Broadcasters are paying a huge price for supposed demand for low-band spectrum that never materialized in the TV incentive auction, said Preston Padden, who advised broadcasters in the auction, at a Duke Law School conference Friday. Padden said the auction was inefficient on several levels, with 42 MHz of “pristine” 600 MHz going unsold.

TV broadcasters want the FCC to handle ATSC 3.0 with a “light regulatory touch.” MVPDs, wireless entities, consumer groups and NPR urged the agency to protect retransmission negotiations, unlicensed spectrum, radio and the post-incentive auction repacking from the transition to the new television standard, in comments filed Tuesday in docket 16-142 (see 1705090053). The FCC should “expeditiously adopt only those minimal regulations necessary to permit broadcasters to voluntarily implement ATSC 3.0 transmissions,” said Nexstar. The transition to the new standard “threatens to compound disruption in the industry and to the public,” said NCTA.

Verizon is looking for more high-frequency spectrum for 5G in the secondary market, CEO Lowell McAdam said as the carrier met analysts. McAdam said Verizon doesn’t need additional low-band spectrum for 5G. The FCC has said it will hold two millimeter-wave auctions, McAdam said. “We’re obviously working closely with [the FCC] to accelerate” the time frame, he said Monday evening. “The activity that we’re spurred over the last couple of years has gotten the FCC to see there’s a lot of investment pent up to be made here.”

T-Mobile will launch the first “REAL, NATIONWIDE, MOBILE 5G network” in the U.S., said Chief Technology Officer Neville Ray in a Tuesday blog post. "We are going to dedicate part of the new 600 MHz spectrum we just won to LTE and then part to 5G nationwide. This means T-Mobile is the first company to commit to building a nationwide 5G network. And yes that’s real 5G, not fake 5G! And that’s nationwide Mobile 5G, not Fixed 5G!” T-Mobile has 200 MHz of spectrum in the 28/39 GHz bands covering almost 100 million people in major metropolitan areas “and an impressive volume of mid-band spectrum to deploy 5G in as well,” Ray wrote. “This positions T-Mobile to deliver a 5G network that offers BOTH breadth and depth nationwide.” CEO John Legere also commented in a video blog: “5G will be amazing, and we can’t even imagine all the cool stuff it will bring, just like with our earlier network innovations. That’s why truly mobile 5G has to be nationwide.”

While pricing is generally driving down MVPD subscriber numbers, Charter Communications has room to boost subscribership largely by taking market share from direct broadcast satellite, CEO Tom Rutledge said in an analyst call Tuesday. He said MVPD subscriber losses trend won't change anytime soon, but it also isn't accelerating. Charter said in a news release the number of residential video customers dropped by 100,000 in Q1, largely due to churn from legacy Time Warner Cable customers, ending the quarter with 16.7 million customers. During the quarter, it said it added 428,000 residential internet customers, putting its subscriber base at 21.8 million, and 37,000 residential voice customers, giving it 10.4 million. Wells Fargo analyst Marci Ryvicker wrote investors that the subscriber numbers from churn off of lower-value products are apparently hiding customers shifting to higher-end packages. She said despite Charter assertions that streaming bundles shouldn't pose a competitive threat, "we'll believe it when we see it." MoffettNathanson analyst Craig Moffett wrote that the subscriber numbers confirm that cord-cutting is accelerating across MVPDs. Rutledge said Charter has now launched new pricing and service packages across all its legacy TWC and Bright House Networks territories -- with Charter having bought the two in 2016 -- except for Hawaii, with the pricing and packages launching there soon. He said minimum broadband speeds are 60 Mbps or 100 Mbps across Charter's footprint, depending on the market, and that Charter is about to restart its all-digital conversion across TWC and BHN markets that aren't all digital yet, with the work to last through early 2019. Rutledge said Charter is testing "5G-like services" on various spectrum bands in a variety of different markets. Asked about Charter not pursing 600 MHz incentive auction spectrum, unlike Comcast, Rutledge said Charter's mobile virtual network operator agreement with Verizon is sufficient for a planned wireless offering launch in 2018, and Charter doesn't see any need now for that spectrum, though "opportunities will be available to get it." Pointing to Charter integrating Netflix into its user interface, Rutledge said the company is in similar talks with YouTube.

Dish Network has multiple options for how to build out its planned IoT network expected to be operational by March 2020 (see 1703080026) and should make decisions later this year on frequencies being used, CEO Charlie Ergen said in an analyst call Monday. The planning process will then follow, with construction to start in late 2018, he said.

