The FCC established a pleading cycle on AT&T’s proposed buy of a single 700 MHz B-block license from Qualcomm. The license covers a single market in New Jersey, the FCC said. “The Applicants maintain that the proposed transaction would provide AT&T with additional spectrum that would enable it to increase its system capacity to enhance existing services, better accommodate its overall growth, and facilitate the provision of additional products and services in one Cellular Market Area,” a Monday FCC notice said. “The Applicants assert that, as a result of this proposed transaction, AT&T would hold 24 megahertz of contiguous, paired Lower 700 MHz spectrum in this CMA, allowing for a 10×10 megahertz LTE deployment.” Under the preliminary analysis the buy would give AT&T 111 MHz of spectrum, including 61 MHz of spectrum below 1 GHz in the Hunterdon market, the FCC said. Petitions to deny are due May 9, oppositions May 16 and replies May 23. The FCC also sent letters to both companies asking for additional information. “Explain in detail the decision made by Qualcomm to assign to AT&T the Lower 700 MHz B Block spectrum that is the subject of this application, including any attempts made to enter into a sale of this spectrum or alternative arrangements with parties other than AT&T,” the letter to Qualcomm said.

FirstNet is focused on building a Nationwide Public Safety Broadband Network (NPSBN) that will endure, said FirstNet CEO Mike Poth Monday in a blog post. “We do not know today what technology the public safety community may require 20 years from now to carry out its mission,” Poth wrote. “But we can, and are, planning for the future of the network. At FirstNet, we want to be ready for and encourage innovation that will bring better applications, devices and services to the public safety community, and we want to invest in the NPSBN to ensure its readiness for whatever may come.” With an eye on continuity, the FirstNet request for proposals anticipates finding partners in industry for a contract that will be as long as 25 years, he said. The length of time “will allow the awardee to confidently invest in the network and in the provision of services to the public safety community, while also serving its commercial users with excess network capacity,” he said. “Market forces will undoubtedly self-mandate continued awardee investment and upgrades in the network, including implementation of [3rd Generation Partnership Project] 3GPP standards and other standards as they develop and advance throughout the life of the network.”

The FCC Wireless Bureau and Office of Engineering and Technology said they will allow “first wave” proposals from prospective spectrum access system administrators and environmental sensing capability operators in the 3.5 GHz band until May 16. The application window opened Jan. 15. “It is in the public interest to grant an extension to allow parties to fully address the issues raised in the 3.5 GHz Order and SAS/ESC Public Notice,” a public notice said. “Based on our understanding of the status of work in the ongoing multi-stakeholder process, we believe that additional time would allow prospective SAS Administrators and ESC operators to more thoroughly address the complex issues raised in this proceeding.”

Sprint CEO Marcelo Claure apologized for a controversial advertisement calling T-Mobile “ghetto” last week. In the video ad, released last week, Claure asks a focus group of wireless customers what comes to mind when he says the name T-Mobile, and a customer replies, “Oh my God, the first word that came to my head is ‘ghetto.’” The use of that description in the ad triggered immediate backlash. Claure took to Twitter to apologize. “My job is to listen to consumers,” he tweeted Tuesday. “Our point was to share customer views. Bad judgment on our part. Apologies. Taking the video down.” T-Mobile CEO John Legere tweeted, “I don’t think I need to respond.” Wednesday, Claure apologized again, tweeting, “As a proud Hispanic immigrant, I should have been more sensitive and known not to publish the customers’ comment.”

The Federal Aviation Administration will host a two-day symposium on drones in Daytona Beach, beginning Tuesday, featuring keynotes by FAA Administrator Michael Huerta and Deputy Administrator Mike Whitaker. The FAA said it's seeking input from the drone industry and others about integration of unmanned aerial vehicles into national airspace. Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University will co-host the event.

