NextNav countered a recent International Bridge, Tunnel and Turnpike Association (IBTTA) study on the interference risk of the company’s proposal to reconfigure the 902-928 MHz band “to enable a high-quality, terrestrial complement” to GPS for positioning, navigation and timing (PNT) services (see 2404160043). IBTTA’s assertion “that the 5G base stations NextNav’s proposal contemplates will operate at more than 600 times the power level of current operations is accurate only if one disregards the limits of base station equipment, commercial incentives, and urban power limits, and then assumes operations at the extreme outer limits of the Commission’s rules for rural areas,” said a filing posted Friday in docket 24-240. “While NextNav requested a three-watt power limit for user equipment, the vast majority of devices, including all devices that can operate inside vehicles, will have 200-milliwatt maximum conducted output power with even lower [equivalent isotropic radiated power] due to negative antenna gain,” NextNav said. The IBTTA study was filed last month at the FCC by a coalition led by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

The C-band relocation payment clearinghouse is in the final phase of its claims review, following the July 1 deadline for claims submission, it said in a docket 18-122 filing posted Monday. As of Sept. 30, it had finished reviewing all lump sum claims, all surrogate claims and most non-lump sum claims from earth station operators, as well as almost all claims from satellite operators, it said. Cumulatively through Sept. 30, it had received 4,518 claims with a total dollar value of $3.55 billion, and it's moving to its next phase: reconciliation of satellite operators' claims. The clearinghouse said after that, it will start final operations, including the final accounting and audit, with the expectation it ceases operations by June.

Industry groups repeated in reply comments their earlier arguments that addressing tribal issues shouldn’t slow the awarding of funds through the $9 billion 5G Fund that FCC commissioners approved in August (see 2410180036). Replies were posted on Monday in docket 20-32. Commissioner Brendan Carr dissented on the 5G Fund item, which included a Further NPRM on tribal issues (see 2408290022). Tribes and their associations have stressed the importance of collaboration with tribal governments (see 2410170045). The record shows “that any 5G Fund Tribal consent requirements need to account for the time and uncertainties involved in obtaining Tribal consent,” CTIA said. The commission “should also consider whether Tribal entities’ consent may be presumed after a certain period of good-faith efforts by the 5G Fund applicant,” the group said: “In no event, … should a winning bidder be placed in default or otherwise subject to penalties if the winning bidder demonstrates good-faith efforts to obtain consent in accordance with the rules.” The Rural Wireless Association said the rules should mirror the tribal land bidding credit framework used in other FCC programs. “Obtaining Tribal consent during the long-form application process can be unduly burdensome,” RWA said: “It is also unnecessary for the Tribal consent to be obtained prior to the filing of the long-form application as such consent can still be obtained and provided to the FCC before funding is received."

Vermont National Telephone (VTel) Wireless' reconsideration petition concerning the FCC Wireless Bureau extending EchoStar's 5G network buildout deadlines (see 2410230004) never mentions commitments that come with those new deadlines, EchoStar said in an opposition posted Friday (docket 22-212). It added the extension is fully within bureau precedent of giving licensees additional time so they can "complete the arduous process of building wireless networks." In addition, EchoStar said, the bureau's order comports with the FCC's objective of promoting a fourth national wireless provider. No one else has opposed the new deadlines, and VTel's "meritless" petition seems likely to have sprung from its unrelated litigation against EchoStar that alleges fraud against Dish Network in the FCC's 2015 AWS-3 auction.

The bulk of wireless data is carried over Wi-Fi rather than mobile connections, though differences are notable in the traffic ratio among wireless operators, OpenSignal said last week. Major wireless carriers Verizon, T-Mobile and AT&T see significantly more of their data moving over mobile connections than Comcast's and Charter's mobile services do, it said. More use of Wi-Fi by cable mobile virtual network operator subscribers is a product of Comcast and Charter Wi-Fi offload strategies. The cable operators use their in-home Wi-Fi and extensive out-of-home Wi-Fi hot spot networks to help reduce their wholesale cellar traffic costs, OpenSignal said. Both home and away, T-Mobile users spend the most time on mobile, reflecting in part its lack of public Wi-Fi hot spots, OpenSignal said. With all five, though, the vast bulk of their data usage is over Wi-Fi rather than mobile -- anywhere from 82% for T-Mobile to 89% for Comcast.

With T-Mobile not receiving good offers for its 800 MHz spectrum (see 2410240044), the company's options range from deploying or leasing the spectrum to selling it, consultant Terry Chevalier wrote Thursday on LinkedIn. Deployment of the spectrum into T-Mobile's network would require a significant capital investment, as well as higher operational expenses, Chevalier said. Potential leasing opportunities include utilities or other IoT-based users looking at industrial IoT or smart network applications, or private network uses, he said. He said the long timeline for new spectrum in the U.S. pipeline could mean a better return on auctioning the 800 MHz.

Since the FCC sits on reconsideration petitions as it tries insulating itself from judicial review, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals shouldn't wait for "the futile exhaustion of arguments," said petitioners Maurine and Matthew Molak. In a letter to the 5th Circuit, the Molaks -- who unsuccessfully challenged the FCC's August E-rate hot spots order (see 2409260046) and are challenging the agency's 2023 declaratory ruling authorizing E-rate funding for Wi-Fi on school buses (see 2312200040) -- said they have filed a reconsideration petition on the hotspots order. Three months later, the FCC has not acted on that petition, the Molaks said. Given that the hot spots litigation was dismissed in part because the FCC hasn't acted on the recon petition, the 5th Circuit shouldn't dismiss the bus litigation on the basis that no recon petition has been filed, they said Thursday in the letter in docket 23-60641. The FCC didn't comment Thursday.

Petitions to deny the transfer of UScellular authorizations and spectrum licenses to T-Mobile are due Dec. 9, the FCC Wireless Bureau said in a public notice posted Wednesday in docket 24-286. It said oppositions to petitions are due Jan. 8 and replies Jan. 28. The companies in May announced a $4.4 billion deal that would see T-Mobile buying UScellular's wireless operations (see 2405280047). T-Mobile also would pick up about 30% of UScellular's spectrum holdings, the bureau said.

Federated Wireless has withdrawn its request for a waiver of rules that require environmental sensing capability (ESC) systems to protect federal incumbents in Florida in the citizens broadband radio service band from harmful interference. It said in a docket 15-319 filing posted Wednesday the waiver is no longer needed as ESC sensor redundancy lost during Hurricane Milton has been restored. Federated and Google received waivers in advance of the hurricane's landfall (see 2410080058).

Fans and critics of the proposal giving very-low power (VLP) devices greater access to the 6 GHz band (see 2410040055) are lobbying the 10th floor. The band's U-NII-6 and U-NII-8 portions are key to broadcasters' electronic news-gathering (ENG) operations and face particular threat from increased indoor and outdoor unlicensed operations, NAB said in a filing posted Tuesday in docket 18-295. In meetings with FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel's office and the Office of Engineering and Technology, NAB said broadcasters are concerned VLP unlicensed devices might operate at power levels similar to those that licensed mobile ENG equipment use. Reserving "a mere 55 MHz" for licensed mobile use would be a "safe harbor" for ENG, it said. Apple, Broadcom, Google and Meta, meeting with the offices of Commissioners Nathan Simington and Anna Gomez, said VLP access to the U-NII-6 and U-NII-8 portions will mean more spectrum available for emerging portable applications, thus improving channel availability and performance. They said the risk of harmful interference from VLP devices to fixed service, broadcast auxiliary service and satellite networks is tiny.