T-Mobile representatives cautioned about an FCC proposal to put the brakes on joint bidding arrangements in the TV incentive auction (see 1506250057). FCC Wireless Bureau staff “explained their recommendations … to limit joint bidding arrangements among nationwide carriers as well as among nationwide and non-nationwide carriers in the upcoming 600 MHz auction,” said a filing posted Monday in docket 14-170. “T-Mobile cautioned against adoption of overly broad and ambiguous joint bidding restrictions that could have unintended negative consequences for a robust auction by limiting the ability of smaller bidders to raise capital against well-heeled dominant carriers.”

Sprint’s decision last week to remove the 600 kbps limitation on streaming video, in response to customer complaints (see 1507010011), shows the market works, said Gus Hurwitz of the American Enterprise Institute’s Center for Internet, Communications and Technology Policy, in a blog post. But Hurwitz questioned whether Sprint’s proposal was really better for consumers than AT&T's and Verizon’s attempts to control use of their networks. “On its face, Sprint’s policy seems fairer,” he wrote. “It applies to everyone, and it’s a simple, bright-line rule. Verizon and AT&T’s plans, on the other hand, are unpredictable and target only specific users under specific conditions. From another perspective, however, Sprint’s rule merely harms everyone equally. AT&T and Verizon’s rules are permissive: they allow users access to as much bandwidth as is available, so long as it doesn’t harm other users by slowing down the network for others.” But the FCC has clamped down on both AT&T and Verizon for their policies, including a proposed $100 million fine against AT&T, Hurwitz said.

Groups representing rural wireless carriers are pressing the FCC to increase the rural carrier bidding credit from a proposed 15 percent to 25 percent, as the agency takes up revised designated entity (DE) rules before the TV incentive auction. Representatives of Blooston Mordkofsky, the Rural Wireless Association, NTCA and Bennet & Bennet discussed the topic with Louis Peraertz, aide to Commissioner Mignon Clyburn, said a filing in docket 14-170. “Additional bidding credit support is needed in order to level the playing field for rural carriers and to give them a fighting chance when bidding for highly sought-after low-band spectrum,” the filing said. The rural advocates noted that rural carriers had little success in the AWS-3 auction. “CTTC -- a bidder that was ineligible for a small business bidding credit in Auction 97 and would also be ineligible in the Incentive Auction under the proposed thresholds -- was outbid by a Special Purpose DE substantially owned by DISH Network, Inc. that had access to a 25 percent bid credit,” the filing said.

Mobile Relay Associates faces a proposed $25,000 penalty for violation of FCC rules in its operation of private land mobile radio (PLMR) station WPPF234 in Malibu, California. MRA failed to “monitor and take other precautions to avoid causing harmful interference to another licensed station operating on a shared frequency in the Los Angeles area,” said a notice released by the FCC Enforcement Bureau Tuesday. The FCC warned MRA its operations violated the commission’s sharing and monitoring requirements for PLMR stations, “however, MRA failed to modify its operations of the station to remedy the interference it was causing,” the bureau said. MRA released a statement saying it respects the Enforcement Bureau but disagrees strongly with the notice of apparent liability for forfeiture (NALF). “MRA intends to file a statement in opposition thereto,” the company said. “MRA has not and does not intentionally cause harmful interference to co-channel licensees, and did not intentionally cause harmful interference here.” The proposed fine “represents disparate and haphazard enforcement of the rules,” MRA said, citing a case where a $17,000 fine was proposed against another company for causing harmful interference to the Coast Guard. “MRA’s heavy use of the shared channels in this matter was a direct result of unlicensed operations by San Gabriel Transit on another … exclusive channel licensed to MRA, which knocked MRA’s customers off the exclusive channel and onto the shared channels,” the company said. “Although MRA had complained to the FCC staff, and although unlicensed operations interfering with exclusive licensees is a worse offense than what MRA is accused of, the FCC staff has not issued any NALF against San Gabriel Transit.”

Cablevision representatives weighed in on touchy questions over restrictions on LTE-unlicensed and licensed assisted access (LAA) in a meeting with aides to FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler. In comments filed on the issue there was “widespread recognition of the danger of LTE-U and LAA [devices] to existing consumer devices and the ineffectiveness of proposed sharing mechanisms,” Cablevision said (see 1506290060). The FCC should test assertions by Qualcomm and Cisco that LTE-U can coexist with Wi-Fi “to gather the technical information on the record necessary for proper consideration and testing of these approaches,” Cablevision said.

The FCC should reject any arguments that would force wireless industry companies to pay a higher percentage of the regulatory fees needed to keep the agency open, CTIA said in reply comments filed Monday in docket 15-121. CTIA generally supports the FCC’s proposed fee structure for FY 2015, the group said. The FCC should recognize that the wireless industry already pays more than its fair share, CTIA said. It said it continues to support the commission’s efforts to ensure that regulatory fees appropriately reflect the work conducted by agency staff and asks the commission to ensure that any changes to the regulatory fee framework are "measured, rational, and do not unreasonably affect a particular industry."

The National Safety Council launched a tool that provides instant feedback on an employer's cellphone policy, said a news release from the NSC. Many employers are implementing cellphone use policies to keep their workers safe on the roadways, but many "still allow hands-free use and exempt certain classes of employees, leaving gaps in safety that also increase an employer's liability risk in the event of a crash," the NSC said. Because motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of workplace death, and distracted driving is a common cause of crashes, the NSC has released the Cell Phone Policy Assessment Tool to reveal gaps and their associated costs to help improve policies, the release said. By completing a simple survey, a report is generated to assess how an employer's policy matches up with best practices to keep workers safe, it said.

CTIA and member companies asked the FCC to “engage” with potential bidders in the TV incentive auction in an “iterative, collaborative” process aimed at helping them understand the data the FCC will provide during the auction. The industry representatives met with FCC officials Wednesday to discuss their concerns, said an ex parte filing Monday in docket 12-268. The FCC “should adopt frameworks that speed deployment and promote bidder confidence,” CTIA said. “For example, 600 MHz licensees should be permitted to conduct pre-deployment testing of licensed spectrum without any encumbrances from secondary users of the spectrum as soon as possible and should not be required to provide ongoing notifications to secondary operations once a licensee has initiated transmissions.” CTIA also asked the FCC to clarify the scope of a requirement on what would trigger additional inter-service interference analyses and “fully disclose any potential impairment associated with this process,” the filing said. “For example, 600 MHz licensees should not be required to conduct extensive analyses of interference effects if proposed mobile network modifications would not increase the interference potential to a broadcast station.”

Verizon asked for extra time to file an objection to a supplemental discovery request from NTCH in a roaming dispute between the two carriers (see 1505080011). The objection is due Monday and Verizon asked that be extended until Friday. “NTCH consents to this request,” said a Verizon filing Thursday in docket 14-212. “The additional time is needed because the NTCH discovery request is extensive and will require considerable time and effort to consider and prepare any objections.” NTCH does business as Cleartalk. The Enforcement Bureau granted the request.

The methodology the FCC proposed for the TV incentive auction, which includes incorporating bidding procedures into the assignment phase of the auction, could mean lower revenue in the auction, U.S. Cellular representatives said in a meeting with Erin McGrath, aide to Commissioner Mike O’Rielly. “Incorporating bidding procedures into the assignment phase is unnecessary and overly complex, and likely would lead to lower bids during the crucially important clock phase of the forward auction,” the carrier said. “Assignment phase bidding could delay satisfaction of the final stage rule and cause the incentive auction to move to another stage with a lower spectrum clearing target.” The filing was posted Thursday in docket 12-268.