The FCC Enforcement Bureau found in favor of AT&T in a data roaming dispute with Worldcall Interconnect (WCX), said an interim order released Thursday. “AT&T is not obligated to offer data roaming to WCX in all of the areas that WCX has requested and that WCX has not demonstrated that AT&T’s proposed rates are commercially unreasonable,” the bureau said. “We direct the parties to resume good faith negotiations of a roaming agreement that is consistent with the guidance provided herein, and to submit to the Enforcement Bureau staff assigned to this matter a report on the progress of their negotiations within 60 days of the release of this Order.” In an April 2011 order, a divided FCC required carriers to offer data roaming at commercially reasonable terms and conditions (see 1104080077).

T-Mobile representatives explained the carrier’s proposal for dividing the U.S. into eight regions for broadcaster repacking after the TV incentive auction (see 1603040052), in a meeting with officials from the FCC Incentive Auction Task Force. “T-Mobile’s proposed broadcast relocation schedule would steadily open access to low-band spectrum for both population and land area over a three-year period in an objective and balanced manner,” the carrier said in a filing posted Friday in docket 12-268. T-Mobile’s representatives described the company’s experience in frequency-relocation projects, including the AWS-3 relocation process, the filing said. “In the broadcasting context, T-Mobile explained how it has already assisted multiple full-power television stations since August 2014 in relocating from Channel 51 to lower-frequency spectrum. On average, these stations needed just 93 days to move from the start of the transition process when the FCC granted the station’s construction permit to the end of the process when the station filed a license to cover its new operations.” Repacking TV stations after the auction "will be the most complex transition the commission has ever overseen," an NAB spokesman said in response. "Rather than insisting on keeping the FCC’s current unsupported deadline in place, T-Mobile should support an efficient, rational and achievable repacking plan that protects the interests of both broadcasters and forward auction bidders.”

AMC Entertainment CEO Adam Aron said the movie theater chain will consider making some theaters texting- and mobile device-friendly, in remarks reported in Variety. Movie theaters are one of the few places where cellphone use isn't allowed. Aron said the move would help get millennials back into theaters. “When you tell a 22-year-old to turn off the phone, don’t ruin the movie, they hear please cut off your left arm above the elbow,” he said. “You can’t tell a 22-year-old to turn off their cellphone. That’s not how they live their life.”

Enterprise Wireless Alliance, National Public Safety Telecommunications Council and Utilities Telecom Council representatives met with FCC Public Safety Bureau Chief David Simpson, and others from the bureau, to urge action on a 2013 NPSTC report on the future use of the 4.9 GHz band. In June 2012, the FCC approved revised rules designed to boost utilization of the band (see 1206140066). The band was allocated for public safety use more than a dozen years ago. “NPSTC, EWA and UTC requested that the Commission move forward and take action consistent with the recommendations in the Final Report that was filed by NPSTC on the record,” said the filing in docket 07-100.

The FCC should address issues that arose during the first phase of the USF mobility fund before launching phase II, the Rural Wireless Association said in a letter to the commission. “There is a continued need to support mobile communications services in rural areas,” RWA said. “Mobile voice and broadband services are critical to public safety communications and economic development, and can help address problems such as the ‘digital divide’ and ‘homework gap’ that are present in rural America. For these reasons, it is critical that the Commission craft and implement a dedicated mobility support mechanism that will provide specific, predictable, and sufficient support to both advance and sustain the availability of mobile services in high-cost areas.” The FCC should start by looking at Mobility Fund Phase I and “carefully consider what did and did not work,” RWA said. The record shows that only $67 million in Mobility Fund Phase I (MFI) funding has been disbursed, and more than $70 million was returned to the FCC, the group said. “RWA recommends that the Commission staff solicit feedback on MFI before diving headfirst into a Phase II mechanism that risks replicating unpredictable processes,” the letter said. RWA also said FCC data on broadband deployment needs to be improved. The group called on the FCC to address problems caused by the incompatibility of CDMA and GSM networks, in the filing posted in docket 10-208.