VTel asked the FCC to deny motions by SNR Wireless and Northstar Wireless to “strike” or “dismiss” what SNR and Northstar claim are new “arguments” in the reply VTel filed in in support of its petition to deny their long-form applications for the licenses on which they were the winning bidders in the AWS-3 auction. The two were the designated entities that worked with Dish Network in the AWS-3 auction (see 1505190046). They have defended their work with Dish as falling within the parameters of FCC rules (see 1505190046). “Apparently confused about the Commission’s rules, SNR’s and Northstar’s latest filings are nothing more than a transparent attempt to try to get the last word to which they are not entitled,” VTel said. “Every fact presented and every argument made in VTel’s reply responds directly to issues raised in the oppositions filed by SNR and Northstar, and neither SNR nor Northstar contends otherwise.” VTel, a family-owned phone company in Vermont, was also a bidder in the AWS-3 auction.

If the FCC makes major changes to the designated entity (DE) program, the TV incentive auction could be in no way as big a success as this year's AWS-3 auction, said representatives of DE Council Tree in a meeting with Wireless Bureau staff, including Chief Roger Sherman. The FCC on Monday posted an ex parte filing on the meeting in docket 14-70. If the FCC “were to impose improvident restrictions on the DE program that disable the type of large investor DE alliances which drove Auction 97 to record levels, multiple studies Council Tree has submitted on the record project that revenues generated by the forward auction portion of the upcoming Broadcast Incentive Auction (BIA) would fall dramatically, imperiling the success of the BIA,” Council Tree said. “The fallout and negative repercussions from such a BIA failure would be immense.” Imposing restrictions on DEs could cut revenue from the auction in half, Council Tree warned. “Its likely impact will begin to be felt ahead of the BIA as broadcasters learn of and focus on the negative impacts of the DE-disabling proposals.” Partnerships with investors have always been part of the DE program, the DE said. These partnerships are critical to helping the program meet its statutory mandate of “widely disseminating licenses among all geographic markets, promoting competition, and avoiding license concentration,” Council Tree said.

Former chief operating officer of Wireless Zone, the largest independent third-party reseller of Verizon Wireless, James Dunham, 59, pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud Thursday in U.S. District Court in Boston after he was arrested and charged in February with selling confidential business information about the wireless industry to an analyst at a Boston-based financial services firm, said the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Massachusetts in a news release. It said Thursday that Dunham is to be sentenced Sept. 3. The office said that for more than two years, Dunham provided confidential information, including the status of certain product launches, the number of new subscribers to a specific wireless provider, and information for specific smartphones, in return for $2,000 per month. “Mr. Dunham abused his position and violated his duty to his employer, customers, and shareholders by stealing business secrets for personal gain,” said Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Boston Field Office Vincent Lisi. The maximum sentence Dunham could receive is up to 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of either $250,000, or twice the gross gain or loss, said the bureau.

LTE deployment continues to grow rapidly, with nearly 635 million total connections worldwide as of Q1, 4G Americas said Friday. That's a 151 percent increase year-over-year, the group said. In North America, 44 percent of mobile connections are LTE, compared with 9 percent worldwide, 4G Americas said. “North America continues to prove its leadership in LTE with metrics such as population coverage, share of market and penetration,” said Chris Pearson, president of 4G Americas. “This foreshadows the future of mobile broadband in the Americas and the important influence that LTE carries as it helps lay the foundation for 5G in 2020 and beyond.” There are 68 commercial LTE networks deployed in the U.S. and Canada, with 180 million LTE connections as of March, a gain of 66 million new LTE subscribers in 12 months, the group said.

AT&T, which plans to start allowing Wi-Fi calling this year, said it views it as a complement to its network coverage, "not as a way to compensate for network coverage limitations." The carrier knows "Wi-Fi is a good technology if you are not going to be mobile," emailed a company spokesman Thursday. "Cellular is far more available, reliable and secure. What customers want most is to be connected with high-speeds everywhere they go." Executives at other carriers said much the same at a Telecommunications Industry Association conference last week, as those companies have either already introduced Wi-Fi calling on their networks or plan to do so soon (see 1506020044).

CTIA said a broad cross-section of industry stakeholders agreed to work together in a group to advise the FCC on wireless 911 location accuracy implementation. The advisory group and working groups will “advise and provide guidance on implementation of key elements of the FCC’s Order, including a test bed for evaluating location technologies, national emergency address database, Z-axis location information and standards necessary to support these elements,” CTIA said Friday. The FCC approved new location accuracy rules, based on an industry road map, at its January meeting (see 1501290066). “Improved wireless 911 will require the commitment of dozens of stakeholders, including the public safety, people with disabilities [communities], state and local governments and the mobile industry, and we are very encouraged by the broad cross-section of groups that have come together to help implement the FCC’s aggressive timetable,” said Scott Bergmann, vice president-regulatory affairs at CTIA.

The National Public Safety Telecommunications Council told the FCC it supports rules proposed by the Land Mobile Communications Council allowing new, full-power, interstitial 12.5 kHz “offset” channels in the 809-817/854-862 MHz band (see 1505270015). “The matrix developed by the LMCC incorporates protection mechanisms to and from all known technologies operating in the 800 MHz band,” the public safety group said. “NPSTC believes the LMCC recommendations will serve public safety and the overall land mobile community well to protect systems on existing channels and allow implementation of new interstitial channels that provide more spectrum opportunities.” NPTSC’s comments were posted in docket 15-32. The Enterprise Wireless Alliance asked for the rule change in 2009 and the FCC most recently sought comment in February.

A T-Mobile/Dish Network merger would hardly be a surprise, but coming to terms won’t be easy, Craig Moffett, analyst at MoffettNathanson, said Friday. “Both companies have shamelessly and repeatedly expressed their mutual admiration in recent months,” Moffett wrote investors. “But you’ll forgive us if we’re a bit skeptical. Getting from what sounds like a vaguely sensible combination of two pools of similar spectrum to a workable valuation framework for a mutually-agreeable deal is likely to be very, very hard.” Moffett said the merger wouldn't be about bundling satellite TV with a wireless offering or wirelessly delivering Sling TV. “Neither idea holds any water,” he said. “A combination between the two would be a grand spectrum transaction and nothing more.” Any such deal is seen getting U.S. approval (see 1506040051).

Dozens of hospitals have filed at the FCC in recent days raising concerns about the agency’s proposal to allow TV white spaces (TVWS) devices to operate in Channel 37 following the TV incentive auction. The frequency is currently used for licensed wireless medical telemetry. The FCC posted them in batches in docket 14-165. Typical of the filings, PMH Medical Center in rural Washington state said it uses wireless telemetry mostly to monitor cardiac patients, allowing a single nurse to keep track of 20 patients. If the hospitals system were affected by an outside source, such as a TVWS device, “it would have a drastic effect on the overall quality of care provided and may indeed cause life threatening lapses in an episode of care for extremely ill patients,” PMH said. Any lapse in its wireless monitoring system “could result in the death of the patient, especially with cardiac critical patients,” said St. Mary’s Regional Medical Center in Reno. Both letters were in the same batch of filings posted by the FCC.

More than 160 individuals have expressed an interest in joining the U.S. delegation to the ITU’s World Radiocommunication Conference later this year, the delegation said Thursday in a statement. Of those, 45 percent are government employees and 55 percent are private-sector experts, the delegation said. Final accreditation of the delegation won't happen until just before the start of the WRC on Nov. 2, the delegation said. “It is very encouraging to see so many veteran and new experts, from both government and industry, stepping up to advance our country’s interests in this pivotal conference,” said Decker Anstrom, WRC ambassador for the second time in a row.