Microsoft representatives pressed the FCC to set aside spectrum in the TV band in every U.S. market for Wi-Fi and other unlicensed use, in meetings with aides to the three commissioners. The software maker supported "ensuring that three 6 MHz channels are available for unlicensed use in the 600 MHz and TV bands, and highlighted the existing and potential unlicensed uses of the band,” said a filing in docket 12-268: It “discussed the importance of preserving the use of the duplex gap, channel 37 and a vacant channel in each television market for unlicensed use.”

NAB’s petition for reconsideration of the FCC repacking plan is deficient procedurally and on the merits, rehashes old arguments, and would lead to unnecessary delay, said T-Mobile, the Competitive Carriers Association and CTIA in opposition filings posted in docket 16-306 Thursday (see 1703170055). “The relief NAB seeks is not warranted on the merits and, if granted, will frustrate broadband investment and deployment,” said T-Mobile. All three entities attacked NAB’s assertion the FCC didn’t devote enough effort to creating the post-incentive auction transition plan. The broadcast association “can hardly claim that the FCC’s final rulemaking -- the result of which is the product of numerous years of advocacy by a variety of stakeholders -- can reasonably be deemed an ‘afterthought,’ and this assertion should be promptly rejected,” CCA said. Calling the repacking an afterthought “belies the thousands of pages of evidence on the record that Media Bureau carefully analyzed before releasing multiple detailed documents outlining the repacking process,” T-Mobile said. NAB’s claim wireless carriers aren’t truly interested in 600 MHz spectrum “is squarely contradicted by the fact that the auction generated the second most revenue ever for any Commission-held auction,” CTIA said. The wireless entities also condemned the petition as invalid for being late, “more than 900 days past the deadline for reconsideration,” T-Mobile said. NAB’s requested changes to the repacking plan are “based on arguments that either generally overstate the effect on broadcaster relocation or would unnecessarily delay the transition,” CTIA said. The broadcast association “already has tried, and failed, to challenge the Commission’s final rulemaking before both the FCC and the court,” CCA said. “NAB’s petition is an impermissible collateral attack on the 39-month repacking timeline disguised as a petition for reconsideration of the Media Bureau’s Post-Incentive Auction Transition Scheduling Plan,” T-Mobile said.

Verizon said it didn’t bid in the TV incentive auction because the carrier just doesn't need more low-band spectrum. Changes in the industry mean the 600 MHz band just wasn’t that important to Verizon’s future, the company said in a Friday blog post. “The next big technological innovations are coming in 5G to serve the future needs of business, education, government and consumers,” Verizon said in its most complete comments yet on the recently concluded auction. “Enhanced fixed and mobile broadband, low-latency services and massive IoT scale will thrive on mid-band and millimeter wave spectrum, which is where we are focused for growth. This means more connected services and devices, and higher broadband capacity that can benefit our entire society.” Verizon said it already has “sufficient spectrum holdings below 1 GHz.” The carrier went big in the 2008 700 MHz auction, buying the entire C-band in the Lower 48 states, plus licenses in the A and B-bands. Verizon also cited problems with the TV spectrum. “Future use of 600 MHz spectrum -- only good in the U.S. and not globally -- will take some time to figure out and deploy widely, especially in busy urban locations,” Verizon said. The carrier mentioned T-Mobile, not by name. "One competitor spent $8 billion for 600 MHz spectrum to finally acquire a national low-band spectrum position," Verizon said. "They need it, desperately. And while they continue to play catch up in 4G, we’ve had the largest national LTE Advanced footprint on 700 MHz spectrum for seven years, and it keeps getting better." T-Mobile didn't comment Friday on the auction results. "We are investing in the future," Verizon said. "We have access to 28 GHz and 39 GHz spectrum that we will use for 5G. And the fiber we acquired through our XO and Corning transactions are enhancing our current networks with a keen eye toward future needs." Comcast meanwhile has no current plans for the $1.7 billion in spectrum it bought in the auction (see 1704130056), and that spectrum won't be cleared by the FCC and available for use for several years anyway, the company said in a statement Thursday, after the auction's quiet period ended. It said the spectrum isn't necessary for the rollout and growth of its Xfinity Mobile service. It called the spectrum "a strategically compelling investment at historically low prices." AT&T also commented Friday. "The auction was a win for the FCC, the economy, consumers and the wireless industry," a spokesman said. "Spectrum is essential for our business and we believe we’re taking the right steps. Our strategy for spending was driven by a variety of factors that evolved over time."

AT&T emphasized the moves it made in Q1 to move the carrier toward being more ready to launch 5G, Tuesday in an earnings release and call with analysts. AT&T added 2.7 million net wireless customers: 2.1 million in the U.S. and 633,000 in Mexico and postpaid phone churn hit a best ever 0.9 percent in the U.S., AT&T said. But the carrier also lost 350,000 postpaid phone subscriptions.