Sprint warned the FCC of possible “interconnection and/or interoperability” issues between the two major text control center providers, as it and other carriers work on making it possible for subscribers to send emergency text messages. “In Sprint’s view, this could potentially represent an obstacle to wide-scale deployment and availability of text-to-911 service at public safety answering points nationwide and across the wireless industry,” Sprint said in a filing reporting on calls carrier representatives held with Public Safety Bureau officials (http://bit.ly/1hYGquZ). Sprint said it has to date received “approximately 20 requests to implement text-to-911 service” from various PSAPs.

Smaller 5 x 5 MHz licenses are far preferable to bigger licenses in the AWS-3 auction, said Michael Calabrese of the New America Foundation’s Open Technology Institute, in a meeting with various FCC offices, according to an ex parte filing (http://bit.ly/QchLvN). Most public interest groups “strongly oppose a band plan with block sizes premised on more than one 10 x 10 MHz license, particularly if both 10 x 10 MHz licenses use Economic Areas (EAs) as the geographic unit,” Calabrese said. “This would be a recipe for acquisition of 40 MHz by the two dominant national carriers, leaving one 5 x 5 license for all the rest of the industry to fight over.” Calabrese also supported Dish Network arguments that the FCC should extend the interoperability requirement in the AWS-3 band to cover the AWS-4 band at 2180-2200 MHz. “I asserted that it would damage the public interest if the AWS-4 band became ’stranded’ with respect to interoperability and access to the LTE devices otherwise available to carriers operating on 2110-2180 MHz post-auction,” said Calabrese.

US Cellular filed a petition Tuesday asking the FCC to issue a declaratory ruling that unclaimed Mobility Fund Phase I support should go to next-in-line bidders. The FCC should also say the Wireless Bureau can take this step “on an expedited basis” acting on delegated authority, said the carrier. “More than a year after completion of Auction 901, more than $68 million of the $300 million originally made available for funding mobile broadband investments in unserved areas remains unclaimed due to winning bidders defaulting on their bids,” US Cellular said. “These defaulted amounts can and should be awarded to the next-in-line bidders who remain ready, willing, and able, to meet the goals of the program and expand the reach of mobile broadband into areas that remain un-served and which were eligible for funding under the rules of Auction 901.” The auction was Sept. 27, 2012. Thirty-three winning bidders were awarded just under $300 million total (http://fcc.us/1hWi19B).

Verizon proposed an alternative licensing model for the incentive TV auction, as an alternative to Partial Economic Areas (PEAs), as proposed by groups representing smaller carriers (CD March 13 p6). “Any new license areas should reflect updated geographic and population data, rather than the Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs) included in the current Cellular Market Area (CMA) boundaries used by the Commission,” Verizon said (http://bit.ly/1fb6DEK). Verizon said there are problems with the PEA proposal. “First, the PEAs do not reflect current MSAs; more than 80 MSAs have been split into two or more PEAs,” Verizon said. “Second, there are no discernable objective criteria underlying the construction of some of the PEAs. Third, some of the PEAs subdivide current MSAs in unusual ways and are unnecessarily small.” Verizon said it continues to support selling the spectrum in Economic Area-sized licenses “rather than smaller license sizes because it is more efficient, will allow the spectrum to be put to use more quickly to benefit customers, and generally will produce more revenues at auction to cover the cost of clearing spectrum and fund the public safety network,” meaning FirstNet.

CTIA, NTCA and the Rural Wireless Association are pressing the FCC to move forward on a long-standing proposal to convert the licensing model for the cellular band from a site-based to a geographic-based model. “We have had constructive discussions with FCC staff in developing our proposal and now urge the Commission to promptly issue an Order adopting and codifying the Joint Proposal,” the groups said in an ex parte filing (http://bit.ly/1hUCUC5). “The Joint Proposal will simplify Cellular licensing while balancing incumbent and new entrant rights.” The three groups reported on a meeting with Wireless Bureau staff to discuss the plan. AT&T, US Cellular and Verizon also were represented at the meeting. “The public interest benefits of the Joint Proposal are clear, and the Commission should promptly issue an Order rejecting the overlay auction approach and adopting cellular licensing rules consistent with the Joint Proposal,” the groups said. They noted that CTIA submitted the “core elements” of the proposal submitted to the FCC in September 2010 and the commission sought specific comment on the proposal in a 2012 NPRM (http://bit.ly/1fay8OG).

