The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Thursday scheduled oral argument for Nov. 4 to hear Maurine and Matthew Molak's challenge (docket 23-60641) to last year’s declaratory FCC ruling clarifying that the use of Wi-Fi on school buses is an educational purpose eligible for E-rate funding (see 2409190030). The court, meanwhile, dismissed on procedural grounds a second Molak case (docket 24-60446), asking the 5th Circuit to reject a July order allowing schools and libraries to use E-rate support for off-premises Wi-Fi hot spots and wireless internet services (see 2409230024). The court dismissed the case, saying only that it lacked jurisdiction, as well as a motion by the couple to stay further proceedings, which was “denied as moot.” The FCC argued that the Molaks lacked standing to bring the case (see 2409190030) because they didn’t participate in the proceeding and hadn’t demonstrated “an actual or imminent injury-in-fact.” The FCC also argued that the case wasn’t ripe because the agency was still addressing reconsideration petitions, including one filed by the Molaks, whose 16-year-old son David died by suicide after he was cyberbullied. Argument in the school bus case will start at 1 p.m. at the 5th Circuit’s En Banc Courtroom in New Orleans.

Carriers are starting to go beyond the early stages of 5G, with at least 60 operators across 34 countries moving to 5G stand-alone networks, Ruth Brown, Heavy Reading principal analyst-mobile networks and 5G, said during a LightReading webinar Thursday. Another 143 stand-alone networks are in progress, she added. The 3rd Generation Partnership Project has frozen Release 17, the first for 5G-advanced, Brown noted. Huawei, working with provider du, recently deployed the first indoor 5G-advanced network in the United Arab Emirates and T-Mobile made clear it plans to be the first U.S. carrier to adopt the new generation of wireless, she said. But not everyone is on board. Some question whether 5G has been “a little bit too ambitious” and whether 3GPP was moving too quickly to issue updated releases, Brown said. “There’s still quite a bit of concern" whether "6G is required.” Telefonica Germany expects it will spend the next few years working on 5G-advanced, while also getting ready for 6G, said Tilo Heckmann, senior technology strategy manager. The carrier expects the first commercial 6G deployments in 2030, in line with industry projections, he said. 6G promises "ubiquitous connectivity to everything and everyone” and will facilitate the integration of different networks and sensing. As a carrier, “we have to handle multiple access technologies” and “become a network of networks,” Heckmann said. Carriers also must manage expectations, he said: “Our resources are limited” as is the spectrum that will be available for 6G. The big question for carriers worldwide, said Tingfang Ji, Qualcomm vice president-engineering, is how to handle the massive increase in data expected in coming years. It’s not the “big, bad cellular industry” that needs spectrum for 6G, it’s the entire country. The power levels that are allowed are as important as the amounts, he said. “Do I need to deploy 10 million base stations to actually deliver the coverage the economy actually needs, the ubiquitous coverage?” If the power levels are similar to what’s allowed in 5G, engineers “will have a solution and give you the capacity that you need,” he said. “We need to be really careful when people talk about coexistence and pretend” a band is dedicated to 6G, “but it’s not useful.”

T-Mobile emergency teams were activated “in anticipation of the severe winds up to 125 mph, 8-12 inches of rain and potentially fatal storm surge Hurricane Helene may bring across Florida, Alabama and Georgia,” the carrier said Thursday. It sent emergency operations centers, “large RVs with network management and monitoring equipment,” satellite cells and other satellite equipment, portable generators and other gear to the area, the company said. It has also been topping off fuel at permanent generators along Helene’s expected path. “T-Mobile’s network modernization allows local teams to swiftly and digitally fine-tune network coverage, focusing on critical areas to boost signal concentration as needed.”

CTIA representatives spoke with an aide to FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez about the group’s 2019 petition seeking clarity of pole attachment rules under Section 224 of the Communications Act. “The requested clarification will serve the Commission’s goal of speeding broadband deployment,” said a Wednesday filing in docket 17-84: “The record on the Petition is thorough, and many commenters supported CTIA’s request.” CTIA also reported on meetings with aides to Commissioners Geoffrey Starks and Nathan Simington. The group previously spoke with aides to FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel and Commissioner Brendan Carr (see 2409180013).

SpaceX representatives met with aides to FCC Commissioners Geoffrey Starks and Brendan Carr on concerns about interference from high-power terrestrial operations in the lower or upper 12 GHz band. “Although SpaceX had hoped to find a way to have its next generation broadband service coexist with such a high-power terrestrial service, its prior filings and its study demonstrate that it cannot,” Space X said in a filing posted Thursday in docket 22-352 on the Carr meeting. The company raised the same concerns with Wireless Bureau and Office of Engineering and Technology staff (see 2409190022). EchoStar disputes those arguments (see 2409050040).

