UScellular remains focused on selling its wireless operations and about 30% of its spectrum to T-Mobile in a deal valued at about $4.4 billion, executives said during an earnings call Friday. The deal was unveiled in May (see 2405280047). UScellular reported results along with parent TDS. “We’ve launched the regulatory approval process, and we remain optimistic that this process will have a favorable outcome,” UScellular CEO Laurent Therivel said on a call with analysts: “We remain convinced that the transaction with T-Mobile is the best long-term option for our customers as they will have the long-term benefits of greater scale and a more competitive network.” Therivel noted UScellular plans on selling the remainder of its spectrum holdings. “That process is active and ongoing and given the nature of that process, we don’t expect to have updates until it is concluded,” he said. TDS reported total operating revenue of $1.238 billion in Q2, down from $1.267 billion a year earlier. TDS lost $14 million, compared with a $19 million loss the previous year. UScellular said it has 134,000 fixed wireless subscribers. It plans on retaining more than 4,300 towers.

Using “inaccurate broadband maps that are still being pressure tested” isn't a reasonable approach to a proposed 5G Fund, the Competitive Carriers Association said in a filing at the FCC posted Monday in docket 20-32. “Despite the Commission’s efforts in this area, the evidence available to the Commission refutes any notion that the current broadband maps are reliable or accurate,” CCA said. Any rules based on the maps would be “contrary to the Commission’s statutory obligations under the Communications Act and the Administrative Procedure Act, unmoored from the record, and in conflict with the Commission’s own policy goals,” the group warned.

AT&T CEO John Stankey met FCC Commissioners Brendan Carr and Nathan Simington concerning the 4.9 GHz band and FirstNet. He “highlighted the success of the public-private partnership between the FirstNet Authority and AT&T,” a filing Friday in docket 07-100 said. “Public safety users require a distinct level of network performance, reliability, and coverage ... AT&T is proud to have answered the call to help meet those needs.” A Public Safety Spectrum Alliance (PSSA) proposal that would assign the GHz band to FirstNet has been hotly contested at the agency (see 2407230045). Verizon CEO Hans Vestberg opposed FirstNet control of the spectrum and warned commissioners in July of a potential windfall for AT&T (see 2407120025). Stankey disputed that claim. In filings posted Monday, the Southeastern Association of Fire Chiefs supported FirstNet control of the band, while Flint, Michigan, made clear its opposition.

NTIA will hold a multistakeholder forum on Aug. 23 for nonfederal stakeholders to meet with federal agencies conducting studies of the lower 3 and 7/8 GHz bands as part of the national spectrum strategy. In that and future meetings, “NTIA will solicit targeted information from the public, including industry and academia, on spectrum use cases, coexistence scenarios, existing technology solutions, and technical inputs,” a notice for Tuesday’s Federal Register said. The meeting, at 10 a.m., is at the Herbert C. Hoover Federal Building Auditorium. The 3.1-3.45 GHz and 7.125-8.4 GHz bands are a top target for wireless carriers looking for more spectrum for 5G and 6G (see 2403120056).

Communications Workers of America supports a Public Safety Spectrum Alliance (PSSA) proposal that assigns the 4.9 GHz band to FirstNet, a hotly contested FCC issue (see 2407230045). Doing so would ensure public safety makes use of the band, a filing posted Friday in docket 07-100 said. “CWA is deeply invested in the success of FirstNet, which was built and is maintained by AT&T, the only wireless carrier with a union-represented workforce,” the union said: Allocating the band “to a single nationwide licensee rather than multiple commercial users would facilitate rapid and efficient nationwide deployment and stop the slow and fragmented approach that has led to prolonged underutilization of the band in the last 20 years.”

Anterix representatives spoke with an aide to FCC Commissioner Geoffrey Starks seeking action on a rulemaking authorizing 5/5 MHz broadband deployments in the 900 MHz band (see 2405210041). "Adoption of rules consistent with the Petition would advance” the FCC’s “commitment to promote the availability of broadband technology in rural areas along with its efforts to maximize the technologically advanced use of available spectrum resources,” a filing posted Thursday in docket 24-99 said.

NTIA received 227 applications seeking more than $2.94 billion in response to a notice of funding opportunity for Public Wireless Supply Chain Innovation Fund (see 2405070060). The agency has just $420 million to award in phase 2 of the program, which focuses on open radio unit commercialization and innovation. Applications were due July 17. NTIA earlier said it expects it will grant $25 million-$45 million per commercialization award, and $5 million-$10 million per innovation award. “Making open radio units more widely available will build momentum toward greater adoption of open and interoperable networks,” NTIA Administrator Alan Davidson said in a Thursday news release. “The interest in this round of funding will lead to a stronger wireless supply chain for the U.S. and our allies,” he said. The agency said it expects to start making awards later this year.

Mobile & Wireless Forum (MWF) representatives met with FCC Wireless Bureau staff to discuss e-labeling for hearing-aid compatible phones. MWF considers the limitations in FCC rules “overbroad" and requested a discussion about the issue, a filing posted Thursday in docket 23-388 said. Especially post-COVID-19, “QR codes have become ubiquitous,” the group said: “Their use on packaging to present complicated information that calls for more explanation than there may be space for on physical packaging makes eminent sense.” MWF said e-labeling should be permitted for HAC devices and QR code usage for packaging.

While time division duplexing (TDD) dominated early 5G deployments, frequency division duplexing (FDD) is starting to outpace the other technology, Stefan Pongratz, Dell’Oro Group vice president-radio access network market research, said in a blog this week. FDD relies on different frequencies for uplink and downlink, while TDD uses different time slots. “Operators initially tend to focus on the upper mid-band before complementing it with narrow-band FDD deployments,” Pongratz blogged. But results from 5G FDD-only deployments suggest “significant potential,” he said. In the Netherlands, a delay in making C-band spectrum available prompted providers “to optimize the use of existing assets, coordinating 4G and 5G technologies across high and low FDD bands to create a high-performance network.” Testing shows “impressive average data rates and latency results in the Netherlands even with the C-Band delays.”

Nokia supported launch of a proposed rulemaking authorizing 5/5 MHz broadband deployments in the 900 MHz band (see 2405210041). “With the necessary interference mitigation and remediation protections in place, expanding this band has the potential to support a variety of use cases including secure wireless broadband networks for utilities, business enterprise entities and other critical infrastructure,” a filing posted Wednesday in docket 24-99 said. “Utilities and private enterprises must have access to the spectrum they require for current and future use cases,” Nokia said.