T-Mobile and Sprint might have to wait until June or longer for California’s decision on their $26 billion deal, observers of the state review told us last week. Claiming due process violation by the combining carriers, the CPUC's Public Advocates Office Thursday urged the CPUC to grant more time to respond to carrier testimony that the advocates say was introduced too late in the process. New York earlier this month cleared the deal (see 1902070009).
The FCC identified the four band segments Friday to be allocated for unlicensed use in spectrum above 95 GHz in an order scheduled for a vote at the March 15 commissioners' meeting. The identity of the bands, which Chairman Ajit Pai discussed in a Thursday blog post (see 1902210048), had been the source of some confusion. The segments are 116-123, 174.8-182, 185-190 and 244-246 GHz, according to the draft order.
Majority House Communications Subcommittee Democrats are largely signaling initial disinterest in pursuing any of the three net neutrality bills House Commerce Committee Republicans floated earlier this month (see 1902070056). As Democratic leaders continue to decide what to include in their own legislation, lawmakers told us they hold a range of positions on whether a final bill must include the Communications Act Title II language that served as a legal basis for the FCC's rescinded 2015 rules. A full committee hearing earlier this month on net neutrality underscored the continuing divide between Democrats and Republicans over using Title II as an underpinning for future rules.
The FCC has shifted stances in its draft repacking reimbursement order and proposes using FY 2019 reimbursement dollars to pay back low-power TV, translator and FM stations as well as using the $200 million from FY 2018. The draft order was released Friday along with the tentative agenda. It includes items on spectrum horizons and other 5G changes, a proposal for new 911 wireless location accuracy requirements, a draft order setting intermediate carrier standards for rural call completion and rules on reauthorization of broadcast satellite stations.
Whether the breadth of this week's Samsung smartphone launches was enough to fend off Huawei’s aggressive drive to become the global smartphone leader is the big unknown coming out of the high-profile Samsung Unpacked event in San Francisco, wrote IHS analyst Wayne Lam in post-event commentary Wednesday. Lam referred to the “new design language” of the S10, S10+ and S10e, along with the Galaxy Fold and the S10 5G model, and their simplified One UI software.
ANNAPOLIS, Md. – A Maryland House panel faced division Thursday on rival 5G bills meant to speed wireless infrastructure deployment (see 1902070028). Witnesses for the wireless industry and Maryland business groups at an Economic Matters Committee hearing backed HB-654 by Chairman Dereck Davis (D), while local government officials supported HB-1020 by Del. Mary Ann Lisanti (D) and seven others on the 24-member committee. State lawmakers also weighed potential costs and benefits of a bill to strengthen Maryland pole-attachment authority.
FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel’s call for restrictions on e-cigarette ads isn’t likely to lead to direct FCC action, said e-cigarette industry officials and broadcast and First Amendment attorneys in interviews (see 1902140063). Rosenworcel isn’t necessarily aiming for an FCC rule against such ads, said broadcast attorneys and an aide in her office. “All I’ve done is called for the idea that the FCC, FTC, and [Food and Drug Administration] should come together, look at what laws are on their books, and identify if there are things we can do,” Rosenworcel said in a news conference last week. Commissioner Brendan Carr has said he would oppose such a move.
The FCC will take up an order at the March 15 commissioners’ meeting setting aside a big chunk of spectrum across four bands, above 95 GHz, for 5G, Chairman Ajit Pai said Thursday. With President Donald Trump also tweeting about 5G (see 1902210057), Pai blogged that 5G is the meeting’s key focus. The agenda also includes 900 MHz rules and media modernization and repacking reimbursement orders. Also on the agenda: spectrum partitioning, disaggregation and spectrum leasing rules, tougher requirements for locating wireless calls to 911 and intermediate carrier standards to improve rural call completion. Draft items are to be released Friday.
President Donald Trump sowed confusion Thursday on the administration’s stance on a ban on using equipment from Chinese suppliers Huawei and ZTE in U.S. networks. With a key industry meeting at the Mobile World Congress next week (see 1902060056), Trump posted two tweets stressing the importance of 5G and U.S. competitiveness.
Samsung faithful hoping for a peek at a rumored foldable smartphone weren’t disappointed Wednesday as the company gave an April 26 shipping date for the Galaxy Fold: a 4.6-inch screen when closed and a 7.3-inch tablet when open. Samsung filed trademark applications globally in the fall to register the promotional phrase “The Future Unfolds" (see 1810010009). Wednesday’s launch stage featured that tagline and had the look of a box with folding sides to drive home the theme.