Two orders on service rules for the AWS-3 auction and increased unlicensed use of 5 GHz spectrum are both important steps for the wireless industry, CTIA said in a letter to the commission. Both are teed up for a vote at Monday’s FCC meeting. “Bringing an additional 65 megahertz of licensed mobile spectrum to market will help meet the surging demand for mobile broadband services,” CTIA said (http://bit.ly/1farrfB). “Although more work remains to be done, the AWS-3 Report and Order is an important step that will allow the wireless industry to continue to invest, deploy, innovate, and create value to the benefit of consumers and our economy.” It’s also important to make more unlicensed spectrum available in the Unlicensed-National Information Infrastructure-1 (U-NII-1) band, CTIA said. “It is in the national interest to make additional spectrum available for both licensed and unlicensed services, and the 5 GHz band is particularly well suited to unlicensed use. The 5 GHz First Report and Order will foster innovation, drive investment, and increase wireless Internet connectivity for the benefit of all Americans.” Both items are scheduled for a vote based on a notice released by the FCC (http://fcc.us/1gSQ93y).

"TV white space deployments are ramping up as equipment certified with geolocation databases is produced, shipped and installed,” said representatives of the Wireless Internet Service Providers Association in a meeting with staff from the FCC Office of Engineering and Technology. “The WISPA representatives further explained the propagation benefits and cost-effectiveness of unlicensed spectrum below 1 GHz as other unlicensed bands become more congested and consumer use of broadband expands,” the group said in an ex parte filing at the commission (http://bit.ly/1kQlqJE).

Four groups that represent small carriers offered a slightly revised proposal for dividing the U.S. into 416 partial economic areas as the basis for spectrum licenses in the TV incentive auction. Among the tweaks proposed, Boone County, Ill., would move from PEA 79 to PEA 339 and Madison County, Ill., from PEA 405 to PEA 403 (http://bit.ly/1kQmVYs). The Competitive Carriers Association, NTCA, Rural Wireless Association and rural carriers represented by the Blooston law firm signed off on the revised map.

The Competitive Carriers Association asked the Supreme Court to hear T-Mobile’s appeal of a zoning decision last year by the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta. CCA filed an amicus brief in T-Mobile South, LLC v. City of Roswell, Georgia. The 11th Circuit instructed a lower court to hear a zoning case brought by Roswell, Ga., after the court granted T-Mobile summary judgment on the grounds that the city’s denial of a cell tower permit sought by the carrier violated the Telecommunications Act (CD Oct 2 p 12). T-Mobile sought cert in February. “At its core, the Telecommunications Act of 1996 encourages competition and the deployment of advanced services to all Americans on a timely basis. But this promise has gone unfulfilled to many rural Americans,” CCA said (http://bit.ly/PYpttn). “While over 90 percent of non-rural Americans are covered by four or more mobile broadband service providers, less than 40 percent of rural Americans have access to the same number of options,” the group said. “In states where the appellate court has adopted the ‘minority’ rule (such as in the state subject to this appeal), wireless service providers and reviewing courts are forced to trudge through whatever administrative record may or may not be available in search of an answer for why a siting application was denied. This adds needless time and expense to the process, preventing carriers from building out in a timely manner."

Oceus Networks said it believes the broadcast auxiliary spectrum (BAS) band, the 1780-1850 MHz band and the 3.5 GHz band, which Verizon Communications has proposed for federal use, are not “suitable for LTE mission-oriented uses” (http://bit.ly/1gQE3wg). Verizon filed an ex parte with the FCC Tuesday proposing the three bands for federal use as part of the FCC’s ongoing proceeding on rules for the 1695-1710 MHz, 1755-1780 MHz and 2155-2180 MHz bands (http://bit.ly/1r7DRxg). The BAS band is not allocated for commercial use and “will not have an available ecosystem,” Oceus said Friday. The 1780-1850 MHz band is not available in the U.S. for LTE use and will be “heavily used” by Department of Defense systems after they reallocate from the 1755-1780 MHz band, Oceus said. The 3.5 GHz band “may develop the LTE commercial device and chipset ecosystem, but the range and power levels may not be suitable for all military tactical uses,” Oceus said. Verizon also said in its filing Tuesday that access to military bases and the process to gain approval to construct towers on bases makes siting more difficult. Oceus said Friday that even though the Federal Property Working Group is working to improve access to military bases and related processes, “there is no guarantee that commercial carriers will provide service in these areas.” Spectrum in sparsely populated and geographically remote locations will remain “fallow” and would support DOD mission-oriented needs that carrier networks would be unlikely to support if service were provided on bases.