NCTA reiterated in reply comments this week the group’s advocacy of giving wireless providers six months to unlock handsets after they’re activated, not the FCC’s proposed 60 days (see 2409110019). While a handset unlocking mandate will be good for competition, the FCC should keep in mind the risk of fraud, NCTA said. “It typically takes a mobile wireless provider longer than 60 days to determine accurately whether a handset is subject to fraud or trafficking,” the group said: Comcast has described “why it can take five months or longer to confirm that patterns of missed bill payments and extensive periods of non-usage, the primary indicia of handset fraud, are attributable to trafficking.” Comments were posted in docket 24-186. In another filing of note, the American Financial Services Association (AFSA) agreed with comments that the FCC lacks legal authority to impose a mandate (see 2409240038). “An FCC mandate to unlock handsets before the installment plans are fully paid off would impinge on state law terms of service and financing agreements providers have with customers,” AFSA said. A mandate would also interfere with agreements between carriers and financial institutions “that offset some of the … financial risks associated with financing handsets for customers,” the group said: “Those agreements necessarily require wireless providers to lock handsets to the wireless provider’s service until the installment plan is paid off.” The Cloud Communications Alliance supported a 60-day requirement but said immediate unlocking would be even better. “As the record reflects, requiring unlocking has not impeded the offering of discount pricing plans for mobile devices either in the United States or in other countries,” the alliance said. “The unlocking requirements applied to Verizon have not prevented the company from offering discounts and, as it states in its comments, an industry-wide unlocking standard will not eliminate discount pricing.”

The FCC approved a spectrum swap between T-Mobile and Horry Telephone Co-op (HTC), said an order by the Wireless Bureau and Office of Economics and Analytics in Wednesday’s Daily Digest. T-Mobile and HTC agreed to exchange 20 MHz of HTC’s 600 MHz spectrum for up to 25 MHz of T-Mobile’s cellular spectrum in four counties in South Carolina. T-Mobile also acquired 10 MHz of HTC’s 600 MHz spectrum in two counties in North Carolina. Post-transaction, T-Mobile will hold 293-338 MHz, including 74 MHz of below-one-GHz spectrum, and HTC 92-137 MHZ, including 12-37 MHz below 1 GHz spectrum, in the South Carolina markets, the order said. T-Mobile would hold 390 MHz, including 76 MHz below 1 GHz, in the North Carolina counties. The FCC noted that only EchoStar objected, citing spectrum aggregation concerns. “Based on our review of the record and our market-by-market analysis, we find that the likelihood of competitive harm is low in the markets that are the subject of these transactions, despite T-Mobile’s increase in total spectrum holdings and low-band spectrum holdings,” the FCC said: “We disagree with EchoStar that the proposed assignments would disserve the public interest.”

GCI representatives reported on meetings with aides to FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel and staff from the Wireless Bureau and the Office of Economics and Analytics about 5G in Alaska. The state's “telecommunications environment is incredibly diverse and expansive, and lacks fulsome fiber connectivity,” said a filing posted Wednesday in docket 23-328. “Neither the Alaska Plan nor the proposed Alaska Connect Fund provided support that would have been adequate to deliver, in the case of the Alaska Plan, 4G LTE statewide at 10/1 [Mbps] or even 5/1 Mbps, or in the case of the Alaska Connect Fund, 5G at 35/3 Mbps or even 7/1 Mbps,” GCI said.

Several law enforcement groups distanced themselves from Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) support for giving control of the 4.9 GHz band to the FirstNet Authority. “A labor group has endorsed a plan to transfer the 4.9 GHz spectrum band” to FirstNet, said a filing this week in docket 07-100. “In doing so, the organization has insinuated it speaks for the entire law enforcement community on this matter,” the filing said: “It does not.” The Major Cities Chiefs Association, the National Sheriffs’ Association, and three regional and state sheriffs groups made the latest filing. It doesn’t mention FOP, but a supporter of the filing indicated it was aimed at that organization's comments. “We want to be completely clear -- as members and supporters of the Coalition for Emergency Response and Critical Infrastructure (CERCI), we are completely opposed to the transfer of the 4.9 GHz band” to FirstNet, the filing said.

Lycamobile asked to withdraw a May petition seeking reconsideration of the FCC’s approval of T-Mobile’s buy of Mint Mobile and other assets from Ka’ena (see 2404250047). T-Mobile and Lycamobile recently told the FCC they resolved litigation and put their differences behind them (see 2409120012). The filing was posted Wednesday in docket 23-171.