The public benefits from Dish Network’s waiver request for flexible use of AWS-4 are uncertain, Sprint Nextel said. “Dish is incorrect that the grant of the waiver itself ‘offers substantial uncontested public interest benefits,'” Sprint said in reply comments in docket 13-225 (http://bit.ly/1irSnZD). While the interoperability agreement is intended to correct a recognized problem at 700 MHz, “the potential public interest benefits arising directly from the waiver would only be realized if Dish chooses to use the lower AWS-4 band for downlink operations,” it said. Dish’s objections to Sprint’s proposed Broadcast Auxiliary Service reimbursement condition are misplaced, Sprint said. Grant of the waiver gives Dish the flexibility “to operate outside the purview of previously adopted technical rules and to alter the outcome of a finalized rulemaking proceeding,” it said. “Such exceptional treatment should only be bestowed upon, and retained by, an entity that complies with the commission’s fundamental policies and rules.”

The Maryland Emergency Management Agency released a mobile app to help Maryland families better prepare for emergencies, said the agency and NIC Maryland in a news release Tuesday (http://bit.ly/1amUFKB). The “Maryland Prepares” app allows residents to access emergency information and alerts on the go in the event of an emergency and to create interactive, customized emergency kits with family communications plans and preparation guidelines, said the organizations. The app was developed in partnership with MEMA by NIC, a provider of eGovernment services, through a self-funded eGovernment services contract with the state’s Department of Information Technology.

Globalstar urged the FCC to begin a rulemaking on its request to use its spectrum to deploy a terrestrial low-power service (TLPS). A draft NPRM on Globalstar’s proposal is circulating at the commission, FCC officials said. The deployment of TLPS will quickly add 22 MHz to the nation’s wireless broadband spectrum inventory, “easing the congestion that is diminishing the quality of Wi-Fi service at high-traffic 802.11 hotspots and other locations,” Globalstar said in an ex parte filing in docket RM-11685 (http://bit.ly/1aF7bTW). The filing recounts a meeting with Globalstar attorneys and David Goldman, aide to Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel, it said.

Apple ended Q4 with a “very significant backlog” on iPhone 5s supplies after “robust” demand for the new smartphone, CEO Tim Cook said on an earnings call Monday. But supplies are “building each week” and Apple was “very confident of our ability to keep ramping” supplies, he said. The company rolled out the 5s and iPhone 5c, its other new smartphone, to 30 more countries Friday and will add another 16 countries this week, putting Apple on track for 100 countries by the end of 2013, he said. The company sold 33.8 million iPhones in Q4 ended Sept. 28, up from 26.9 million in Q4 the prior year, it said. The 26 percent sales increase was a new Q4 record for Apple, said Chief Financial Officer Peter Oppenheimer. IPhone sales were ahead of Apple’s expectations and stronger than Q4 the prior year in each geographic region, he said. Sales of iPhones “remain very robust” in the U.S., he said. Among North American customers polled by research company ChangeWave late last month who planned to buy a smartphone within 90 days, 63 percent indicated they planned to buy an iPhone, he said. ChangeWave measured a 96 percent customer satisfaction rate among iPhone users, while research company Kantar measured a 92 percent customer loyalty rate, he said. Users of iPhones also spend an average of 53 percent more time each day using their device than Android phone users, he said, citing Experian data. Apple sold 150 million iPhones in all of the fiscal year that ended Sept. 28, said Cook. The 5s is “outselling” the 5c by about 2.5:1, Canaccord Genuity analyst Michael Walkley estimated Tuesday. He predicted robust sales of the higher-priced 5s will continue through the December holiday selling season as Apple ramps up supplies to meet the “strong global demand.” Apple will sell 51.5 million iPhones in Q1 that started Sept. 29 at an average selling price of $620, he predicted. IPad sales grew to 14.1 million in Q4 from 14 million in Q4 the prior year. That “exceeded” Apple’s expectations due to planned introductions of the new iPad, said Oppenheimer. Consumers typically hold off on purchases of new devices when they expect new models will soon be introduced. The iTunes Store generated record billings of $4.4 billion in Q4 due to continued strong growth in app sales, said Oppenheimer. The quarter’s iTunes billings translated into revenue of $2.4 billion, up 15 percent from Q4 the prior year, he said. Cumulative app downloads hit 60 billion and Apple app developers have now earned $13 billion from sales through the App Store, half of which they earned in the past year, he said. IOS 7 launched last month and there were “hundreds of millions of downloads in the first few days alone, making it the fastest software upgrade ever,” he said. The number of unique listeners who have tried iTunes Radio is 20 million and growing, he said. Q4 revenue inched up to $37.5 billion from $36 billion in Q4 the prior year. But profit slipped to $7.5 billion, or $8.26 a share, from $8.2 billion, or $8.67 a share. Apple expects to report Q1 revenue of $55 billion-$58 billion, it said. Apple shares closed 2.5 percent lower Tuesday at $516.68.

Dish Network partnered with Southwest Airlines to offer passengers an iPad 2 lending program. Passengers traveling between select cities can check out an iPad 2 at their departure airport “and view new live and on-demand TV programs on Wi-Fi-enabled Southwest flights,” Dish said in a press release (http://bit.ly/1ac2jS3). The iPads are available for free through Dish’s “Watch TV on the Fly” libraries located at Chicago-Midway International, Denver International and Oakland International airports, it said.

The Eutelsat 25B/Es'hail 1 satellite went into commercial service Tuesday. It’s jointly owned by Eutelsat and Es'hailSat, and was launched Aug. 29 (CD Aug 12 p16). It’s at 25.5 degrees east, Eutelsat said in a press release (http://bit.ly/17qqyl1). The satellite “brings increased capacity to 25.5 degrees east to serve broadcasters, businesses and public agencies operating in the Middle East, North Africa and Central Asia,” it said. “The new satellite operates in both Ku- and Ka-bands.”

