T-Mobile needs quick FCC action on data roaming to “rein in AT&T's pricing power,” Senior Vice President Andy Levin said in response to an AT&T blog post. "AT&T fails to acknowledge the predatory power it wields in the marketplace for data roaming,” Levin said. “AT&T is the only choice we have for roaming in 17 states. They use that monopoly power to force us into lopsided agreements that are on average 150 percent higher than we pay in markets that are competitive.”

Sennheiser wants microphone owners and customers to write to the FCC in support of the company’s petition seeking reconsideration of the FCC’s incentive auction report and order on wireless mics (see 1409160061), the company said Wednesday. "The FCC has an enormously difficult task to repurpose spectrum from traditional over-the-air TV broadcast to mobile broadband services -- this is a matter of content distribution," said Joe Ciaudelli, who works on spectrum issues for Sennheiser. "However, spectrum is crucial for content creation as well. It is essential that productions have access to reliable prime spectrum for their most critical wireless links.” The wireless mic company filed the petition in docket 12-268 at the FCC last month.

CTIA stressed the importance of spectrum and getting net neutrality rules right in a blog post Wednesday, after AT&T, Ericsson, Here, Qualcomm, Sprint and Verizon demonstrated in-car wireless technologies at the FCC. “The connected car is only possible if there is more spectrum,” said Scott Bergmann, vice president-regulatory policy. “Since spectrum is a finite resource, we must make sure it’s put to its highest and best use.” On net neutrality rules, flexibility is critical, Bergmann said. “When it comes to the FCC’s Open Internet proceeding, it is vitally important that policymakers recognize that ‘wireless is different.’”

The FCC Wireless Bureau approved a waiver for the Association of American Railroads allowing members to use signal boosters in positive train control (PTC) systems with an effective radiated power of 30 watts in areas where coverage is otherwise subpar due to distance or intervening terrain. “AAR explains that safe, efficient movement of trains relies on communications links between the fronts and rears of trains to monitor speed and brake pressure; operate rear end brakes; and, on trains with distributed power, coordinate the front and rear engines,” the bureau said Wednesday. “It states that the options currently permitted by the Commission’s Rules do not provide sufficient coverage to maintain this communications link on long trains in areas of challenging terrain, and that trackside signal boosters are needed to maintain the communications link.” But to minimize the risk of interference the bureau limited the waiver’s scope, excluding channels at the edge of the railroad frequencies (452/457.900 MHz and 452/457.96875 MHz).

The FCC Enforcement Bureau dismissed notices of apparent liability against 10 small carriers for allegedly failing to offer to consumers the number of hearing aid-compatible digital wireless handset models required under FCC rules during the 2010 reporting period. Based on “our review of the record,” the carriers were in compliance, the bureau said in a Monday order.

The FCC Wireless Bureau dismissed a petition to deny by Waimana, which opposed Verizon’s buy of seven personal communication service (PCS) licenses for Hawaii from Coral Wireless. Waimana is a Native Hawaiian corporation with an exclusive license to build and operate a broadband telecommunications network in Hawaii. “Waimana asserts in its Petition that Coral’s apparent failure to deploy wireless infrastructure or significant wireless services in the Home Lands despite having received $131.2 million of federal high-cost support possibly constitutes a violation of section 254(e) of the Communications Act,” the bureau said Monday in an order. But the bureau said Waimana lacked standing to file the petition. “The Petition’s explanation as to how Waimana might be directly injured by an assignment of spectrum to Verizon Wireless is speculative and vague,” the bureau said.

The FCC Public Safety Bureau gave Los Angeles County until the end of 2016 to complete the integration of 57 UHF T-band licenses into the Los Angeles Regional Interoperable Communications System. The county had asked for an extension until Nov. 30, 2017. “Under the unique circumstances of this case, we conclude that granting the County an extension … would be consistent with the County’s goals and the Commission’s waiver criteria,” the bureau said. “The County has acted reasonably in developing a revised spectrum plan that can support the extensive user base of Los Angeles area public safety agencies while still providing a migration path to 700 MHz narrowband for its users.”

The Telecommunications Industry Association expressed official concern about the FCC’s announcement Friday that the earliest possible date for the TV incentive auction is early 2016 (see 1410240048). “Deployment of this spectrum is essential to keeping pace with exploding consumer demand for mobile broadband, and this spectrum is a key part of the FCC's plan to address the looming spectrum crunch,” TIA said Monday. The group said it's “unfortunate” that progress has been slowed by legal challenges to the auction order.

MetroPCS began offering the Alcatel Onetouch Pop 7 tablet to customers Friday, which the T-Mobile subsidiary touted as its first tablet offering. It includes a 7-inch display and uses Android 4.2 Jelly Bean. The tablet costs $149 for customers who subscribe to one of MetroPCS’s new data plans. The new data plans begin at $10 a month of unlimited data and up to 1 GB of data transmission at 4G speeds. Customers get the first 3 GB of data transmitted at 4G on the $20 tier and the first 5 GB of data transmitted at 4G on the $30 tier, MetroPCS said (http://bit.ly/1FMrsWL).

While many believe 5G networks will start to be deployed around 2020, much work remains to be done, 4G Americas said in a paper released Friday (http://bit.ly/12snKCu). The 5G networks will have to take into account the Internet of Things, the group said: “To support possibly billions of IoT devices, a wireless network infrastructure is needed that’s not only highly scalable in terms of its capacity, but can also optimally handle differing service needs of various IoT verticals.” There's also some consensus that since LTE and LTE-Advanced are still being deployed, “there is considerable life left in 4G,” 4G Americas said.