The FCC established a pleading cycle on the exchange of full and partitioned PCS licenses between Sprint and T-Mobile. The deal involves spectrum in 166 counties across 65 cellular market areas and covering about 7 percent of the U.S. population, the FCC said in a Monday notice. States covered are parts of Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Montana, New Mexico, North Carolina, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Texas, Washington and West Virginia, the FCC said. “According to the Applicants, the proposed transaction involves only intra-market exchanges of spectrum, and in most markets the attributable spectrum holdings of Sprint and T-Mobile would be unchanged,” the FCC said. “The Applicants indicate that the intra-market exchanges would allow for holding larger blocks of contiguous spectrum and/or aligning spectrum blocks with those already held in adjacent markets, which in turn should permit more reliable and efficient operations.” Petitions to deny are due June 3, oppositions June 10 and replies June 17.

Sprint is tossing in a free 12-month Amazon Prime membership ($99 value) for new customers and switchers who sign up for the Amazon Better Choice XXL plan. The premium plan includes 40 GB of shared data ($100 per month) and unlimited talk and text, Sprint said Friday.

The FCC Public Safety Bureau gave the state of Washington until the end of the year to complete rebanding its 800 MHz public safety communications system, working with Sprint. But the bureau also ordered the state to submit detailed progress reports every two weeks beginning May 23 to the FCC, Sprint and the 800 MHz transition administrator. The reports are necessary because the state has fallen “well behind schedule,” the bureau said in the order. “While we are granting Washington until December 31, 2016, to complete rebanding, we urge Washington and Sprint to cooperate in finding ways to complete rebanding prior to that date, including Sprint providing such reasonable funding as may be necessary to accelerate the process.” The rebanding process nationwide was launched in 2004 and is designed to protect public safety communications from harmful interference.

The 800 MHz rebanding is complete in two more National Public Safety Planning Advisory Committee (NPSPAC) regions, said reports filed at the FCC by the 800 MHz transition administrator. The regions cover Louisiana and Mississippi. The rebanding process has been underway since 2004 and is designed to protect public safety communications from harmful interference. Both filings were posted in docket 02-55.

There's reason to be “cautiously optimistic” the 3.5 GHz shared spectrum band will be a bigger usage success for the FCC than the TV white spaces have been (see 1605110015), emailed Doug Brake, telecom policy analyst at the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation. “Making 150 MHz available where it is actually needed is huge,” Brake said. “There are a number of countries already using the band abroad, so we have some existing scale to work with. And there is healthy multistakeholder activity. But what deployment actually looks like is an open question. Given the short license terms, widespread investment from operators unfortunately seems out of the question -- the FCC is banking on there being enough momentum for other deployment scenarios. Carrier-neutral models are probably most intriguing, but a lot remains to be seen.” Brake said he's watching closely to see if there are any surprises in who files to be a spectrum access system administrator for the band.

Seismic Warning Systems (SWS) representatives told FCC officials they developed technology that provides quick alerts when earthquakes strike. SWS reported on a meeting with FCC officials as the agency develops a report to Congress on warning systems. CTIA and AT&T told the FCC the wireless emergency alert (WEA) system used by carriers wasn't set up to send almost-immediate warnings (see 1605100054). “SWS has developed and deployed technology that provides users with alerts of pending seismic activity,” the company said in a filing in docket 16-32. “Our offerings have been in commercial use for the past 15 years -- primarily in California -- and during that time, the SWS technology has developed an exceptional track record in terms of maximizing alert times and eliminating false positives.”

Filings are now due June 2 on an NTIA request for comments on the technological and policy landscape of the IoT, said a notice in Wednesday's Federal Register. The original deadline was May 23. The action was "in response to requests for additional time in which to comment,” NTIA said. In April, the agency asked for comment on the government's role in encouraging the growth of the IoT (see 1604060030).

Nex-Tech Wireless, a small wireless carrier in rural Kansas, asked the FCC to cut it a break after it made a mistake on a form carriers use to report revenue subject to the USF. “For the first time since it began filing Form 499, NTW made a clerical error on its Form 499-Q due February 1, 2016, resulting in a large overstatement of its projected interstate revenues for the second quarter of 2016,” NTW said. NTW said it didn't learn of the error until it received an invoice April 22. As a result, the company missed the 45-day deadline for revising the filing, it said. “As a result, the charges on its April 22 invoice were nearly three times what they should have been,” NTW said. Dollar figures were redacted in the public version of the FCC filing. NTW asked for a waiver of the 45-day deadline and a break on interest and penalties as a result of the mistake.

The Verizon strike could reduce the carrier’s wireless spending this year, Evercore ISI analysts said Tuesday. “Our most recent channel checks indicate a growing concern that the strike from VZ’s wireline unions -- which is drawing away resources from even the company’s wireless operations -- may also be impacting the pace at which the nation’s largest carrier is able to deploy capital,” Evercore said in a note to investors on the company, which trades under the VZ stock symbol. “Coupled with an already muted carrier spending environment, this may add some additional headwinds to near-term tower sector growth -- leaving us still cautious on the group (though, longer-term, we remain bullish). … While VZ’s spending slowdown might not be felt immediately, it could impact tower [revenue] for the remainder of the year.” The strike at Verizon's landline operations of about 40,000 union workers has lasted almost a month (see 1605050047).

The FCC is seeking comment on a petition by a group of multichannel video distribution and data service (MVDDS) licensees who want 5G deployments in the spectrum, while protecting DBS operations. The FCC released a notice Monday seeking comment on the 12.2-12.7 GHz band. The FCC didn’t set a comment deadline. “By promptly placing the petition out for comment, the FCC has once again demonstrated its commitment to prompt regulatory action to ensure that the U.S. will lead the world in 5G,” said a spokesman for the MVDDS 5G Coalition. “Consumers and competition will be the real winners when the FCC updates the rules for MVDDS to unlock this band's potential for advanced wireless services that successfully coexist with DBS.” The Computer and Communications Industry Association also supports the petition, the group said in a news release. “The FCC should update its rules and remove the current unnecessarily restrictive, technical and operational limitations,” said CCIA President Ed Black. “The FCC has an opportunity to facilitate the sharing of this spectrum -- which would further promote flexibility and 5G deployment. This would free up more spectrum that would be ideal for 5G.”