The FCC is penalizing minority businesses by denying a waiver request from Adak Eagle Enterprises, the Minority Media and Telecommunications Council told acting Chairwoman Mignon Clyburn in a letter Monday. The organization is throwing its weight behind a petition by AEE and its subsidiary Windy City Cellular seeking reconsideration of a rule limiting line support to $250 per month. The companies are “two of few minority-owned telecommunications businesses in the U.S.,” MMTC said. “The Commission should consider ways to support -- rather than penalize minority or women-owned businesses” that enter “a competitive communications ecosystem,” it said. The Wireline and Wireless Bureaus based their denial on “unreasonable” operating expenses, disproportionate executive compensation, and the presence of an alternative carrier on Adak Island. The bureau’s reasoning was flawed, MMTC said: “The bureaus support GCI providing Adak Island with fewer services to a smaller geographic area, and to fewer customers, at more cost to the USF. At the same time, a small, minority-owned business is providing more and better services, including what appears to be the only 911 service, serving a larger geographic area and more customers, all while historically taking less support.” By reversing its denial, the commission will “assist in preserving women- and minority-owned rural communications providers, serving community interests, and reducing destructive and inhibitive regulatory barriers in the communications industry,” MMTC said.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., Monday evening filed for cloture to end debate on confirmation of the White House’s nominee Tom Wheeler to chair the FCC, a spokesman from Reid’s office confirmed Monday. The office was unable to provide any other immediate details. A hold from Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, prevented a vote on Wheeler’s confirmation earlier this month, and the two are expected to meet Tuesday. Cloture is the process by which the Senate can limit time for debate of certain items and force action. “If cloture is invoked on any of these nominations (60-vote threshold), there would be up to 8 hours for debate on each of the nominations,” according to the Senate leadership office in announcing the cloture filing. “Unless an agreement can be reached, the first cloture vote would occur one hour after the Senate convenes on Wednesday, October 30.” Pressure continued to build for an anticipated meeting Tuesday between Wheeler and Cruz. Multiple sources continued to point to Tuesday as a firm date for the meeting, but none had details on location and time. Cruz has imposed a hold on Wheeler’s nomination due to Cruz’s dissatisfaction with Wheeler’s answers regarding FCC authority to compel campaign finance disclosures. Reid pressed the issue on the Senate floor Monday. “We must consider a number of vital presidential nominations, including several that have been stalled for more than a year by members of the Republican caucus,” Reid said in prepared remarks. “It is no secret that Republicans have systematically slow-walked or blocked scores of President Obama’s judicial and executive branch nominees.” He blasted what he called Republican obstructionism. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., meanwhile, threatened to “block every appointment in the U.S. Senate,” which would include Wheeler, until survivors of the 2012 Benghazi attack are made available to Congress, he said Monday in a message on Twitter (http://bit.ly/1f0bjP8). Free Press Senior Director of Strategy Tim Karr criticized Cruz’s hold. “Letting the FCC do its job means advancing the public interest at a time when politicians are running amok in Washington,” said Karr in a widely circulated Friday column at the Moyers and Co. website affiliated with TV journalist Bill Moyers (http://bit.ly/17U2hOI). “And that means shedding light on the money that helped elect many of these individuals, no matter which party they're from. Sen. Cruz shouldn’t deny us our right to know. His reckless ambitions are hurting our democracy. Cruz needs to lift his hold and stop blocking the FCC’s vital work on political disclosure.” Communications Workers of America also blasted the hold and cited CWA’s support for the Disclose Act. “Disclosing who sponsors and pays for political ads is all about bringing transparency to our political system,” said CWA President Larry Cohen in a statement (http://bit.ly/1dEHJ47). “By supporting the ability of big money donors to spread their message in secrecy, Ted Cruz is clearly on the wrong side of democracy.” Cruz’s office has announced it’s arranging a meeting but would not confirm Monday that a meeting is happening Tuesday. Observers last week emphasized to us that this meeting may be vital for any swift resolution of the hold -- which might last for months otherwise (CD Oct 25 p1).

Acting FCC Chairwoman Mignon Clyburn has “met Tom Wheeler face-to-face one time since he was nominated” as chairman, she told reporters Monday after the commission meeting. The two have also been in touch by email, and have a “nice friendship relationship that is very friendly, I'll just put it that way,” she said. Clyburn hasn’t had any meetings with him specifically to discuss the transition to his chairmanship, she said. “I'm looking forward to meeting with him,” said Clyburn. “We've already established I think a solid friendship and when he gets confirmed, I know he will get along just grand,” and the agency will “continue to be well-managed.”

The FCC ordered a $12,600 forfeiture for Teleadoracion Christian Network for its Bayamon, Puerto Rico, station WDWL, for failing to file children’s TV reports on time, said the order (http://bit.ly/1aC7Ntt). The amount was reduced from $14,000 because of the network’s history of compliance, said the order. The commission also ordered a $6,400 fine for Centro Colegial Cristiano -- licensee of FM station WVID in Anasco, Puerto Rico -- for “willful and repeated” violations of the commission’s requirement that stations maintain fully operational EAS equipment (http://bit.ly/17sPS7R). The commission also fined Hoosier Public Radio Corp. $8,000 for its station WRFM-FM, in Wilkinson, Ind. (http://bit.ly/1diUChs). WRFM was operating from an antenna three miles from its authorized location, and causing interference with FAA signals, the order said.