for a vote Thursday, is critical for 5G, but the FCC could still get things wrong if it’s not careful, wrote Gregory Vogt, visiting fellow at the Free State Foundation. FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler “decided to propose proceeding to an allocation of additional spectrum without further study on how 5G is to be deployed in the U.S.,” Vogt wrote Monday. “This is a wise market-oriented decision that is somewhat uncharacteristic of the current Administration and FCC.” But Vogt said the commission still could move in the wrong direction. The agency “should be cautious” that its work is not “undermined by (1) failing to move rapidly to an auction and actual deployment; (2) maintaining unworkable spectrum sharing arrangements; or (3) manipulating the auction procedures or spectrum screens that skew competition,” he said.

The FCC World Radiocommunication Conference Advisory Committee plans its opening meeting Aug. 2 at 11 a.m. in the FCC Commission Meeting Room, said a public notice. The next WRC is scheduled for 2019. The WRC last met in November in Geneva. “The Advisory Committee’s objective is to provide the FCC with advice, technical support and recommended proposals for the WRC-19,” the FCC said Friday. “At its initial meeting, the Advisory Committee will consider formation of its Informal Working Groups (IWGs), assignment of WRC-19 agenda items to the IWGs, scheduling and other organizational matters.”